On a wet and cloudy Saturday morning, 25 members and friends of Tenby Civic and Historical Societies boarded the coach at the town walls, or in a damp Kilgetty car park, to set off for the CADW Strata Florida site.

After passing through much green and rain-soaked Wales, the coach squeezed down lanes to arrive at a drizzly Strata Florida site.

Once legs were stretched and Brother Gildas emerged fully resplendent in his monk's robes, the rain passed on and everyone took in the Abbey's location between a church and a stone-built farm, in a beautiful peaceful valley, surrounded on three sides by hills.

Brother Gildas then guided the party round the remains of Strata Florida, giving an account of the life and organisation of monasteries in Wales, including the specifically Welsh elements.

During this, red kites sailed by, sheep were herded down from hill pastures and a horde of swallows and swifts flitted overhead, weaving a charming rural setting for the spiritual life and world Brother Gildas built upon the cold remaining stones of the long-abandoned monastery.

After visiting the adjoining cemetery, the party thanked Brother Gildas and Civic Society chairman Harry Gardiner thanked him again and also John Beynon for organising and co-ordinating the trip.

After a visit to the nearby Red Kite centre, the party headed in to Tregaron and its shops, cafés and pubs.

In the latter, locals reported the rugby score with some satisfaction; nicely balancing the afternoon's news that England had become top cricketing nation.