The valley of the lost well

If you are walking the Pembrokeshire Coast Path you will not see  Cwm Ffynnon-alwm marked on present day maps.  It's there on older maps and it means The Valley of the Alum Well

Which is puzzling because alum is a mineral found in rocks, not water  Mostly likely it was a misnomer for  chalybeate spring, a source of iron-bearing water which from the 17th century onwards was considered to have beneficial properties, turning many towns into prosperous destinations for health seekers.

In the 1800s the water of this well was analysed and found to be as good as any where high society took the waters in Britain. But since it was located on a remote part of the Pembrokeshire coast it did not attract any but local partakers. As time went on trees and other vegetation  made access into the narrow valley too difficult for most and as one generation succeeded another the location of the well was forgotten.

In the middle of the 20th century two young brothers who lived at the farm above, just visible on the skyline here, were  exploring the woods below their home and came upon the long-lost well deep in the undergrowth. There were two stone steps leading down to a pool of brown water. They knew what it was immediately, they'd heard their grandfather tell how sometimes old folk from the village would  turn up with an empty bottle and, in return for a penny, would be allowed to follow the old lane from the  farm down towards the valley and thence to make their way to the well.

The two boys - let's call them Gwilym and Geraint - were thrilled to have found the 'alum well'. "Let's clear it out!" said Gwilym - "And charge people to come and see it!!" said Geraint. They were almost too excited to sleep that night as they planned what they could  do with the  cash boost to their modest pocket money income. When dawn came they raced out to gather spades and mattocks from the farm yard then scrambled down the vertiginous side of the valley to where they had found the old well... right there - no, here - but where? 
Search as they might they could not find it. And to this day the well has not been found again. It's somewhere down there, the rusty metallic water dripping into its stone basin, but its whereabouts remains a mystery.

[This is a true story with only a little elaboration by me.]

Old map in extras for anyone else interested in that kind of thing.