When Rhodri the Great built Castell Dinefwr as a defence against the Vikings in the ninth century, he brought with him distinctive long-horned, white-coated cattle to provide sustenance.
Rhodri, who was busy laying the foundations of Wales, probably never suspected that this ancient breed, known as White Park, would outlive the era of kings.
Though it has. At the foot of the castle, near the town of Llandeilo, a 20-strong herd is grazing by the visitors’ cafe at Newton House. A living reminder of the former ruler.
This Grade-II listed country house, from 1660, is now a National Trust property, and it’s a curious building.
Newton is considered one of the most haunted places in Wales, and TV crews come regularly hoping to film paranormal activity (following rumours of voices and odours coming from empty rooms that began in the 1980s).
Nothing to report on our visit – though it’s interesting to see the property’s Second World War exhibit and impressive art collection, including a portrait of Mary, Queen of Scots bidding farewell to France in 1561.
Dinefwr isn’t the only castle in the area. Carreg Cennen Castle overlooks miles of unblemished countryside from its own hilltop, six miles away.
This is hidden from view when we visit at night to take advantage of its Dark Skies Reserve status and enjoy a flask of hot chocolate beneath the stars.
Laura travels to Llandeilo in South Wales where ‘a strip of pastel-coloured houses leads to the market town from a stone bridge over the River Towy’ (above)
Laura visits Castell Dinefwr (above), which was built in the ninth century
Rhodri the Great ‘brought distinctive long-horned, white-coated cattle to provide sustenance’ to Castell Dinefwr in the ninth century and ‘probably never suspected that this ancient breed, known as White Park, would outlive the era of kings’
Llandeilo, where we are staying, has a population of around 1,800.
A strip of pastel-coloured houses leads to the market town from a stone bridge over the River Towy. Its high street has boutiques, craft shops and galleries displaying local art.
We stop for lunch at the Cawdor Arms which, locals say, serves the best Welsh lamb in Carmarthenshire. Another attraction is just outside town at Dolaucothi, the only known Roman goldmine in Britain.
Here you can join underground tours three days a week.
A hollowed out area in the yard was once an enormous open-cast pit where Romans may have used slave labour from the area to dig for gold. There’s also a walking trail.
Down a woodland path, you follow a stream to the sound of trickling water and the occasional drumming of great spotted woodpeckers.
It’s a wonderful sight, just like Rhodri’s cattle down at his old castle. The past feels close by in this charming corner of Carmarthenshire.
WHERE TO STAY: Doubles at The Cawdor in Llandeilo from £115 B&B (thecawdor.com). Sixt has car/minivan hire from £36 a day (sixt.co.uk).
Grade II listed Newton House ‘is considered one of the most haunted places in Wales’ (above)
Carreg Cennen Castle (pictured above) ‘overlooks miles of unblemished countryside from its own hilltop’
