DAY ONE
This year
our camping trip was to be in July a month earlier than all our other trips.
We decided to take the car to Rhayader, a small town in the heart of Wales.
From here we cycled out on a mirror road of the main A470, to call it a road
is a bit of an exaggeration as it is just a track through some spectacular
scenery. The path follows the river Wye up the valley, although this road
is open to all traffic there are several gates along the lane which make it
great for cycling as not many lazy car drivers would want to get out every
so often to open a gate! The weather was warm and before long we were in Llangurig
where we bought drink and some pasties from the local shop. This narrow track
wormed its way through the beautiful scenery and we arrived in the small town
of Llanidloes at around 16:30. Here we were greeted with an unusual sight
of many people sat down all over the slopes of the valley. Nick enquired about
the gathering of people and someone answered that there was to be a display
by the R.A.F. Red Arrows display team. We took a vantage point on the side
of the hill where we had a perfect view of the display by the nine Hawk jets
of the Red Arrows team. We chatted to a friendly farmer while watching the
display, he explained that it was something to do with the school open day
and they looked forward to it every year. Not many schools I would have thought
might be bestowed with such an unusual honour! After this almost surreal occurrence,
we set out in the early evening sun up the lane that follows the river Severn
to the Hafren (Severn) Forest. Living in South Wales always means that you
are not far from the massive Severn Estuary, a stretch of water known for
the second fastest tide in the world and for its treacherous sailing conditions.
However this little thing is not much more than a stream did not bare much
resemblance to the mighty river we knew. We were cycling close to its source
and indeed it was a beautiful sight as we climbed through the Hafren forest
which is set on the side of the massive Plymlimon Mountain. This was truly
a beautiful place as the sun glistened through the trees in the evening sun;
we reached a height of around 400 metres before descending out of the forest
to the tiny village of Staylittle. From here we took a track that led up to
a farm and then on to what is known as Glyndwr’s way, this is just a
rough path over the mountain named after the last true Prince of Wales the
warrior Owain Gylndwr. We were now on the bare mountain of Penycrocbren at
469 metres, there are the remains of an old Roman fort here, which is just
a few tumps of earth. Here we found a good spot to camp and before long we
were cooking our supper, going a month earlier meant we had at least an extra
hour of daylight. This meant cooking food around 21:00 as quite feasible,
so after we ate we watched the Sun set and before long we settled down around
23:00.
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