The long way round

We had to take our car for its first MoT last week, and went the most delightful scenic route both ways, up over the mynydd. It was raining on the way out so I couldn't take photos of the beautiful Saanan valley, but I made my husband stop on the way back over Llanybydder mynydd for a photo session. I spotted this small standing stone beside the road and yelled, "Stop!"

Below: As you can see, it was quite diddy, but perhaps there is more hidden beneath the peat and tussock grass . . .


On the very top of Llanybydder Mountain, you can see the steeply banked trackways of old farmsteads, against the backdrop of mile upon mile of Forestry Commission pines. This is Brechfa Forest. They have one stage of the World (Car) Rally Championships here each year.

And when the logging company has been in . . .

The shabby little Village Hall, c. 1920ish I would think.


The little church of Llanfihangle-Rhos-y-Corn.


Inside it is a very plain and simple place of worship.

What a pretty pulpit with its sunflower motif.

There was a lovely maze put in the adjacent field, and as I walked around it, in reflection, I began to understand mazes - you couldn't cut corners or step across, you had to keep on to the end, nose to the grindstone, so to speak, in quiet contemplation . . .

J.J. with a date of 1869.

I wonder who M.E. was? I have a feeling they were in memory of children.
Looking back in the direction of home. Our valley begins with the last swell of hill.

A 'modernized' cottage snuggled down in the valley below.

The road is just ever so slightly zig-zag! The bend after this almost disappears up its own . . . You get the picture?!