11 minute read
Holidays
The park has eight lodges and two cottages where guests can stay
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ANIMAL MAGIC
West Midland Safari Park in Bewdley, Worcestershire, is offering guests a new experience: the chance to stay at the park overnight in a lodge. It has also brought in some new residents – for the first time, red panda will be part of the vast range of wildlife that call the park home. With a brand-new exhibit in the park’s walkthrough Discovery Trail and newly renovated cottages that look out into the red panda habitat, you can have an immersive and unique trip.
The two luxury Red Panda Cottages, which join the park’s existing Cheetah and Elephant Lodges, have been expertly refurbished with Nepalese design influences. Each has an open-plan living area downstairs, with lounge and dining spaces, with a spiral staircase leading to two bedrooms: one double with a super-king bed and another with three singles.
The double room also features a stunning free-standing copper roll-top bath. Every bedroom has a window seat, giving guests amazing views of the red panda habitat. Mod cons Red Panda Cottage stays
“The Red include exclusive use of Panda Retreat the cottage for up to five people, dinner and breakfast, is home to exclusive views of the red one-year-old Mei Lin” panda habitat, and two-day admission to the safari park. Each cottage has free WiFi, TV, coffee machine and a mini bar filled with local produce. For more information, and prices, visit www.wmsp.co.uk.
New inhabitant
The state-of-the-art Red Panda Retreat is the home of a one-yearold female red panda called Mei Lin. Born in 2020, Mei Lin has come from the Welsh Mountain Zoo in Colwyn Bay, and has settled in well at the park.
WMSP hopes the new exhibit and cottage stays will help to raise awareness of the importance of helping to conserve this species and help preserve their numbers in the wild. The endangered red panda can be found in the eastern Himalayas and southwestern China, but the wild population continues to decline owing to habitat loss and poaching.
Watch the wildlife from your window Glyn Valley Hotel
Valley views
Situated in the picturesque Ceiriog Valley, 15 minutes from Llangollen, Glyn Valley Hotel is a historic inn offering a restaurant and rooms with valley views. The restaurant serves a variety of home-cooked food created with locally sourced produce, including a Sunday carvery. Continental breakfast is served, and a full Welsh breakfast is also Enjoy a drink outside available on request for a supplement. The bar and lounge sell a range of local real ales, as well as hearty, simple food and a specials menu.
There are dozens of great escapes in the area, but close at hand are the Ceffyl Gwyn Stables, offering pony and quad treks, the stunning Plas Newydd House & Garden and Llangollen Wharf boat trips. www.glynvalleyhotel.com
Room at the inn
Well known for its fine food and excellent hospitality, Bryntirion Inn, Bala, is also a great destination for a stopover for those looking to visit the Dee Valley. The Bryn, as it’s known locally, is a great base for visits to the coast and the glories of Snowdonia and is four miles from Lake Bala. Dating back to 1695, the inn serves real ales and an impressive list of wines, and has a food menu designed to tantalise the taste buds of everyone – including vegetarians and children.
You’ll not only find a warm Welsh welcome here but also a family room with a TV, pool table, dart board, books and games. This is a magical part of the world and supremely well catered for by the Bryn, whether you’re stopping for a drink and a meal or thinking of lingering a little longer. www. bryntirion inn.co.uk Bryntirion Inn, Bala
HOT SPOTS
A HIDDEN GEM
Enjoy spectacular views from your holiday home
Maes Mynan Holiday Park is set in more than 100 acres of beautiful Flintshire countryside in a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. From here, getting out and discovering local adventure, culture and historic treasures is easy. After the year we’ve all just had, why not start planning your future adventures by owning your very own holiday home in an undiscovered beauty spot? This one offers spectacular panoramic views, a cultural history that spans centuries and a relaxing charm that only nature can provide.
The park has a range of luxury lodges for sale on a choice of exclusive lodge plots. Static caravan plots are also available, with static caravans for sale
in a wonderful wooded enclave with views across the Clwydian Range. The site is located within easy reach of junction 31 of the A55 North Wales Expressway, making Maes Mynan Holiday Park the perfect weekend getaway and a great destination for “The park holiday home owners seeking an escape to the country. has a range Visitors will appreciate the of luxury lodges benefits of the natural beauty and panoramic views that Maes Mynan has to offer. for sale” The luxury lodges and static caravans are located in two very distinctive and separate zones of Maes Mynan Holiday Park, offering holiday homeowners peace of mind when it comes to security and a special haven to unwind in. www.maesmynanpark.com
BENTHALL HALL
Soak up some history and heritage in one of the Shropshire’s finest old homes, Benthall Hall in Broseley. There is an intriguing past to discover here: the house faced demolition in 1934 and was saved just a week before auction by Mary Clementina, a descendant of William Benthall. Mary and her husband set about restoring the family home. During the Second World War, she rented the hall to an evacuated school and then, in 1958, gifted Benthall Hall and its gardens to the National Trust on the agreement that Mary and any successor could continue to live in the hall. The hall and garden are open Saturday to Wednesday, with tours of the hall available E xplorethegardens from 1pm; from 3pm to 4.30pm you can explore the rooms at your own pace. For more information, visit www. nationaltrust.org.uk/benthall-hall.
