Countrypad news in July
Summer time!
I do not think Wales has ever looked more beautiful than it has done this Spring and now we are loving the warmth of a proper Summer. The walled garden at Felin Newydd House is thriving and at least 25kg of delicious, sweet strawberries have already been picked. Our local Market in Hay-on-Wye has been overflowing with locally grown produce perfect for those gastronomes among you who like to give their fruit and veg a good squeeze and sniff before accepting it as worthy for your creations. Funnily enough the Kitchen at Felin Newydd is often used by professional chefs who love the way it is equipped and planned.
Our guests have enjoyed BBQ’s, Champagne and ice cream while playing a highly competitive bout of Croquet on the lawn. Cooling themselves down by paddling in the stream and evening walks to catch the sunsets. Fishing and swimming in the Wye or Usk have also proved a sensible way to enjoy time off in this spectacular part of Wales.
Comment from our last guests at Felin Newydd House:
“Back in the Black Mountains - favourite part of the world – All of us at home here – heat and flowers and children skipping across the lawn. Hay Bluff. Clifford church, birthday celebrations – feet dipping in the pond and the stream – climbing inside the Copper Beech – mornings of sunlight streaming through sash windows in bedrooms – wonderful! Truly magnificent stay in a very lovely house. Desperately sad to leave but our stay was memorable and the weather was perfect. For a large family celebration you can not do better.”
Vivien, Nick, Aiden, Nikki, Poppy, Bertie & Rosie
Comment from our last guest at Blaencwm:
“What a perfect way to spend a sunny weekend, idyllic setting, lovely wildlife, incredible views. Great walk up hay Bluff, excellent market in Hay on Wye (unusual jams), we recommend the Three Tuns in Hay for lunch.” Joe and Hannah
Late availability and special prices for small groups
2 – 5th July we’ve had a cancellation - book this weekend now at £1,850 - that’s half price!!
9th – 12th July book this now and we’ll give you a 20% discount - pay £2,960
To send an enquiry about these dates click here
Please also remember that we have special prices for the groups who want to visit but don’t feel the group is big enough. You’ll have the whole house and gardens to yourself and we will charge you less as you will only be using up to 5 bedrooms.
For a full view of our current price list, please click here
What’s on in and around Hay-on-Wye and the Brecon Beacons National Park?
The Glanusk Estate, located 15 minutes from Felin Newydd, is hosting three great events this summer: their first British Eventing International Horse Trials 1st-4th July, Wales v’s Great Britain International Charity Polo Match 17th July and the Green Man Festival 20th-22nd August.
There are always farmers markets and shows on throughout the summer but especially worth mentioning is the Royal Welsh Show in Builth Wells on the 20th – 23rd July , the Llanthony show on the 7th August which has the last rodeo in the country and the fantastic lineup (including the Orquestra Buena Vista Social Club and Hugh Masekela) at the Brecon Jazz Festival on the weekend of the 6th, 7th and 8th August
Countrypad news in May
The Hay Festival
There is so much happening in our area this month and the most important is of course the Hay Festival. This year’s Hay Festival takes place from Thursday 27 May to Sunday 6 June 2010 and the highlights include Christy Moore, Bill Bryson, Roddy Doyle, Orquesta Buena Vista
Social Club, Brian May & Elena Vidal, Hilary Mantel, Philip Pullman, Tom Stoppard and many many more…
Please have a look at www.hayfestival.com for more information on the programme and how to book tickets.
Felin Newydd House Party Offers
We are now pleased to announce that we offer a SMALL GROUP PRICE for groups who want to stay at Felin Newydd but can’t quite manage to fill up all the numbers. For a maximum of 10 guests in 5 bedrooms the price for a long weekend is reduced to £2,500 or £3,450 for a week, which works out at £49.30 per person per night for total privacy in your own lovely country manor house!!
We also still have our late availability offers of:
10% discount when booking within 4 weeks of arrival
20% discount when booking within 2 weeks of arrival
50% discount when booking within 1 week of your arrival
For a full view of our current price list, please have a look at http://www.countrypad.co.uk/felin-newydd/prices.html
Wedding offers
We still have availability for wedding weekends in 2010 and 2011 and are now offering a 25% reduction on the price.
For more information on this please ask for our wedding brochure or have a look at our website http://www.countrypad.co.uk/felin-newydd/weddings-events.html
Corporate Groups
Who can imagine a more private, relaxing and quiet place to have a meeting, brainstorming or team building session. We have the most comfortable beds, beautiful airy rooms, delicious food. The house has wifi throughout and we can supply all your necessary needs with regards to conference equipment. We work closely with companies that specialize in corporate team buiding activities and these can be carried out in the fields surrounding the house – all in the exclusive privacy of Felin Newydd House.
