T4tomo
Legendary Member
Its a weird place for sure, 2 years earlier a lady was walking a 2 headed dog in the same spot!
Last edited:
Game: Name that road!
- Thread starter ColinJ
- Start date
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Its a weird place for sure, 2 years earlier a lady was walking a 2 headed dog in the same spot!
Dogtrousers
Kilometre nibbler
By the way, I did eventually find the cattle grid I had in mind. it was nearby but not on that haunted road. It was vaguely similar but wasn't the right place.
MontyVeda
a short-tempered ill-controlled small-minded troll
- Location
- Lancaster... the little city.
now i have a sudden urge to listen to some early Status Quo!
alexandersmith
Member
swansonj
Guru
Well done. And anyone going to venture on the cultural/literary significance of that road turning off the A4086, or of
?
alexandersmith
Member
Something to do with Esme Kirby and the Snowdonia Society conservation group?
swansonj
Guru
Yes, but I was thinking of her husband, Thomas Firbank. That road leads to Dyffryn Mymbyr farm, which is the farm he bought and then wrote about in I Bought A Mountain. When they divorced, he gave it to her, and she established the Snowdonia Society there (it's now a National Trust holiday cottage - we've stayed there which is when I cycled up that road rather than just along the valley).
Anyway, I Bought A Mountain is an absolute classic of mountain writing, evocative, romantic, and funny. The chapter describing how they set new records for the Welsh 3000s is required reading for everyone who loves being in the hills.
So over to you.
Anyway, I Bought A Mountain is an absolute classic of mountain writing, evocative, romantic, and funny. The chapter describing how they set new records for the Welsh 3000s is required reading for everyone who loves being in the hills.
So over to you.
T4tomo
Legendary Member
When you wrote this
I was thinking more of something like a Tour of Britain crash on it 🤣
swansonj
Guru
I will agree that I Bought A Mountain is not as well-known as it was in a previous generation, and therefore my "in certain circles" are probably quite limited circles - but I stick by my guns that no-one who loves the hills should go through life not having read it😀. And Cyclechat members are quite a cultured bunch, no?😀😀.
Dogtrousers
Kilometre nibbler
I remembered that Led Zeppelin used to hang out in North Wales somewhere so I did a bit of research and located their old gaff. That wasn't it.
OldShep
Über Member
- Location
- South West Scotland
I read IBaM some 40 years ago because I was a hill shepherd. Recall feeling sorry for Esme all through the book. She was put upon and if we had had a daughter we would have named her Esme.
swansonj
Guru
While we're waiting for @alexandersmith to post the next challenge...
When you read I Bought A Mouhtain, I don't there's any real hint that their marriage was in trouble. But in his follow-on about his wartime years, I Bought A Star, we learn that by the time IBAM was published they'd already separated. As I recall, he finished IBAM from Spain (or maybe south of France) where he'd moved out to. So you could well be right that she didn't get a good deal from the marriage. He was restless and looking for new challenges; she was umbilically attached to Eryri/Snowdonia.
OldShep
Über Member
- Location
- South West Scotland
That’s interesting and not surprising. My lasting impression was nothing on the farm would have got done if it wasn’t for her.
A friend of mine, also a shepherd at the time, on holiday nearby chapped on the door to ask for water. In the pretence to meet her of course but no one was in.