CAN’T BEAT THIS RETREAT
The best way to celebrate and recover from the stresses of recent times must be to escape on a relaxing break. One place where you can relax and recover at your own pace is Goetre Retreat Caravan Park, a small, quiet familyrun park in the heart of mid Wales. The site is located on the banks of the River Mule, halfway between the villages of Abermule and Kerry, while Newtown and Welshpool are both just a short drive away. If you like keeping busy outdoors, this is the perfect spot as fishing, golfing, cycling, horse riding are all available within the area. For those who enjoy nothing more than a breath of country air, there is plenty available within the park itself. Goetre Retreat is perfectly placed for exploring the
local area and is ideally located to visit the sights of the Shropshire borders, including the Stiperstones, Carding Mill Valley and the Long Mynd. The Goetre Retreat is the perfect setting for your countryside home from home. It’s situated close to the Shropshire border, with easy access to well-known walks including Offa’s Dyke and the Kerry Ridgeway. Nearby are the reservoirs and dams of Lake Vyrnwy, Clywedog and the Elan Valley, which offer breathtaking vistas over the Welsh countryside and are of special interest to Relax in style birdwatchers. www.goetreretreatcaravanpark.co.uk
Goetre Retreat is a quiet, family-run park
NATURE’S WAY
Enjoy amazing views of the Llyn Peninsula
You’ll need to move quickly to secure one of the few remaining units at a unique development of rare holiday cottages on the beautiful Llyn Peninsula. The luxurious Natural Land cottages at Nature’s Point have recently been completed, offering 25 two-, three- and fivebedroom properties.
Each cottage at Nature’s Point is thoughtfully designed, built to a high specification and finished to a luxurious standard, making them perfect holiday homes or rental investments. There are chic two-
bedroom apartments with sea views, spacious three-bedroom cottages and a palatial five-bedroom family home. The homes are situated in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in an idyllic spot that’s peaceful, private and perfect for nature lovers. The site, which is family- and pet-friendly, has direct access to the Wales Coast Path and is just minutes from the white-sand beaches at Nefyn and Morfa Nefyn and only 20 minutes from Abersoch, Pwlhelli and Llanbedrog. “It’s our mission to share and preserve the world’s most beautiful spaces — and create real, enduring value,” says developer Natural Land. “To that end, we select projects based on their inherent potential. Our collective experience and expertise Own a luxury lodge affords us the rare opportunity to craft resort communities that preserve the character, beauty and traditions of the landscapes they call home.” Prices start from £310,000. www.naturalland.co.uk
PLAS NEWYDD
See how the other half live with a visit to the stunning Plas Newydd in Llanfairpwll on Anglesey. The estate, whose name means “new mansion” , sits on the shore of the Menai Strait and is the ancestral home of the Marquess of Anglesey, with a history stretching back over 5,000 years to a Neolithic burial chamber nearby.
With superb views of the mountains of Snowdonia across the Menai Strait, it’s easy to see why a house has stood in this spot since the early 16th century. The house itself has changed significantly over the years. What started as a Tudor house was altered significantly by the architect James Wyatt in 1790s, with further modernisation taking place the 1930s. For garden lovers there’s also the Grade I listed landscape to explore, StunningPlasNewydd consisting of 40 acres of garden and 129 acres of woodland and parkland. For more information and ticket prices, visit www.nationaltrust.org.
uk/plas-newydd-house-and-garden
MAKE IT EASY
There are few more relaxing ways to travel than letting someone else do all the work. Local Oswestry firm Owen’s Travelmaster offers coach tour holidays and air tours with the emphasis placed firmly on a high level of comfort, wellplanned itineraries, excellent service and cuisine.
Owen’s holidays offer something for everyone, from five-day trips to destinations such as Cornwall and Weston-super-Mare, to shorter stays and themed tours such as the popular Country and Western trip to Caernarfon. Days out include shopping excursions to Manchester city centre or the Trafford Centre, with their great range of stores that will cater for all your shopping needs. The “Emphasis is placed on a high level of comfort”
Weston-super-Mare company also organises evening trips including theatre tickets to incredible shows across the country. With a philosophy to always provide clients with the very best possible holiday, Owen’s Travelmaster has gained an enviable reputation for the care and attention to detail it places on arranging tours of all types. It can also create an itinerary to suit your requirements and even offers a wide range of coaches for hire for UK and Europe-wide trips for Owen’s in Oswestry any organisation and groups. www.owenstravel.co.uk
