Category: News

A week of glorious weather at the end of May brought all of the trees and shrubs into full leaf and the rhododendrons are all in flower now. We currently have a wonderful display of bluebells around the top bench, and the woodlands have a blue carpet of them as you drive past Cwm Belan on the way to Llanidloes.

Sightings in and around Wye View in June:

• Chiffchaff
• Cuckoo
• Great tits
• Pied wagtails – a pair are nesting, we think that they have eggs.
• Red kites
• Tawny owl (heard, not seen)
• Great spotted woodpecker

We are delighted to announce that on the 9th of November 2020 we reopened Wye View following Wales’ firebreak lockdown.

We are now able to welcome guests from across Wales to stay in our self catering cottages. There are no travel restrictions within Wales.

From Friday December the 4th our English guests are permitted to travel between Tier 1 and Tier 2 locations in England and Wales, but travel from Tier 3 locations is not still allowed.

Travel between the whole of Northern Ireland and Scotland’s Tier 3 and Tier 4 locations is not permitted.

All travel restrictions within the UK will be suspended between 23 and 27 December to allow people to meet members of their Christmas bubble. People travelling to and from Northern Ireland will be able to travel the day before this period starts and the day after.

You can find answers to frequently asked questions about the new rules on the Welsh Government website.

We look forward to welcoming returning and new guests – book now for Christmas and the New Year!

Updated Thursday 20th August 2020.

We are seeing a gradual re-opening of tourist destinations and hospitality businesses across Mid Wales. This is a short list of what we know to be open, and what is still closed at the moment. Please tell us of any changes, and please call ahead or check social media before travelling, because opening times may change at short notice.

Please remember that here in Wales the 2m social distancing rule remains in force and we ask you pay extra special attention to respecting others when out enjoying these activities, including in the car park areas where it is so easy to forget!

To find out more about the rules in Wales:  https://gov.wales/coronavirus-regulations-guidance

Vale of Rheidol Railway

The Vale of Rheidol Railway will not be reopening this summer. It should be re-opening in 2021.

Website.

The Elan Valley

The valley is open for visitors, and parts of the visitor centre have reopened:

• The Visitor Centre cafe is now open for indoor seated table service.
• The playground has re-opened.
• There is a new Grab and Go section in the gift shop with snacks and drinks. 
• The main toilets remain closed, but Temporary toilets are available at the Visitor Centre and at Claerwen Dam and Craig Goch Dam.
• There is a a catering trailer ‘Y Gegin’ at the visitor centre, currently cash only.
• Bike hire available for advanced bookings only. Call 01597 810 880.

The car parks are now all open, but you must book your car parking ticket here: https://eola.co/w/939/activities/car-park-charge You will need to print out your receipt and display in your vehicle: we can print our guests’ tickets at the farmhouse.

The dam open day dates have been changed, for more information see our post.

Website.

Penbont House Tearooms

The tearooms have reopened, with all seating outdoors on the picnic benches, but under a gazebo. The menu is limited, and afternoon teas are pre-ordered and takeaway only.

Website.

Great Oak Cafe

Great vegetarian cooking! Open 10am to 2pm, outside seating at rear.

Facebook page.

Aisha’s Cafe and Restaurant

A new restaurant in Llanidloes, serving Moroccan cuisine and tapas. Lunch time 10am to 4pm Tuesday – Saturday and evening opening Thursday / Friday Saturday. Order for takeaway or outside seating.

Facebook page.

Powis Castle

The castle, garden, courtyard and cafes at Powis Castle are now open daily. The Clive museum remains closed. You will need to book your visit in advance. Check What’s On for the latest information and to book. You may be turned away if you arrive without a booking. We can help our guests with printing their ticket.

Website.

Hafren Forest

The car park, trails, picnic area and toilets have reopened.

Website.

Hafod Estate

The car park and the walks are now open again.

Website.

Gilfach Nature Reserve

Open but with the following restrictions:

• The Byre and the toilets are closed.
• The bird hide is closed.

