Sunday, March 27, 2011

Life in the Borders

We stayed in a converted barn on the edge of the little village of Llangattock, which itself was on the edge of Crickhowell. The town takes its name from the Welsh name Crug Hwyel meaning Hywel's fort. Hywel was an ancient king of Wales in the time of Offa (him of the dyke) and one interesting fact about him was that he employed a Royal Footholder whose job it was to sit at the King's feet and massage them.
The fort itself was on the top of the nearby mountain, now called Table Mountain (the obvious table topped mountain you can see to the left in this view from the car parking area of our cottage). The countryside around is very beautiful, with gentle hills and lush pastures. It doesn't have the dramatic scenery of North Wales but is peaceful and lovely. And comparatively affluent especially if compared with the nearby valleys of south Wales that suffered from the pit closures of the Thatcher years.

The Brecon Beacons have more than their fair share of rain - but not recently - so waterfalls and reservoirs both feature in the landscape. Granddaughter was very determined to walk straight into the reservoir ...

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