Local Area
Cenarth is 2 miles south-west of the cottage, also in the Teifi Valley, with a convenience store/post office, craft shops, and a couple of public houses. Cenarth was the centre of coracle fishing for centuries, and is now home to the National Coracle Centre, which neighbours the beautiful Cenarth Falls and a 17th Century flour mill. The Centre has a workshop showing the history and ancient art of coracle making together with a museum housing a collection of coracles from Wales and many other countries. The waterfalls are renowned for their Salmon Leaps and the 200 year old bridge that fords the Teifi. A delightful riverside walk and nature trail can be followed from the old mill, and Cenarth holds a river festival each summer.
Newcastle Emlyn is 2 ¾ miles to the south-east, standing on the banks of the Teifi river, officially in Carmarthenshire, but joined to Adpar in Ceredigion by a bridge across the river. This quaint old market town has a good variety of individual shops giving the a chance to enjoy a style of shopping that makes a welcome contrast to city centre visits, with a selection of very “browsable” shops selling crafts, antiques and books as well as supermarkets, chemists, banks, post office, schools, theatre and art gallery, leisure centre and swimming pool, tennis courts and bowling green, football and rugby facilities, doctor’s, dentist’s and optician’s services, restaurants and cafes, hotels and plenty of pubs. Thursday is market day. The town grew up around a crossing point over the Teifi, which was favoured as a good defensive site because of the loop in the river here. The ruins of an ancient castle stand in a picturesque grassland settling overlooking the river on three sides. The castle was probably founded around 1240, and is the only native Welsh castle built of stone in this region. Pleasant walks can be enjoyed by the river and around the castle grounds.
The Teifi Valley offers lovely places to visit. Travelling westward from Cenarth, Cilgerran Castle will be found, some 8 miles from the cottage, standing on a rocky outcrop overlooking the Teifi, a charming setting with delightful walks leading down to the riverside. Managed by the National Trust, the 13th Century castle is ruinous, although two large towers still remain. Cilgerran famously hosts annual coracle races in the summertime, an event which began in 1950. The town was once renowned for the high quality slate that was mined in the area and exported via Cardigan. The Teifi Marshes Nature Reserve is near Cilgerran, a wonderful, 264 acre wildlife site with designated conservation areas, providing habitats for a variety of flora and fauna among the meadows, woodland, reedbeds and marshes, including otter, water voles, kingfishers, waders, geese, ducks, red kites and buzzards.
The River Teifi 'Queen' of game fishing rivers well deserves its title. Trout, sea trout (sewin) and salmon are in plentiful supply and lucky anglers may even catch grayling in the river's upper reaches. The confines of the water vary between long shallow runs to gorges and steep muddy banks which make the fishing interesting and at times challenging. The Teifi flows from is source lake 1500 feet up in the Cambrian Mountains, to journey over some 70 miles down to its estuary at Cardigan Bay. The river forms the boundary between Carmarthenshire and Ceredigion.
Another Teifi Valley market town is Lampeter, 18 miles south-easterly, on the border of Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire, providing good shops, a leisure centre with swimming pool, cafes, restaurants, pubs, etc. and the oldest University in the country (dating back to 1822), occupying a beautiful setting in the Cambrian Mountains.
Cardigan is 8 miles west of the cottage, an ancient and attractive market town that has played an important role in Welsh history. Situated at the north of the Pembrokeshire Peninsula on the Teifi estuary, it has a rich cultural heritage, Georgian and Victorian architecture, and a friendly air. Once a very busy port before the railway transport came to Wales, the town offers good shopping amenities, including a Tesco store, indoor market, library, leisure centre, swimming pool, doctors’ surgeries, dentists, small community hospital, cinema/theatre, galleries and craft shops, food festivals, Guildhall, Heritage Centre on the wharf, and the remains of a 12th Century Norman castle overlooking the river. Historically, Cardigan was the chief town of the old Welsh kingdom of Deheubarth. In the 11th and 12th Centuries it changed hands between the Welsh and the invading Normans several times. In 1176 at a time when the Welsh held power, the very first cultural Eisteddfod took place at the castle. Cardigan’s 18-hole Golf Course to the north of the town offers stunning views over the Teifi estuary. To the west of Cardigan is St. Dogmaels at the start of the famous Pembrokeshire Coastal Trail, which runs up from Amroth in the south covering a distance of about 186 miles along the magnificent and dramatic beautiful coastline.
