This year we tried a holiday on our own, just the two of us, Mother and teenager. About time too! Having seen a BBC documentary about Wales, we decided to try the Brecon Beacons as the countryside looked awesome. I found what appeared to be an idyllic campsite, and booked a spot. Good choice!
I heartily recommend 'Camping at Ynysfaen' near Trecastle, in Powys. it is, officially, pretty much the middle of nowhere, with no mobile reception or WiFi, but with a huge green campsite. Cars are not allowed on the camping area, but wheelbarrows are provided for carting things about. A small river flows nearby, and at night all you can hear are sheep and the occasional hoot of an owl. Heaven. Jane and Nigel, who run it, are lovely too. Oh, there are fabulous showers, a covered washing up area, and a communal fridge, so that you don't have to rough it too much! Go there.
We arrived on Sunday afternoon, post festival, tired but glad to have made it. The weather was still dry, so we chose a pitch and erected the tent and settled in. We woke on Monday to a beautiful, sunny day and decided to go walking while the weather was nice, and headed south for the famous waterfall walks. Good choice. We parked in the forest car park, then walked downhill through the forest for about half an hour until we came to the first waterfall. We paused to admire it and chat to other walkers, then carried on, following the red route. This encompassed all the waterfalls, all magnificent, and a lot of walking. The waterfalls were all down side paths, which led steeply downhill and then, of course, back up hill. At the end of six miles we were very tired and had extremely achey legs! Absolutely worth it though. Back to the camp, and tea cooked on a trangea.
On the Tuesday we had a lazy morning, playing Frisbee and catch in the campsite before lunch. After lunch we set off to find the Red Kite Feeding Centre. And got lost, or had a grand tour of the countryside if you prefer. We drove up the lane to Trecastle and turned left, ending up in Llandovery. I asked for directions and found that if we had turned right instead, the journey would have taken 10 minutes! Ah well. We attempted to follow the directions across the hills, and got lost a few times before finding the feeding centre with ten minutes to spare.
The feeding centre was simple, consisting of a bird hide with an honesty box, facing onto a small paddock. At 3pm the farmer drove up, said a few words and then scattered chicken joints around the paddock. After about 15 minutes, kites began to turn up, flying around but not swooping down for some time. When they did swoop, they were magnificent! We saw 11 birds in total. Definitely worth a visit.
On Wednesday the weather changed and the rain poured down. I attempted to cook breakfast, under an umbrella, but it didn't really work. We headed off to The National Show Caves Centre, and spent the day exploring Dan-yr-Ogof, Cathedral Cave, and Bone Cave, then admiring the dinosaur trail. We went to the café for lunch and had a nice hot meal! Delicious. Afterwards, we toured the small farm which had alpacas, guinea pigs, rabbits, goats and pigs. There was also Shire Horse Centre so we admired the horses. Once we'd left I headed down the road to find my old caving haunts, which was interesting to me, although not necessarily to the teenager. We went home via Brecon and got a Chinese takeaway. Yum!
On Thursday it continued to rain. We headed for the Brecon Mountain Railway and had a picnic in the waiting room, and a chat with a volunteer who was fixing an enormous piston. After that we got on the steam train and headed up the mountain admiring the view. On the way back there was a brief stop off to see the steam museum and café. Once back at the campsite we packed up as much as we could as there was a lull in the weather, had tea and prepared for our final night camping.
On the Friday morning, we packed up the tent, paid our dues and headed home via the Chilterns and lunch in Gloucester. We got back to the ferry rather early but weren't allowed on so we lurked in Mayflower Park for a bit.
On the Tuesday we had a lazy morning, playing Frisbee and catch in the campsite before lunch. After lunch we set off to find the Red Kite Feeding Centre. And got lost, or had a grand tour of the countryside if you prefer. We drove up the lane to Trecastle and turned left, ending up in Llandovery. I asked for directions and found that if we had turned right instead, the journey would have taken 10 minutes! Ah well. We attempted to follow the directions across the hills, and got lost a few times before finding the feeding centre with ten minutes to spare.
The feeding centre was simple, consisting of a bird hide with an honesty box, facing onto a small paddock. At 3pm the farmer drove up, said a few words and then scattered chicken joints around the paddock. After about 15 minutes, kites began to turn up, flying around but not swooping down for some time. When they did swoop, they were magnificent! We saw 11 birds in total. Definitely worth a visit.
On Wednesday the weather changed and the rain poured down. I attempted to cook breakfast, under an umbrella, but it didn't really work. We headed off to The National Show Caves Centre, and spent the day exploring Dan-yr-Ogof, Cathedral Cave, and Bone Cave, then admiring the dinosaur trail. We went to the café for lunch and had a nice hot meal! Delicious. Afterwards, we toured the small farm which had alpacas, guinea pigs, rabbits, goats and pigs. There was also Shire Horse Centre so we admired the horses. Once we'd left I headed down the road to find my old caving haunts, which was interesting to me, although not necessarily to the teenager. We went home via Brecon and got a Chinese takeaway. Yum!
On Thursday it continued to rain. We headed for the Brecon Mountain Railway and had a picnic in the waiting room, and a chat with a volunteer who was fixing an enormous piston. After that we got on the steam train and headed up the mountain admiring the view. On the way back there was a brief stop off to see the steam museum and café. Once back at the campsite we packed up as much as we could as there was a lull in the weather, had tea and prepared for our final night camping.
On the Friday morning, we packed up the tent, paid our dues and headed home via the Chilterns and lunch in Gloucester. We got back to the ferry rather early but weren't allowed on so we lurked in Mayflower Park for a bit.
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| Random standing stone on a mountain. |
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| Waterfall you could walk behind. |
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| Dinosaur at Show Caves Centre |
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