It's been quite a while since I've ventured anywhere near the Abergwesyn Common, it's a long journey South to Llanwrtyd Wells, but the occasional Red Kite for company makes one glad to be alive, and grateful one is able to visit such a glorious spot.
Drygan Fawr is the main summit in this terribly remote area of Mid Wales, and the main route from Llanwrtyd to Tregaron, follows one of the most famous Droving routes,whereby those hardy travellers,often trusted with immense fortunes by their employers,drove their cattle all the way to Smithfield in London.
In 1859 Sir Robert Wynn,one of the most powerful men in 19C North Wales, entrusted a sum of nearly £5000 to one of his Drovers,so that it could be deposited in his account in the financial banks in London.
Today, we are lucky enough to be able to venture to every part of Wales and further afield, but as recently as 1890, according to records of the time, 94% of the Welsh population had not travelled further than thirty miles of their place of birth.
The Drovers were probably some of the very first Welshman,to regularly visit London and other areas of England,and because Wales did not have any financial houses or banks,they were entrusted with huge fortunes.
The very first currency in Wales was issued by the Ship Bank in Bridge St, in Aberystwyth in 1886, and only one banknote from that financial institution is known to exist.
Later in around 1810 this bank opened up a branch in Tregaron, and the famous Aberystwyth Tregaron Bank, used by the Drovers, lasted just under four years, due to the uncertainty in the banks as financial institutions.
A lovely part of Mid Wales,but make sure you've got breakdown cover,it's probably the remotest location in the whole of Wales,and the mobile signal is non existent.