Travel Writing for Welsh Country Magazine
Talley, an Ancient Premonstratensian Seat of Worship
The further I go on this road; the more civilisation seems to melt away. An assortment of stone, timber-framed, and Victorian architecture gives way to sweeping fields. But around what feels like the hundredth bend, a sign, fronted by budding daffodils, insists we’ve arrived at Talley. A remote village with an unassuming and unexceptional appearance – at first sight.
Moylgrove: A Place of Smuggling, a Witches’ Cauldron and Chocolate Box Cottages
To to say that Moylgrove is an undiscovered “chocolate box village” doesn’t quite cut it. Sure, it has all the necessary features to proclaim itself as such – countless painted stone cottages, and short, narrow stone bridges directing two babbling brooks past the edges of immaculate gardens. There’s even a red post box fronting a Victorian chapel. But the intimate cluster of houses, concealed by a valley of flourishing trees, makes it feel like a village lost in the woods, with an enchanting, fairy-like energy. However, as I drive down its single main road, a dark, surprising, and intensely agricultural undercurrent envelopes the senses.