The Cottage in Machynlleth © Oliver Wood I’m losing track with these diary entries and it seems as though there has been an exceptional hiatus since my last ‘write up’. At last I feel inspired to make comment once again and something of a muse has returned, albeit temporarily. We have just returned from another stay in glorious West Wales and yet another part of the UK which had remained completely undiscovered by yours truly up to press. We stayed in a lovely little cottage close to Machynlleth and very close to some of the most inspiring landscape you could wish for this side of Canada or Norway. Densely wooded valleys and hills comprising a mixture of native deciduous trees and conifers stretched as far as the eye could see and the whole place had a rather satisfying air of out doorsy adventure. Machynlleth is famous for both being on the edge of the Snowdonia National Park and also home to the fascinating Centre For Alternative Technology which has become something of a focal point for the areas long association with ecology and natural conservation issues. CAT is an intriguing mixture of environmentalists and scientific boffins and the centre is home to some of the worlds leading authorities and research in the field of renewable energy systems. We had rides on a number of the little steam railways which Wales is generally renowned for. They all pass through landscapes of outstanding natural beauty but the most impressive has to be the Rheidol up to Devils Bridge, trundling along at a sedate 12Mph in an open carriage with the fabulous smell of ‘steam’ intermingling with forest timber and the sense of climbing to an almost vertiginous height is, for me, the quintessence of West Wales and of course the whole experience was so much more fulfilling both socially and culturally than any package to sun and beach. Most of the area seems to be patronised by a certain wholesome or ‘real living’ intelligentsia. One gets the impression that their children have no interest in TV and can actually identify trees—amazing and refreshing indeed! On the way to Corris © Oliver Wood On the way to the little village of Corris and the charming Corris Railway. It started to rain quite heavily just after I had taken this shot but it didn’t seem to matter at all, this was a magical place. I have taken many photos of varying quality though the good ones are likely to find their way to either this site or Flickr or both within the next few days.