Holiday gem just around the corner

Jan 9 2008 by Sally Williams, Western Mail

This week is expected to be the busiest of the year for holiday bookings and tourism operators in Wales are urging travellers to ‘holiday at home’ and enjoy our festivals and landscape. Sally Williams reports

THE first full week back at work marks the time when we seek escapes from the depths of the winter to sunnier climes.

But, for those planning to go abroad, the Identity and Passport Service has warned that those applying for a passport for the first time should be prepared for a six-week wait under recently-introduced regulations.

Home Office Minister Meg Hillier said, “With Christmas festivities at an end, it’s the natural time to start looking ahead and planning your summer break.

“We are encouraging holidaymakers to check their passport is up-to-date as it now can take up to six weeks for first-time adult customers to get a new passport.

“Interviews for first-time adult customers will build on other anti-fraud measures we have introduced such as enhanced background checks and more secure passports with your photo contained on a chip.

“Together these will help fight passport fraud and forgery and ensure the British passport stays one of the most secure and respected in the world.”

Abta chief executive Mark Tanzer said, “Booking a holiday is a great way of beating the post-Christmas blues, which is why we find January to be such a busy time for our travel agents.”

With this in mind, Visit Wales is this month launching an £800,000 advertisement campaign, featuring a holiday magazine, Visit Wales, inviting UK holidaymakers to experience a holiday without passport or plane delay worries.

Simon Calder, travel editor of The Independent, who took a family- friendly holiday between Machynlleth and the Dyfi Estuary, believes Wales offers a green alternative to the “fly and flop holidays”. He said, “Mid Wales has always been a destination for environmentally conscious visitors, whether or not they realise it.”

The Wales View magazine aims to show Londoners, Midlanders and those living along the M4 corridor, that they can be surprised by what Wales has to offer.

It also features Western Mail columnist Lowri Turner who discovers Llandeilo, a pretty market town in the heart of Carmarthenshire that is full of “country chic”.

And travel writer Christopher Somerville, who worked on the BBC series Coast goes island hopping, following the footsteps of saints, starting with Bardsey, the island on which reputedly 10,000 saints are buried.

The campaign follows on from Wales1000things.com – which encourages visitors to post their pictures and videos of activities in Wales in an online gallery, telling the story of the wealth of activities that can be enjoyed in Wales, including entries by singer Cerys Matthews and rugby’s Stephen Jones.

Val Hawkins, chief executive of Mid Wales Tourism, added, “The Attractions of Mid Wales marketing campaigns specifically target places within two hours’ travelling distance of Mid Wales, such as the West Midlands, North West England, the Borderlands and North and South Wales, traditionally where most of our visitors live.

“Mid Wales has huge potential with the Brecon Beacons and Snowdonia National Parks, the Cambrian Mountain range and the Cambrian Coast.”

Ancient castles for modern tourists

It is said that no other country on earth has as many castles per square mile as Wales.

And now we’re looking at how to make some of them eco-friendly for visitors, writes Keith Jones, environmental practices adviser for the National Trust in Wales.

So how on earth do you make a castle eco friendly?

One of the first projects the trust is looking into is “rainwater harvesting”.

Garden staff at Powis Castle, in Welshpool, and Chirk Castle, near Wrexham, are exploring ways of using some of the rain which falls on to their vast roofs in order to water the large terrace gardens.

And the original design for the Orangery at Powis Castle, apparently includes a system for storing rainwater from the house.

The latest thinking on building design is low impact, local materials and low embodied energy. Latest designs include stabilised earth walls (compressed soil) natural roofing material, eco-friendly paints and so on. Some examples of these can be seen at the Centre for Alternative Technology in Machynlleth, Powys.

There are also investigations into 19th and early 20th century micro-hydro sites in several places throughout Wales and the moving away from fossil fuels to local and sustainable wood heating systems.

Taking it nice and easy

Pembrokeshire is encouraging visitors to experience “slow tourism” and “slow food”, savouring everything the county has to offer, at a gentler pace.

