Local Area Information

The Village

The village is very quiet, with a good shop, nice friendly bistro (not open every day and you need to book), hairdresser, and a pub. There are nearby farm shops and lots of walks. Herefordshire is spoiled for excellent inexpensive restaurants, and you can choose from privately catered farmhouse dining to gourmet starred restaurants. Many are in out of the way spots so ask for the latest recommendations. The village pub and the Pandy in Dorstone (next village up the valley) are both found to be excellent by our guests.

Transport

The regular but infrequent Hereford-Brecon bus stops at both ends of the village, though you really need a car. In case of emergencies the village garage is always helpful and used to farmers who need the tractor fixing by the day before yesterday. The nearest train station is in Hereford, about 12 miles.

The Area

Herefordshire's beautiful Golden Valley is one of the few largely unspoiled rural areas remaining in England. Some of our guests have been startled by the number of stars you can see at night: light pollution is amongst the lowest in the country. In most places nobody will mind where you walk as long as you or your dogs don't disturb the livestock. Other areas include the Cat's Back, the Black Mountains, Offa's Dyke, and at 45 - 60 minutes drive, the Brecon Beacons.

Small towns and cities within an hours drive:

  • Hereford (20 minutes - with many restaurants, cinema, cathedral, National Hunt racing, and of course the river Wye)
  • Hay-on-Wye (20 minutes - with a lot of books and some good restaurants)
  • Abergavenny (30 mins - very pretty and often overlooked by visitors)
  • Brecon (45 minutes - very attractive in its own right and the gateway to the Beacons)
  • Ludlow (50 minutes - with lots of good food)

and larger cities Cardiff (70-80 mins and the nicest small city in the UK), and Swansea (90 minutes with the Mumbles close by)

Some of our guests' favourite activites include

  • Walking
  • Exploring the Welsh Borders
  • The Hay Festival
  • Sitting in the garden doing absolutely nothing

Here are a couple of videos of visitors and locals enjoying enjoying the river Wye and splashing about with a friend in the beautiful Brecon-Monmouth canal.

Pictures below of the Cat's Back and Hay Bluff (you need something warm up there even on the hottest days of the year), the Brecon Beacons, the Welsh Coast (a lengthy trip but lovely if you feel like it).