Read by Rhodri Dwyfor

It’s a sunny day in Snowdonia, North Wales. Tourists head to the famous horseshoe, a rock formation in the National Park. I prefer to go off the beaten track. Close to Ogwen Valley lies the land of Tomos, a shepard and landowner in this picturesque region. He lives there with Rhodri, Telor and dozens of sheep. Tomos (photo: right) is a man who prefers to speak less, but who wears a constant smile. „Do you like reading?“ he asks me and starts talking about the book „I bought a mountain“ by Thomas Firbank, a book about a man, who bought Dyffryn Mymbyr farm in Northern Wales. He proudly points to the hill north of his land: „it’s right there“. He, Tomos, seems to be right there, well, right here. Living in the moment, seizing every minute, loving his life to the fullest.

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Transcript

Nestling high up in the Snowdonia Mountains, just below Snowdon itself, sits the Northern Welsh claimant to be the home of the Lady of the Lake. Llyn Llydaw somehow, seems an unlikely setting for King Arthur's encounter with the Lady. He certainly would have had quite a climb to claim his magical sword, Excalibur. The battle weary Bedwyr must have felt it worst when returning his monarch's sword after the fateful Battle of Camlann. Local tradition says that this was fought close by in Cwm-y-llan, "The Valley of the Lake". Arthur himself was shot dead in Bwlch-y-Saethau - "The Pass of the Arrows" - and buried under the cairn known as Carnedd Arthur. This story, however, appears to be a very late addition to the Arthurian compendium. More likely candidates are the Camlan or Gamlan Valleys in nearby Merionydd. King Arthur, wounded in battle was taken to the Isle of Avalon, Bardsey Island in this case, to recover.