Weekend Away
We went for a long weekend away last weekend. We planned on leaving it to the last minute and seeing what we could get, but there didn’t seem to be any decent offers around. Kate wanted to go to Paris but instead we went for the cheaper option of Powys. We stayed at “The Dragon Hotel” in Crickhowell, which we’d found when searching for a pub with rooms. I don’t think it really was a pub with rooms, but it was really nice. We’d booked a “superior” room and when we turned up I was a bit worried – the decor seemed a bit drab, like the cliché of a hotel without enough being spent on maintenance. However the room itself was immaculate, totally different to the corridor we’d just come in from!
After a quick wander around Crickhowell in some drizzle, we went for dinner in the hotel restaurant. The food was simply brilliant – the highlight for me was my starter of pan fried goat’s cheese with apple and ginger chutney. The following two courses were excellent too and with the total bill coming to under £60 for the pair of us including a bottle of wine it proved good value too.
On Saturday after a hearty cooked breakfast in the hotel we decided to go for a walk amongst the Brecon Beacons. We headed up towards Llangattock and from there got onto the Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal and started walking towards Brecon. After walking for a while we decided that we’d try and make it all the way to Brecon and then get the bus back from there. That’s nearly 15 miles by road. We didn’t make it in the end as we hadn’t planned properly or taken supplies. We got to Brynich, about 1.5 miles outside of Brecon, which is a pretty good effort I reckon.
Kate unfortunately has dodgy feet which were quite aggravated by this point, so we got a taxi back and I then left Kate in the bath back in the hotel while I got some snacks, including a Choc Dip! We had Chinese for dinner from The Beaufort and while the wait for indeterminable, the food was really good when it came.
On Sunday we went down to Big Pit, where I’ve been twice before over the years, but it’s probably over 10 years since I last went. It was a good day and the canteen and baths were an interesting addition since I last went. Then we headed home and overall, it was a good weekend. The hotel and food are thoroughly recommended, although maybe not the walk to Brecon, nice as the countryside is.