In the heart of nature

Set in the middle of the Irfon Valley, Nant y Walch is hugged by the stream which gives it its name. A Site of Special Scientific Interest, the pond is surrounded by wildflower meadows and fruit trees, the stillness only broken by the water snaking over smooth stones and pooling in our pond.

Early in the year the stone walls ring with the chatter of our spring visitor, swallows and swifts, who come to nest and raise their families in our stone walls and old trees. Later, autumns and winters draw out the sweet song of the Robin and Blackbird.

The barn

The sixteenth-century barn with its thick stone walls once welcomed tired drovers from the west coast of Wales taking animals and goods to the London markets. Today, it is again a place of shelter or retreat for travellers – as it was once before for centuries of drovers and their families.

The building is old but In this new world our heating is underfloor and Electricity from small hydro-electric turbine powered by the Nant y Walch stream from its source high up in the Cambrian Mountains. The floor to ceiling glass windows of the Irfon Room look south down the Irfon valley and welcome the sun.

Dark skies

We are situated in the wider dark skies area of the Cambrian mountains. On a cloudless night look up and you’ll see a tapestry of stars silhouetting the mountains and distracting our attention (unless we sit very still!) from our night time visitors, the deer, pine marten, otter, fox and badger.