Discovering Sarn Helen, Wales’ ancient Roman way

Sign up to Simon Calder’s free travel email for expert advice and money-saving discounts Get Simon Calder’s Travel email Get Simon Calder’s Travel email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. So wrote poet Edward Thomas of Sarn Helen, one of Wales’ ancient ways. The trees are wreathed in thick moss, and I spot fly agaric, the red and white spotted mushroom beloved by storybook illustrators, pushing up from the green forest floor Perhaps because I am alone, with just mountains and slick cobbles for company, it’s easy to conjure up the platoons of Roman soldiers who tramped this way before me. I finally get my epic mountain vistas – they’re worth the wait – and my clothes dry in the warm sunshine as I follow Sarn Helen away from the peaks. James Nevitt’s Sarn Helen Trail blog includes a five-day mountain biking itinerary and GPX coast-to-coast route across Wales from Llandudno to Swansea.