The walk from Borth to Machynlleth takes you well away from any sea or even river, it has the most boring part of the walk so far , a 3 mile straight flat walk with a hedge on one side and a bog on the other. No bird song, no flowers, no people. Even I struggled with it. However things were to get more interesting.
I climbed up into the hills looking down on green fields and loads of sheep and their spring lambs. I heard a kefuffle way below me in the valley. It was two ravens sitting on a barbed wire fence both calling loudly. Even the surrounding sheep looked up with interest. Then I saw what they were calling about. Close by, walking steadily up the field, was a large sandy coloured fox.
It’s funny how conditioned we are by our childhoods. I was bought up on a farm with poultry and if you saw a fox you yelled at it to scare it away.
Before I really thought about it I hollered at the fox who was about 200 yards away. I called twice.
On the second call the bit of magic came. The fox stopped and looked up towards me. For a brief moment me, the ravens and the fox were held together. Then with almost a shrug of disgust the fox turned round and slowly trotted into the nearby trees and disappeared .
Now I don’t think I saved a single lamb; I don’t think the fox would try to take one in broad daylight. But I’d never seen ravens calling a fox out before, and folding time back to my childhood like that was a rare experience
Machynlleth was in a bit of a frenzy preparing for its comedy festival, and the pub staff suggested I got out early the following day. That night they we’re serving the festival technicians food. Seatings of 15 every half hour from 7 till 10. The comedy festival is a national event and vital for Machynlleth.