Set in the heart of “woollen mill country” the busy little market town of Llandysul, 10 miles south-east of the cottage, with a selection of shops, post office, banks, schools, cafes, pubs, swimming pool, and ancient church. The town nestles on the banks of the Teifi and is popular with anglers fishing for salmon and sewin (sea trout), as well as canoeists, who come to ride the foaming rapids on this part of the river. In bygone days, before electricity, the rushing waters of the Teifi and its tributaries drove the many waterwheels in this region, serving wool and flour mills. A working woollen mill can be seen at the National Woollen Museum at Drefach Felindre. The Teifi Valley Railway is 6 miles to the south-east, a narrow gauge steam railway travelling for about 2 miles through lovely countryside, with wonderful views of the valley.
The Cardigan Bay coast lies to the north of the property, famous for porpoises, grey seals, bottlenose dolphins, and abundant bird life, and offering wonderful coastal walks and clean, sandy beaches. The seaside village of Tresaith is only 6 miles,being very picturesque with a high waterfall formed by the River Saith tumbling over the cliffs to the wide sandy beach below which are joined at low tide, offering golden sands, little coves and rock pools. Neighbouring Penbryn has nearly a mile of golden sands owned by the National Trust, approached through the woodland of the fern clad Hoffnant valley. Public footpaths lead south-westerly along the coast to Cardigan and beyond to the Pembrokeshire Coastal Trail. There are pubs, guest houses, hotels and camp sites in the locality.
Aberporth is about 7 miles away, a popular holiday destination bustling with life in the summer months, with sub-post office, grocery store, chemist, etc., together with a cafe, take-aways, and pubs. Aberporth village overlooks two separate delightful sheltered beaches, Traeth y Dyfryn and Dolwen, which are joined at low tide, offering golden sands, little coves, rock pools, and a shallow stream crossing the sand. Exhilarating cliff top walks can be enjoyed, with wonderful coastal views - as far as Aberystwyth and the Lleyn Peninsula on a clear day.
The seaside village of Llangrannog is 9 miles northerly, set in a lovely cove spread out along the narrow valley of the river Hawen with two beaches, a waterfall, a general store here, two pubs and two cafes. The nearby Urdd Centre is home to a Dry Ski slope, with go-karting, horse riding and tobogganing amongst its many activities. Jutting out to sea beyond Llangrannog is the National Trust headland of Ynys-Lochtyn, a splendid bird-watching site where rare choughs can be seen, along with many other species. The Cardigan Coastal Farm Park is about 11 miles north-westerly, an island Nature Reserve north of Cardigan town, in a stunning location, where grey seals, bottlenose dolphins and sea birds can be seen. The secluded cove of Mwnt is near here, with an ancient little church above the beach, once a resting place for pilgrims en route to Bardsey Island.
Further along the coast to the north-east, New Quay is 14 miles, hugging the hillside overlooking the sheltered bay with wide golden beaches and a sheltered harbour, popular with holidaymakers and sailing and water sports enthusiasts. It began as a fishing village and was also used by smugglers, especially salt smugglers. During the 18th Century a ship building industry developed here, which expanded during the l9 Century allowing the town to grow, and lime making was also important in those days. By the end of the 1800s, the town's ship building industry had declined and tourism took the lead in New Quay's economic fortunes, though fishing is still carried out on a small scale and there is a shellfish processing plant here. Dylan Thomas lived New Quay in 1944 and the town is believed to be the "cliff-perched town at the far end of Wales" "Under Milk Wood". Also, his poem "Quite Early One Morning" mentions the New Quay Cliff Walk, which climbs steeply above the town giving fabulous, far reaching views from the top (as far as the Lleyn Peninsula on a clear day). Regular boats leave the harbour for dolphin-watching trips and miles of secluded coves can be found nearby.
