Country diary: no sanctuary for hunted partridge at Melangell’s church

Llangynog, Powys: This shrine for a patron saint of wild creatures lies at the centre of a shooting estate
Pennant Melangell lies two miles up the narrow road, hazel-hedged, thronged with coveys of now rare grey partridge (Perdix perdix) that hurry nervously in front of you and dart through fences into fields on either side. Steep, conifer-planted slopes crowd in. There is a sense that this must once have been a secret wilderness place – the kind to which story attaches, becoming thus plac