Wales Middle

Counties: Powys and Dyfed

The area known as Mid Wales takes in the former counties of Montgomery and Radnor and part of Brecknock, now forming the new county of Powys (county town Llandrindod Wells), the former county of Cardigan, which is now part of Dyfed, and parts of Merioneth and Carmarthen.

The area has a wide variety of scenery, from the great sweep of Cardigan Bay with its sandy beaches to the border regions which were disputed with England for so many centuries. Here can be found farmland and sheep grazing pasture, characteristic half-timbered houses, tiny villages with old stone farmhouses surrounded by green fields in the middle of open heathland where time seems to have stood still. In general the hills of Mid Wales are lower and less steep than those of South Wales, most of them being gently rounded and undulating. Large reservoirs provide drinking water for the conurbations of Liverpool and Birmingham, but they are not favorably regarded by the Welsh nationalists, who perceive this to be the exploitation of their countryside.

The coast of Mid Wales offers two different types of scenery: sand dunes in the northern half, cliffs with small sandy beaches in the south, the latter providing the opportunity for long and beautiful cliff walks.