Cathedine

Church Above the Lake and a Dispersed Hamlet

St Michael's stands in a steep churchyard above the south-east bank of Llangorse Lake, ancient yews leaning over the graves and the water below. A church has been on this spot since at least 1584, when one first appears on a map, though most of what you see is Victorian: E. H. Martineau built the chancel and north tower in 1868, and S. W. Williams rebuilt much of the nave in 1894. Inside are a plain circular font from the thirteenth century, stained glass by Mayer & Co of Munich, and wall tablets dated 1774 and 1797.

The rest of Cathedine is farms. It sits on the eastern side of the Afon Llynfi valley beside the B4560, just past the southern tip of the lake, with hedged pasture running up to the long ridge of Allt yr Esgair behind it. By the early nineteenth century the place amounted to little more than the church and the farm next to it, and it has stayed largely dispersed since.

The Last Pub in Bwlch

For a pub or a shop you drive to Bwlch or Llangors. Bwlch, up on the A40, has the New Inn, run by Neil and Sarah, with a fire indoors and an outdoor area, muddy boots and dogs welcome, and Rocky the pub dog underfoot. Wye Valley Butty Bach is the regular cask ale, with two changing guests and a real cider alongside. It is the last pub left in Bwlch — several others closed long ago — and it took the local CAMRA Pub of the Year in 2024. One recent visitor called it a "proper traditional pub," which is about right.

Food and Provisions Around the Lake

Llangors, across the lake, has two more pubs and a shop. The Red Lion is owned by a farming family and cooks seasonally from local suppliers: pan-fried mackerel with rhubarb and beetroot, ham-hock and Hafod-cheddar croquettes, lamb-and-beef ragù with pappardelle, chicken Kiev with potato boulangère. There are wood burners, a pool table, a piano and board games. The Castle Inn is family-friendly, with a beer garden and sport on the screen. For provisions, Siop Llangors is the community shop and café, doing locally made pasties, cakes and barista coffee, and the Beacons Farm Shop at Bwlch, run by the Morgan family since 1985, sells its own venison, lamb and beef with the deer and cattle grazing in view.

Ridge and Lakeside Days

The walking is the reason to be here. The Allt yr Esgair circuit is a shade under four miles with a stiff 320 metres of climbing, up through woodland past Paragon Tower, a nineteenth-century hunting lodge, then across open fields with the lake spread out below before the ridge itself. A gentler day starts from Llangasty and follows the water round to the bird hide. On the lake there is boat hire, and the Welsh Crannog Centre tells the story of the crannog built out in the water around AD 916, the only one of its kind in Wales or England.

Rail, Bus and Ancient Yews

The nearest trains are at Abergavenny, about fourteen miles off, and a bus, the X12, calls at Cathedine on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Back at the church, ancient yews overlook the graves and the lake.