Country diary: An imposing stone with a giant past

‘As the rain from Storm Ciarán lashed down this week, I took shelter in the porch of St Meilig’s church.’ Photograph: Google Maps

The local Radnorshire bogeywoman in the 13th century was the giant Moll Walbee. Hay Castle’s gatehouse was reputedly built by her in a single day. The story goes that, crossing the River Wye one day, she felt a piece of grit in her boot, took it out and hurled it across the river. It landed in the circular churchyard at Llowes, where it was long known as Moll Walbee’s Stone: a 7ft-high menhir of hard, pale-grey sandstone.

Moll Walbee’s Stone or St Meilig’s Cross in St Meillig’s church, Llowes. Photograph: Jeff Tomlinson