Sarn Helen. Through Wales on foot

I  have seen Roman roads, in fact I live a few hundred yards from a modern road that runs along the course of a Roman one, now covered by the modern surface. But Sarn Helen  varies in the degree of preservation. At some places its route is obscured, only to be revealed to the discerning eye by the occasional presence of the remnants of Roman marching camps, overnight structures for temporary shelter for men who were not popular with the native Britons, but at other places they are discernible as a well-preserved stone surface.

Sarn Helen is a trace in the landscape that begins in the industrial south of Wales, in the area called Neath, bordering the Bristol Channel, which separates Wales from Cornwall. Bullough, the author, does a good job in managing the description of the post industrial landscape of that part of Wales with an account of the historical  factors which have shaped it and which in many cases remain as brooding relics of the past. The first part  the journey took the author through the Welsh Valleys, southward draining  watercourses that empty into the Bristol Channel. These are the areas most scarred by Wales' coal mining heritage. The author wants to pass through this now redundant relic of history that is integral to the story of Wales .yet he is no one-sided detractor, for he is alert to efforts to improve the area, and recounts the friendly encounters that he shared with his fellow Welsh folk.

The name for the road is not Roman, but native Welsh.  It derives from the hero Maxim Wledig, who was a popular figure in his three year spell as Roman emperor in the West. He ruled Roman Britain, Gall and Spain, but was killed by rival Roman forces. He is associated with a queen called Helen, who may have been his mother, but the myth of Maxim, which may be short for Maximus, has little historical credibility short of mentioning his existence.

The writer skillfully weaves his way from South to North Wales interacting with the historic landscape, and drawing on historical and mythological sources. He also includes accounts of encounters with other people whom he meets in passing. These people are not seen as intrusive into the account of the landscape, but are integral to the living history of the land through which he is walking. The route he takes is always south to north with the Cambrian Mountains always to the east of him. This range is the backbone of Wales and is divided into smaller ranges. During his walk he does not attempt to ascend the Cambrians, but regards them as a backdrop to his journey. 

With the Cambrian mountains still a distant backdrop to his journey the author comes into the hillier landscapes of Central Wales, a stage of the book which begins in the chapter Cedris Farm to Dollgellau, the latter name being pronounced Dollgethlie. The feeling that he is entering a  more challenging landscape permeates this part of the book, and the readers are aware that they are entering the territory made famous by the tourist areas of Snowdonia, a national park named after its highest summit, Snowdon, though this has been given its official Welsh name. Other significant peaks grace this area, including Cader Idris, meaning Idris's chair, a mountain which is associated with the legend of the giant Idris. The legend that has arisen about the mountain is that anyone who sleeps overnight in a certain hollow on the mountain wakes up next morning either mad or as a poet. I have been up this mountain, but not overnighted there. I am not taking the risk. 

In this part of the book readers are conscious that they are in close proximity to the sea, as they are not far from the shores of Cardigan Bay, a large inlet that separates the two peninsulas of Wales. Bullough uses this section to digress into his concern with climate change and sea level rse. Bullough narrates the myths that have arisen to explain the presence of fossilized trees under the sea water. The ancients knew that these areas were once land, and they also had  a recollection that it was once possible to walk from Wales to Ireland. Whether this is just a legend or a historical memory he does not say, but he gives us the myths  that explain these fossils as due to the slovenliness of a lock keeper who failed to close slice gates and so let the sea encroach.

This area just to the south of  the highest peaks  is the home of Wales' once world renowned slate industry, and Bullough draws readers's attention to the giant slate quarries that once provided employment in this part of Wales. There  are none of  South Wales coal mines here.  The author does not  place much emphasis on the slate quarries but hurries on to his destination at the coastal town of  Llandudno via the scenic Conwy Valley. The journey through the valley took him between the peaks of the Carneddau Range in their grandeur to the West and to the East the rolling Denbigh Moors. Eventually he reached the valley's mouth where stands the grim Plantagenet edifice of Conwy Castle, whence it is a brief walk to the lovely town of Llandudno,  pronounced Clandidno, a delightful destination at which to finish.

Bullough includes several italicized sections which are designed to integrate his ecological concerns with his encounters with nature on the journey. During  these sections he reveals himself to be a militant Green activist  who is actually involved in Extinction Rebellion and like many members of that group has been in court, though not jail. The green discussions  in the book are forthright and informative, yet in his account of his tribulations with the courts he strays away from strict narrative logic. that, I  think, is a weakness in the work. But we must not be seduced into pedantry. This is a well-written, sincere work by an intelligent and good person. The book is well worth reading.

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