Some walking today and another little railway of Wales

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We woke to fog again. Not so thick, but still there and making the world a bit grey again. The weather forecast for today was grey in the morning, but rain in the afternoon. We decided that if we wanted to do some walking in the Berecon Beacons, it would need to be this morning. The Llanthony Priory was our choice. The Priory is on the edge of the Brecon Beacons National park, and you can access a few walks from there. Zara had suggested walking up behind the Priory to Offra's Dyke, so we thought we would give it a try. The road into the Priory was one of the typical country lanes we have driven in over the last few days. You need to keep watching all the time so you don't hit a car coming in the other direction- there is often only space for one car at a time. Luckily no cars needed passing on the way in. We stopped to have a quick look at the ruins of the Priory (another victim of Henry VIII) and then went up the hill. It was a pretty steep climb and the weather was starting to look ominous. We decided to shorten the walls, and found a signpost saying circular walk. Walking in Wales is very popular and the walks are pretty well signposted. They go over and through fields, and it was necesssary to dodge the sheep or cows ( and the bits they leave behind) as you walk. Today there was the added complication of mud and sometimes running water. In one section there was also bracken to dodge around. We arrived back at the Priory a while later with muddy boots and pants. Definitely time for morning tea. A cup of coffee and a toasted tea cake did the trick. As we could see the weather was not going to be good for more walking in the afternoon, we decided to take another train ride on the Brecon Mountain Railway.this is another of the small Welsh railways once used for slate transport. We set the gps for Merthyr Tydfil and drove to the Pant terminus station. There we had some soup for lunch while we waited for the 2.30pm train. The train came back from its previous journey and there were quite a few passengers getting off. We then boarded. Not so many on this train. We sat in the carriage behind the engine on the way up. The trip toook about 45 minutes. The engine moved down to the front and then we started the trip back. Now we were in the last coach. On the way down we stopped for 45 minutes at Pontsticill station where there is a small steam museum, and also a tea room. More tea to sustain us and then back to the terminus. It was now raining quite hard, so we returned to our hotel. We relaxed for a while, before heading downstairs to dinner.(much easier than going out in the rain). An early night is in order after our late night lst night. moving on to Bath tomorrow.

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