Jeremy Clarkson

It’s the perfect place if you like a combination of adventures and chilling out, taking in the gorgeous scenery.

A historic market town in the UK is definitely worth a visit this spring, as there’s so much to see and do there. It’s ideal for adventure seekers, and those who just want to walk around, eat good food and chill out.

Tregaron is one of Wales’s oldest market towns. It’s home to independent retailers, coffee shops, and the elegant Y Talbot, a grade II-listed hotel, pub, and restaurant, positioned right in the town square’s centre.

From here, you can embark on an exhilarating road trip along a former drover’s track that showcases hairpin turns through wild terrain.

The Abergwesyn Pass is a 20-mile single-track route stretching from Llanwrtyd Wells to Tregaron. Along this isolated road, you’ll encounter a notorious stretch called “The Devil’s Staircase”, reports Wales Online.

This appropriately named portion of the Abergwesyn Pass features hairpin curves and sharp climbs that aren’t suited to anxious motorists.

For adventurous drivers, you’ll love tackling one of Wales’ most isolated countryside regions, encountering sheep, gnarled trees and rocky formations along the way. It’s extremely steep, reaching a maximum gradient of 20.1%, and cuts through thick woodland towards miles of expansive, barren valleys, providing a descent that will push your brakes to their absolute limits.

Drive carefully and enjoy the scenery as you meander through the wilderness of the Cambrian Mountains, where you could potentially encounter nobody throughout your entire journey. You can also tackle this route by bicycle if your legs are ready for the test.

As well as the Abergwesyn Pass, Soar y Mynydd, Wales’ most isolated chapel, is worth the detour. This modest, whitewashed church was constructed in 1822 to minister to an extremely dispersed community of farmers.

Wandering through this tranquil location, you could easily assume the chapel has been deserted for years. Actually, visiting preachers travel from across Wales to hold services in Welsh.

It’s a serene spot for a picnic, as there’s often nobody else there.

Llyn Brianne Reservoir also deserves a stop to witness an enormous dam. You might be surprised to learn that this striking stone-built dam is Britain’s tallest, rising 91 metres (300 ft) above the River Tywi.

Containing an incredible 64 million cubic metres of water at almost 300 metres (990 ft) above sea level is a remarkable engineering achievement. Building work began in October 1968, with the dam constructed from crushed rock, larger stone, and clay sourced from the surrounding area.

After dark, it becomes a stargazing hotspot in the Cambrian Mountains, making it an excellent location for astrophotography.

Further south, beyond Llyn Brianne reservoir, lies the amazing RSPB Gwenffrwd-Dinas reserve. The reserve encompasses vital habitats of oak woodland, wet alder woodland, and scrubland, all defined by heavy rainfall and swift-flowing rivers.

These conditions are ideal for woodland birds, whilst also offering the perfect environment for significant lichens and bryophytes. Whether you begin or finish the route at Tregaron, you should make time to discover this small Welsh-speaking town. Here, you’ll discover a livestock market, the Tregaron Red Kite Centre and Museum, and locally sourced food and cask ales in a beautifully converted 16th-century Welsh inn.

Y Talbot is an independently owned hotel and Michelin Guide-listed restaurant with 2 AA Rosettes. This charming boutique hotel radiates a ‘cosy country inn’ atmosphere with its slate floors and inglenooks.

The location is said to be the final resting place of a circus elephant which perished in 1848 and lies beneath what is currently Y Talbot’s beer garden.

The establishment, run by head chef Dafydd, who trained under Marco Pierre White, showcases regional ingredients, including lamb, beef, and cheeses sourced from the Teifi Valley, fish from Milford Haven, and shellfish from Cardigan Bay.

Close by, you’ll also discover a neglected Welsh abbey where princes lie buried. Strata Florida Abbey near Tregaron is a remarkable location in Wales where history, royalty, and spirituality meet.