The charming old smugglers’ cove of Cwmtydu is near New Quay, the beach is of sand and stone with rocks and grassy hills rising on either side, and fresh water pools are formed by banks of shingle interrupting the flow of the stream. At low tide the caves in the ancient Silurian-period cliff rocks can be explored - once the secret haunt of pirates and smugglers. An old lime kiln can be seen at the top of the beach (restored by the National Trust) harking back to the days when sailing ships would land their cargoes of limestone and culm (a type of fuel) here. From late summer onwards, Atlantic grey seals can sometimes be seen basking with their pups on Cwmtydu's rocks (seals have notably used the beach as a nursery for their young.) For the energetic, the exhilarating Cwmtydu to New Quay Walk covers approximately 4 miles, following a public footpath that climbs up over National Trust land crossing the cliff tops, passing by Castell Bach (the remains of an Iron Age Fort) and Cwm Soden Beach.
Beyond New Quay is the Georgian pot town of Aberaeron about 18 miles from the cottage, a thriving town with notable architecture, with elegant, brightly painted houses, sparkling water and picturesque harbour, this charming Georgian seaside town is sometimes known as the "Jewel of Cardigan Bay". beach, good shopping and craft centres, leisure centre, swimming pool, sea aquarium, honey bee centre on the quay (the town is noted for its honey, and honey-flavoured ice cream), 9-hole pitch & putt golf course, regattas, concerts, festivals, carnival, and delightful walks and cycle rides. Like New Quay, the town grew around fishing and ship building. After the harbour was built in the early 19th Century, the town expanded into a "new town", reputedly designed by the famous architect, John Nash, and many of the buildings are listed. The fine late 18th Century Llanerchaeron Estate, a National Trust property on the outskirts of town in the Aeron valley, with walled gardens, historic farm buildings, and extensive grounds.
The seaside town of Aberystwyth is 33½ miles situated at the mouth of the rivers Ystwyth and Rheidol, a delightful seaside town and the administrative centre for the west coast, being home to a University and the National Library of Wales. The town lies between three hills and two beaches and is surrounded by beautiful unspoilt countryside. There is a wide promenade and a marina, and Victorian/Edwardian buildings line the front. The town has good shopping and leisure amenities, an arts centre, cinema, numerous cafes, bars and restaurants, hotels and pubs, sports facilities, 18-hole golf course with sea views, as well as the ruins of an ancient Welsh castle and, in the hills nearby, the remains of an iron age fort. The Aberystwyth Electric Cliff Railway climbs Constitution Hill from the promenade, and stunning views can be enjoyed from the summit, where the famous Camera Obscura with its revolving mirror is sited (a reproduction of the Victorian original).
The impressive Vale of Rheidol Railway (a narrow gauge steam railway) travels over 11 ¾ miles between Aberystwyth and Devil’s Bridge, which crosses a steep woodland gorge where the spectacular Mynach Falls plunge some 300 feet from the river Mynach to the Rheidol.
The Preseli Mountains lie to the south of Cardigan, famous for being the source of the Bluestones of Stonehenge, for magical legends of Merlin and King Arthur, and for beauty spots such as the oakclad Gwaun Valley. Within the Preselis is the ancient monument of Castell Henllys, 13 ½ miles west of the cottage, a reconstructed Fort with thatched roundhouses and ancient livestock breeds, and the megalithic Burial Chamber of Pertre Ifan is 16 miles distant, said to date back to circa 3,500 B.C.
Carmarthen is about 20 ½ miles south-easterly in the Towy Valley, with a blend of traditional and modern shopping amenities, leisure centre, theatre/cinema, art galleries, university college and the West Wales General Hospital and County Museum on the outskirts. The National Botanic Garden of Wales is about 7 miles west of Carmarthen, featuring the Great Glass House designed by Norman Foster.
In the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park, the glorious sand-duned beach of Poppit Sands is about 13 miles west of the cottage to the north of St. Dogmaels and Cardigan, ideal for water sports and bird watching, and the charming seaside towns of Nevern and Newport are 15 ½ and 18 miles south-westerly, in lovely settings at the foothills of the Preseli Mountains, whilst the popular resorts of Saundersfoot and Tenby are about 35 miles southerly. Oakwood Leisure Park, one of the UK’s top theme parks, is 29 miles southerly with the Blue Lagoon Water Park, CC2000 Crystal Maze and Bowling Alley nearby.
No visit to this area would be complete without enjoying the beautiful beaches of the West Wales Coast – Poppit, Aberporth,Tresaith, Penbryn and Llangrannog are all well worth a visit as is the seaside village of Newquay or the charming harbour at Aberaeron.