Perseid Meteor Shower 2018

The Perseid meteor shower is due to peak around the 12th to 13th of August this year. Because there is a new moon, the night skies will be nice and dark meaning that we should be able to see shooting stars over Wye View again – provided that there isn’t too much cloud of course!

The meteor shower is an annual event, and is caused by the Earth moving through particles of the Swift-Tuttle comet which burn up in our atmosphere and look to us like fast moving shooting stars. Because they appear to come from the Perseus constellation, they are called the Perseids.

Sharp-eyed watchers have already reported some Perseid meteors this year, and the combination of little cloud cover, the new moon and our wonderful dark skies here in Mid Wales should mean that there will be plenty to see in the nights around the peak.

In past years we have driven to the heart of the Elan Valley, near the Pen-y-garreg dam, where at midnight there are no lights visible for miles around – and seeing the stars reflected in the reservoir and the milky way overhead is breathtaking.

 

 

 

Upper Severn Valley Scarecrow Festival 2018

The Upper Severn Valley Scarecrow Festival returns this year between Friday 27th July and Tuesday 31st July.

Last year saw dozens of novelty scarecrows, spread along the roadside between Glan Y Nant and the Hafren Forest, made by residents of the villages in support of the Welsh Air Ambulance.

Worth a look, especially if you are planning a visit to the forest or a drive around the Clewedog reservoir.

Severn 7th July 2018

Had a lovely stay in Severn Cottage. Adrian and Grace are lovely too with lots of ideas where to visit and places to travel to. We used the cottage as a base to go and explore from but we found it so comfortable I must admit to being lazy and sitting outside drinking beer and watching the view. Lots of birds on the bird feeders and red kites, buzzards above. Some spectacular views not far away, was spoilt because we had great weather too. Thanks Adrian & Grace.

Stan the whippet enjoyed it too. X

Pat & John.

Four stars again!

Visit Wales re-assess the grading of self catering cottages every two years, to make sure that standard are maintained. We are delighted that we have been awarded four stars again, with the assessor commenting on our high standard of housekeeping! We have also been included in the Cyclists Welcome and Walkers Welcome schemes – we will be posting more about that soon.

Severn 23rd June 2018

What a great find. The cottage exceeded our expectations. Extremely clean & modern has everything you need. Great location – amazing views. The area has a lot to offer – great walks for our pup Ziggy who got to go in the local rivers & streams and the sea. Grace & Adrian were great hosts – friendly and made sure we had everything we needed. Thanks for the eggs – best tasting and so yellow!

We love this area and hope to return again.

Thanks for the great week – we have certainly relaxed & recharged our batteries. Ziggy appreciated his yummy treat bag!

Sarah & Grahame & Ziggy 🐾.

Severn 4th June 2018

Back once more to our favourite retreat Having never stayed at Severn before (we have stayed at all other 3 cottages) we now have decided this is the cottage for us! It is simply wonderful!

Found Aber’s best kept secret on this stay – the back yard barbecue – fabulous food in a quirky quaint setting. We also recommend the curry house in Rhayader – bhajis built like cricket balls!

As always we will return home with our objective achieved – fully recharged, blisfully rested and probably half a stone heavier than when we arrived due to fabulous local fare!

Great hosts. Great food. Great time.

– it doesn’t get better than this –

🙂

Glen & Siobhan

Elan 2nd June 2018

Such a fantastic, cosy, comfy cottage. We have had a really lovely week here and even the weather played ball. The welcome tray was a lovely touch, the cake went down a treat.

Adrian and Grace were great hsots and were very kind to leave a bottle of water, lighter and a kettle when we woke up to a power cut and no water.

Will miss the beautiful views.

Also thank you for the bag of dog treats for Domino 🙂

Abby, Adrian, Ross, baby bump + Domino

Hafren 29th May 2018

What a fab little cottage! It made a brilliant base for us as we visited the Eisteddfod in Builth Wells. We had a lovely welcome from our hsots, and the kids especially liked going to see the chickens and roaming around the garden. There is nothing more relaxing than sitting outside with a glass of wine in the sun watching whilst our children played.

The cottage has everything we needed, and more! We will definitely be back! <3 🙂

Lots of love,

Siân, Nigel, Seren, Cai.

 

Elan 1st May 2018

This, our second visit here, was just as warm and welcoming as our first.

A very welcoming hospitality tray, including dog’s nibbles and help and information from Grace & Adrian.

Cottage spotless & whole accommodation worth the 4 stars it has been awarded. Plus the eggs!

Beautiful surroundings and great walks within a fairly short distance.

We may well be here again, inshallah!

Geoff & Janet, Portia.

Elan 3rd April 2018

Thank you for a very comfortable stay in a beautifully kept cottage. Amazing views over the valley! A bonus to wake up to a “snowy” scene in April!!

A special thank you for looking after Bonnie whilst we ventured to Corris for a trip to King Arthur’s caves.

We will definitely recommend “Wye View”.

Kate, Chris, Luke, Daniel and Bonnie the dog.

PS: it was very warm and cosy – Daniel.

Elan 25th March 2018

Dear Adrian 7 Grace,

Very many thanks for a wonderful weekend. The cottage was a lovely surprise – spotlessly clean, comfortable beds & a much appreciated welcome pack of tea, coffee, biscuits & milk – thank you!! We’ve enjoyed seeing the birds and sheep (and hens!) outside our windows.

We can highly recommend Hafod for walks (turn left at Devil’s Bridge) & the Angel Hotel in Llanidloes for dinner – it was fabulous but book a table!!

It’s been a really great visit – thank you!!

Sue, Paul, Jonny & Esteban.

 

Severn 26th February 2018

Lovely spot you have here on the edge of the Elan Valley – often an area we have passed thorough on the South to North journeys. We are glad we did indeed make a point to spend a couple of nights here.

