Wednesday, June 10, 2026

Afon Cain

Our town is settled along the Cain River (Afon Cain), so we took a walk along Bridge street to get a closer look. Apparently the word 'cain' is Welsh for fair, beautiful or sparkling.

This old bridge was built in the 18th century, and has needed some shoring up around the base in more recent times. It's a solidly built and amazingly well weathered structure.

Photo: D Schultz
There were times in the past when the outermost arches would become silted up, causing flooding of homes in the vicinity and adding to the prevailing unhealthy dampness in those homes. A local doctor who did a housing survey in 1937 found 44 houses in this area to be "totally unfit for human habitation."  -  Llanfyllin A Pictorial History

The river looks pretty innocuous today: shallow and babbling with lots of thickly mossed rocks and edges.

This beautiful maidenhair spleenwort on the rocks reminded me of a graceful octopus - isn't it gorgeous?






2 comments:

Anonymous said...

that's a very nice bridge! do cars go over it, or just foot traffic? - BG

Debbie said...

It's only open to foot traffic, though it was used for cars in the past.