As you walk into Evan Thomas Jones’s farmhouse you are hit with a scorching dry heat and the smell of burning wood coming from the old Rayburn stove in the small cluttered kitchen.
Perched on the edge of a hill, the farmhouse is exposed to the cutting wind that blows over the Brecon Beacons and the warmth inside is delightful. Out of the window you can see the peaks of Pen y Fan and Corn Du disappearing into cloud and still coated with the early spring snow. If this was a hotel, tourists would pay a premium for these views.
But the man looking out the window is anything but a tourist. Standing straight and strong at about five foot eight, 85-year-old Evan wears green wellies, jeans and a jacket. From the window he points out the details of a valley where his family have lived for hundreds of years.
“My father, my mother, my grandfather and my grandmother are buried in the chapel,” Reminded me of our recent feature: “It’s very difficult for small churches to die; someone will always come along to keep it going.” He has a really beautiful voice https://t.co/6B8bcNx407
— Madeleine Davies (@MadsDavies) April 16, 2018