Builth.—Another small town, possessing no interest besides the site of the castle and the wells.
Talgarth (1 mile distant).—Remains of Bronllys Castle; Llangorse Pool.
Crickhowell.—The church; the castle ruins.
Abergavenny.—A market town; castle, now a recreation-ground; church, with fine carved oak; earliest wooden effigy; the Blorenge.
(Trunk) No. 8. LLANGURIG TO ABERGAVENNY.
The road to Rhayader traverses part of the Upper Wye Valley, and gives frequent glimpses of troubled, foam-flecked water, alternating with long reaches where the river slides smoothly along its rocky bed. The setting is one of pastoral scenery, bounded by the rounded uplands, which help to form the catchment basin for the great lakes which now supply Birmingham with water. This gigantic undertaking, to be extended altogether over fifty years, will eventually be the means of constructing a chain of lakes in the vale of the Elan, effectually providing for the future needs of the great manufacturing metropolis so far as water is concerned.
RHAYADER
The chief attraction at Rhayader is the scenery, as nothing of particular importance meets the eye in the town. It is a good sketching-ground for artists, many excellent subjects being discoverable in the surrounding country. To the angler it is a paradise. Although it possesses two churches, they are not worthy of the time required for inspecting them. The Wye here is an impetuous mountain stream, plunging amid the rocks strewn along its course; to this point the salmon reach the upper waters at the spawning season. Between Rhayader and Builth there are several very sharp turnings in the road, requiring considerable care if risks are to be avoided. The Wye is close to the road at many parts of its course, and forms the boundary between the counties of Brecon and Radnor. Farther on the stream begins to lose its torrential character, and, traversing this well-wooded valley, assumes more of the calm and placid character with which one generally associates it. It receives the superfluous water from the great lakes of the Birmingham Corporation Reservoirs by the Afon Elan soon after passing Rhayader. To the west of Newbridge-on-Wye, Lysdinam Hall, the ancestral home of the Venables, is seen upon an eminence.