The Guardian writes: In the 1860s, the dream of the owners of the Manchester and Milford Railway was to link the cotton mills of Lancashire with the port of Milford Haven. Their ambitious plans were knocked off course by the mighty Cors Caron peat bog and the Cambrian mountains beyond. In the end, they succeeded merely in connecting Milford with Aberystwyth. The Ystwyth Trail follows the northern end of this sidetracked venture, which eventually closed in 1965. The creators of the cycle path have similarly been derailed at the southern end, where the trail is pushed off the track bed and on to roads from time to time. However, it still makes for a cracking ride: leaving the coastal resort of Aberystwyth, the path follows the banks of the Afon Ystwyth before dropping south along the Teifi to Tregaron.

The Sunday Times named Barmouth beach as 12th best in UK in 2019. Besides the beauty of the large sweeping sandy beach, there are donkey rides, crabbing, paddleboard pub crawls up the estuary and the Fairbourne Steam railway to enjoy. Seeing where Snowdonia meets the sea is so lovely and the views over to Ynyslas remind you that this is only a day’s outing from Welsh Hideaways!

Welsh/English dictionary can be very useful but try Aberprogs ‘Welsh Lessons’ or Duolingo to get conversation going. This will give you confidence and the Professor below lacked that!

Yes, besides the great recycling achievement, the Council aims for Ceredigion to be a net zero carbon local authority by 2030. Their exciting plan also targets reducing carbon emissions by a further 15% by 2023.

Welsh Hideaways fully supports these plans and over the next few years, will be taking further steps in support of this. At present all the electricity used by our cottages comes from 100% renewable sources. Thank you Ceredigion Herald for keeping us well informed.

The Council informs us that the 2018 Ceredigion Air Quality Strategy Progress Report has shown that air quality standards are compliant with The Environment Act 1995. The report was approved by the council’s Cabinet in a meeting on 19 February 2019.

Air quality is monitored for four key air pollutants, and results are compared with quality standards. Trends show that the concentrations of some of the air pollutants are falling in Ceredigion. This can be seen in Aberystwyth, where levels of nitrogen dioxide are falling at road-sides and hot-spots.

Councillor Gareth Lloyd is the Cabinet member responsible for Public Protection. He said, “People have long come to Ceredigion for beautiful scenery and fresh air. We now have the data to show that Ceredigion is one of the best places for air quality in Wales.”

“Council Carbon emissions have fallen by almost 45% since 2007 and we are dedicated to making sure that we reduce it even further.”

No surprise to most of us but great to see this great country acclaimed in such a positive light. Tenth in the world for beauty and third best in the world for recycling!

As the Royal Commission on Ancient Monuments in Wales reports, boasting of a Iron Age hill fort, ruined medieval castle, Gothic and Neo Gothic architecture, Victorian and Edwardian buildings, Funicular Railway, Museum, the The National Library of Wales, Ceredigion Archives, a harbour, Celtic crosses and not forgetting the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales, Aberystwyth is undoubtedly home to some of the best historical sites in west Wales.

Resource journal reports that Wales has been recognised as one of the world’s leading recyclers, coming first amongst UK nations, second in Europe and third globally, according to its own reported statistics. The path to this achievement is remarkable, but of even greater interest will be the future of such a small nation in maintaining its leadership role – and in doing so, developing new pathways for materials recovery and new concepts for old products.

Let’s hope that the thousands enjoying self-catering holidays in Wales are careful to recycle and not just be lazy and use the black general rubbish bags unnecessarily.

This Guardian article will excite the more adventurous cycling enthusiasts!

Head for Machynlleth!