Foot and Mouth...shudder, awful times, I hope that never ever happens again.
As you can see, I'm in Brecon and we get quite a few tourists, however most tourists either seem to come to the Beacons, or they go to Snowdonia. What they miss is the fantastic area in the middle which has some of the best and most unspoilt scenery you could hope for.
It was terrible for that part of Wales. A complete disaster. Several long-standing business and farm(er)s went under.
We had a long talk with rellies there (Llanidloes) about tourism last week. They are locals and want to set up a tourism business but feel it is a bit chicken and egg. Very little in the way of honeypots or major draws in Mid Wales and thus very little in the way of a hospitality industry to support tourism but with little hospitality industry no one wants to go there. The Llani bypass just speeds people past the town, which is delightful and has some fantastic pubs and cafes, and on to Newtown or Aber or Rhayader. I hear there are some advocates for a Plynlymon National Park to compete with Snowdonia and the Brecon Beacons but these seem to be mainly in-comers. The natives generally seem content to keep the riches of the area to themselves. Rhayader/Elan Valley, Nant-yr-Arian and Machynlleth have the draw for mtb-ers, and I've had great times in and around them. On road though, well, for me NCN 8 Lon Las Cymru in mid-Wales feels like it was drawn up by someone who hates touring cyclists with a vengeance, and even sustrans big up the "toughest challenge" aspect of the route. The stretch from Rhayader to Llani feels like a punishment beating that deliberately and needlessly seeks out the tougher route and the main road, despite the log/stock lorries, always feels to me like the better bet. That said though NCN 8 Llani to Mac is probably my favourite road ride in E&W. You know you've been out for a ride if you do Llani-Mac-Llani for a day ride.
Tricky though. The great attraction to me is its sheer emptiness....
