Wales and Water

A country defined, sometimes uncomfortably, by water

Monkstone Beach, looking west to Tenby. Author’s image.

I walk along a Roman road that runs outside of my house in Carmarthenshire, Wales. The road runs rougly east-west. I walk uphill past a farmyard and a pretty summer house, and then past a rusted field gate that bears the mishapen scars of an unsuccessful altercation with a herd of cows. At the top of the hill, the view opens to overlook both the Tywi and Dulais valleys and I can see the Tywi has burst its banks, leaving a sheet of silvery water to extend across what were once fields. My neighbour, Aled, is walking in the opposite direction with his dog. “In flood again. It’s almost up to the main road now”. He shakes his head and walks on. The rain had been heavy for weeks. A text comes through on my phone: the water company warning that there has been an incident in the area and that my home’s water supply might be affected. I up my pace to get home, so I can fill the saucepans again.

The Tywi Valley from the north. Author’s image

I stand in the market square in Carmarthen and hear a flock of seagulls overhead. I drive to a community centre in the village of Myddfai and see a boat on the back of a trailer, cross a bridge over a stream that isn’t on the map. School children compete…