Cwmowen, the valley on the Epynt plateau between Brecon and Builth Wells in the Welsh County of Powys, is also the name by which our house, previously The Griffin Inn, has always been more commonly known. Now our private residence, until April 2001, it had been a tavern for more years than anyone can remember, Its isolation, even in the 1960’s, was a source of wonderment as to how a publican there could possibly make a living. However, in those days, along with her daughter, Blodwen, the owner, Mrs Clytin Jones, also farmed 40 acres of adjoining pasture. With no public bar, beer was served in the kitchen – the sale of alcohol at Cwmowen appearing incidental to the farm. The unusual association of pasture with an Inn dated from the days of the drovers. These farmers of West Wales used to drive their livestock across the Epynt en-route for the markets across the English Border. Their routes are still demarcated by a series of Inns, of which Cwmowen is one, where they, and their live-stock, broke their journeys overnight. With the later separation of the tavern from most of its associated pasture, its viability as a business ended but stables and a paddock or two still associated with the house now accommodate our Quarter Horses. Even today, the Epynt is favoured by herds of Welsh mountain ponies and, in its hey-day, Cwmowen was best known for the annual Pony Fair to which folk used to flock from all parts of the British Isles and beyond. With the auctioneer’s ring and pony pens erected in the field just below the yard and the roadsides packed with lorries, horse-boxes and cars, the crowd, hosted by Mrs.Jones and her assistants, witnessed the sale of up to 500 ponies before dusk finally descended and, with it, the soft mists of the mountains.