IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Blaenwaun, WHITLAND, SA34 0JH

A public telephone box and postbox must attract very few users on this remote back road. Already 'Nid Yw'n Derbyn Arian' (not using cash) the telephone is scheduled for removal altogether.

According to the notice, a survey has revealed that this public telephone is not used enough to warrant its continued existence. Spider webs and moth wings confirm its main customers are invertebrate. However many of these deep, remote valleys have no mobile phone reception and this facility could be a lifeline.

This charming little dwelling known as Ffarmers [sic] Cottage (a former inn) stands empty beside the road where it crosses the river Elwyn. A local authority notice dated 2004 suggests plans are, or were, afoot to rehabilitate it.

The map indicates there are two small fishing lakes here.

Seen from the north across the valley, the farm's name 'Field Ford' suggests a nearby crossing-place over Nant Elwyn below. Hay bales in the meadow and rosebay willowherb setting seed confirm that August has arrived.

The road dips steeply into the Elwyn valley; beyond to the northeast can be seen the Blue Rock festival taking place in Image

An unusual profusion of this interesting member of the lily family grows along the banks of the road here. At this stage in the year the unripe berries dangle like baubles but in spring its pale, drop-like flowers earned it the name sow's tits in southern England, also Jacob's Ladder. It was a highly-regarded medicinal plant extolled by Dioscorides, Gerard and Culpeper for its healing properties, hence its name Solomon's seal which had magical associations; it is also used in contemporary Chinese medicine. See http://www.pfaf.org/database/plants.php?Polygonatum+multiflorum It is a native woodland species but often also a naturalised garden escape. Supposed to be poisonous but the young shoots are said to be edible!

The turbines of Dyffryn Brodyn wind farm dominate the horizon: some people find them pointlessly offensive, others see them as an imaginative and valuable use of renewable resources.

Roadside farm, the name meaning white, or fair, spring.

A member of the Solanum family along with potatoes, tomatoes, tobacco and many toxic relatives, an alternative name is bittersweet, which is also the meaning of the specific name. It is a shrubby perennial with poisonous scarlet berries that can often be seen draped over hedgerows later in the year. Medically of great significance as a narcotic: see http://www.the-tree.org.uk/EnchantedForest/WoodlandFlowers/woodynightshade.htm for an excellent account of its history and properties.