Читать книгу Walking in Carmarthenshire онлайн

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Cross straight over onto the surfaced public bridleway on the opposite side, but where this curves rightwards towards Gillo-fach, go left along a pleasant track that climbs steadily over the brow of a hill, beneath shady boughs. Pass through two gates in quick succession, that also double as a cattle penning area, continuing along a stony track which is the access drive to Old Vicarage Farm, a very substantial property, and once past this proceed ahead along a grassy track leading to a gate and field. Once through, walk along the left side of the field, descending gently to a pedestrian gate at the bottom and continuing along a sunken footpath between trees, soon passing the Old School House on the right and the church on the left. Bear left on a footpath alongside the wall of the churchyard, descending past The Old Ale House and Three Horseshoes pub to the road. Turn right into Cenarth, passing the National Coracle Centre on the right.

The National Coracle Centre houses a unique collection of coracles, not only from Wales, but from around the world and gives a fascinating history of the craft. The idea of making a boat by covering a framework of branches with animal hide is a universal one and each region and country adapted their local resources to fit the job. Here in Wales, the earliest coracles used hazel and willow as the framework, preferably covered in horse hide. Later coracles used flannel coated in pitch, tallow or tar, but today’s designs use calico with a proofing of pitch. In the early 1860s, the heyday of coracle fishing, there were over 300 boats fishing on the Teifi.