Jones

We gave Flynn a long walk up into the logging forrest. There’s nothing much at all here, just miles of gravel roads forking off up and down the mountains. We must bring the bikes back sometime. Then we continued our way down the valley. Normally this would feel like a narrow twisty road but after the Devil’s staircase it was a doddle.

Cwm Berwyn doesn’t have hot and cold running internet so Jane hadn’t made her usual plans for the day. We were adrift with no idea where to go beyond Tregaron so we parked in the village car park and made use of their lovely 5G. We’ve been off grid for four days now and although we’re not running low on anything, things are a bit grimy – especially me. We decided on a site with a shower so either the Rugby Club in Aberystwyth or failing that, the Devil’s Bridge Camp site. The Rugby club did fail – it was one of those “call Jim the prop forward to book a pitch, please don’t call whilst he’s in the scrum”. It was Saturday morning so Jim wasn’t answering the phone. We drove on to Devil’s Bridge.

We didn’t do much in the afternoon, sitting around reading and taking Flynn to cower in fear of the sheep. Dinner was at the Devil’s Bridge Inn. It’s been significantly renovated since we were last here. It’s also been renamed the more culturally appropriate Hafod Hotel. The hotel bar was very busy for an early spring weekend (Ed: it’s Easter week stupid). The menu promised pub classics improved which was somewhat true.

We shared some crispy haloumi to start which was a very promising start. I played safe with the burger (also good) and Jane had the local trout which was – despite reassurances when ordering – overcooked. It’s a shame because everything else about the hotel was nice. They’ve done a really good job with the refurbishment and the soundtrack was all Waterboys and R.E.M.