Our standard midweek delegate pricing:
24 hour rate £1,500.00
48 hour rate £2,560.00
Full welsh breakfast is charged at £12 per person
All prices quoted include VAT
We also have optional daily delegate charges which include all catering, equipment, lunches etc and also flat rates just to hire the reception rooms in Felin Newydd without staying over night. Please enquire for these rates.
Some news from the Countrypad
It is March and surely spring time. To quote a good friend, getting to March is like getting to Wednesday…
The first lambs are leaping about the valleys and the snow drops and crocuses are replacing winter’s frosting.
Countrypad PR
The Countrypad, Felin Newydd and Blaencwm – all is going swimmingly! We have had some amazing PR coverage lately; Conde Nast Brides Magazine has listed us under the “100 top wedding venues in the UK” and Marie Claire wrote about us under the title “Welsh wonder”. We were also listed in the Sunday Times Travel section at the end of January under their recommendation of “100 cool cottages” in the country. To view the articles please click www.countrypad.co.uk/press.php
Spring offers!
To celebrate winter’s departure we have put together some special spring offers for you at Felin Newydd House:
If you book within 7 days of your arrival date we will offer you a 50% discount! This means £1450 instead of £2990 for weekends (or £40 per person per night based upon 18 pax.) and only £2,875 for week bookings.
Bookings taken within 4 weeks of your arrival date will receive an extra night for free for weekend bookings and the week bookings will be discounted at 20%
*offers end 1.May and are subject to availability.
Local Events
Our wonderful location is a perfect setting for a weekend, week or even longer and you will never get bored. There are always activities and events for everyone’s taste. The Wye Valley, the Brecon Beacons and the Black Mountains offer the ideal playground to enjoy fishing, hiking, trekking, paragliding, picnicking, bird watching, cycling, kayaking etc. In addition there are a range of “events” during the next 3 months in our calendar worth attending:
26th February – 14th March Borderlines Film Festival, Hereford “Food for thought in the Welsh marches” www.borderlinesfilmfestival.co.uk
6th March Brecon and Talybont Point to Point, Llanfrynach, Great fun, exciting racing, wonderful location under the Brecon Beacons and a very warm welcome in the Beer Tent. Perfect opportunity to demonstrate one’s hamper filling skills and expose it to the great and the good…..
16th – 18th April RHS Spring Flower Show, Cardiff Castle www.rhs.org.uk/Shows-Events/RHS-Show-Cardiff/2010
8th April Monmouthshire Point to Point, Llanvapley, Monmouth as B&T but under the Sugar Loaf
1st - 2nd May International Antiques and Collectors Fair at the Royal Welsh Show ground, Builth Wells www.rwas.co.uk/en/facilities/2010-events-diary
12th May Cider and Perry Festival, Cider Museum, Hereford www.cidermuseum.co.uk/
15th - 16th May Royal Welsh Smallholder and Garden Festival www.rwas.co.uk/society
27th May – 6th June Hay Festival of Literature, Hay on Wye. www.hayfestival.com The headliners this year include Quentin Blake, Bill Bryson, Tom Stoppard, Tina Brown, Roddy Doyle, Pervase Musharraf, Orguestra Buena Vista Social Club, Zadie Smith, Henning Mankell, Christy Moore, Kazuo Ishiguro, Ruby Wax, Joss Ackland, to name just a few…
The Six Nations Rugby Union Tournament
Thinking Ahead: The Six Nations Rugby Union Tournament – Felin Newydd is only 50 miles from the Millenium Stadium, roughly an hour’s drive. Those who are not so keen on the game can remain at the house and be pampered by our friendly beautician and therapist. Call us for more information or ideas.
Weddings
Oh and Elizabeth and I are now Married! I think this is entitled to steal a little space in this Newsletter. A very winter wonderland wedding in Norway at -30C and a celebratory knees up at Felin Newydd 2 weeks later. Snow everywhere, cancelled flights, frozen airports, globally scattered wedding guests and still everything on both occasions, went off pretty much seamlessly – we even had sunshine in Wales! In truth the last six weeks have been so incredibly wonderful that I could probably lose control of this writing moment of mine. There, reined back in.
To all of you please have a wonderful March and we hope to see you at some stage soon in Wales.
The Countrypad Team
Easter in Wales, Hay-on-Wye, The Hay Literary Festival, The Brecon Beacons, The Black Mountains: come and enjoy our wonderful corner of Great Britain!
