Local Area Guide
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Lyn Brianne Reservoir and Gwenffrwd-Dinas
Drove up the road beyond Pumsaint the other day to take some time off and clear our heads with a short walk and chill out beside the reservoir. We drove out there via Llandre and Cwrt-y-cadno from Pumsaint which is a narrow twisty road that seems to go on for ages. We came back via Cilycwm and Porthyrhyd which is longer, but for the most part on wider roads.
The walk around the mini mountain (Dinas) was a mixture between nice and easy, to very up and down near enough scramble, which kind of killed my knees. Apparently there is a lower path thats easier, but we missed it entirely. Plus it didn’t help that I scrambled up to the Cave, where Wales answer to Robin Hood hid, it was reasonably easy getting up, but not so much getting down again as a bit slippy.
Exit from car park
Board walk from car park
Going anti-clockwise still easy
Starting to get interesting
This is where I put the camera/phone away, it got worse!
Past the hard bit
The walk is only about 2 miles around, but it took us two hours to do it, mainly because we did not want to go base over apex. Having said that Sarah did go for a tumble at one point, but picked herself up again with a bit of help from me. Back to the car and a cup of coffee and a sausage roll, then drove 1/2 mile up the road to the car park at Llyn Brianne for the marvellous views on offer.
Looking back down the spillway
Top of spillway and the ‘logging’ road going over it
Up in the Cambrian mountains there are some wonderful ‘mountain’ roads that would be brilliant for motorbikes, especially if you approach from the North, Tregaron side. Especially judging by the amount of bikers parked up. On and yes there are toilets there.
looking out across the reservoir from the car park
Looking back at the dam from the lower car Park
Looking back down the valley from the reservoir, from the lower car park
Although it is a marvellous place to take your Motorhome/Campervan, I would suggest you approach from Cilycwm and Llandovery, well certainly Motorhomes anyway.
St Dogmaels Day Trip
Crown copyright (2018). Visit Wales
This is a brief summary of our recent trip to St Dogmaels on a Tuesday morning, in a search for some locally produced proper stoneground flour, from ‘Y Felin’ known for their fabulous unadulterated real flour, with no additives. We had been advised that the best time to go was Tuesday mornings, as there is a Local Producers Market every week.Parking in the public car park at What3words location ///regretted.stylist.could’, which is free in the winter months but Pay-n-Display otherwise, from there it is a short walk down church street towards the mill pond and Abbey area.
© Y Felin
© Y Felin
Y Felin (The Mill) – This was our first port of call, as one of the last working water mills in Wales producing traditional stone ground flour. Producing a wide range of stoneground flours available from the Mill shop, including flour milled from ‘Hen Gymro’ (Old Wales) heritage flour grain, together with some unbleached white and a bag of 100% wholemeal flour, which is what we bought.
The miller Emma also runs guided tours of the mill for the full heritage experience and educational tour. By appointment only though, so please contact Emma to book. Adults £8, Children £4 and Family ticket £20, at the time of writing. For additional details see Emmas website www.y-felin.com or phone 01239 613999.
Local Producers Market – We then turned our attention to the local market, which is a small affair, run every Tuesday 09:00 to 13:00, sitting beside the ruins of St Dogmaels Abbey and overlooks the Mill pond and the mill itself, plus a museum and cafe. There is usually a broad selection of dedicated stall holders, including the ones me and Sarah visited on the day, Cardigan Bay Quilts for beautiful quilts and welsh wool blankets, Defaid Dolwerdd Caws for very tasty Dairy Sheep Cheese, and Preseli Photography for framed pictures, of the stalls we visited. Other stalls, depending on circumstances offering produce such as cured meats, seasonally locally caught fish, locally grown flowers, seasonal vegetables, delicious pies and pastries, handmade jams and chutneys, honey and natural remedies using bee products. There is usually a few local craft sellers and often live music in the summer.
© Cardigan Bay Quilts
© Defaid Dolwerdd
St Dogmaels Abbey – Also worth a visit are the century spanning ruins of St Dogmaels Abbey, a significant religous settlement, which was founded in 1120 on the site of an earlier pre Norman church, St Dogmaels status as a religious centre can be seen in extensive ruins which span four centuries of monastic life. Elements of the church and cloister are 12th century in origin, while the tall west and north walls of the nave are 13th century. Ther’s a fine north doorway with 14th century decoration and a north transept, built in the Tudor period.
