Sarn Helen: A Journey Through Wales, Past, Present and Future

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And yet, by and large, this is how stories work. There is an individual protagonist, and the techniques of writing allow a reader to care about them and their individual concerns. It might be preferable, given the CEE, for us to develop a new sort of narrative – ‘an account of collective agency’, as Martin Puchner writes in Literature for a Changing Planet. But for now we face an urgent, an existential threat, and we can only marshal every tool and skill we have to the cause of heading it off.

I thought this mix of travel, nature and environmental writing was really good. Bullough gets the balance between each element right. I read an article once, in which Jan Morris wonders how her life might have been had she remained in Wales – had she kept her attention on the things around her, not on the full expanse of the world. It was a reflection that returned to me often as I was working on Sarn Helen: it is, after all, a travel book. In the end, of course, Jan Morris was not that writer – for all that she wrote of Wales as well. In the end I am, if I like it or not. Wales alone has the hold on me that, now and then, blesses my work with life. This Collection features the route split into seven stages, which you can ride each day, combine or split further as you wish. You’ll find places to stay, get more supplies and enjoy a hot meal in most of the towns and villages on the route, but it’s important that you book ahead for accommodation, especially in the busier summer months.Sarn Helen also includes alarming scientific detail. Over Zoom, Bullough speaks with a range of experts who provide information about the climate and ecological emergency and what it means for Wales: how best can we use the land so steeped in farming traditions; the upland, lowland and middle grounds; the defence of the coastline and future worries for coastal villages, transport and infrastructure; drought, storm surges, flooding. The statistics are absolutely terrifying. The Sarn Helen is no easy multi-day adventure. Riding the length and breadth of Wales will push your body and mind to the limit day after day as you climb nearly 30,000ft (8500m) over six days riding through some of the most challenging, wild and remote landscapes in the UK. From coastal castles to the steep pitches of Snowdonia National Park, mountain passes to the UK’s first trail centre at Coed-y-Brenin, traversing the ‘desert of Wales’ through the Cambrian Mountains and spectacular Elan Valley and lastly crossing the rough and wild Brecon Beacons National Park into the valleys of South Wales, there are few long-distance routes that rival the variety of landscapes that you’ll find on Sarn Helen. We are experiencing delays with deliveries to many countries, but in most cases local services have now resumed. For more details, please consult the latest information provided by Royal Mail's International Incident Bulletin. Vital, and urgent with concern. You cannot leave this book without its message thundering in your head. It is not enough to walk old routes. This was. Now what? -- Cynan Jones

And our Editor’s Tip this month chosen by Emma Herdman of Bloomsbury is In Memoriam from Alice Winn. More has changed in the past fifty years than the past six thousand. We are on target for reaching catastrophic global temperature increases, meaning the collapse of societies. Sarn Helen is a thrilling journey through Wales and through time… This is the finest kind of travel writing: a book that makes you see what is really there, and fills you with the author’s passion to defend it” We recently joined a coachload of local people travelling up to London for the XR Gathering. It was peaceful, organised, with upwards of 60,000 very nice people attending of all ages, hardly terrorists. A wondrous and arresting journey teeming with wisdom, insights and humanity. Walking through Wales with Bullough is to see the nation - and the UK - with new eyes -- Ben RawlenceSarn Helen also turns an unsparing gaze towards the future. Bullough’s trek is interspersed with interviews with scientists about how Wales – and all of us – must adapt to the climate crisis. South of Dolgellau the route passes over Waen Llefenni into Cwm yr Hengae to Aberllefenni. Part of the narrow-gauge Corris Railway between Aberllefenni and Maespoeth Junction may run along the line of the Sarn. [2] A minor road running along the east bank of the Afon Dulas near Esgairgeiliog, Powys might be Roman in origin. [3] Although potentially the Roman road remained on the west bank of the Dulas between Corris and Ffridd Gate. [4]