April

AS THE DAYS LENGTHEN and the earth begins to soak up the sun’s warmth, the moorland is no longer a dun-coloured wilderness but lush green pasture dotted with little groups of rain-washed sheep. The settlements in the region depended on this annual greening of the moorland, a source of fodder for the flocks as well as peat for the hearth fire.

The Easter weekend brings a visit up the coast with the grandchildren to the Centre for Alternative Technology at Machynlleth. CAT, as it’s known to regular visitors, is a cooperative utopia that has managed to transform a disused slate quarry on the edge of Snowdonia into what looks like a whitewashed village in the Garden of Eden.