Easter brought unexpected but not unusual great weather - the familiar complaint that it rains as soon as you cross from Wales into England was all too often heard! We continue to try and improve Felin Newydd; this month we are introducing a new area to pitch a marquee for weddings and larger events. This will help to make the alternatives for weddings held at FN more flexible.
The first run of the Hay Festival programme has been released. Lots of great names to quench your thirst for knowledge:
Desmond Tutu, Tony Curtis, Alaa Al Aswany , Immodesty Blaize , Henning Mankell , Dylan Moran , Michael Morpungo, Jeremy Paxman , Amartya Sen , David Simon , Nicholas Stern , Sarah Waters
and many many more…
Springtime in Wales - Stay at Felin Newydd and go Fishing, Walking, Camping, Riding, Canoeing or watch the rugby in Cardiff!
Birdsong, snowdrops, lush green grass, newborn lambs, and burbling brooks: spring is unmissable in this wonderful county. I have to kick myself so I do not forget how lucky I am to be able to enjoy the incredible scenery of the Black Mountains and The Brecon Beacons National Park. River walks along the Wye and Usk or when I am able, a spot of fly flicking on these two beautiful rivers. The darkness of winter seems like an impossibility as nature is springing to life all about us. I ramble on…I hope the Welsh XV have what it takes to retain the Six nations Championship Title! You see, I can focus on the important things in life when I have to. Incidentally Felin Newydd is only 55 mins from Cardiff Central and the Millenium Stadium making it an ideal get-away base for the Cardiff scene.
Hay-on-Wye, The Black Mountains and Snow
Although Will & Jane, our neighbours, may not agree the snow brings an awesome crystal beauty to an already stunning part of the United Kingdom. Will has however started lambing and 10 days of frozen ground, snow drifts and ice filled water troughs is inconvenient to say the least. It has all gone now though only white scars on Pen-y-fan and Lord Hereford’s Knob are left. Welsh Lambs are skipping and frolicking about this countryside which was surely provided for us to rear the finest quality livestock for our Sunday Roast. Happy Valentine’s Day!
The New Year - “Cool Country Hideaways” Grazia
Felin Newydd reaches the dizzy heights of being chosen by Grazia Magazine as their principle property in their article about Cool Country House Hideaways.
Hay-on-Wye is not only about The Hay-on-Wye Literary Festival but is a fantastic part of the world to spend trawling through boutiques, thumbing antique books of every subject and sitting by log fires with a pint and a bowl of home-made cawl. The magic of winter can be truly enjoyed in the Black Mountains and Brecon Beacons of Mid Wales.
A beautiful Country home for a Breconshire Christmas
Shopping in Hay-on-Wye obviously a good selection of books new and old and also lovely boutiques: Bowie & Holbert, The Great English Outdoors, Chattels, F J Williams, the Thursday Market providing a great selection of local produce from foie gras and brioche to faggots and Swedes! Frosty walks in The Brecon Beacons or along the Gospel Pass, a spot of Pheasant Shooting or a good day out with The Golden valley Hunt – their Boxing Day Meet under the Clock Tower in the centre of Hay-on-Wye is a perfect example of this age old tradition. Our guests this year, however, confess to spending a lot of time sampling wine and smoked salmon in front of Felin Newydd’s open fires and not very much time exerting too much energy outside!
Accommodation for the Globe Hay-on-Wye “Art Beats Recession” Festival
As the Hay Literary Festival throws its Winter Event a new and excitingly different cafe/artistic event venue decided to run a parallel complimentary occasion of their own. A series of characters related to the world of art were invited by The Globe to venture into the Black Mountains, stay at Felin Newydd House and discuss, debate and unwrangle various topics to do with art in today’s world at the Globe. Anthony Haydn Guest, Ben Lewis, Joe La Placa, Fiona Macdonald, Wolfe Lenkiewicz, Alison Jackson, Bruce Millar, Gavin Turk and Cynthia Corbett made up this highly knowing throng.
Accommodation for the Abergavenny Food Festival
“Abergavenny is to food what Cannes is to film, an annual festival for spotting rising stars in Britain’s artisan-food firmament”. So said Joanna Blythman in the March edition of Observer Food Monthly. The tenth Abergavenny Food Festival, which took place over the weekend 20 and 21 September, continued the trend by celebrating a decade of gastronomic delights and culinary innovation, informing, educating and entertaining thousands in its unique market town setting. The event always brings together people who care passionately about food to share their expertise, explore new enthusiasms, debate long into the night – and have enormous fun. Abergavenny is our nearest train station and is situated approx. 40 minutes by car from Felin Newydd House.