Walesfeb2016

Llwynywermod is the Welsh home of Their Royal Highnesses The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall.

This is the story of our holiday there in February 2016

Llwynywermod is the Welsh home of Their Royal Highnesses The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall.

Forming part of the courtyard range adjoining Llwynywermod, the Welsh home of Their Royal Highnesses The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall, West Range is a charming barn conversion that we took for periodic holiday let in February 2016.

Llwynywermod sits within 192 acres of farmland with beautiful views over historic parkland, near Myddfai, Llandovery in Carmarthenshire and is ideally located for exploring mid Wales & the Brecon Beacons.

The West Range has been painstakingly built utilising local materials and craftsmen in the vernacular architectural style. The interior is beautifully furnished to suit the style of the property with a mixture of period and contemporary furniture including many Welsh pieces and local fabrics.

Sustainability is to the fore both with the conversion which used natural paints, sheeps wool insulation, hemp plaster and natural materials etc and ongoing energy use. Heating and hot water are supplied from a wood chip boiler and our electricity is only provided from a renewable source.

The West Range accommodation comprises ground floor sitting room, kitchen, cloak room, and dining room. The sitting room is fully carpeted, has subtle lighting and high quality soft furnishings, flat screen digital TV with DVD player and hi-fi with I pod docking station. Quality books DVD's and games are also provided.

The bedrooms are located on the first floor and comprise a master bedroom with king size bed and en suite bath room, one twin bedroom and a family bathroom. The family bathroom is located on the first floor, has traditional sanitary ware, bath with shower over.

The traditional style kitchen has timber worktops and has been comprehensively equipped with dishwasher, fridge freezer, ceramic hob, double oven, combination washing machine / tumble dryer and all conceivable cookware, crockery, glassware, cook books etc.

The West Range has full central heating and towels and linen are provided. All electricity and heating including logs are included in the tariff, together with a welcome pack and complimentary toiletries.

Llandovery

(Welsh: Llanymddyfri) is a community and market town in Carmarthenshire, Wales, lying on the River Tywi and the A40/A483 roads.

The town is served by Llandovery railway station, where there is a park and ride to Llanelli and Shrewsbury via the Heart of Wales Line.

Llandovery — a corruption of ' Llanymddyfri', meaning 'Llan ymlith y dyfroedd' or in English 'Church enclosure amidst the waters' — owes its name to its position between the River Tywi and the Afon Brân just upstream of their confluence. A smaller watercourse, the Bawddwr, runs through and under the town. Llandovery is twinned with Pluguffan in Brittany, France.

We found the Bikers Cafe interesting if not a little bazaar but the cafe in the shop opposite the market square (on the left) was brilliant.

The town was quaint and interesting but in need of uplift - would return again if in the area.

The Roman fort at Llanfair Hill to the northeast of the modern town around was known to the Romans as Alabum. It was built around AD 50 to 60 as part of their strategy for the conquest of Wales. A Roman road heads across Mynydd Bach Trecastell to the southeast of Llandovery bound for the fort of Brecon Gaer.

Another heads down the Towy valley for Carmarthen whilst a third makes for the goldmines at Dolaucothi.

Also in the town are a charity-run theatre (Llandovery Theatre), a heritage centre and Llandovery College. A tourist information and heritage centre is situated in the heart of the town. It houses exhibitions on the Tonn Press, the area's droving history and the nineteenth century geologist Sir Roderick Impey Murchison whose work in the area resulted in the name of Llandovery being assigned to rocks of a certain age across the entire world. In a small market place in the centre of Llandovery is Llandovery Town Hall (1857-8) by the architect Richard Kyke Penson. There is a courtroom over an open market, in an Italianate style. The building has two storeys with open arcades. At the rear are police cells with iron grilles and entry to the courtroom (now used as a library) under a clock tower.[2] Many visitors use Llandovery as a touring base for the western part of the Brecon Beacons National Park which lies immediately to the south of the town. For others it is a stop en route to Pembrokeshire and West Wales. Large numbers of motorcyclists congregate, particularly at weekends, in the West End cafe on Broad Street, part of the A40.

Attractions in the town include the remains of Llandovery Castle, built in 1110 and almost immediately captured by the Welsh, changing hands between Normans and Welsh until the reign of King Edward I of England. The castle was used by King Henry IV while on a sortie into Wales when he executed Llywelyn ap Gruffydd Fychan in the marketplace. It was later attacked by the forces of Owain GlyndĹľr in 1403.

Tenby With its strategic position on the far west coast of the British Isles, and a natural sheltered harbour from both the Atlantic Ocean and the Irish Sea, Tenby was a natural settlement point.

The earliest reference to a settlement at Tenby is in "Etmic Dinbych", a poem probably of the 9th century, preserved in the 14th century Book of Taliesin. At this point the settlement was probably a hill fort, the mercantile nature of the settlement possibly developing under Hiberno-Norse influence.

Tenby the Harbour Tenby's Harbour Beach beat off competition from sands across Europe It is the jewel in the crown of Pembrokeshire’s tourism portfolio and one of the most photographed harbour towns in the UK. Now the picture postcard resort of Tenby has been ranked as having the most beautiful beach in Europe

After the Norman conquest of England, the lands came under the control of the Earls of Pembroke who strengthened the easy to defend but hard to attack hill fort on Castle Hill by building the first stone walled castle. This enabled the town to grow as a seaport but the need for additional defences was shown when it was attacked by Welsh forces in 1187 and again in 1260 by Llewelyn the Great.[3] The town walls were built by William de Valence, 1st Earl of Pembroke, in the late 13th century.

This spurred the landowners to develop extensive city walls, enclosing a large part of the settlement into what is now termed the "old town."

