Blaen y Glyn waterfall, Brecon Beacons, Wales

THE STORY BEHIND THE PHOTOGRAPH

I loved the waterfalls walk at Blean y Glyn woodland, near Talybont on Usk. Though not as spectacular as the falls on the Brecon Beacons Waterfalls Walk, the Blaen y Glyn woodlands is beautiful, with several attractive smaller falls that can be reached with relative ease. I discovered to my cost that the rocks by the falls can be slippery (see this photo description), but this photo has another story to tell. You see, immediately before I took this photo I was walking through the woods when a distraught man passed me. He asked if by chance I had a rope in my pack. I didn't, but he told me he was leading a group of school students on a walk through the woods, and one of them had slipped and fallen onto a narrow ledge above the swiftly flowing river. He hurried back to the car park for a rope, while I ran to the scene of the accident. One female teacher was at the edge of the drop, while thankfully a third teacher had led the main group of students away. For ten rather nerve-racking minutes we waited, talking to the student, reassuring him, and making sure he didn't try to move from the ledge that saved his fall. In time the first teacher arrived with a rope and belayed him down to the ledge and back up, carrying the student, who was thankfully unharmed. I unearthed a granola bar from my camera bag, something I always have on hand in case I get stranded while on a photo trip, and gave to the student. He seemed shaken but was otherwise completely unharmed, so I eventually left them and continued my walk. I think I was rather shaken myself, but so happy that the young chap had been rescued, when I came across this beautiful little waterfall. I think the peaceful flowing water helped relax my mind!