Walk from Bont Goch.

A cooler day with drizzle/ light rain at times.

Our walk today began at Bont Goch (Red Bridge,) historic name Elerch (swan) up in the Hinterland at the start of the River Leri. It was a easy drive there. I just had to turn off the main road with its uninteresting ribbon development and straight away I was on a single track lane that went up through woods and took me up to to a high ridge. I love the ridge roads with their far reaching views to either side and it wasn't long before I reached the isolated village and our meeting point by a bridge. We parked near a building that is currently being restored by a couple from London. The house is done and now they are working on the outbuildings including a mill complete with waterwheel that still turns. (The wife has done all the pointing on the stonework.) They invited us to come and have a look around and there was much excitement at seeing the cogs and levers that regulated the turning of the wheel. 

The River Leri and stunning waterfall were also in their garden.

The village has 53 properties. Twenty years ago they were very run down but since then most of them have been renovated to a high standard and the village is thriving. You read about its history here. The church school was built in 1856, designed by the architect George Edward Street who went on to design the Royal Courts of Justice in The Strand (near my old college, King's.)

Soon we were were heading out into the wilds of the Hinterland. With such good access to tracks across the hill you see why we passed so many properties with schooling arenas and stables.

I could just see myself riding along this track.

Behind the trees I spotted another arena set up with show jumps.

We stopped for lunch looking across this upland valley at an abandoned farm. On previous walks they had eaten lunch by the farmhouse and been in to explore but rather than risk our more foolhardy adventurous members falling through rotten floorboards the rest of us voted to stop at a safe distance.

The rain began as we set off walking again so my camera was safely stowed away in my backpack, inside its own plastic bag inside a larger plastic bag holding all the contents of my backpack and for good measure a rain cover over the outside of my backpack. You can see I take no chances with my camera. By this time I was wearing a light rain jacket and waterproof over trousers. It didn't rain that heavily and eventually I stopped and took off the over trousers which luckily slip over my walking boots. 

But before then we had walked to the end of the hill for a great view down to a hidden valley which once held a lead mine. (It's still there but defunct now.)

From there we turned round and went back the same way to the village. Before driving off there was the usual exchange of garden produce that happens at most meetings at this time of the year. I came home with more cooking apples and several pounds of damsons and we had eaten two varieties of cherry tomatoes with our lunch. I foresee some cooking of damson and apple crumbles to go in the freezer soon, maybe tomorrow.