Afan Argoed

I fancied taking the dogs somewhere new today and had narrowed my list down to two choices. As one of my boys likes to walk off-lead, but has a fear of and tendency to chase cyclists, I'd ignored this beautiful place for a long time, fearing the mountain bikers who aren't always the most patient, it has to be said, when it comes to anyone getting in their way. (Neither are they always the most understanding should your dog be spooked by their hurtling past noisily without allowing you sufficient time to stand well back and settle any canine nerves with enough left over to bid a friendly greeting as they pass. In their defence, granted, they should quite rightly be concerned about the possibility of being knocked off their bikes and then perhaps attacked by a dog they expect to be under strict control at all times.) But we've been making great strides, I'm very proud of my brave boy and how he's grown in confidence, so today we finally took the plunge.

And what a lovely walk it turned out to be; twigs crunching beneath our feet, river babbling, birds singing, leaves rustling - the works. We saw a few cyclists, but none got close enough to cause any worry. Even the rain held off until we were back at the car park. We will definitely return.