A village surrounded by world-class waterfalls has a pub selling unbelievable scallop sandwiches

HERE are few things greater in life than a walk followed by a pub lunch and a pint of cider. Luckily, Wales has so many incredible walking routes, whether you're in the hills of Bannau Brycheiniog or Yr Wyddfa, climbing the Sugar Loaf, Consti or the Garth. Wherever you are, you should never be too far from a great boozer either.

- Ruth Mosalski

We know the hospitality industry is struggling, and with the deadly combination of running costs rising and our flexible income shrinking, there is a depressingly high number of good rural pubs closing.

If you've watched the latest series of Clarkson’s Farm, you'll know exactly what I'm talking about. Beautiful stone buildings, with decades if not centuries of stories, bust-ups and boozing, are being lost, left abandoned all over the country because keeping a pub running is seriously hard work.

So when you find a good one, well, you need to spread the word. So let me share with you the Red Lion in Penderyn. Personally, my demands are simple. Good food, whether pub classics, or something fancy, served with a good drop (in my case, a local cider or good chilled Pinot Grigio, but for my husband, good ales) is all you need and if you've been on a long walk, you've definitely earned those, right?

Having spent the morning walking round the Four Waterfalls, and taking a very chilly dip in Sgwd y Eira, my husband’s booking of the Red Lion in Penderyn was an excellent shout.

The 9km walk in the Beacons is legendary, and to our shame we'd never done it in full, despite it being an hour from our home. In fact, this part of the world is known as “waterfall country” boasting a host of stunning publicly accessible waterfalls.

Setting off early to beat the crowds, and as a bonus bagging one of the handful of free parking spots available, our three-hour ramble was complete in time for a lunchtime trip to Penderyn, just a few miles away. Plus, our aching thigh muscles needed a breather.

Home of the famous distillery, somewhere we've taken visitors for tours not once but twice, as we sat looking at the menus we said we couldn't quite believe we'd never heard of this pub.