06-May-2002 -- After Fishguard and 52N 5W we headed home. The route was an intricate piece of navigation over many hills and winding roads. After crossing high moorland we finally made it to Llansawel a small grey village clustered around a bridge in typical Welsh fashion.

Frances counted down the GPS and at 100m we were able to park in a quarry entrance. There were complaints when I walked away up a lane and over a gate into a vast disused quarry. This was the wrong way! Well I was up for finding paths not scrambling up brambly scree slopes. The quarry was recently abandoned, a rusting weigh bridge and neglected buildings were giving way to birch and sally (willow) scrub. Quarries are despised by conservationists as a blot on the landscape when working, when abandoned they become wildlife havens and a positive gain to local biodiversity. This one was a beauty. A curious disused road led to -20m. This was easy. It could have been in an inaccessible or dangerous place. As it happened one of the only two safe paths led straight to it.

Like the previous visitors we found the nearby building curious. It was almost certainly related to the quarry, yet we were now outside of it. Fortunately the dreaded bracken, a serious agricultural pest in Wales, was yet to emerge so we got clear views, especially across to Mynydd Cynros, a tree topped hill across the valley. This hill has more than a 150m ascent on all sides. I have climbed all 156 of these in Wales, and Cynros was my second last on a similar afternoon in early May 2000. Below the hill are two small lakes and the remains of a twelth century abbey. A peaceful spot now that the quarry has fallen silent save for the sheep and birdsong.

Topo at http://www.streetmap.co.uk/streetmap.dll?grid2map?x=262500&y=235500&zoom=4&isp=200&ism=1000&arrow=y?156,118