A few days in Ceredigion

 Tuesday 8 July 2025

Nido's parked up on the Nantyrhelyg campsite in the village of Pontrhydfendigaid, about 13 miles south-east of Aberystwyth, in the county of Ceredigion.  It's a beautiful part of Wales, with rolling hills and deep valleys, many small hamlets and smallholdings dotted around.  The Cambrian mountains are visible to the east, separating this area from towns such as Rhayader on the other side.  A footpath trail runs through the campsite which, if walked north, takes you to Devil's Bridge.  The campsite is on a 12 acre smallholding, with lovely views all around and red kites hovering overhead.  At £15 per night including EHU it's an absolute bargain and we've had it all to ourselves. The owners have kindly provided free bantam eggs; six make an excellent breakfast omelette for us to share!

Since our first trip of the year - to Fairbourne and nearby - we've had a couple of trips away in the van, including exploring the Montgomery canal and visiting St Fagans National Museum of History near Cardiff, but I didn't blog.

We arrived here on Sunday, having driven directly from home.  Once settled in we took Salty for a walk along some of the footpath trail, before passing the primary school and walking down into the village.  Until recently there were two pubs but both are now closed.  However, the village shop and post office is well-stocked and friendly.  After the journey here and dinner, we were soon ready for bed.

Yesterday we took a circular walk of about 5 miles.  After the first section along a sunken lane, we very quickly started to ascend the steep slopes of Pen y Bannau, stopping several times to admire the view.....and get our breath back!  From the trig point at the summit we had extensive views over the Cambrian mountains and beyond.  The descent was gentler and took us through bracken and fields, down to the ruins of Strata Florida Abbey.  Strata Florida Abbey (Vale of Flowers in Latin), also known as Ystrad Fflur, is a former Cistercian monastery in Wales with a rich history spanning over 850 years. It was established in 1164 by white-robed monks from Whitland Abbey and became a significant religious and cultural center, known for its association with Welsh princes and poets.   It was free to enter although I did give a donation in the small visitor centre.  We enjoyed our walk around what is left of the abbey, admiring the original decorative floor tiles, before our picnic at one of the tables inside the abbey ruins, with swifts diving and screeching overhead.

The return walk took us along the river Teifi, back into the village. After a quick stop at the village shop it was back to the van to sit outside with a cup of tea, before dinner at the picnic bench on our pitch.  I stayed up a little later to catch up on the Tour de France highlights before a quick read and sleep.

Just admiring the view...not resting - honest!

Some sort of Pilgrim statue on top of the hill

Graves of the monks and landowners

This morning I cycled around some of the small hamlets on fairly quiet roads, although at one point a group of about 50 motorbikes passed me at speed as I puffed up yet another steep hill, with some hairpins bends in the mix; I'm not as fit as I used to be!  The countryside, quiet hamlets and stone buildings strongly reminded me of cycling in France.  Despite the hills, I really enjoyed the 18 mile route and freewheeling the downhill sections made up for the slow slog upwards.

After lunch we walked back into the village and down a road towards the abbey to explore Coed Dolgeod and Coed Cnwch, a mix of deciduous woodland and bog, with the odd small pond here and there.  It's a lovely place to walk around with clear paths and a great variety of trees, plants and wildlife.  By the time we returned to the van I was bushed, so Cathy made a cup of of tea and we relaxed in the sunshine, watching the red kites circling overhead. I cooked dinner and again we sat at the picnic bench until the evening turned a bit cooler.

Tomorrow we're moving on and it's forecast to turn a lot hotter, so we'll aim to find somewhere shady to park up, chill out and have a short walk before moving on to our next park-up.