Cwmpengraig near Drefch Felindre

I have never known so many people assemble for a walk so early!!ICould it  have been the coffee and biccies available at Neil H's from 1 hour before the start of the walk???!!Some of us turned up at Neil's about 30 minutes before the start, thinking we were quite early, but obviously NOT as most on this walk beat us to it!!!

So now I know, all I need is a packet of hobnobs the next time I want people to turn up super duper early!!!

This was an excellent turn out of 16 and Neil H, made us most welcome before and after the walk.It was nice to see a few people we hadn;t seen for a while like Rob, Jimmy, and Stephen G.

The walk was in an area most of us had little knowledge of, and turned into a delightful walk through vivid blue woodlands full of bluebells, fields full of bright yellow buttercups and a few small Carmarthenshire villages on route. 

Eifion a neighbour of Neil's gave us a talk about Ffatri Ogof, a derelict workshop that has been restored in recent years and where we could see a spinning wheel still being used today.The wool was dyed on the premises, with much of it being coloured from natural products like fruit.

We were soon on our way, up the hill out of Cwmpengraig and through some beautiful fields and woodlands all spilling over with lovely wild flowers.At times we emerged and had great views of this magnificent valley, before disappearing back into woodland again.

At one stage a herd of cows were held back by Jimmy so that, in particular, the people with dogs could pass by safely.The cows were chasing around and tried really hard to follow us, but a stile into yet another woodland came to our rescue.

After a few hours we came to the National Wool museum where Dafydd was waiting to join us for lunch.This was a really interesting place and we had lunch using the greenery and the picnic tables to enjoy our refreshments in the grounds.

It was lovely in the sun and we didn't want lunch to end, but all good things do come to an end, so revived, we set off again, saying goodbye to Robert and Dafydd.

There were some lovely paths on the second half of the walk too, again through even more woodland and bright yellow fields.The inclines seemed to be more gradual from the quite steep descents of the first half.

At one stage Neil pretended he was lost, and poured over the map looking for the correct route.

It turned out that he had sussed the walk the other way around to the one we were doing, and most walk leaders there agreed that it can be very confusing when trying to negotiate a route, going the other way.

We weren't to worry though, as Neil got us very quickly, back on track.

We skirted fields and went through lovely green lanes and passed some little cottages and soon Neil pointed out his house over to the left and we knew we weren't far from the end and the promised coffee and cake.

We all stayed to relax, in Neil's beautiful garden, with a much needed cuppa.

Soon it was time for us to start to make for home.

What a lovely walk this had been in an unknown area for most of us.Neil had conjured up a great walk, so many thanks for his hard work and for being such a hospitable host.

I'm just off to buy a packet of hobnobs for the next walk!!!

 

 

 

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