- Visiting the West Coast of Scotland
- This is it!!!
- On the road again
- Back Country – NZ
- NZ update – east coast
- Back Country – very different this time!
- Lake Taupo
- The Coromandel
- Mini-break
- More little adventures – NZ
- Getting out and about again!
- More holidays!!
- A new year of adventures
- The mountain cottage
- Ginny’s visit
- Another visit – Marni and Jodi
- More changes!
- First stop in Canada – Niagara Falls
- Quick visit – Toulouse and Venet les Bains
- Ffald-y-Brenen
- The Cotswolds
- Back in France again!!
- Barcelona
- A much more interesting path – crossing the Irish Sea!
- London to Loxton
- Enniscorthy – a quick visit
- County Donegal
- South Gippsland, Victoria
- Next port of call
- Victorian High Country
- Snowy River Country
- Reindeer Lodge – Tanjil Bren
- Hiccup to Blessing
- Have tent will travel!!
- Family and friends – hugs and kisses
- Road Trip to the West
- Very snail like!
Just back from our trip to Wales and the Cotswolds – will just concentrate on the Wales part for this post. Cotswolds later!
Well the south of Wales is more beautiful that we had hoped. Rolling green hills, narrow little tracks across mountain tops, quiet countryside. Our trip over was a bit hectic. The connection for our GPS didn’t work in the hire car so we bought a map/book of the UK. Managed to take a few wrong turns – my directions left a lot to be desired! We arrived at Ffald-y-Brenen at around 8:30pm, a bit of a hic-cup as someone else had been settled into our cottage by mistake, but it was all sorted before bedtime. It was good to snuggle in after a long day! There is only one cottage for guests at Ffald-y-Brenen, everyone else stays in single and double bedrooms in the main building with shared bathrooms and kitchen. The single bedrooms are very cute and the doubles not much bigger but all comfy and well cared for. The cottage is highly prized and you have to normally book months in advance to stay there. Not sure how we ended up there – apparently there had been a cancellation and we just happened to inquire at the right time. Very spoilt!
Now a little bit more about Ffald-y-Brenen. It is a retreat/healing centre that has quite a monastic heritage and feel. There is an amazing book written by the manager Roy Godwin called “Grace Outpouring” – it is really worth a read. The centre itself consists of three main stone buildings set half way up a small mountain in the Prembrokeshire Coast National Park near Fishguard. There is the large accommodation building with an adjoining chapel, the managers farmhouse, and a multi-purpose building housing a prayer room, day room and laundry/work area. It’s a retreat used by a whole range of people from different countries and different walks of life. We met people from the UK, NZ, Aussie, Ireland, China and Germany – I’m sure there where more but the brain has gone! There were pastors, doctors, nurses, missionaries, business people – a whole range of different vocations. Visitors either stayed at the healing centre or in B&B’s in the area and visited during the day. We made a strong connection with Colin from Warkworth, Northland, NZ. He just happened to be the son-in-law of friends that we met while living in Oakura, NZ. Such a small world!!
It rained pretty well everyday but we managed to go on some afternoon drives along the coast and across country. Loved the hillsides and beach at Pwllgwawlod. Great coastline south of Fishguard – drove through St Davids and onto Newgale beach – very popular with tourists. Also had an evening meal with Colin in a pub in Newport, another nearby coastal village. Great fish and chips! The rest of the time we spent at the Ffald-y-Brenen, going for walks and having some lovely times of prayer and meditation. We sadly left after 4 wonderful nights – enjoying a very social cuppa in the day room with a crowd of Kiwi’s and Aussies before hitting the road. Next stop – the beautiful Cotwolds.
Love to all
Di and Reg
This entry was posted in United Kingdom, Wales- drives
- Ffald-y-Brenen
- Fishguard
- Grace Outpouring
- healing centre
- Newgale Beach
- Pembrokeshire
- Pwllgwawlod
- retreat
Hey….. It looked so nice and a great place to relax and have some quiet time and reflection with God. I noticed the bottle of wine on the table as soon as i seen the photo. I know you very well!!!!!!! The country side looks amazing, nice and green. The little cottage – i love it, i could live there. Glad that you had a great time.
Miss you guys heaps, will talk soon
Love Tarsh xxxxxx
It was a lovely place to stay. Lets Skype soon xxxxxxxxxxx
At what time of the year were you at Ffald-y-Brenin?
Just checking about the weather…. we will be there in August 2018. So looking forward to it!
Blessings to you and thanks for your interesting description of your stay!
Hi Rosalie…..we were there in July. Rained a lot but not too cold. Hope you have a wonderful time – it’s a very special place! Blessings in return xx