Cheese and coast pilgrims

This morning, being dull and cloudy, neither the beach nor the coast path seemed inviting, so we  made a food pilgrimage instead to Glyneithinog Farm, the home of Caws Cenarth, a favourite Welsh organic cheese of ours. 

Tucked away on a wooded hillside above the river Cych which flows down into the river Teifi, it's quite hard to find and can only be accessed up steep narrow lanes from the B-road that connects it to the village. We first came here six years ago while staying in a holiday chalet. It was good to see how the enterprise has developed since then, with expanded cheese making facilities, and its own branded van for taking supplies out to its growing market.

Thelma Adams, who with her husband Gwynfor began making and selling cheese to the public back in 1987 is still active in the dairy shop, greeting visitors in Welsh or English, talking about the range of products they now make and offering samples. The shop walls are covered with news articles and photos and award certificates celebrating their success. Clare and Owain listened and tasted along with half a dozen other visitors (including one from Spain). I just sat and soaked up the atmosphere with great pleasure.

We went for lunch of lamb cawl and Cenarth cheese at the Nag's Head pub by the bridge crossing the the river Cych down in the hamlet of Abercych. As well as being a decent country pub with good cuisine, it brews its own beer. An added bonus to find such hidden treasure of a hostelry.

From thence to Cenarth, a quick stop to look at the Teifi, not as swollen as on our last visit, when the water was two metres higher, and St Llawddog's Well was surrounded by water.

From there we drove back to Aberteifi to take the north side road to the coast for a visit to Mwnt, for the second time this week. Owain knew it only from promoting special places when he worked for the Visit Wales website, but had never been there, so for him it was a must to do. Fortunately the rain stayed away. He and Clare did the climb and walked the beach.

I was overwhelmed with tiredness after much driving and a late night, so slept for an hour in the car. We returned to Moylegrove by way of Poppit Sands, so that Owain could check out another one of Wales' famous beaches. Then, when we got back to the cottage he cooked supper for us again. It's one of those crazy things about life, that since he's been here he's been contacted about two job interviews. Given that the phone signal is so erratic down here along the coast, responding could have been a problem. However, as Clare discovered earlier in the week, there's quite a strong signal on the landward side of the Mwnt, as it's high up. Not so the beach however.