Established in 1201 by white-robed Cistercian monks, this hallowed ground was formerly among medieval Wales’s most vital religious and cultural hubs.

It also serves as the burial site of numerous Welsh princes, including the renowned Llywelyn the Great, who famously convened a council here to guarantee his son Dafydd’s position as the legitimate successor to the Welsh throne.

The Abbey was established as a major institution serving the indigenous population of Wales and Western Christianity through its affiliation with the pan-European Cistercian Order of Monasteries.

The carved west doorway into the Abbey remains standing in isolation and provides an eternal vista down the nave towards where the high altar formerly stood.

You can still see some of the decorated tiles that would have adorned the church floors, along with elaborate carvings throughout the site.

The former Top Gear presenter admits he was blindsided by what he now sees as one of the gravest dangers facing young people, confessing “I simply had no idea”

Jeremy Clarkson has confessed he was caught off guard by what he now considers one of the greatest threats to young people today, admitting, “I simply had no idea.” In his column for The Sun, the former Top Gear host revealed that while he previously worried about conventional teenage dangers, he overlooked the fact that the most damaging influences were already accessible through their mobile phones.

Looking back on his time as a father, Clarkson explained: “When my kids were teenagers, I worried about them taking drugs and going on motorbikes, and I simply had no idea that the real danger was lurking in their telephones.”

His remarks follow the Government’s plans to strengthen laws targeting the distribution of non-consensual intimate images online. Earlier this week, Sir Keir Starmer announced intentions to bolster legislation requiring tech firms to delete such content within 48 hours of being flagged.

However, Clarkson maintains that the rapid pace of online sharing renders that timeframe impractical. “This is laughable because if someone uploads a topless picture of you, all your friends will see it within 48 seconds,” he stated. “Forty-eight hours on the internet is about four million years,” reports the Express.

The Prime Minister has positioned the proposed reforms as a key element of a wider effort to tackle online abuse directed at women and girls. Through an amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill, social media companies that don’t meet the two-day deadline for removing content could be hit with substantial fines or potentially banned from operating in the UK.

Starmer, who previously held the role of director of public prosecutions, said his past work gave him insight into the “unimaginable, often lifelong pain and trauma violence against women and girls causes.” He added: “As Prime Minister, I will leave no stone unturned in the fight to protect women from violence and abuse.”

Characterising the internet as an emerging frontline, Starmer stated: “The online world is the front line of the 21st century battle against violence against women and girls. That’s why my government is taking urgent action: against chatbots and ‘nudification’ tools. Today we are going further, putting companies on notice so that any non-consensual image is taken down in under 48 hours. Violence against women and girls has no place in our society, and I will not rest until it is rooted out.”

Clarkson, 65, doesn’t question the gravity of the problem. In fact, he believes it goes even deeper than politicians realise. He highlighted the HBO drama Euphoria, featuring Zendaya and Sydney Sweeney, as a stark illustration of the challenges confronting today’s teenagers. “What Starmer needs to do is watch a TV show starring Zendaya and Sydney Sweeney. It’s called Euphoria and God knows what possessed me to tune in — teenage angst and a lot of male nudity is not my thing normally — but Lord, I’m glad I did,” Clarkson remarked. “I know it’s a drama but if only half of the issues are real, society has a serious problem.”

For Clarkson, the programme highlighted how online culture has amplified adolescent experiences. He outlined the troubling aspects he believes have become widespread: “The bullying. The d*ck pics. The revenge porn threats. And a very real sense that if you say or do something that is considered out of line by an ‘unseen woke police force,’ that’s you done.”

While he acknowledges that Starmer is correct to concentrate on social media’s effect on teenage girls, he doubts whether a 48-hour takedown requirement is adequate in reality. “Starmer is right to be thinking about the effect social media has on teenage girls. But suggesting that a platform must take down revenge nudes and deep fake pictures within two days demonstrates he does not understand the scale of the problem.”