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Horse B&B events, diary & gossip |
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Horse & Rider B&B Accommodation in Wales
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Horse Holidays in the Brecon Beacons, Mid Wales, riding the Brecon Beacons and Radnor Loop, petal rides in the Black Mountains or for the 3 Rivers Ride. |
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15 July 2007
The Brecon Beacons and Radnor Loop has been ridden several times now over this ‘summer’ and has proved to be a great success. We have added a dedicated web page for the loop with an interactive map link.
Despite all the rain we here in Mid Wales seem to have got off lightly compared to other areas of the country and the going has held up well. There is one 300 m stretch of the total of 75 miles which is very deep going! Because of the storms we have had to make yet more changes as big trees have come down over the original route. However we think the new route is actually better although 1 Km longer.
Some moron at the Department of Transport, who probably has never even seen a horse from close up, intends to make changes to the Highway Code to prevent riders riding two abreast and to stop them riding on cycle tracks. Riding on roads is dangerous enough as it is, so please sign the petition, link below, and forward it to as many people as possible.
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19 August 2007
The Wern horse B&B has been short listed (last 3) for the Welsh Sustainable Tourism Award. The judges came to inspect and quiz us and a video will be made to be shown at the Award’s dinner on October 18. I very much doubt that we will win as we are such small fry, in fact we were very surprised to get short listed, as we only entered after being bullied into doing so by the BBNP. Watch this space!
The ‘PIPELINE’ has caused us a lot of extra work (see below and the page about the Loop), but the outcome of all the work is a much improved, very nice route, which has been given the thumbs up by the riders who have ridden it this year.
After 2 years of almost permanent absence (Iraq, Afghanistan, Kenya and Northern Ireland) Cees has at last got a posting back on the mainland and was able to visit us. He is now based at North Luffenham, in Leicestershire, where he is setting up a new working dog unit and will also be doing PDSA work. |
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06 October 2007
As the evenings are drawing in we have fewer guests and the season is coming to an end. This doesn’t mean that we are any less busy as we are working hard at route checking and further explorations. We also spend a lot of time writing letters to PCC (success here, all bridleways and RUPPs in our local area are open now!) and Transport Wales.
The Transport Wales correspondence is about the A40 link. They have finally done the feasibility study and this concludes that the verge is suitable, as we have always said. However, Peter Jones who works for Transport Wales and who has been anti the scheme all the way along, has sent an email saying that a track will not be made for a variety of reasons, all wrong!!! The same incorrect ‘facts’ are in a letter sent by the Minister for Transport which was obviously drafted by him. He stated that BHS guidance insisted on a 1.8 m high solid fence, no such guidance exists. He also said that there was no demand, however he hasn’t carried out research into this, as I have checked with local riders and businesses. In other words he has misled the Minister and in turn the Minister has misled our local Assembly Member.
I have a meeting tomorrow with the AM and will discuss this with her. When she finds out that she has been ‘misled’ I expect she will be exceptionally annoyed. Next action will be the Media and Public Services Ombudsman. They don’t realise the ‘pester power’ I have! |
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27 October 2007
Last Thursday, October 18th, Neil and I attended the Wales Business and Sustainability Awards dinner in Cardiff, The Wern Horse B&B had been nominated as one of three finalists in the Sustainable Tourism Business category. AND, much to our surprise and delight, WE WON!!!! We were up against much bigger businesses than ours but it appears that the uniqueness of what we do and our all-round awareness of ‘sustainability’, however you define it, is what won the day. If you want to see the details and a video clip of us and our business go to:
http://www.walessustainabilityawards.com/Awards2007/winners.html |
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01 December 2007
We have updated the web site so the new prices for our horse B&B are up for the 2008 season. Through feedback from our guests we heard that they would prefer to do a central booking for the Loop, rather than having to arrange all the accommodation themselves. So that’s what we have done.
We are busy decorating and are waiting for the carpenter to put a nice new front door in. It will be lovely to get rid of the tatty UPVC door! We have also upgraded our beds with memory foam mattresses for a even more comfy night’s sleep. |
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Riding through Brecon |
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Receiving the award |
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As a direct result of winning the award for our horse B&B, I have been asked to give a presentation in West Pembrokeshire to businesses there about how to set up riding loops to benefit the local economy. My ‘expertise’ has earning capabilities and ties us over during the winter months. |
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My new Fell pony mare ‘Velvet’ and Sunny a few days after she arrived at The Wern B&B for horses. |
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12 January 2008
Our horse B&B was in need of a suitable horse for Lucienne to ride whilst exploring the countryside for new routes. On the recommendation of a previous guest, now a friend, we went all the way to Whitehaven in Cumbria to buy Velvet. She is a registered Fell pony mare, 9 years old and absolutely perfect for my needs and our horse B&B. The loan horse has gone back and Sunny and Velvet are settling in well together. I have taken Velvet out several times and she is totally traffic proof, a lively ride but sensible and very comfy to ride.
