Segui post taggati #mid wales tra pochi secondi.

April Jones is 5 year old girl who went missing while playing with friends in her home town of Machynlleth (Mid Wales). Her friends claim to have seen her getting in to a light coloured van only yesterday.

Every second counts, currently the police are asking people to call 101 if they have any information but if you think you see here and it is a serious emergency call 999.

Mid Wales countryside

Countryside is beautiful. But I (being brought up free range in Russia) feel SO trapped, like never before. There is nowhere you can walk. OK, few designated footpaths. The rest is forbidden. I wish I could climb every hill with my easel but… “keep out, private property”. There is an ancient moat, the rest of a hill fort, we tried to visit. Its all (a national heritage?) completely blocked by its “owners”.

Even trains don’t stop (as they used to) in the mountains on the way to the seaside. All old stations are turned into houses. There is no local buses on Sunday and trains start running after lunchtime on that day. If you want to see something in the Mid Wales you just have to drive.

Stuck in the mud in Mid Wales

Off we tootled from Chepstow in South East Wales up to the outskirts of Beulah in Mid Wales. Driving through the snow in the Brecon Beacons, ploughing along to visit my great-grandfather’s old farm.

We passed through a beautiful part of the world, so often missed on the itinerary of tourists. Climbing high up the Beacons sheep sheltered from the cold. We drove past military land; past ancient farms, buildings without windows and old taverns abandoned to the weather.

Eventually we arrived at the farm, Pencoedlan. Here was where my ancestors farmed for a living, toiling the earth and rearing their sheep. They were eventually to leave and go and work for King Coal down in the Welsh Valleys, replacing the glorious light of the farm for the black dust of the pit.

After having a little look around, with the obligatory photograph, we decided to head to Brecon to stay the night. Getting into the car we realised we were stuck. Stuck in the mud actually. I tried and tried to push us out of the quagmire but I just couldn’t budge the car. Luckily for us a couple of walkers came by, they gave us a helping hand and we were freed from the mess. As a parting shot, one of our helpers enquired whether we were up here for a bit of nooky. I snootily replied we were on my great-grandfather’s land and implied that he shouldn’t actually be on it. I was grateful for their help though.

So after a dreadful night in Brecon we headed back to Chepstow. I proudly showed my father the photo we had taken of the farm. He was quiet, then he looked a bit puzzled, then he said ‘That is not the right farm.’

I shall be part of an exhibition in Mid Wales Arts Centre from July 7th! It’s a fantastic gallery, which really does think about and promote local artists excellently. The exhibition shows off impressions of the rivers Severn and Wye. I know that most people won’t be in the Mid-Wales area, but I shall be posting photos of the whole thing here!