Trwyn Tal Mountain Retreat

14/04/2024

This week's cottage guests arrived earlier today. They've already walked & enjoyed the sun on the patio - thank you weather! - and next up, Roastie Dinner 😊

13/04/2024

Second lamb yesterday, a tiny ewe lamb to a young, first-time Mum Jet. Jet did not appear to have much of a clue, & opted to follow her own Mum Cloudberry rather than tend to the little blob she'd just birthed. So, Gran, Mum & lamb got tucked into the barn & thankfully Jet quickly got the gist of licking & feeding her offspring ✅ Today we're trying out Grazing With Your Lamb Afoot. TOTAL fail on first go. Jet just dashed happily onto the grass leaving her lamb bleating in the barn 😳 Um, OK.... so today Jet will be studying the mothering chapter on "Keeping your newborn lamb with you at all times & returning to your lamb immediately if you become separated & it's shouting for you"

10/04/2024

Today I had a numpty moment 🤣 That's not unusual 🤣 But the source of de-numptying was! Thank you so much CJ Gibbons - Neil Powell Butchers 😊😊😊😊 See you again soon! ###

10/04/2024

Soay lambs are tiddly, especially twins! And twins are a big demand on the Soay Mum, who'd more normally have resources to raise just one. Soays do best lambing outside, as they would on their native island west of the Hebrides. But the weather is wet and windy, a risk to newborn lamblets.

So after much weighing up of options, I chose to bring the family in yesterday afternoon. The quieter black lamb got tucked into my jacket, and the helpfully gobby one held in sight of Mum Ellie, who followed us up to a cosy prepared barn stall. She followed well all the way, but didn't want to go into the stall itself even with her lambs bleating in there! So we had a chat, and when she was calmer, in she went. I wasn't totally sure bringing them in was the right move, as Ellie didn't dive straight in to food there for her 😳 But this morning she's munching fine, & her wee lads are warm and dry. So for now, inside nursery it is. Meet Krispie (light coloured gobby one) and Kale (black) 😊 xx

09/04/2024

Start of Trwyn Tal lambing season today! Twin boys this morning 🥰 And lovely to wrap the day up with my favourite meal... thank you Llanthony Priory Hotel ! xx

01/01/2024

Happy New Year! Wishing you all a peaceful, healthy, hug filled year 😊

13/11/2023

Cooking for tonight's holiday cottage guest ... farmhouse Chicken & Leek pie with cheesey GF pastry crust, fresh veg & new potatoes with TT mint 😋

11/11/2023

This weekend marks the start of our winter season, and the mulled wine is back! We are open at the following times:
Fridays from 6pm with evening meals served between 7pm & 8pm.
Saturdays 10.30am until 10pm with lunch served between 12pm & 4pm and evening meals served between 6.30pm & 8pm.
Sundays 10.30am until 6pm with lunch served between 12pm & 3pm. Hope you all have a lovely weekend, take care.

11/11/2023

Exceptional Autumn walking above Llanthony Priory Hotel today... photos do no justice to the vibrant leaf colours, warmth and absolute stillness. Or the pint in the bar afterwards!

31/10/2023

A lovely Autumnal day at Trwyn Tal, semi ancient woodland looking particularly Tolkien with sun out and leaves off! Holiday Cottage guests have headed out to the hills for the day, back this evening for their choice of Trwyn Tal farmhouse "Deliveroo" dinner - TT Nut Roast, watercress sauce, TT chard with ginger, garlic, chilli & sesame, potatoes with TT mint, fine beans & Aga 5hr coconut rice pudding 😊

04/09/2023

Valley throwing a pretty-as-a-picture soft watercolour number this morning 😍

03/09/2023

Thomas doing his Sunday Morning the easy way.

To be fair, he usually does that Monday to Saturday too 🤣

02/09/2023

The World's Most Scenic Railway Journeys visited the valley back in May 2021 filming for their episode on the Northern Belle (the line crosses the bottom of the valley near Abergavenny). You can see the whole episode online at My 5 (Series 5 episode 3) but here's a cheeky and charmingly amateur snippet of the lovely section featuring Trwyn Tal 😊 They filmed all day, bless, all for these couple of minutes!