On January 15 we are going to hand over the file at the Welsh Assembly which forms part of a petition demanding the link along the A40. We are doing this on the advice and with the help of our Assembly Member.
Bookings for the Loop and our horse B&B for 2008 are coming in thick and fast. |
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23 February 2008
On February 21 the petition was discussed for the first time and hopefully wasn’t thrown out straight away. I will be contacted shortly with an update. The week prior to this, I managed to get the full support of Sustrans as they see this link as a continuation of the Taff Trail. If we are successful, it will make developing routes south of the A40 a lot easier.
The award has many interesting consequences. On Feb 19 we had a reporter and photographer visiting us, who are making an article on behalf of the Welsh Assembly. We were seen as the visually most interesting case for the sustainability award. On March 14 we are hosting a party of 4 ‘eco-auditors’ from Kyrgyzstan, organised through the British Embassy. They had specifically asked to visit an eco-friendly horse business as horse riding is big in their country.
Velvet is proving her weight in gold. As she has become fitter, I have managed to explore more routes and as she loads so easily, I have also had some nice leisure rides on her with friends and have taken her hunting. She takes everything in her stride, is incredibly sure-footed, but a lively, safe ride. Having a LHP (little hairy pony) is definitely a good thing! |
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18 May 2008
As the season has started in earnest, I have only found time now to update the diary. I had to do a lot of riding ( what a shame!) to check all our routes and luckily, apart from a few minor problems, everything is fine.
The 4 day Brecon Beacons and Radnor Loop has become very popular and about 80% of bookings are for the Loop. Word of mouth has spread the news and recommendations make up a large part of the new bookings. We have had a lovely article published in the BHS magazine, British Horse, followed by an article in the Financial Times. I have been very fortunate to get the cooperation of a farmer, who has allowed our Loop riders to use his land to bypass a section of bridleway which gets very muddy. No riders, apart from our guests are allowed to use his land, so we feel very lucky. With the cooperation of the Forestry Commission I have managed to get a section of bridleway through the Forestry improved and vegetation cut back. In fact, I have been given the KEY to unlock gates into forestry land so our guests can have access to land otherwise not accessible. I have encouraged some friends to come aboard the Loop scheme and they now form part of our B&Bs en route.
Quite a few of our Loop riders are accompanied by husbands/partners on bikes, which seems to work very well. The ‘men on bikes’ are brilliant for opening gates!
Our petition has had it second session in the Welsh Assembly and I am awaiting the outcome.
Thanks to a couple of Loop riders, who offered their services as house sitter, we now have new house sitters and this gives us the opportunity to go to Cyprus for a week around October 15 to visit Cees’ girlfriend, who is also a vet in the Army and is stationed in Cyprus. She will be back then from her operational tour in Iraq. This will be a lovely break after a hectic season and just before I have to go into hospital for my long awaited operation on my Achilles tendon and foot. 6 weeks crutches after that and then hopefully fully fit and mobile again! |
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10 August 2008
There has been a long gap between the last update and now as we have been too busy to get around to doing an update, so this one is a long time overdue. We are fully booked for the season and have already taken bookings for next year. During the season the Loop has been renamed unofficially by 4 of our guests! They called it the Radnor and Magners Loop. Very appropriate as the 2 mountain biking husbands carried copious supplies of tins of Magners cider on their bikes. I don’t know if it was due to the cider, but apart from the first day when I accompanied them on Velvet for the whole day, they got lost on all the other days. It didn't spoil their holiday though, they just had more riding time to enjoy it! Married couples don’t often mean 2 riders. Visitors, who came 2 years ago passing through on the 3 Rivers Ride, where the husbands were back-up to their wives, came this year equipped with horses for husband and wife. If you cannot beat them, join them was his theory and he had a lovely time. There are quite a few ‘horse husbands’ around. To make their holiday nice as well, I have even found new ways of entertaining them. Elaine and Andy have a set pattern for going on holiday: Elaine rides in the morning, both of them go sight-seeing in the afternoon and in the evening Andy pursues his hobby of bell-ringing while Elaine waits in a nearby pub. I managed to arrange a different church for Andy each evening, helped by some of my bell-ringing friends. Some guests have been very unlucky with the weather. Ruth and Lindsay had the worst luck of all, with rain on all 4 days. But, they are British and you don’t put Brits off with by a little rain. We went out anyway, Velvet and I rode with them by request, on 3 days, but the Sunday was a constant downpour, so was spent chatting, eating, reading, eating and more eating. Ruth insisted on taking photos of her food each time, so she could show her family and friends why she wasn’t losing any weight! I will finish this entry in the diary with a couple of Ruth’s photos.
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