Woolly says – With another burpday upon me I had to say I didn’t feel a year older than the day before nor in my mind did I look it although a certain person does like to point out that I looked a lot younger in my earlier photographs, I put this down to having to live with her!

We’d arrived back in Wales to the usual quantity of rain from our Baltic expedition and although much warmer it was defiantly much much wetter. The special day however was forecast to be clear and with that in mind and the need to exercise the mutt we headed through the Snowdonia National Park to a place that we had visited quite a few years ago.

The Centre for Alternative Technology (CAT) is an eco-centre in Powys, mid-Wales, is dedicated to demonstrating and teaching sustainable development. Founded by businessman-turned-environmentalist Gerard Morgan-Grenville, and opened in 1973 in the disused Llwyngwern slate quarry near Machynlleth (once served by the narrow-gauge Corris Railway), it occupies a seven-acre (28,000 m2) site of all things eco.

The usual cacophony of barking from the back seat greeted our arrival and having attached the leash and checked that my burpday hat was firmly on, Jo led the way to the lift that would take us up to the main site. The water based funicular chugged us slowly to the top with Alfie the Dog showing bemusement as the movement under his paws and not being able to see how high we were climbing.

The view across the valley was lovely and having admired it for a while we headed into a small room with a video playing that told us about the site and the first house that was built, a board and slate building which still stands today. The centre acknowledges that at the time of building it was very eco but with todays knowledge it falls far below.

We wandered past a straw bale house and paused to look inside a domed greenhouse which didn’t have much on display.

A lovely flowering garden sat next door, showing how planting needs to be diverse and include vegetables as well as flowers to attract the right sort of creatures. A large shed showed us all manner of eco-friendly heating methods including biomass and water.

Next to it stood a small slate building with a mossy top, perfect for keeping the interior warm. It also boasted a container garden with a huge array of plants in an even bigger collection of receptacles.

A large plastic covered greenhouse was bursting with life and led us into the Mole Hole which was very dark and seemed to have strange things in there, even the mutt wasn’t keen.

Some smaller buildings made from straw and wood demonstrated how easy it was to assemble although they would make fine houses for me I did feel that any humans might be a bit squashed in them.

Having wandered past the compost bins and checked out the large number of different sized bird houses, we followed a pathway upwards to give us abetter view of the site.

A lovely woodpile caught my eye before our attention was gained by all things wind power. From the tall wind tower poking upwards to an old reclaimed wind paddle the information boards told us how energy could be harnessed through our planets natural resources.

Information on solar panels and the different types available made me look up at the less than sunny day and wonder if this was better than wind or if wind would provide better power. The local bug hotels didn’t need to think about these issues at all and were just snug in their accommodation.

A number of reed beds and streams were dotted across the site providing power and a place for human waste to go.

A sign pointed towards the quarry where men had once sweated to get the slate out of the mountain it was now a glorious place to admire the view and the colours that autumn had produced.

A small straw house attracted Alfie’s attention but not as a dwelling whereas I found myself looking at how nature had mossed over the slate mound that would have once been moved from the site for use in building.

The centres café provided a welcome coffee and some rather decent cake before we headed to the information centre to ask Jo’s burning question, what can we do to reuse the ash from glampers fire pits? Sadly, they had no more ideas than already considered, we left with that problem still to be solved.