01/09/2023

It looks like World's Most Scenic Railway Journeys aired the Welsh Borders episode again last night, which has a brief segment on Trwyn Tal. A warm welcome if you're new to this page, & thank you for seeking it out! Here's the beautifully still and quiet morning that's happening right now 😊

19/08/2023

Latest news from the Capel-y-ffin roadslip closure: Concrete coming next week to complete the downhill works - proper barrier being installed. Then work starts on the uphill side, excavating and bracing the exposed hillside with gabions (them metal cage things filled with rocks 😊) It is rumoured... and indeed devoutly hoped ... that once this work is complete, the potholefest of a road through Capel-y-ffin and up towards Gospel Pass will then be resurfaced during the Autumn. Coooo get us!! A road that's open AND approximately smooth!!! Book your cosy winter visit now!!! 🤣

16/08/2023

Morning sheep feeding 😊 After a quick dictionary check, I'm pretty sure this was delightfully bucolic... peaceful, gentle, calm, beautiful & a lovely experience to share with cottage guests & their visiting friends

15/08/2023

Yesterday was New Boots day for me! The old pair will be retired, especially the left boot which is "quite unwell". So here's the new pals after their third ascent of the lounge carpet, comfort confirmed, and ready to become waaaaay less clean 😊 Thank you again Crickhowell Adventure Love these!

12/08/2023

Today's view is packing a bit of attitude! 😍

11/08/2023

Today's action movie is brought to you by Thomas, Head of the Trwyn Tal Sleeping and Napping Department 🤣

06/08/2023

This week's cottage family. Mum & Dad have enjoyed having a whole week of fully catered self catering, plus birthday cake. They've enjoyed walks from the door, splashing in streams, feeding the sheep, sat quietly with the cats, and the two smols thoroughly enjoyed Make Your Own Pizza night last night!

31/07/2023

The road just south of Capel-y-ffin is getting fixed!!

Llanthony Priory still totally accessible from the Abergavenny end as normal. But there's no vehicle access from Llanthony into downtown Capel-y-ffin, with the closure being right at the end of that stretch.

Specifically, the closure is beneath Maes-y-ffin, just before Capel-y-ffin. As of today it is going to be Proper Closed, with a security gate, for the next 14 weeks. The more who know the better, or there will be a lot of 3 point turns happening!!

Capel-y-ffin and the turning up to Grange trekking etc. will be accessible from Gospel Pass as normal, but not from Llanthony.

29/07/2023

Thomas is hard at it today... 🤣

16/07/2023

It's been a harvesting week here at Trwyn Tal... 10kg of redcurrants, mostly turned into redcurrant jelly to go with slow roast lamb or nut roast; 3kg of Blackcurrants which have gone into home made Ribena and the freezer; and today, the first turnip, shallots, garlic and onions, plus ongoing chard, broadbeans, courgette, and early purple sprouting broccolli 😊

16/07/2023

Quite a few guests ask about wild swimming ... there's plenty of places in walking distance of Trwyn Tal where you can lie in rivers and streams... and a really deep bath with twinkly lights.... but this will tell you the actual wild swimming options!!

Just arrived! If you love walking and wild swimming, this is perfect for you.

https://crickhowelladventure.co.uk/2020/09/29/books-maps/

05/07/2023

Little Miss Bertie settling down for her morning's work! 💛🤣

21/06/2023

Last night, when most sensible people were in bed, I was standing in the sea for a couple of hours watching and photographing the bioluminescent plankton at Rhossili Bay! Every so often there was a big wave of plankton that had me gasping 'wow' to myself. This is one of the photos I took. The orange light is a yacht, then it is Tenby and then it is another larger ship. This photo (which is a single photo rather than a composite) was taken at 1:26am and the brightness in the sky shows that it doesn't ever get 100% dark at this time of year! The show went on for a couple of hours and then I left to go home, got to bed at 3:30am and was up again at 7am having had 3 hours sleep!

You can buy this photo here: https://www.dansantillo.com/gallery/gower/?photo=DS_310474

Bioluminescent plankton is notoriously unpredictable and can appear at any time at any tide or not appear at all.

21/06/2023

The holiday cottage has a pied wagtail nesting on one of the barn windowsills! The eggs have now hatched and guests can watch them being fed 😊 Her privacy is protected by a sophisticated method - a cushion in the window - but if you stand to the side, you can watch without disturbing her. Beautiful!

08/05/2023

A smorgasbord of walking views yesterday 💕 Lower levels bright & sunny, tops a mist fest of other worldliness 😊 This was my first walk to Twmpa since breaking my ankle - VERY good to be back!! 🎉🎉🎉

07/05/2023

Breakfast on the patio this morning, and a hello with some of the lambs. Wishing you a peaceful, relaxing Sunday! xx

05/05/2023

Birdsong this morning ... lots of it!!!