Pony trekking in the ~70s

[Boughtabay]

thought this might interest some forum members

From the Cambrian Mountains website:
“We hope everybody enjoyed the premier of the digitised Tregaron Pony Trekking slides and voiceover too.
Watch the Remastered Tregaron Pony Trekking slides PREMIERED on the night of 16h of November 2022. Slides and voice lost for over 40 years found recently hidden away in dusty cupboards.”

 

[splashgirl45]

Thanks for that, I went pony trekking in mid wales near Builth wells in the early 60’s and our groups were much smaller but it bought make fond memories..

 

[Widgeon]

Thy look like packhorse strings, there are so many of them!

 

[PeterNatt]

Boughtamare! Many thanks for that. I used to live to the East of Llandewi Breffi (Just south of Tregaron) and used to ride all around the area. Fantastic off-road riding - miles and miles of it! My neighbour was the Maes Glas Pony Trecking Centre run by Pat Conn who went on to organise the Red Dragon Endurance Ride.

 

[Prancerpoos]

I went trekking somewhere up by Bangor in about 1971, when I was 12. I went with a friend by train, all the way from Brighton with a couple of changes - imagine letting a pair of 12 year olds off on their own to do that now! I think we were the only ones at the stables, so nothing like the pictures above.

Thanks for posting that - it brought back memories.

 

[Boughtabay]

Boughtamare! Many thanks for that. I used to live to the East of Llandewi Breffi (Just south of Tregaron) and used to ride all around the area. Fantastic off-road riding - miles and miles of it! My neighbour was the Maes Glas Pony Trecking Centre run by Pat Conn who went on to organise the Red Dragon Endurance Ride.

It is a wonderful area to ride! I haven’t been in a while with a horse though. I can only imagine the carnage when they took these massive groups of varying abilities out and about in the mountains. You’d probably know my grandparents who were also involved & not far from you - small world!

 

[Errin Paddywack]

In 1971 we spent our honeymoon in Wales in a small hotel owned by a friend. That was in Llanwrtydd Wells. We got to know some of the locals and one old boy, Dai Arthur was a trek leader. He had a pony that did the trekking in the summer and was home with him in the winter. It was suggested to us that we drove across the Tregaron to Abergwesyn road. It was interesting to say the least. Our old car, a Singer Gazelle was a heavy old lump and I can remember one tight bend that Michael had to do a 3 point turn round. We also came across a bridge that was under water, it rained a lot that week, and I had to go and paddle across to make sure it wasn't too deep for the car. Thoroughly enjoyed it.

 

[Boughtabay]

In 1971 we spent our honeymoon in Wales in a small hotel owned by a friend. That was in Llanwrtydd Wells. We got to know some of the locals and one old boy, Dai Arthur was a trek leader. He had a pony that did the trekking in the summer and was home with him in the winter. It was suggested to us that we drove across the Tregaron to Abergwesyn road. It was interesting to say the least. Our old car, a Singer Gazelle was a heavy old lump and I can remember one tight bend that Michael had to do a 3 point turn round. We also came across a bridge that was under water, it rained a lot that week, and I had to go and paddle across to make sure it wasn't too deep for the car. Thoroughly enjoyed it.

i know exactly where you mean and I don’t think the bridge has improved much! I recently showed my OH the “devils staircase” along that road

 

[Errin Paddywack]

It was somewhere on that road that a friend's horse decided to try to see if his name of Pegasus was correct. She was competing in a Long Distance ride when he started getting upset so she got off and while she was talking to someone felt a tug on the reins and he had jumped off the side. He didn't fly. It was very sad, he was a stunning bay leopard about 16hhs.

 

[Gloi]

How lovely. I always went to a trek centre near Dolgellau in the 70s when we went on our family holidays.

 

[PeterNatt]

Boughtamare! Who were your parents? I used to ride along the Abergwesyn Mountain Road either to Tregaron or to Dolgoch Youth Hostel where a friend was the warden. I also would ride to Llandewi Breffi and park the horse behind the Follet Arms Pub and then sometimes on to Lampeter. My horse was my only form of transport so i used to go shopping on him. (Vesta meals where the best as they were light-weight and one just had to add boiling water to them. (Different flavour for each day of the week.

 

[sparow]

Boughtamare! Who were your parents? I used to ride along the Abergwesyn Mountain Road either to Tregaron or to Dolgoch Youth Hostel where a friend was the warden. I also would ride to Llandewi Breffi and park the horse behind the Follet Arms Pub and then sometimes on to Lampeter. My horse was my only form of transport so i used to go shopping on him. (Vesta meals were the best as they were light-weight and one just had to add boiling water to them. (Different flavour for each day of the week.

thought this might interest some forum members

From the Cambrian Mountains website:
“We hope everybody enjoyed the premier of the digitised Tregaron Pony Trekking slides and voiceover too.
Watch the Remastered Tregaron Pony Trekking slides PREMIERED on the night of 16h of November 2022. Slides and voice lost for over 40 years found recently hidden away in dusty cupboards.”

Thanks for posting this. Takes me back! My family used to holiday in Llandewi Breifi (way before it was made famous) and my great uncle who came with us used to spend his evenings in the local pub where he met Edith who was one of the trekking guides who lived just outside the village. He arranged for me to have a lesson on her farm on her own pony (never having ridden before) and then she took me trekking at Tregaron. I went out on a lead rein (age 8) returned later that day trotting through Tregaron without her by my side. Just found an old photo of us leaving the yard area (in the rain). I also remember well the Devils Staircase on the Abergwesyn Pass. We often had to get out and help push either our own car or others that got stuck on the steep gradient.

 

[paddy555]

My horse was my only form of transport so i used to go shopping on him. (Vesta meals where the best as they were light-weight and one just had to add boiling water to them. (Different flavour for each day of the week.

that brings back memories, (not in Wales) I too only had a horse for transport and I used to ride him to work. When I was working with other students in the early 70's we lived off Vesta meals, lots and lots of them. I wonder if you can still get them.

 

[Errin Paddywack]

i know exactly where you mean and I don’t think the bridge has improved much! I recently showed my OH the “devils staircase” along that road

I also remember well the Devils Staircase on the Abergwesyn Pass. We often had to get out and help push either our own car or others that got stuck on the steep gradient.

Just googled the Devil's Staircase and it brought back some memories. Very relieved we did it from Tregaron end so came down it, not sure we would have got up there. That first hairpin bend going up is the one Michael struggled with. That was in the days before power steering and that car had indirect steering (think that was what it was called) so not the most manoeuvrable. 51 years since we did it.

 

[Boughtabay]

Boughtamare! Who were your parents? I used to ride along the Abergwesyn Mountain Road either to Tregaron or to Dolgoch Youth Hostel where a friend was the warden. I also would ride to Llandewi Breffi and park the horse behind the Follet Arms Pub and then sometimes on to Lampeter. My horse was my only form of transport so i used to go shopping on him. (Vesta meals where the best as they were light-weight and one just had to add boiling water to them. (Different flavour for each day of the week.

PMd you!

 

[Boughtabay]

Just googled the Devil's Staircase and it brought back some memories. Very relieved we did it from Tregaron end so came down it, not sure we would have got up there. That first hairpin bend going up is the one Michael struggled with. That was in the days before power steering and that car had indirect steering (think that was what it was called) so not the most manoeuvrable. 51 years since we did it.

I can’t imagine it without any power steering!!