Category: travel
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St Illtud’s Walk, day 1: Pen-bre to Furnace
It’s a local enough path, but I’ve never walked it before. St Illtud’s Walk, invented by Colin Davies of Llanelli Ramblers in 1994, joins two country parks, Pen-bre and Margam, passing through three counties and some very varied terrain. As practice for tackling Glyndŵr’s Way next month, it’s my ideal preparation, offering good distances and…
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Llythyr o Iwerddon
Fel y weriniaeth agosaf i Gymru, Iwerddon yw’r hafan amlwg rhag y panto brenhinol, a dihangfa dros dro o’r wlad lle ‘does dim byd yn gweithio dim mwy’. Nod arall inni oedd cael teithio’n araf ac ysgafn, gan groesi’r môr ar y fferi o Abergwaun heb gar, ac wedyn mynd o le i le ar…
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Two walk New York
I’ve been reading Teju Cole’s celebrated novel of 2011, Open city, set mainly in central New York. It’s an unusual piece of writing. The book captures the experience of Julius, a young Nigerian-American (Cole himself being one) who’s in training to be a psychiatrist, as he wanders about in one of the world’s most cosmopolitan…
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A Dada excursion
One of the pleasures of researching the history of the simple human act of walking is that, just like a good walk, it takes you in unexpected directions. Recently, while considering the prehistory of walking as an artistic activity, I came across a Dada event, held in Paris just over a century ago, that stands…
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Sarn Helen, end to end
Several stretches of Roman road in Wales are labelled ‘Sarn Helen’. The one Tom Bullough sets out to walk, in a roughly straight line except for a lurch eastward to Brecon Gaer, is the road that leads from the fort at Nidum (Neath) to Canovium (Caerhun, near Conwy). He has recorded his trip in a…
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Cynwrig’s stone foot
This week I finally managed to get to St Illtud’s Church in Llanelltyd, near Dolgellau, and see for myself the stone, just over three feet tall and chained up like a dog, that sits on a low plinth at the west end of the nave. In the dim light it’s very difficult to make out…
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A coast-to-coast walk
I’m no Alfred Wainwright, and this is no marathon journey like the one he devised across northern England, but on 19 September I made up my own coast-to-coast walk. It’s worth sharing with you, since in its small way it’s a fine walk, and you won’t find it listed in guidebooks. ‘Coast-to-coast’ is stretching the…
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Hospital notes
1 When I arrive, the ward is full. I’m redirected to where the ophthalmology patients wait. It’s a poor fit: my body part for attention is some way south of the eyes. The surgeon comes, to tell me briefly what could go wrong. A nurse tells me to undress, and leaves two items of hospital…
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Mr Bebb’s dislike of the motor car
Not many people these days have heard of Ambrose Bebb. Maybe some Welsh speakers, especially following Robin Chapman’s 1997 biography, but very few others. His son Dewi Bebb, the rugby player, and his grandson Guto Bebb, the former MP, are probably much better known. In the interwar period, though, Ambrose Bebb was known for his…
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Lost
Evening runs aren’t really my thing these days. Almost always I go out early in the morning. But today’s different. For one thing, this is my first run for several weeks, since aggravating an old Achilles tendon injury. So my route, as well as my timing, is unorthodox: short and slow; no cliffs, no hills.…