Category Archives: travel

Going West: Into the Past

As you walk through the antlered gate of the hillfort at Castell Henllys you are stepping back into the past. This is no mere historical curiosity, nor ‘just’ an educational museum… it is a real and ancient settlement,  painstakingly recreated … Continue reading

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Going West: Back in Time

“This is for kids.” I detected a distinct lack of enthusiasm. Granted, the site has been made into an educational experience, but the fact remains that Castell Henllys is a real archaeological site and quite unique, for while it was … Continue reading

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Going West: First Flight

We had watched the swallows in the hotel car-park, marvelling at their mastery of the air and swift, graceful flight and delighting in the first, tentative flutters as the baby swallows left the nest for the first time.  We have … Continue reading

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Going West: Fish, Chips and Cormorants

We were starting to get hungry by the time we arrived at our hotel in Lampeter, a small university town in mid-Wales that deserved more attention than we had time to give it. Personally, I blame the football. The trouble … Continue reading

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Going West: The Valley of the Flowers

The rain hammered against the car. We’d been twiddling our thumbs for a while, attempting to keep the windows from steaming up too badly while we grazed on what we had in the glove compartment, looked at the map and … Continue reading

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Going West: Going to the Devil

At the end of the mountain road we had taken lies a small community clinging to the sides of the gorge above the River Rheidol. Pontarfynach, though, is named for the Afon Mynach, one of its tributaries, that tumbles, roars … Continue reading

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Going West: Mountain Road

We were fed and watered… very well-fed, in fact after a home-cooked Welsh breakfast at the Mid-Wales Inn… and on the road early. The weather was finally dry, the sun attempting to peep through the clouds… and there was the … Continue reading

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Going West: Googling the Road to Nowhere

“Nine hours…” We had finally made it to Rhyader as the sodden daylight was fading. “Nine..” We’d only stopped once more on the way and that was to take on board some necessary refreshment. We’d called at the first pub … Continue reading

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Going West: Deep Magic…

I’d seen the name when I’d planned the route… though ‘planned’ may be stretching things a bit far; I had a vague idea and my companion had a map. From Kilpeck to Rhyader, somewhere near which we would find our … Continue reading

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Going West: Going In

It was either going to be spectacular… or very plain. Probably the latter, as we have found that with the highly decorated churches, it tends to be one or the other, inside or out. It was, then, no surprise to … Continue reading

Posted in Ancient sites, Art, Churches, Goddess, History, Photography, Sacred sites, Stuart France and Sue Vincent, travel, Wales | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments