Winter Car Rally a Success

The roar of the huge 8 litre engines announced the arrival of a group of vintage Bentley owners as they arrived at Gliffaes for the first stage of their Winter Rally. This is the second time that we have hosted this very cheery bunch of car enthusiasts who I am pleased to say spend a good deal more time in the bar than under the bonnets of their cars, which is what other vintage car owners seem to do.

Despite the threat of snow and ice everyone made it from all over the UK and abroad and in some style – all in open top style despite the freezing temperatures. We warmed everyone up in front of the fire and soup went down a treat. The rest of the weekend ran like clockwork; drives along the quiet country roads of the Brecon Beacons, a clay pigeon shoot at Woodland Park, a trip to Hay-on-Wye and a couple of very jolly dinners in the hotel.

A Great Location

This part of Wales makes the ideal base for rallies of this type as the roads are some of the quietest and most picturesque in the whole of the British Isles with plenty of diversions along the way to help keep everyone happy. Gliffaes not only makes for a great period back drop to the stylish cars but has plenty of safe parking to, not to mention great hospitality and good food. If anyone is keen to find out more about brining their club to Gliffaes please do call James Suter.

Dinner, Bed and Breakfast from £79.50 per person for February 2012

For most of February (13th and 14th excluded) we are offering rooms from £79.50 per person per night based on two people sharing a small double .
Two night minimum stay if you want to stay on a Saturday night.

Other rooms at the following prices:~

Small doubles £79.50 per person per night. £159 for two for dinner, bed and breakfast.

Standard doubles £84.50 per person per night. £169 for two.

Large Doubles with a garden view £104.50 per person per night. £209 for two.

Large doubles with a river view £109.50 per person per night. £219 for two.

Luxury doubles with a river view £129.50 per person per night. £259 for two.

All rates include a three course dinner and a full breakfast. (VAT and service included as well). To qualify for these rates rooms must be double occupancy.

Call now on 01874 730 371 or book on line and make sure you choose the dinner, bed and breakfast package from the drop down menu.

The newly restored mill gear.

The Black Mountain’s new ‘must see’.

The village of Talgarth is just a 20 minute drive over the Black Mountains from Gliffaes. The fully restored flour mill and bakery opened in August after a community restoration project funded by nearly a million pounds of lottery money and it has been money well spent. It was firmly put on the map by BBC1′s village SOS series.

Susie and I went to visit this week and were truly impressed with what the community have achieved. The building has been beautifully restored and the short tour was illuminating. To think that mills were such a common feature of our landscape 150 years ago but to find a fully working mill in the 21st century is very rare.

The riverside cafe at the mill serves great coffee and of course fantastic bread baked on the premises. I can throughly recommend the ‘miller’s lunch’, which is a spiced up ploughman’s lunch with ham from the well know George’s Butchers across the street.

A trip to the mill could be combined with a visit to Tretower Court and then on to the book town of Hay on Wye.  Talgarth makes a good base for a number of walks and you could finish up at the mill for lunch.If you are on a bike this would make a fine stoop for cake and an espresso before climbing the hill to Pengenfford.

Information on the mill’s opening times can be found on their website.

Well done to one and all.

Award for ‘outstanding quality, exceptional comfort & hospitality.’

Gliffaes is once again very proud to receive recognition for our efforts from Visit Wales, Wales’s official tourism body. Gliffaes is one of only 27 hotels in Wales to receive the Visit Wales Gold Award for 2012 which is given for ‘outstanding quality, exceptional comfort and hospitality’. The award is given by the Visit Wales inspectors who make a routine grading visit and are then followed up by a ‘mystery shopper’ visit. We are now proud to say that we have 4 gold stars.

Valued for honesty.

An award like this means a lot more to a hotel than some of the comments posted on Trip Advisor as the judges will have a good understanding of the hospitality business and can balance their views against the many hotels they visit.

Team Effort.

It is impossible to win an award such as this without the whole staff trying to do their very best to make guests feel well looked after and welcome. Every part of the hotel has a key role to play in keeping high standards across the board and Susie and I would like to say thank you to one and all of our 35 staff for their hard work. We hope all our guests feel the same way as the Visit Wales inspectors when they come to Gliffaes.

James Suter

What an amazing Autumn..and still going on.

It is the middle of November and the colours on the magnificent trees at Gliffaes are still something to behold. By rights we should have had a frost or two by now and most of the trees would have turned or dropped their leaves by now. However, the very mild weather we are enjoying has meant that that the glorious autumn foliage is still very much on display. In fact we have one huge oak tree where not one leaf has even turned from green to gold. Gliffaes has an amazing collection of trees, both native species and many fine examples of specimen trees from around the world. These trees range in age from 400 years right up to the present day as we always keep adding to our collection.

Come and enjoy the scenery

The sunny and misty mornings have meant that anyone who has ventured up into the Brecon Beacons will have been rewarded with some stunning views, misty valleys and lanes but the peaks bathed in sunlight. This has to be one of the best times of the year to come and explore the amazing country side of the Brecon beacons National Park. We will be happy to advise on suitable walks or mountain bike rides to take advantage of the perfect autumn we are having. Our November Offer makes a few days away at this time of year great value.

Come and enjoy the water!

Just to prove that the weather is still fine here is a picture of intrepid guest, Marc Jerrard taking to the Usk at Gliffaes just a couple of weeks ago. Marc thought that swimming against the current would be just the ticket for his Iron Man training. I have a feeling the current won on this occasion.

A Drive through the woods and reservoirs

A waterfall walk

Explore an Iron Master’s House and Gardens

A trip on the Brecon Mountain Railway

Not everyone who comes to the Brecon Beacons and Gliffaes wants to spend all day walking up mountains and across the moors. When I was invited to visit the newly restored Bedwellty House in Tredegar I thought it would be good to put together a suggested day out in the South Wales Valleys. Please don’t think of the Valleys as an industrial wasteland surrounded by old mine workings. The regeneration that has taken place over the last 30 years has transformed this area of South Wales. Landscaping and tree planting have turned waste lands into vibrant country parks and the the industrial heritage that remains has been restored and preserved as a unique window on the hard way of life that was heavy industry . This day trip will give you a glimpse at all this.

Waterfalls

This day out takes you from Gliffaes, through Talybont on Usk and then a lovely scenic drive past the Talybont Reservoir, where before leaving the Talybont valley you can explore the waterfalls at the head of the valley (two hour walk explained here). The biggest waterfall is just about 10 minutes walk from the car park so there is no need to to complete the full two hour circuit. From here your drive takes you pass the Pontsticill Reservoir before meeting up with the A465 Heads of the Valleys Road and then south into Tredegar and into Bedwellty House. We will help you with directions when you get to Gliffaes

The Iron Master’s House – Bedwellty

This Grade II listed mansion set in wonderful Victorian parkland was originally built around 1800 and was used as a residence by the family that ran the ironworks in Tredegar before the house was given to the town of Tredegar in 1900 by Lord Tredegar. It then became the seat of the town council and Tredegar’s most famous son, Aneurin Bevan, cut his political teeth in Bedwellty House. The house and gardens have just been reopened after a three year restoration project, and the results are splendid. It is not a vast building but one can easily spend an hour and half looking at the house and around the fantastic gardens. There is a pretty series of ponds and also the world’s largest lump of coal on display in the grounds but, the mature trees were the high light for me.

There is great little cafe here in the converted Orchid House, perfect for a light lunch and the homemade cakes and scones I had for tea were terrific. If you fancy a look around Tredegar now’s your chance. The town has something called the, “Aneurin Bevan Trail” which leads you past some of his old haunts in the town.

The world's biggest lump of coal - 20 tonnes

Brecon Mountain Railway

If you have enough time left in your day and fancy a scenic ride on a steam train then this trip is recommend, especially if you have children in tow. The station is about 8 miles from Tredegar on your route back to Gliffaes, should you wish to return the same way. (The best way to find the station is to use your sat nav with this postcode, CF48 2DD.) This is a fairly short out and back run but with quite a bit to see along the way . Please have a look at their website to check the timetable, or ask us to check for you before you leave Gliffaes.

I think there is something for everyone in this day out and it does not involve too much driving. We will be happy to help you with directions and mark your map.

The trout season on the River Usk ends on the 30th September and with the pleasant warm weather we have been enjoying at Gliffaes over the last few days combined with a good height of water means that conditions are tip top for fly fishing. A 42lbs. salmon was landed at Llanover, downstream of Gliffaes just yesterday (Wednesday 14th September), so if you are after bigger fish now could be the time to strike. Please call us to check on the conditions, you don’t have to stay at the hotel to access the fishing, although residents take priority.

This short YouTube video was made by one of the Gliffaes ghillies, Frank Williams, fishing at Gliffaes last week when the water was really pretty high.

Come on in…..the water’s lovely.

“Wild swimming’ is meant to be all the rage right now but to my mind nothing has changed, it is still just a lovely refreshing swim with in the wild, same as it ever was. No crowds, no chlorine, no ‘heavy petting’ and no bombing.

Even though the river Usk is pretty low at this time of the year there are still some wonderful swimming spots at Gliffaes and providing nobody is fishing we are more than happy for you to dive in and have a swim. We will be only too happy to advise on when and where to swim.

I got these photos and this message from Dave and Alison Harvey Rich yesterday (23rd August 2011)

“Hi James

We just nipped over to your lovely hotel to steal a quick break yesterday, and had a magical time. You mentioned to us you’d be interested in a few pictures of our dips in your river, so here they are! Do feel free to use them on your site. It was a lovely day, and even on our handysnap camera we got some of the beautiful light I think.

There are a couple from up near the waterfall, which was magic, and a couple from directly by the hotel. Plus one for the safety conscious!

Thanks so much, we swim in lots of places and we’ve never had such an enthusiastic welcome for our soggy shoes!

All the best”

Dave and Alison Harvey Rich