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Tours > Wales > Llanrheadr ym Mochnant
Llanrheadr ym Mochnant (Thlan Hrey Adder um Mocknant)
 Most visitors come here to view the spectacular water falls known as Pistyll Rheadr (Pistuth Hrayaduh) just three miles from the village of Rheadr (After having seen the Hollywood Movie "The Englishman who went up a Hill and Came down a Mountain" some may come to see the film's location). For others, however, the village is famous for its connection with Bishop Morgan, who was vicar here when he began his monumental work of translating the Bible into Welsh finally printed in London in 1588 and helping save the language from extinction. The village is reached from Wrexham on the A483 south via Oswestry, the A495 from Llynclys (Thlin Klees), and then the narrow, winding B4396 west.
Translated as the spring of the waterfall, the impressive cascade, at 240 ft (74 metres) is the highest in Wales. From Oswestry it is but a short journey to the green and narrow Tanat Valley. A narrow single-lane road, unsuited for coaches, and barely managed by automobile, leads to the falls, about four miles distant. Traffic must drive very slowly, for passing places are few and far between.
At the farmhouse at the base of the falls, though there is a little tea shop, it is a blessing to find no tourist offices, welcome centers or gift emporiums, thus the falls can be enjoyed without interruption in their natural splendor as they descend down the steep, rocky hillside in a series of leaps. The water drops first into a rock basin, and then descends under a natural arch of stone. Of the justly-famed falls, 19th century author and traveler George Borrow remarked: "I never saw water falling so gracefully, so much like thin, beautiful threads as here."
The best time to visit, of course, is in spring, when the melting snows from 2,700 ft Moel Sych (Moyle Seeck) and his companions feed the mountain streams. While the area you should also visit four-mile long Lake Vyrnwy, formed at the end of the last century to supply water to Liverpool and drowning the village of Llanwddyn (Thlan Oo theen) in the process. The lake, nestled among thickly wooded hills, has a visitor center in a converted chapel. To get there, return from the falls to Llanrhaeadr; then take the road to Penybontfawr and the new village of Llanwddyn.
Mallwyd, Powys, was the home of literary man John Davies, lexicographer and assistant in the translation of the Welsh Authorized Version of the Bible. It was also the home of the notorious Red Robbers of Mawddwy in the 16th century who terrorized the whole countryside. In the church, there is a rib of an unidentified prehistoric animal. Near the village is Meirion Mill, a working wool mill with a shop and restaurant. The village can be reached by travelling west from Machynlleth on the A489 to Cemmaus Rd (Kemmice) and then the A470 north for a few miles to the junction with the A458 to Welshpool.
Next Stop: Welshpool
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