Beautiful Brecon

 Thursday 

18J uly 

Day 18

78 to go

Today was all about touring around the Brecon Beacons. We woke to the stunning sea views. Paul  was up chatting to Jaden and Rayah, who were in our garden with the chooks. I was happy to lay in bed for a while, but then got up just after 8am. Once we were packed up and ready, we took our things to the car and began the drive into the high country. Our first stop was Sgwd Clun-Gwyn, a waterfall. This is one of 4 that you can walk between, but the walk is 9km and we didn’t have the time. We parked at a nearby area and then began our decent towards the rushing water. 

The path was reasonable, passing through fields containing sheep. At times it was uneven and steep, but we navigated ok and made our way down the path and onto the smooth rocks. From here we could see the water rushing over the rock ledge and landing below. I was conscious of getting too close. I did want to make my way down to the lower viewing area, but as I attempted to, I almost went over, so I changed my mind. 

We continued down the trail a little further finding a bridge and leading to a cross road. This was the end of the line for us, returning via the same path to the car. We put Brecon in as the destination and continued over the mountains. 

The views were stunning. Rolling, grassy hills with plenty of sheep and goats to watch for. We stopped at different points to admire both. The drive into Brecon required plenty of hair pin turns and by midday we were finally in the town. 

We parked up, found a picnic area by the river and sat and ate our rolls. Paul watched the salmon in the water for a bit and then we returned our lunch things to the car and went for an explore. Our first stop was the Cathedral. This was up on the hill past the remaining walls of the castle. The structure was impressive. Beautiful vaulted ceilings and stained glass picture windows, but Paul was most impressed with the beer taps. I think he would have converted if this was the norm in churches. 

After lighting a candle for Tina, we moved on to the town centre, enjoying the quaint streets and buildings. We stopped at the local butcher for a pork pie and scotch eggs and wandered back to the car, ready to drive on to Hay-on-Wye.

We pulled in to a large and very busy parking area and then went for an explore. This is the first Old Book Town and it didn’t disappoint. Almost every store was a book store. Both old and new books were being sold. We went into a couple of the stores and they were packed with books, floor to ceiling, not an inch of space was left bare. It was really interesting and of course I had to buy a book. 

We meandered towards the river walk and enjoyed a stroll along the green and shaded path. There were many wood carvings of animals carefully carved into tree stumps. We even had a playful squirrel bouncing about. 

The walk spat us out back in the town and we were in need of a drink, so stopped at the nearest path. We passed an interesting knitted item on a post box we thought was very clever. 

After quenching our first and making our way back to the car, we started the 2 hour journey back to Swansea. We opted to do a round route, heading for Abergavenny, rather than trek back the same way. We thought we would see more, but it was just highways and long queues and not worth the effort.

We made it home for 5pm, a long but adventurous day. We decompressed for half an hour then took advantage of the glorious weather, walking along the beach our feet in the water. A great way to finish off our stay here.

We returned to make dinner, sort out things for the move tomorrow and then 

plan our onward journey. It would be another big day as we plan to explore the Pembrokeshire Coast on our way to Aberystwyth.