Caio to Porthyrhyd
Caio (SN 675397) was a busy drovers' village in the 18th & 19th Centuries, but 1,500 years earlier it had been busier still: the Romans had found gold under a mile away, outside Pumsaint1. Drovers leaving Caio for Porthyrhyd were on a Roman road.
The route starts on tarmac, but at Aberbowlan (696389), about a mile south-east of Caio, you'll see a track going off to the left (#1). This is where the fun begins. You'll need waterproof footwear to cross the ford, but the one-mile walk across the hill to Drovers' Farm is one of the best in Wales.
First comes the watery section (#2), then a hill where the path is worn down to bedrock (#3) leads you to grassy uplands (#4) before coming down to Drovers' Farm in Porthyryd, where the Jones family showed us the outbuildings of the old inn where the cattlemen slept (foreground of #5). No room for a picture of the stance opposite or the open fireplace inside.
After Porthyrhyd the beasts were driven north-east to Cilycwm – see separate article – or south-east to Llandovery. Then it was up Eppynt, either way.
1 Always referred to as the Dolaucothi Goldmine, after the hill just north of it. The National Trust owns it now, and allows you to pan for gold. Don't rush...
