CLYDACH Gorge, the cleft in north Gwent's landscape where the characters in Alexander Cordell's novels lived, fought, worked and died, is inspiring a prize-winning young writer.

"I am working on some more short stories set in the early part of the 19th century," says 14-year-old Rebekah Prime, from Monmouth, winner of the Alexander Cordell Annual Writing Competition sponsored by the South Wales Argus.

Rebekah's entry, entitled the Lower Dram Road, is a ghost story in which a spectre re-appears to the same person after more than 50 years. Competition judges, who included Frank Barrett, travel editor of the Mail on Sunday, praised the entry for its maturity and mastery of literary techniques.

A proud Rebekah, who lives at Badgers' Dene, Monmouth, and is a pupil at the Haberdashers' School in the town, said: "I was delighted when it was announced that I had won.

"I shall definitely enter again. Competitions really help to get the imaginative juices flowing."

The girl with the deft writing touch said she was inspired by the landscape around Clydach Gorge, which is her mother's ancestral home.

"My grandfather was a pharmacist and my grandmother, a teacher.

"My father, David, who is also a teacher, my mum, Katherine, an educational support worker, and my brother, James, who is 17, and I often go to visit family graves in the area, and each time I feel the landscape taking over my imagination.

"I feel the spirit of Alexander Cordell is alive there and will be so long as people remember his work."