Although the actual wooden gates into Tenby no longer exist, the Five Arches at the edge of old town give an insight into what the merchants would have marvelled at as they entered.

During the Wars of the Roses Henry Tudor, the future King Henry VII of England, sheltered within Tenby before sailing into exile in 1471.

Consequently, in the Late Middle Ages, Tenby was awarded various royal grants which financed the maintenance and improvement of the town walls and the enclosure of the harbour. The harbour during this period became a busy and important national port. Originally based on fish trading, traders sailed along the coast to Bristol and Ireland and further afield to France, Spain and Portugal. Exports from Tenby included wool, skins, canvas, coal, iron and oil; while in 1566 Portuguese seamen landed the first oranges to be brought to Wales.

Modern Tenby provides many attractions and activities for both local residents and out of season tourists to enjoy. There are more than 200 listed buildings and other structures in and around Tenby.

The old town castle walls still survive, as does the Victorian revival architecture, which has been retained and maintained, often in a high-light orientated pastel colour scheme, making the town more French Riviera-esque in nature and feel.

The economy is still highly based around tourism, supported by the provision of a range of craft, art and local goods stores, which has been created by a thriving artist community.

The Doorways to Tenby

Lifeboat Tenby Lifeboat Station is one of over 200 RNLI Lifeboat Stations in the UK. It is situated on the South West Wales Coast and is one of the busiest stations in the UK. There has been a lifeboat in Tenby since 1852 when the Shipwrecked Mariners Society established the first lifeboat in the town. Things have changed a lot since then however – Tenby now has 2 lifeboats – a Tamar class All Weather Lifeboat and a D class Inshore Lifeboat.

Modern Tenby provides many attractions and activities for both local residents and out of season tourists to enjoy. There are more than 200 listed buildings and other structures in and around Tenby.

The old town castle walls still survive, as does the Victorian revival architecture, which has been retained and maintained, often in a high-light orientated pastel colour scheme, making the town more French Riviera-esque in nature and feel.

The economy is still highly based around tourism, supported by the provision of a range of craft, art and local goods stores, which has been created by a thriving artist community.

St Mary’s Church Tenby The majority of the remaining building dates from the 15th century with some features retained from the 13th century. There is believed to have been a church on the site since Norman times, and Gerald of Wales is counted as the earliest Rector of Tenby.

The 13th Century chancel has a 'wagon' roof and the panelled ceiling has 75 bosses carved in a variety of designs including foliage, grotesques, fishes, a mermaid, and a green man, as well as the figure of Jesus surrounded by the four Apostles.

St. Thomas' Chapel was added in the mid-15th Century, and the St. Nicholas Chapel was added c.

1485.

The spire is also a 15th Century addition. Inside the church is a 15th Century font and a 15th Century bell, cast with the letters 'Sancta Anna'.

The tower is positioned to one side of the chancel and dates from the late 13th century. The first floor served as a chapel, and still has a stone altar and piscina in place.

The church has two fonts, one dating from the 15th century and another late Gothic example from the 19th century.[1] The church contains several memorials, including the tombs of Thomas and John White, both Mayors of Tenby in the fifteenth century. Thomas White was famous for hiding a young Henry Tudor from King Richard III.

The Gwili Railway (Welsh: Rheilffordd Ager y Gwili) is a Welsh heritage railway that operates a standard gauge preserved railway line from the site of Abergwili Junction (near Carmarthen) in southwest Wales along a short section of the former Carmarthen to Aberystwyth.

The original railway closed in 1965, with the track being lifted in 1975.

We even needed tickets for General and Lilly plus concessions for Maw and Paw

Two years after its closure, the Gwili Railway Preservation Company was formed with the ambition to preserve at least a figure eight miles of track of the former route, from Abergwili Junction right up the Gwili Valley to the station site at Llanpumpsaint.

Track lifting had already started by the time of the formation of the new Company and, as a result, only a mile of track north of Bronwydd Arms was left in situ, the Company being able to acquire the full eight-mile stretch of trackbed from Abergwili Junction to Llanpumsaint for both rebuilding and preserving.

Over time, the Railway has extended the operational length from one mile to 2½ miles, as well as reconstructing original features at Bronwydd Arms station and amassing a collection of locomotives and rolling stock.

The Gwili Railway was set up in 1974 (but formed officially in April 1975). By 1978 the railway had purchased at least eight miles of track (between the sites of Abergwili Junction and Llanpumpsint railway station) and was running an initial steam-hauled service on a one-mile section.

In Spring 1978, it re-opened the one-mile section of the CarmarthenNewcastle Emlyn route from its base at Bronwydd Arms, three miles north of Carmarthen, making it the first standard-gauge preserved railway to operate in Wales

The carriages are the old corridor type fitted with special British Rail seating and the old gas type lamps.

Nick and Mum enjoyed the experience and even resorted to a selfie (below)

Ape and Monkey Sanctuary Jan and Graham Garen, are the proprietors of Wales Ape and Monkey Sanctuary. They are located in the lovely Brecon Beacons National Park area of South Wales. The Park has been officially designated as a Geopark because of its unique geological formations. Formerly a traditional Welsh hill farm, the sanctuary now rescues and provides a home for many types of unwanted animals. especially primates, such as chimpanzees, baboons, spider monkeys, capuchins and marmosets.

Visitors are welcome to see the animals and the work we do. They undertake a number of rescues from zoos and laboratories where animals have suffered mistreatment and deprivation or are no longer wanted.

As they are not equipped for survival in the wild they can only endeavour to make the rest of their lives as enjoyable and stress free as possible.

The biomass boiler broke down at Christmas 2015 leaving the poor animals suffering from the cold but they enjoyed the sun on the day we visited.

Millie and Gran Patti - Tenby, Wales 2016