Britain’s smallest city, St Davids, is hoping to become the first carbon neutral city in the world and opening this summer will be Bluestone (www.bluestonewales.com), a new short-break destination in the heart of the Pembrokeshire National Park with self-catering timber lodges, cottages and studios.

A Visit Wales spokesman said, “Facilities at the 500 acre holiday village will eventually include the Blue Lagoon indoor waterpark, sports club, bike hire, creche, restaurants and a grocery.

“Slow tourism suggests that visitors should adopt a more laid back lifestyle while on holiday nurturing the local scenery, its inherent wildlife and the people they meet. And the slow food movement’s philosophy is similar and also promotes the greater enjoyment of fresh, locally produced food and drink, so reducing the miles food must travel before reaching the plate.”

And with such a long coastline and inland waterways, locally caught fish is also a speciality ranging from trout to crab and scallops to seabass.

Adverts have a hint of mystery

Visit Wales’ advertising aims to stand out from the crowd and hits the mark with a slightly tongue-in-cheek honesty, writes Tourism Minister Rhodri Glyn Thomas.

The approach is based on challenging conventions, doing things differently from our competitors and drawing on what makes Wales unique – our history, culture, geography and language.

Research has shown people are looking for honesty from brands, authenticity in experience and friendship and connection in an isolated world.

This has led us to market Wales as a place where people can find a real, human and magical experience.

Visit Wales’ marketing draws on the spirit of the Welsh people, their humour and warmth.

Wales is a place independently minded people can enjoy in their own way, interact with the place, understand our culture and meet the people.

Our landscape, culture and history present a magical experience which creates a strong sense of place – an experience of being in a different country within the UK.

Tourism in Wales has to compete on the world stage and we need to show Wales’ distinctiveness. Our advertising is set to intrigue visitors to find out more and come to Wales.

Food for thought at gastro-cathedral

Centuries ago pilgrims journeyed to St Davids Cathedral in almost as large numbers as those who made the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela in Northern Spain, writes Bill Sewell, owner of The Refectory at St Davids.

Today, St Davids remains the spiritual home of Wales, nestling on the wild Pembrokeshire coast and a major draw to tourists. And what does a modern-day pilgrim need after a hard walk on the Pembrokeshire coast or some heavy-duty sightseeing at the ancient cathedral? They need a nice cup of tea, a warming meal, and a welcoming smile, don’t they?

Our experience in setting up The Refectory at St Davids – the end result of a remarkable restoration of the famous cloisters – is that the 21st century tourist is rather more discerning.

The refectory had to meet the needs of the 250,000 visitors a year but we wanted to go beyond this. That’s why as well as offering all the basics (pot of tea for less than £2, a selection of home-made cakes, fresh soup) we’ve made a point of only serving fresh, home-made food, with a daily changing menu, sourced from local suppliers.

And we made a point of telling people about it. The Refectory is hidden away in the medieval St Mary’s Hall behind the cathedral and, frankly, can be a little bit hard to find.To get tourists and foodies in we’ve used a few tried and tested techniques.

The story of the gastro-cathedral proved interesting to the press. Days were spent inviting local opinion formers for suppers, talking to the regional tourist board in order to be mentioned in their leaflets and brochures – the Pembrokeshire Food Guide is a particularly key publication for us – and, rather less glamorously, dropping leaflets and sample menus around caravan sites and B&Bs.

At the end of last year our hard work paid off when we were featured in The Good Food Guide, along with Lawton’s, Cwtch and Morgan’s. With a population of just 2,000, St Davids has rightly been recognised as a new foodie hotspot.

www.refectoryatstdavids.co.uk

Holidays from the past

The Ogwen Jones family from Niwbwrch, Anglesey, choose to recreate a Welsh family holiday from 1976.

Their holiday involves travelling through North West Wales down to Aberaeron in Cardiganshire in a caravan, visiting the Owain Glyndwr Centre in Machynlleth, making a cultural visit at Llechwedd slate quarry in Blaenau Ffestiniog and enjoying fish and chips on the sea front in Aberaeron.

