Our home for the weekend was an amazing converted church in the village of Treherbert, a great base for our adventures and you can find out about that here.
Barry Island
Whilst there were eight of us for the weekend, Glen and I came up early on the Thursday with Bridget and Beatrice and enjoyed a night's stay and a full morning taking in Barry Island.
I'll admit our shared love of Gavin & Stacey and checking out the tourist spots from the show were a big motivator, but actually, as we travelled at night and our first real glimpse of Wales was Barry and Whitmore Bay, we were really pleasantly surprised by how beautiful it actually is.
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| Whitmore Bay, Barry Island, Wales |
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| Barry Island |
We enjoyed a cooked breakfast at Whitmore & Jackson, a surprisingly hipster-esque joint that we found via Trip Advisor, a stroll on the beautiful sandy beach and then a round of the crazy golf, which was £4 per person and which was completely empty on a Friday in early September aside from us, which with a four year old and a 20-month old was rather good luck.We took our time and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.
We found that the Pleasure Park didn't open until 11am and so killed a little more time with a beach-front stroll and a photo opportunity at Marco's Cafe, of Gavin & Stacey fame.
From there we had half an hour in the good old-fashioned amusement arcades, where the girls were in their element and then we literally had the run of the Pleasure Park for an hour to ourselves too. A charming man was designated to be our guide around the otherwise deserted fair, and took us from ride to ride of the suitable ones for the girls. It was very reasonable and typical of a British seaside town. We were meeting my parents at lunchtime, but otherwise we could have easily spent the day in Barry and would definitely return.
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| Us at Barry Island |
Caerphilly
We met the parents at Caerphilly, famous for it's cheese and the beautiful Caerphilly Castle. We had a wonder around the town and moved on for a drive closer to our weekend retreat.
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| Caerphilly Castle |
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| Me, Bridget and Beatrice outside Caerphilly Castle |
We lunched at the Red Cow Inn in Pontsticill, a spot popular with ramblers and dog-walkers. We ate good, hearty, honest and most importantly, home-made food and the drive to and from was exceptional.
Brecon Beacons
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| Brecon Mountain Railway steam train |
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| Brecon Beacons |
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| Views from the Brecon Beacons Mountain |
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| The Brecon Mountain Railway Selfie |
On the Saturday, when the entire party was in situ we enjoyed a wet morning at the Brecon Mountain Railway starting at Pant station in Merthyr Tydfill. The Brecon Mountain Railway, is a range of steam trains, with a heritage of over 100 years and is described as a 'special way of seeing some of the scenery in the UK'. Despite a rather grey, drizzly day we couldn't disagree, it really was something special. The magnificent steam trains were quite fascinating and did put me in mind of the Hogwarts Express but the views were just sensational over the Brecon Beacons, taking in Pontsticill, the gorge of the Taf Fechan River and the Pentwyn Reservoir it was a wonderful way to while away the morning. The Brecon Mountain Railway is priced at £14.50 per adult and was well worth it, it was £7.25 for Bridget and Bea was free as she is under three year's old.
We enjoyed a late lunch that day, at the award-winning Pen-y-Cae, a gastro pub, boasting good food and a mini-zoo outside which was a great incentive for Bridget and Beatrice.
Before heading there we were able to visit the nearby Henrhyd Falls - something I was very keen to do. Unfortunately due to the rain, it was a difficult task with Beatrice in tow, so Glen stayed with her in the car where she happily napped and Glen stayed out of the rain.
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| Henrhyd Falls, Wales |
As the tallest waterfall in South Wales, with a drop of 90 feet, Henrhyd Falls is nestled within National Trust woodland and the walk down is quite vigorous for a trek, particularly in wet weather. I'm certainly no regular hiker, and bringing Bridget, who was almost four, was risky, but well worth it.
I was so proud of her for making it both down the valley to the falls and then up again, no mean feat for an adult let alone a child of her age. She got a little scared when we were close to the fall, as the ground was very slippery. The greenery on the way down was beautiful but the actual fall itself was just stunning. My brother, Dad and brother-in-law had a stroll behind the fall, but Bridget was really nervous so we admired from afar which was just fine for us.
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| Bridget with proud Grandad and Uncle Dan at Henrhyd Falls |
Having only stayed for three nights in South Wales, I feel as though we only scratched the surface of what's on offer for families in this beautiful part of the UK and I have a yearning to return and explore more with my family - watch this space.
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