A Walk in the Afon Cyneiniog Valley.

Happy Easter to all those who are celebrating this day.

Dry and not too cold here at the coast but with an icy wind in the mountains.

Today's walk was in the Afon Cyneiniog valley in the Cambrian Mountains that lie inland from here. The original meeting point was in Tal-Y-Bont from where we drove in convoy back into the hills. As I had two human passengers and a dog with me I had the fun (not) experience of driving along a track full of rain filled pot-holes.

Our walk began in front of the ruins of the Bwlch Glas mine. A lead and zinc mine that dates back to the 1800s. To me it looked like more the set for a dystopian post-apocalyptic film.

From there we crossed the valley wandering along farm tracks until we reached this abandoned farm.

While I stayed outside to photograph the scenery most of the group ventured inside the derelict building to have a look around. That could have been a disaster when one of the group leaned against a wooden post that appeared to be supporting the upper floor only to have it come away from the ceiling. Of course he moved it back into place quickly but they were very lucky that nothing collapsed.

We ate our lunch outside perched on a low stone wall or at least the remains of one.

From the farm we came to a shoulder in the hill and down into a valley with the usual fast flowing stream with picturesque waterfalls. At that point things got a bit confused when footpaths marked on the paper Ordnance Survey map and the OS phone app didn't match the footpaths (or lack of) that we could find. We were at the bottom far left of the green field below and as there was no sign of a path through the woods beyond we had to follow the fence line between the wood and the field climbing up the very steep hill to the corner of the field and then over to the right to the white sheep pens. There we came across a footpath marker that took us (to the left again) along a track through the woods. Eventually the path went through a field but as there were cows in the middle of the field and we had a dog with us we diverged from the footpath and took a (non right-of-way) track down to a ford across the river.

(Below) The rest of the group climbing up the steep hill.

This ford hadn't been in the original route because the water was knee high after all the recent rain but nobody wanted to find the way further down river to the easier crossing. Instead we took off our boots and waded across. The water was cold but bearable, worse was walking barefoot over the rough track to find a spot to dry our feet before putting our boots back on. One sensible member of our group had a small microfibre towel in her her pack and I found yet another use for the multi-way neck tube that I had put on at the last minute before leaving home.

From there we swung back towards the mine passing a small cottage with cheery yellow paintwork that had some chairs and a barbecue inside but broken windows upstairs. Maybe somebody's renovation project? We come across so many of these derelict or semi-derelict houses on our walks but who would want to live in these remote places? Not only cold and wet but you wouldn't be able to grow food in the poor ground for any sort of self sufficient lifestyle.