On Friday I was talking about bovine TB (bTB) and our worries for George and his herd. The good news is that the vet arrived later that day and carried out the ‘lump check’ – my words – and all is well. Now you don’t know George but he is a straight talking Welshman with a farming pedigree that goes back through generations. He has weathered crises before and been through situations which might daunt others and he gives little away. So it was touching to see the more human side of him as he received the great news that the herd were clear. Where the Gwaun valley is similar to most other places is in its Friday nights out and he had a twinkle in his eye as he shouted over to me that ‘tonight will be a good night… now.’
And it was. Carol and I met up with the local farmers in the nearest drinking establishment to us – Gellifawr (pronounced Gekli vawr – it’s a great place with friendly staff, a good menu and local beer) as we do every Friday and we all had a great night.
It’s worth pointing out that only 20% of Welsh people speak Welsh but in North Pembrokeshire Welsh is the first language although all Welsh speakers are also fluent in English. (One day I will tell you about the Landsker Line which was a line of fortifications dividing the English influenced south of Pembrokeshire, also known sometimes today as ‘Little England beyond Wales’, and north Pembrokeshire which has a much higher percentage if indigenous Welsh and still exhibits its staunchly Celtic origins. And why not?)
One of the things that is really touching about the people of the Gwaun Valley is that they have accepted us into their close knit community, I think because we have tried really hard to integrate into their culture without question and we have taken a genuine interest in their way of life: we have not come in and tried to get them to change to our English ways. Don’t get me wrong, Carol and I remain English through and through when it comes to our heritage and our sporting loyalties but we also honestly enjoy learning about what makes the Gwaun valley people tick and showing support to our new neighbours. I’ll let you know how John and Haden, our other close farming friends get on with their bTB test at the end of the month.
I see that my advised word count is up but I wanted to say something about carol and myself – after all we are the main characters. This is us – sitting on a rock in the Preseli’s earlier this year when we had a tiny bit of snow. I love this picture as neither of us are particularly photogenic but this one came out well.
And this is where we live. We have added the white bits since April of last year and while the insides are all now finished the gardens are not and they are the main focus of our attention now especially now that the weather is so good.
The long low building is two holiday cottages which we rent out. Our house, in the left picture is called Dan-Y-Mynydd (pronounced Dan – u – Minith) which means Under the Mountain and the two cottages are called Foxglove and Honeysuckle. Together the three are known as Tregynon Cottages. It’s a really great place and we love it to bits.
Will blog again soon with a tail about an angry horse and a valuable lesson on why you should always have a few bits and pieces for repairs in your ruck sack!
Ian