Website.

Bwlch Nant Yr Arian

Currently open:

• car park
• walking trails
• running trails
• mountain bike trails and skills park
• horse riding trail and corral
• orienteering trails
• picnic area
• play area
• bike wash

Still closed:

• visitor centre building and external decking area
• café (but there is a limited takeaway service 11am-4pm)
• toilets (temporary toilets are available in the meantime)
• bird hides
• red kite feeding at 3pm (they will not be feeding the red kites at a specific time each day to help prevent large crowds of visitors)

Website.

Centre for Alternative Technology

Now open for pre-booked visits.

Website

Happy new year to all of our guests!

We started the new year with a new website; a fresher look and feel, plus a new booking system which shows you the full price of your stay when you make a booking enquiry.

We always want our guests to get best value for their stay, so we have introduced short break pricing for stays of three or more nights – starting any day of the week. Remember that if you book direct with us here at Wye View there are NO BOOKING FEES!

We would welcome any comments or suggestions for the website – leave a comment or drop us an email.

Grace & Adrian.

We have always described ourselves as being in the heart of the beautiful Mid Wales countryside, and the new Natural Mid Wales map shows just how much wildlife we are surrounded by!

The nearest nature reserve – Gilfach RWT – is just down the road from us, and you really can see salmon leaping in late autumn. There is usually a pair of Red Kites soaring high above the cottages, and a combination of leaving the grass long and regular winter feeding means that we have a many wild birds in our grounds.

You can download and print a bigger version of the map, and of course there is a copy in the welcome folder of each cottage.

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.

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.

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.

There is an updated list for 2019 here.

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!

We have been busy making some changes to the cottages to help maintain our high feedback scores and improve our guests’ experience. Here’s what we have been up to.

Last year we renewed the slate roof over Wye and Severn Cottages. This was to install insulation and repair broken slates, and where possible level out the bumps & dips in the roof. Most of the slate was reused, but we did have to purchase reclaimed Welsh slates for around 15% of the roof to match. The result is much cosier and more energy efficient cottages.

We have also begun pointing the walls – in some cases they are in their original 150-year old state, so this is well overdue!

Throughout all four cottages we have replaced the carpeting with a more neutral, tweed beige carpet. We think it looks great and hope that you agree!

We have updated the WiFi network with new equipment to improve link stability.

In Elan, Severn and Wye Cottages we have repainted the skirting boards, architrave and banisters, which we think lightens the rooms. We have also redecorated the walls and ceilings upstairs in Hafren, Severn and Wye – and we will be doing the rest in Spring / Summer 2017. While we were decorating, we spotted “1847” carved into a roof truss in Severn Cottage – this is almost certainly the year that the barn was built.

Part of our 4 star Visit Wales grading is based on an assessment of the look and feel of the cottages; we hope that you agree that the changes we have made are positive and will help us maintain our standard.

In September 2014 the Top Gear crew visited the Elan Valley to film an item about the Landrover Defender. Richard Hammond uses the Landrover with a winch to a make a heart-stopping ascent of the Claerwen dam in the Elan valley, recreating an advert from the 1980s for the Landrover 90.

Six dams were built as part of the Elan Valley project which started in 1893, although Dol-y-Mynach, also on the River Claerwen, was never completed. Today the dams provide 360 million litres of water a day to Birmingham. The Elan Valley offers spectacular views and can be reached in around 15 minutes from Wye View – well worth a day out!

You can see the Top Gear programme at 8pm on Sunday the 15th of February.

Picture from the Elan Valley website.

Visitors to Wye View may have the opportunity to see the Geminids meteor shower, on Saturday 13 December from around 9pm – subject to weather. With some of the darkest skies in the UK, this remote part of mid Wales is the perfect location for amateur astronomers to observe this shower. Wrap up warm and watch the skies!

The Llanidloes Christmas Arts & Craft Fair is running from Monday to Saturday until the 24th of December. More details on their Facebook page.