Morwenna Ogwen Jones, her father Huw and daughter Catrin have enjoyed family holidays across the globe but Morwenna’s dream is to re-live the sunny summer of her childhood 30 years ago. It’s an emotional experience because just before the holiday, Mr Ogwen Jones is given the all clear by his doctors after a cancer scare. Last time round, the family stayed in a tent but this time the caravan offers extra creature comforts.

Mrs Ogwen Jones said, “It’ll be nice to have the warmth of the caravan. This time we’re travelling in style.”

See the Ogwen Jones family on Nôl â Ni on S4C on Monday, January 14 at 8.25pm.

Focus on Eco-City

St Davids is home to Wales’ first organic hotel. . . in a converted windmill close to a beach.

Just about everything on offer in the relaxing TYF Eco Hotel is organic including the food, wine, bedding, towels, staff uniforms and cleaning products (www.tyf.com).

The hotel is also a base for adventures, including coasteering, rock climbing, surfing, kayaking and mountain biking.

Meanwhile, the Really Wild Food and Countryside Festival (August 30 to 31, 2008) is a down-to-earth celebration of food and crafts that originate from the Welsh countryside and is held annually in St Davids. (www.reallywildfestival.co.uk).

Also, during the summer huge super-pods with hundreds, even thousands, of common dolphin have been seen in recent years.

Around a third of the world’s population of grey seals also live on the Pembrokeshire coast. Ramsey Island boasts the second largest grey seal colony in Britain.

Skomer and Skokholm islands have the world’s largest colonies of Manx Shearwaters, which can be seen in the spring along with thousands of puffins.

Grassholm is home to one of the largest – 65,000 strong – gannet colonies in the North Atlantic.

A look behind the scenes

The National Trust will be offering more opportunities to get an exclusive peek behind the scenes with pre-booked specialist tours at many of its properties in Wales, writes Heledd Jones.

With a host of behind-the-scenes tours of its castles, gardens and magnificent historic buildings, visitors will be able to get a real insight into the specialist conservation work carried out by expert staff, as well as a fascinating opportunity to see rooms that the public don’t normally get to see.

Erddig, near Wrexham, Powis Castle, near Welshpool, and Dinefwr, Carmarthenshire, will all be hosting behind-the-scenes tours throughout the season.

Powis Castle is hoping to arrange tours of the Upper Floor, which will allow access into areas of the castle not normally open to visitors, boasting fine items of furniture, plasterwork and breathtaking views. At Plas Newydd, special guided tours on the painter Rex Whistler, and on the royals who visited the property will be available.

Powis Castle and Colby Woodland Garden will also offer a chance to have a look behind the scenes of the garden gate with special walks and talks by the head gardeners, and in August, visitors will get an opportunity to meet the farmer at Llanerchaeron, near Aberaeron.

There will also be a feast of fascinating new exhibitions.

At Plas Newydd on Anglesey, the curtain goes up on a major new exhibition of theatre sets and costume designs by Rex Whistler in March.

Pride of place will be given to an enormous theatre backdrop, which is fifteen feet long and hasn’t been seen in public since it was first used for a production of The Luck of the Devil at the Player’s Theatre in London in 1939.

It has cost around £7,000 to restore the backdrop, which is painted on a linen type material with special aniline dyes, and will now be on permanent display at Plas Newydd.

The new exhibition also includes costume and set designs by the celebrated artist, and it is hoped the colourful and flamboyant designs will eventually be made up into real costumes by students at the nearby Coleg Menai. There are even plans to allow visitors to try them on.

Also being unveiled this spring is a new exhibition charting the history of Penrhyn Castle’s industrial past. “Quarry and Castle” will tell the story of how Penrhyn became the biggest slate quarry in the world during the nineteenth century, employing three thousand people in its heyday, and making a huge contribution to the vast wealth of the Penrhyn family.

As well as explaining the link between the castle, the quarry and the Penrhyn railway, it will also retell the story of the Penrhyn strike in 1900, which continued for three years, making it the longest running industrial dispute in British history.