Derelict Farms
In the course of many excursions over the moors and into the moun- tains I have been struck with the number of derelict farms there are among the hills of Wales. Some of these places, seen from a distance, look as though they are still inhabited. The roofs are intact, the walls sound. It is only when one reaches them that the desolation becomes apparent. Doors are hanging off, ceilings have fallen in and stairs have rotted away. Half a dozen that I know seem to have been occu- pied inside the past 50 years at most. All of them are hill farms set in lonely places, where a man must have a particular temperament to be able to live a happy life. It was not the loneliness, nor yet the wild gales of winter, that drove these old Welsh farmers from their homes,. for generations had lived there before. Hard times made them come out of the hills. Farming prices were unbearable, land worth a pound an acre and sheep not worth a pound a head as against that price for winter grazing alone at the moment. The improvement in agriculture has not induced anyone to make a home in the old farms. They servo as folds for sheep when a flock has to be looked over, and have that strange, brooding atmosphere that ruins always have.
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