THE mysteries and folklore of Montgomeryshire and Ceredigion are revealed in a captivating new book.

Mysterious Wales, written by renowned Welsh author Chris Barber, peers into the depths of Welsh history, discovering saintly secrets, prehistoric megaliths, eerie stone circles and much more besides.

Throughout his travels, Chris often treads the fine line between fact and fiction but believes the two are not mutually exclusive.

“We talk of myths and legends as through the words are interchangeable, but there is a subtle difference between the two,” he states.

“A myth is an invented story while a legend has a basis of history, however confused and obscured by later additions.

“Very often a kernel of truth in a legend is revealed by historical and archaeological investigation.”

Bearing this in mind, the intrepid author visits a series of sites across mid/north Wales.

One of Chris’ first stops is to two stone circles on Newydd Fynyddog Hill, just south of Llanbrynmair.

The purpose of stone circles remain open to conjecture but many samples date back to the Bronze Age. The two circles, which are incomplete and sit about 500 feet apart, are said to be a reminder of two oxen who died of grief after they were separated by a local valley.

After forlornly dying lonely deaths after bellowing at each other from the tops of their respective hills, the animal which died on Newydd Fynyddog was skinned, and his skin, marked by the circle of stones, was spread over the place of internment.

See this week’s Cambrian News for the full feature, in shops and online now