March 16, 2017
When I decided to go to Pembrokeshire for two days because 'we hadn't seen south Wales at all', I booked a fancy place to stay - Llys Meddyg - in Newport (because I couldn't find anything open yet in the Gwaun Valley, where I'd have preferred to stay). We were only going to stay two days, so I planned on driving down from Aberdyfi on day one and seeing what we could see in the area before checking into our hotel, and then hiking the Golden Road on day two and driving back to Aberdyfi.
Long past the days when I would think it would take an hour and a half to get to Hay-on-Wye - or anywhere in Wales for that matter - I've begun relying on the planning skills inherent to my Italian ancestry. That is to say, I take a look at how long online maps say it will be, figure out the time myself based on the distance, tell P that 'it will definitely only take an hour and a half to get there' - with the understanding on both our parts that that means it will take anything from 2 to 4 hours.
So we were both pretty surprised when we actually got to Pembrokeshire an hour and a half after leaving Aberdyfi.
The largest Neolithic monument in Wales
So, first things first, I thought we should make our way to Pentre Ifan, the megalithic monument that graces the cover of many a Wales guidebook. Although there are certainly mountains here, this is not north Wales and we got there in no time - even though we missed the signpost. Though to be fair 'Siambr Gladdu Burial Chamber' could very easily have meant there was another burial chamber called Siambr Gladdu (rather than Siambr Gladdu meaning, probably 'burial chamber' in Welsh). Because really this stuff is everywhere.
Despite the lanes being single track with visibility-killing hedgerows all the way, there was a small parking strip right outside the monument. A quick walk through some fields of sheep and new born lambs and we were there - gazing at the 4,000+ year old 16-ton capstone balanced well above my head on the very points of only three vertical stones.
Just like at Dyffryn Ardudwy this monument used to be covered in a giant cairn of smaller stones - although here none of these remain. Unlike Dyffryn Ardudwy, this monument towers over you. Of course, like most of the ancient Welsh monuments, you can walk right up to it. After the only two other people at the monument left, we walked under, around and through it.
If you're there at the right time of day, you could catch the sunsetting over the Irish sea framed directly through the stones. As it was noon-time in March, rather than the setting sun we were graced with a sudden heavy drizzle.
After standing under the monument for a while - and feeling the full force of having something weighing 16 tons, ancient and seemingly barely supported directly over our heads - we went back to the car, ready to take on more of southern Wales.
