Before we had arrived in Rosebush, I had roughed out a walk from the campsite to a large reservoir – Llys-y-Fran. Unfortunately, there are no buses available so the walk is a long one. We subsequently found a similar walk in a Pembrokeshire National Park leaflet and decided to use that route on the way out. Unlike our experiences on the coast, we found that the footpaths were very poorly signed although, with the aid of the OS map, we didn't get lost. There was a very memorable incident on the way – Jane, knowingly, entered a field with a very large bull in it. Anyone who knows Jane will realise that this took a lot of courage. It was a dairy bull and he was with his harem of cows. They are supposed to be harmless, provided that you don't get between them and their cows and we were careful not to do so. It has to be said that the bull watched us all the way across the large field but didn't move, much to Jane's relief. I have never seen Jane climb a farm gate as quickly as she did to get out of the field!
On the map I spotted a cairn close to our route and, rather than the pile of stones that we expected, it turned out to be very impressive. There was a circle (possibly two) of standing stones, many had intriguing natural indentations and they had obviously been specially selected. Different types of stone had also been used. The northern stone was the largest and was a different type, rather like schist, the eastern stone was particularly tall and pointed and the southern stone looked as if it might have something carved on it. All of this might be down to an over-active imagination on my part! Shortly after this we passed the ancient St. Brynach's Well site of a very vigorous spring that must have been a very important water source for thousands of years.
The reservoir is very large, the walk around it is 6.5 miles, and was very popular with walkers, joggers and fishermen. We walked down the length of the reservoir to the dam and visitors' centre and after eating sat on a bench overlooking the reservoir, we bought well deserved ice creams.
I had plotted a different route back via the intriguingly named hamlet of Henry's Moat. Here there was a church directly in front of a Norman Motte and Bailey Castle site. The mound is clear to see although the dense covering of trees and vegetation made further investigation impossible. I suspect that 'Henry's Moat' probably came from 'Henri's Motte', or is my imagination working overtime again? Once again, the footpaths had been poorly signed and the footpath from Henry's Moat to St. Brynach's Well had no signpost. After following the route on the map for a quarter of a mile we gave up as there was simply no way through the field boundaries. This meant a long diversion around the minor roads. The rest of the walk was done on minor roads apart from one stretch of footpath that crossed the route of the Rosebush railway. By the time that we got back to Henrietta we had walked 12.5 miles and were very glad to sit down with a cup of tea.
After a long walk, it was a good day to eat out and we set off for the Tafarn Sinc (the Zinc Tavern), so called because it is made from galvanised corrugated steel. It was erected by the railway company in 1876 as a temporary building to provide hotel accommodation for the expected tourists and was given the name of the Precelly Hotel. In recent years its condition deteriorated and the brewery who owned it in 1992 decided to close it. A couple of years later it was bought by a local couple for £18,000 who then spent over £70,000 refurbishing it. They have done an excellent job recreating the atmosphere of olden times even down to sawdust on the floor. The walls and ceilings are covered with curiosities and old photographs. Outside, they purchased the old station from Gareth Williams, the owner of the campsite, and recreated the look of the station in the early 20th century complete with people on the platform and the sound of steam trains playing through hidden speakers. The food wasn't cheap (e.g. £9.50 for home-cooked ham, chips and peas) but it was good and plentiful and the real ale was excellent.
Photos: A wooded footpath; The cairn; Natural marks or prehistoric art?; The interior of the Tafarn Sinc.
No comments:
Post a Comment