Pontescob Cottage
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Pontescob
Cottage
is a good example of little 17th century end-entry miller’s cottage,
and is listed as such.
Situated in the Black Mountains on the eastern side
of the Brecon
Beacons
National Park,
it has recently been restored with traditional materials, such as lime mortar,
horse hair, lime putty, distemper, sheep's wool insulation, and beeswax. Four
features in particular stand out as special – the stone roof, the stone-hooded
porch, the original wooden screen dividing the dining-room from the kitchen (the
former solar) and the winding fire stair with its little gable end mullion
window. Oak mullions in one of the kitchen windows have been restored, showing
how all the windows would have looked in the
cottage’s original state. Good heavy doors between the downstairs rooms and at
the bottom of the stairs are typical, and there is a bread oven in the
dining-room fireplace – essential for all at that time, but particularly for a
miller. The garden room is a later feature, a twentieth-century conversion of a
former lean-to barn.
Pontescob Cottage sits in a sunny little garden right next to the Grwyne river.
You can sit on the stone terrace and listen to the peaceful sound of the water
tumbling past. Sometimes cows escape into the river for a drink and come up to
the garden wall for a good look at you. The lawn is full of wild flowers in
spring - primroses, cowslips, celandines, stitchwort and Lady's Smock. A couple
of old apple trees support the washing line, and the old stone walls are covered
in alpines and little ferns. Look across fields to the Sugar Loaf Mountain or
Pen y Fal and gather up some energy to walk up to its summit. You can
drive or walk up to its base (going away from the river, turn first right and
drive for a mile or so until you see a little carpark and sign post). It makes a
lovely walk and the view from the top, stretching across the Brecon Beacons is
superlative.
T
Contact
Caroline@blackmountains.biz
Close to Pontescob (as you drive from Llanvihangel
Crucorney) is a fascinating SSSI,
Coed y Cerrig, an important National Nature Reserve. Part of this belongs
to The Countryside Commission of Wales, so that some access is possible via
raised walkways. It is a rare example of wet woodland or alluvial forest, with
indigenous trees historically coppiced for charcoal (hence the origin of the
name for the local hamlet of Forest
(char)Coalpit. Nothing to do with coal mining! Alder and willow enjoy the wet
valley bottom, while the sides are clothed in hazel, birch and ash. Large beech
and oak trees crown the tops of the valley sides. The SSSI is rich in fauna and
flora: in spring, purple orchids and bluebells can be seen on the drier slopes,
while marsh marigolds, mosses, lesser pond sedge and golden saxifrage populate
the bogs. The SSSI is an important habitat for the dormouse, and many different
kinds of birds and insects. On a fine day, an amble along the board walk is a
magical experience.
Partrishow church is situated on
the southern slopes of the
Gader
Range
with a wonderful panoramic view of the lower Grwyne Fawr valley. It has a
simple, peaceful, timeless beauty: as you enter the church you are welcomed with
that familiar smell of dampness associated with old country churches. One of the
treasures of Partrishow is the exquisite rood screen, carved from Irish oak. At
the back of the church you will see an unusual
dugout parish chest carved out
of a solid tree trunk, with iron bands around it and three locks, it was used
for the safe keeping of parish valuables. The Rector and church Wardens each
held a key to one of the three locks, so the chest could only be opened when the
three were present.