A welcome break from Cardiff and we hope to come back to the area again. We will certainly recommend your cottages here.

Claerwen Dam was a particular favourite – amazing views from the top. Can recommend gentle slopes and path around Craig Goch dam for a more “leisurely walk / hike.”

All the best for 2018,

Emelyne & Guy.

Wye 13th February 2018

Once again we return as “frequent flyers”. Another fabulous stay, wonderful snow & scenery you just can’t beat! Inner & outer peace now fully regained – just a shame we couldn’t get snowed in and not have to go home! …we shall return again later in the year.

(P.S. can we have the whistling kettle again – even if you just have that & the choice of the ‘leccy one! We love the old-school traditional whistle of “tea’s ready!”)

Glen & Siobhan.

Elan 20th August 2017

Adrian and Grace were very welcoming and we really enjoyed the eggs!

The cottage was spotless and had everything you could possibly need.

We would recommend Hafren Forest walk to the source of the river Severn. Elan Valley walks are also nice.

Also recommend Roberts Coffee shop is Dolgellau, a bit like stepping back in time. Gret cake selection.

For a great meal go to The Brigands Inn at the junction of the A470 & A458 near Mallwyd.

Julie, Dean & Jess.

Elan 11th August 2017

Wow! We’ve had the most fantastic few days.

Elan Valley was gorgeous and worth a visit.

Harry’s birthday request was to climb a mountain – so off we went to Pen y fan. We got to the top and the views were stunning.

Snowdonia is also amazing and worth the drive.

Adrian & Grace are so very kind and helpful and the cottage is gorgeous.

We’d love to come back 🙂

Chris, Corinne, Harry (7) + Isabelle (3).

Elan 15th July 2017

Thank you so much for your lovely welcome to us, cake, eggs & treats for Bailey & Milk. We had a lovely week staying here. The cottage has been so comfy (home from home) with everything we could have needed + such a wonderful spot + amazing views.

Bailey made a new friend with Ryan & looked disappointed if he wasn’t in the garden to say hello.

Thank you Grace & Adrian for a lovely stay.

David, Pip, Zoe & Bailey.

Elan 7th July 2017

Arrived on a sunny afternoon to this lovely cottage and beautiful part of the world. The views from the cottage are stunning! We were made most welcome by Grace & Adrian, such lovely helpful people. Our week remained dry and mostly sunny. We were so lucky with the weather and managed some great walks with our dog Macey – Elan valley & reservoirs, Hafren forest and Hafod are all worth a visit.

Would recommend these holiday cottages to friends.

Thank you both and a big thank you for our welcome pack – and Macey’s too, such a nice touch!

Dave + Andrea + Macey.

Elan 10th June 2017

Clean & cosy cottage – didn’t miss home at all!! Loved the welcome goodies, especially the dog treats. Bara Brith was delicious 🙂 Cracking views!!

Weather not ideal, but sunshine when it mattered. Glorious Elan Valley – once in the rain and then on bicycles in the sun!! Complete with ‘baby’ trailer for the dogs!!!

Devil’s Bridge and Mynach Falls were a great day out and it was good to see the sea at Aberystwyth – as well as a little shopping!!

The Hafod Estate has some wonderful walking, waterfalls too. Powis Castle, Mansion and gardens was a real treat.

Lovely part of the country, would definitely come back.

Sue & Mike with Scoobie & Millie.

Elan 21st May 2017

As everyone else has already said in varying words, Elan Cottage is a pure delight. We did the “home from home” sigh when we first stepped through the door. The biscuits and bara brith for us humans was a lovely touch and ‘Chin’ our dog was made up with his own goodie bag!

There are so many nice places to visit. Our most favourite place was Hafod. The walks are just magical with surprises at every turn. Definitely a “I wasn’t expecting that” place. Remember to take some supplies with you.

Aberystwyth is a brilliant town and for a driving experience the mountain road after Staylittle from Dylife to Machynlleth is pure bliss. The best road in the UK by far!!

Thank you Grace and Adrian for making our stay so memorable.

P.S. If you have a dog, don’t forget to visit Sophie Bach Coffee shop in Aberystwyth. Biscuits galore and they photograph your dog and put it on the wall.

Paul, Martina & Chin

Hinterland Filming Location Map

Are you a fan of the Hinterland (Y Gwyll) series on BBC Wales and S4C? The third (and final) series returns to BBC Wales on Wednesday 5th of April at 9pm. If you live outside Wales, tune to channel 964 / 976 (HD) on Freesat, or 952 / 978 (HD) on Sky.

The series is shot in and around Aberystwyth and the Cambrian Mountains, and many of the stunning rural locations are shown on this interactive map of the area – it has been updated for the new series.

Hinterland Location Map
Hinterland Location Map

Many of these locations are within a 30 minute drive of Wye View, and this map provides a great excuse for a drive through the Cambrian Mountains!

Virtual Walk Around Bwlch Nant yr Arian

Natural Resources of Wales have spent many hours carrying the Google Street View Trekker backpack around the paths of Bwlch Nant yr Arian. The result is a high-quality 360 degree Streetview of the paths around the site, so you can see the fantastic views of the Cambrian Mountains and plan your visit!


There is a gallery of all of the Natural Resources of Wales Street Views or you can go straight to the map for Bwlch Nant yr Arian and drag the yellow man from the bottom right corner to one of the trails on the map.
Bwlch Nant yr Arian features walking, mountain biking and running trails, and new this year is an MTB skills track – opens 4th March 2017.
It is also worth planning your visit around the 2pm (3pm during British Summer Time) Red Kite Feeding – down by the lake you can typically see 80 or more Red Kites diving down to pick up food. The feeding only lasts around 15 minutes though, so make sure you are on time!