Defynnog

Ancient Yews and St Cynog's

In the churchyard of St Cynog's stands a yew measured at just over ten metres round. How old it is depends on who you ask. The Ancient Tree Inventory puts the best-known of the four churchyard yews at somewhere between two and three thousand years, while a more careful study projects a minimum of around thirteen hundred, considers three thousand unlikely and rejects five thousand as unsupported. A cautious assessment is closer to the verdict of Toby Hindson of the Ancient Yew Group: "The trees are very ancient and of international significance."

The church the yews surround sits on a terrace above the Afon Senni, about a hundred metres from the water. Most of what you see is late fifteenth century, tower included, though a church was recorded here as far back as 1254. In the porch is an incised stone reading "Rugniatio Livendoni," cut in the fifth or sixth century and marked later with two crosses and what may be Ogham. The font carries the letters "Siwurd + Gwlmer" and a long-standing claim to be the only Runic inscription in Wales, though specialists dispute it and read the lettering as Lombardic capitals instead. Six bells by John Taylor hang in the tower. A visitor in 1855, Sir Stephen Glynne, judged the whole thing "above par" for the district.

The Tanners Arms

Day-to-day, the village gathers closer to the bridge. The Tanners Arms has traded since 1870, out of three cottages built around 1806 for workers at the tannery that gave it its name. It is independent and family-run, with a beer garden, log fires and two changing cask beers; Boss and Grey Trees turn up often, and there is usually real cider on as well. Dogs are welcome. The kitchen does home-cooked food, and recent plates have run to meat pies, sea bass, lamb and a Sunday dinner. One regular called it a "great family run traditional pub," which is about the shape of it.

Rarebit in the Old School

In the Old School building is the International Welsh Rarebit Centre. The bread is baked on site and the rarebits run from traditional through Patagonian and Korean to versions with Spanish chorizo, stout or kimchi. There are seasonal soups, salads, daily specials and cakes, a wood-burning stove and a small shop, with room for children.

From the Senni Valley to the Hills

Defynnog falls into two halves: the church and older houses on the higher ground, and the cluster down by the bridge over the Senni. An 8.36-kilometre circular loops the surrounding fields, and a footway beside the A4067 links the village to Sennybridge and the banks of the Usk. The T6 bus runs through, stopping at the Tanners Arms, and carries you to Brecon in one direction or past Dan-yr-Ogof's show caves in the other. Pen y Fan, southern Britain's highest hill at 886 metres, is a drive away; from Pont ar Daf the ascent is steep.

Railway Memory and Show Day

The village kept its own railway station from 1867 until the passenger trains stopped in 1962; the nearest now is Llandovery, eleven miles off. On the first Saturday of September the neighbouring Sennybridge Show fills Dickson's Field with livestock, dogs, rural crafts and horticulture, the same fixture the Devynock Agricultural Society has run for years.