Thursday 2 March 2017
I had worked out a longish drive today to see some different countryside and for much of the day we are in sunshine and for a period in the afternoon we even have the top down on the TT which is good considering the date.
First we head along the Heads of the Valley Road. This is now a very busy road and has been much improved over the years – although some sections still go up and down the sides of the valleys! Indeed just west of Abergavenny there is still a lot of improvement work going on along this section and so it is very slow moving. Further west it is much improved and we can move along at a better speed, much of the improvement is EU funded according to the signs. We are skirting along the southern edge of the Brecon Beacons because the plan is to cross over them at their western end.
Upper Brynamman is our first target on the sat nav (as satellite navigation system is usually abbreviated these days) as it marks the way onto the A4069, which is known as the Black Mountain road. Jeremy Clarkson is known to get up at a very early hour in London so that he can come down and drive this road when he has a suitable car with little other traffic (I gather it has featured on “Top Gear”). Given the great weather we can drive at a relatively gentle pace enjoying the views as we descend on the far side. We are heading north and there is a small stop so I manage to take some photos.
We drop down the other side into Llangadog and find the Red Lion hotel where we have a very cheap and good quality lunch (liver and onions for me).
From there we head cross country to Lampeter which all looks a little run down and old. So we keep going to Tregaron and I find some toilets. Jackie then finds some much nicer and newer ones!
Now we are on the western side of the Cambrian Hills and there is another tiny (un-numbered road) which is known as the Abergeswyn Pass. Some more lovely driving. We have the sat nav on and we follow its guidance as there is certainly one point where the “track” to take is not particularly clear and we really are in the middle of nowhere. I wonder where we would have ended up had we turned left rather right!
Down the other side and as we wander through the countryside we see a sign to the Lake Country House hotel which we follow. Despite having lunch we both fancy a cream tea plus a break from driving and where better than a country house hotel? The hotel is near Llangammarch Wells. Here is a photo of tea from Jackie Whitbread:
After our break we pass through some more beautiful countryside heading south through Upper and Lower Chapel and then through Brecon and onto the A40 for Abergavenny. The A40 here in Wales is a pale shadow of the road which exists in West London. Quite a few miles today and some lovely scenery, none of which I have covered before that I remember.