The Abbeys restored coach house is now home to a museum and visitor centre that sheds light on several centuries of Christian life via artefacts that take you on a journey through time. There is also an impressive computer generated reconstruction of the Abbey at its 15th century peak. See the Cadw website www.cadw.gov.wales
Estuary Walk – As the rain had not yet started as forecast, we decided to take a walk from the car park part way along the estuary to stretch our legs a bit. Now we could have gone down to the ‘beach’ to view the Blessing Stone which is marked on Google Maps, but only found out about it whilst researching this post and okay no great miss, this is just a stone that was used to bless fishing boats, dating back to the middle ages. Our walk was only short but pleasant, with a few bits where the path is near the edge and obviously starting to slip away, its quite safe currently as handrails, but if I owned one of the properties next to the path this would be of a concern.
Also worth investigating in the town is ‘St Dogmaels Pottery’ just a bit further along from where we walked, showing work by Peter Bodenham. Should you travel a mile or so further up the road you come to Poppit Sands Beach, or back to Cardigan itself.
© Kellett
Aberglasney Gardens
Took a day trip out in July to Aberglasney Gardens, which was on my to do list. It is located down near Llandeilo just off the A40, so easy to get to.
Aberglasney was made famous by the BBC television series “A Garden Lost in Time” which followed its restoration. Today it is quite simply one of Wales’ finest gardens, and at its heart lies a fully restored Elizabethan Cloister Garden that is the only surviving example of its kind in the UK today. Beyond this, visitors can explore 10 acres of over 20 different garden styles from formal to woodland, right through to exotic and modern along with the fully restored ground floor of Aberglasney’s grade II* listed mansion offer a stunning venue for exhibitions and events.
Ninfarium – Within what was the old house, that was beyond ‘restoration’.
The pond from the terrace wall
From under the terrace to the house
Gardens: Aberglasney’s 10 acres are home to many different garden styles, from our historic cloister garden to our productive kitchen garden and our unique Ninfarium. There are many aspects to explore, and the gardens change with the seasons to showcase a wealth of flowers and trees.
Mansion: The historic grade II* listed mansion at Aberglasney has been home to many a colourful character over the last 500 years – poets and artists, a Bishop, a High Sheriff, architects and solicitors, drinkers and those who fiercely abstained. However, prior to recent restoration it had been hard to visualise the grandeur of time gone by after decades of decline when the mansion stood uninhabited, neglected and vandalised. Today, the centre of the mansion is now is covered by a glass roof and is home to the ‘Ninfarium’, Aberglasney’s award winning sub-tropical indoor garden, where plants grow amongst the ruinous remains.
Tearooms: No trip to Aberglasney is complete without visiting the tearooms, idyllically located overlooking the Pool Garden. The tearooms are cosy inside while the terrace is a real suntrap. It’s the perfect place to enjoy good homemade, freshly prepared lunches or of course a quintessential afternoon tea including homemade cakes and pastries. You’ll also find a selection of wines, beers and ciders on the menu alongside great ice cream.
For more details see their website aberglasney.org
Cilgerran Castle and Walk
This is a walk we did at the end of January 2023, starting in the car park at Cilgerran down by the river, which I suspect could fill up pretty quick in the summer. The walk up to the castle has a few options, so leave that up to you.
The castle itself is well worth a visit in the village as it commands some tremendous views, especially from the parapet walk. Also in the village is a hidden steep sided small valley with tiny houses, that the footpath takes you through that you would never know were there when viewed from the road. Plus the obligatory pubs and shop.
Walking anti clockwise via the ‘Gorge Walk’ and returning via the ‘Woodland Walk’ on the basis of an easier second half to the walk, the paths are relatively easy to follow as way-marked, but once past Fforest Farm things get a bit interesting as way more steps going up and down all the time than I thought, with one particularly iffy bit. You can always backtrack to Fforest Farm and cross over to the Woodland route if not happy.
Please be aware that although the OS map shows a path right beside the river north of Cilgerran, this does NOT exist in many places as has been swept away in the floods or suffered landslides.
There are many old quarries to explore, plus a tunnel if feeling brave which is near to point ‘A’. The return journey via the woodland track is easy, with pleasant views. A disused railway line forms the vehicular/cycle access to the Wildlife Centre. click here for a copy of this walk
