Day 14: Brecon to Trecastle

I feel better after our rest day in Brecon, though I wish I’d booked a bigger room with space to sit, and less cacophonous floor and wall coverings, and without the 2am revellers outside. Still, we set out again this morning with renewed enthusiasm.

From now on, we have plotted our own route and will mostly be walking on minor roads as they are more likely to exist and be passable than footpaths. We got off to a cracking start with a lane that rose steadily for a couple of miles and then ran across common land on a ridge, with wide grassy tracks parallel to the road and great views  of Pen y Fan to our left.

A brief foray off-road was almost unsuccessful when we found ourselves in a farmyard with a large but lazy dog, a dead cow and no obvious onward path. We escaped through a sheep field on what we hoped was a right of way, but there weren’t many footpath signs today and we got suspicious looks from farmers in passing cars.

Approaching the village of Defynnog, I Googled to check the pub opening hours (closed until 4) but was prompted to enter ‘Defynnog yew tree’ which is apparently over 5000 years old. So we diverted through the churchyard to investigate, and found it occupied by a group of slightly hippyish mothers and young children, who had made gifts for the tree. Extraordinary to think of a living entity older than the Pyramids and Stonehenge, and probably somewhere people have worshipped and brought offerings for 4000 years before the church was there.

All in all, a lovely day’s walking (15.1 miles) with great views and little traffic, with enough breeze and cloud to keep us cool, and a quieter room tonight in Trecastle.