And recently...

Outings in November have been walks with occasional records - to scout out habitats for more attention next year (we hope!)

The first was to Craig y Cilau, the cliffs and old quarries above Llangattock. The area is particularly botanically rich and we though we might just catch a very young Hutchinsia plant - they are flowering by March. 

Hutchinsia, Beryn y graig or Hornungia petraea (was known as Hutchinsia petraea) Avon Gorge

 - We didn't.

 But Alan did spot a small patch of this - not previously recorded there:

Ivy-leaved Bellflower, Clychlys dail eiddew or Wahlenbergia hederacea (Abergwesyn 2018)

and we identified several areas for exploration next year.

A week later saw us up between the Nedd Fechan and Afon Llia on the high ground, exploring an area known as Plas y Gors. The two rivers both get water from this watershed - and eventually meet up again at Pontneddfechan.

The forestry there used to cover a known Roman Fort site so it was good to see that area had been cleared and apparently not replanted (other areas near the fort had been). Whether the outline of the fort will eventually become clear again was uncertain !

 We soon passed the Maen Madoc standing stone.

The Maen Madoc or Maen Madog stone is adjacent to the Roman road Sarn Helen that runs across the Brecon Beacons.

It is thought to mark a Christian burial – the stone is inscribed on one side, the Latin inscription reading DERVAC(IVS) FILIVS IVSTI (H)IC IACIT – "Of Dervacus, Son of Justus. He lies here".

There was a dwelling called Plas y Gors and these are the ruins. We had managed to get through the bog referenced in the name by the time we saw it. It is difficult to imagine the existence supporting such a relatively grand dwelling. There is more information about the ruined farmstead, thought to be 18th or 19th century, on Coflein.

 

 

The bog to the left of it certainly is worth a summer visit and has yielded reports of quite rare plants in the 1990s. We saw that the trees that used to surround the bog have been felled which is good news for its future. 

 

Our most recent visit was to the Nant yr Hafod stream which comes off the southern slopes of Mynydd Llangatwg. It is our only site for Cornish Moneywort which I last saw in 2013. We were glad to find it still thriving there.

 

 

Cwm Nant yr Hafod

 

 

At the top of the Cwm the view to the east shows the just-discernible wall of the Cairn-Mound Reservoir dating from 1880 and abandoned by Welsh Water in 2005. This reservoir collected water destined for the Nant yr Hafod. To the right of the picture the remains of the Disgwlfa Tramroad crossing of the Nant yr Hafod can be seen.

 

Bing maps shows the reservoir very clearly from above:

 

We walked back down over the mountain with glorious views towards Llanelly Hill.

 

and came upon this inscribed stone which it took us a while to decipher:

The Hafod Inscribed Stones
(Go to the link for full details).

These Inscribed Stones that are found near Nant yr Hafod on the southern slopes of Mynydd Llangatwg above the Hafod Road/Cymro Road.

They were done by Jack Rushton. He was born in 1920 who was an upholsterer by trade.

The stone we saw is inscribed: "HE THAT SINNETH IS OF THE DEVIL BE YE HOLY”. There appear to me more letters beneath but we couldn't decipher them. We did manage to read almost all of the above.

There are many more similar stones to be found up there! 

Cornish Moneywort, Deilen gron Cernyw or Sibthorpia europaea

 and flowering in July 2013:

 

 Parrot Waxcaps back near the cars:

Parrot Waxcap or Hygrocybe psittacina