PEAK WITH A VIEW
GIVEN TO BRITAIN
'. The second largest gift of land ever made to the National Trust has ■ been accepted from Viscountess Rhondda and the Dowager Viscountess Rhondda, says the "Daily Telegraph."
It is 2130 acres of a magnificent Monmouthshire hill, the Sugar Loaf, which lies just north of Abergavenny and, rises steeply to a height of nearly 2000 feet. , ■ . '
Well known hvMonmouth and South Wales, the Sugar Loaf—its Welsh name is Mynydd Pen-y-Fal—is at the south, end of the Black Mountains, and from its summit there are fine views in every direction. ■To the north, beyond a valley through- which: flows a tributary of the Usk, soars the long range of the Black Mountains. - To the west is Mynydd Llangatwg. To the south-east the view extends towards Usk and Monmouth.
Close by, on the east, lies Skirrid Fawr.'on which is the site of the ancient St. Michael's Chapel. The soil here is supposed to be sacred,' and it used to be a common custom to carry some away for sprinkling over the coffins and graves of friends, and everi for the alleged curing of disease.
Some 1500 acre's of the hill are subject to common rights of sheep pasturage. The land is rough, dotted with scrub,, a good deal of mixed wood, and plantations of larch. ..■•'-
In a hollow below the hill stands a farm, Park Lodge, over which covenants have been made so that there may neverbe a risk of the .view's spoliation by unwise-building. The Trust's new property surrounds the farm in the shape; roughly, of a hoop about two arid a.half miles in diameter. It is a fairly isolated region, approachable only by tracks. There is no proper road even to the farm.
(A guide to the beauties of England and Wales, published, as long .ago as, 1809, recommended-' to travellers the "grand and lovely, prospect" to be got from the Sugar Loaf, and the National Trust-is especially glad of the gift because it : Has... few properties in this neighbourhood. ' ' .\'\:V
The land will be.-preserved as -a memorial'to the first Viscount.Khondda and a commemoration of. the' Silver Jubilee. i'^;\
Permanent link to this item
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/EP19351220.2.136
Bibliographic details
Evening Post, Issue 149, 20 December 1935, Page 12
Word Count
355PEAK WITH A VIEW Evening Post, Issue 149, 20 December 1935, Page 12
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