I was full of anticipation for our first vacation since lock down, especially as I was driving.

We set off a little late and Mr C was in charge of the route planning! Due to setting off later than planned Mr C suggested lunch in the Ludlow Food Centre. Lunch was delicious, however it added 2 hours to our journey time.

At one point in the extended journey, my SatNav turned us onto a small farm track. If I had been in the car on my own I would probably not have turned into it, and if I had I would have turned round and followed the main road until the SatNav sorted itself out. The road turned out to be the most rustic of country lanes; one car width, barely surfaced and steep uphill.

When we arrived at the hotel and checked in we were told about the Welsh lockdown rules and that the room would not be serviced during our stay. The room was fabulous with ever-changing views of the light casting shadows over the lake. The champagne that Mr C had ordered had not arrived so he had chase it up.

When we arrived for dinner, we were directed to the table that would be ours for the duration of our stay. The table had the same aspect as our room, looking out over the lake and hills. After dinner we stayed at the table enjoying the view and the rest of the wine.

Mwnt Cove - Photo courtesy of Marion Haworth on Wikimedia

When I opened up the August edition of Country Walking Magazine one of the first things that caught my eye was a picture of Cardigan Bay. I know that beach and the bay beyond, it brought back childhood memories of family holidays; sunshine, a beautiful secluded beach, families enjoying the beach and cove, rowing across the cove in a rubber dinghy with my dad and brother, my dad thinking that dinghy had a leak before realising that the noise he could hear was the ropes flapping on the side of the boat.

My most lasting memory was a dad and his boy swimming back into the cove from the bay beyond. The boy ran up the beach (with his father lagging behind) shouting ‘There is a killer whale coming’. Suddenly the sea emptied of people. As they ran up the beach away from the sea I saw the gentle dip and rise of a dolphin gracefully swimming past the end of the cove.

Delving deeper into the pages of CW Magazine I found the article ‘Far From the Madding Crowds’. The article pictured a different aspect of Mwnt beach and Cardigan Bay along with other special wild places to stay in Wales.

The name of one of those places, Ty’n Cornel, reminded me of my stay in a hotel of a similar name “The hotel Ty’n Y Cornel” which is situated on the banks of Tal-y-Llyn-Lake, a breath taking location, where Mr C and I had a mini vacation.

On our journey to our one night stay we found a suitable place for lunch and later parked by Creggenan Lakes at Cadair Idris to enjoy the view before continuing our journey to Tal-y-Llyn. On arrival we checked into the hotel and donned our walking gear before setting off on a circular walk from the hotel doorstep.

The walk took us up above the lake, providing spectacular views. At one point the pathway seemed to come to a dead end when the directions lead through a farm field with no obvious pathway in the direction we thought the trail led. Not wanting to trespass through a field we walked along the outside of the field (in woodland) to try and find the pathway.

All of a sudden a farmer appeared from nowhere and told us we were trespassing. She was not very helpful and gesticulated that we should go back down the path along the edge of the field. When back at the gate where we thought the path should be we once again surveyed the field and noticed a traffic cone. The traffic cone was mostly obscured by crop leading me to think that the farmer had obscured the pathway deliberately.

Back on track we descended down the hill arriving at the road that would take us back to the hotel. Mr C needed to make a phone call and this being ‘pre mobile phone’ days ran to a nearby phone box.

I was left alone in the wilderness. A large bird descended, landing on the low strung telegraph wire behind me. As he scrutinised me I was reminded of a scene in The Hobbit where Bilbo and the dwarves were carried off by Eagles.

I was relieved when Mr C returned and the Buzzard gracefully flew off.