Hello!

Welcome to a village in Wales...

How to introduce a village? I could tell you that it is called St. Ishmael's in English and Llanismel in Welsh, but that doesn't give much away. I could jump straight to the 500 or so people who live here, or the skeletal remains of the Celts who lived here and were found when new water pipes were laid into old ground.

Or perhaps we start with old rumours of a 'suspicious death', or the sheep that had eleven lambs, or the Nazi bombs which left craters now overgrown with potatoes?

Maybe we should begin with the Bishop once seated here? Or King Charles's first steps on Welsh soil, or the Dark Eyed Junco's first landing on the Welsh mainland?

St. Ishmael's is a quiet village where time has slowly silted over some beautiful stories. This blog is dedicated to uncovering those stories, so if you'd like to hear about standing stones, mysterious anchors, peculiar farm customs, wildling apple trees, hedgerow botany, and anything else I discover within the parish boundaries, then welcome to a village in Wales!