Country diary: A remote church in a long-lost borough | Jim Perrin

Llanfihangel Cefnllys, Powys: The bracken hillsides are aflame with light as I follow the lane to the spirePendant ranks of catkins cascade in orderly plenitude from every roadside twig to delight my eye. Characteristic trees of the west, hazels come with folkloric texture attached. Magical trees, they tremble to the faintest suggestion of a breeze. In fading light, catkins glow pale dusty lemon.This afternoon, shafts of sunlight stream through the western hills to pick out earthworks of Cefnllys Castle. This played its part in the fractious history of the Welsh Marches. Now nothing but grass-veiled rubble remains. My lane descends towards Afon Ieithon. A church spire rises from the pastures, shadow pooling around it. Bracken hillsides above flame with light. Llanfihangel Cefnllys church, or St Michael's: it once served a long-lost borough that died out shortly after the bubonic plague arrived. Continue reading...