278 



range i>f hills is coiiiposed. The attempt has several times been made in Here- 

 fordshire, and the money of many industrious people been lost, whereas if there 

 is truth in geology, the real coal measures have all been washed off the surface of 

 the Old Red Sandstone, and Murchison ridiculed the vain attempt by saying 

 " they should rather go up in a balloon to seek it." There does not seem to have 

 been any real coal pit here. The man who lived in the Coal Pit house knew 

 nothing of it, and the tradition, kindly gleaned for the Club by the Rev. John 

 Davies, of Pandy, is probably right — that the pits here were charcoal pits, where 

 the wood from the neighbouring valleys was converted into charcoal, to be 

 conveyed to the Forest of Dean for smelting the iron ore. It is an additional 

 misnomer for the hill, for it should have been the Charcoal Pit hill. 



The road runs through the Forest hamlet, and by the side of the beautiful 

 river Grwynne {Anglice, Groiney), to Pont Esgob, or the Bishop's Bridge (another 

 name absurdly transmogrified into Pont Yspig). This bridge over the Grwynne 

 Fawr was built either by, or in commemoration of, Baldwyn, Archbishop of Can- 

 terbury, who is said to have passed over the river at this spot when, accompanied 

 by Giraldus Cambrensis in their tour through Wales in 1188, he was engaged in 

 preaching the Crusades through this district. The Grwynne Fawr is a beautiful 

 river, and it flows through a lovely valley. It is occupied by a tribe of trout fishes, 

 as beautiful as they are bold. It is such a stream as this that delights the soul of 

 a fisherman. To have fished the Grw}'nne for a few days is an era — an Elysium — 

 in life never to be forgotten. It is happy for these brave fish that they are pro- 

 tected by many overhanging trees. The ardour of the sportsman is thus beguiled 

 by nature (or bothered by the boughs), whilst the fish ensconce themselves in 

 safety in the rocky hollows beneath the thick bushes. 



The ijath led through sandy corn fields and narrow lanes, where were gathered 

 the Lamb's lettuce, Fedia olitoria, and the Veronica huxliauniii, a plant introduced 

 with seed corn of late years ; and where the walls teemed with pretty plants — 

 the shining Crane's bill, Geranium lucidma on the top, whilst the crevices 

 between the stones abounded with Wall pennywort. Cotyledon umbilicus (how 

 soothing its hollow fleshy leaves are to aching corns !), and those beautiful ferns, 

 Ceterach officinale, Asplenium trichomanes, Adiantum nigrum. The hedges, or 

 rocky divisions of the fields here, were plentifully ornamented with the Bird 

 cherry, Prunus padus, in the full perfection of bloom. 



The light bird cherry hangs its flag 

 In snowy splendour from the crag. 



The walk up the valley was very diversified and very pleasant, though some- 

 times rather steep in the short cuts. The house of Ty-yn-y-llwyn, one of the 

 many "Houses in the Grove" that Wales rejoices in, was soon reached. This was 

 formerly the mansion of the Herberts. Charles Herbert died here in 1703, and 

 the family afterwards removed to Crickhowell. From the lane just beyond, the 

 Church of Partricio comes in sight. The key had been procured from the hands 

 of the clerk, who had reached the patriarchal age of 93, and had only failed for the 

 last year or two in the full performance of his duties. 



