Brecon beckons

A remote cottage offers something special to Nick Jenkins in the heart of the Brecon Beacons

We're sitting in the hot tub, the two of us, gazing up at the stars in the ink-black night sky. This is the sort of holiday moment you dream of all year

But this isn't the Caribbean, or even the Mediterranean. This is Wales... in November. And the thermometer has just touched freezing. No wonder the steam from the tub is so dense.

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What makes this even more extraordinary is that we're not staying in some swish Ryder Cup-hosting resort hotel. We're staying in a country cottage in the middle of the Black Mountains in the Brecon Beacons National Park. We're only five miles from Hay-on-Wye, but this is about as remote as you can get when you're that close to a town world-famous for its annual literary festival.

To reach Knightsfield, we had to drive along a single-track road across open moorland, turning right at the stone circle, cautiously crossing two fords where streams tumble down from the mountains above. Knightsfield is a country cottage, but it's like no country cottage we've ever stayed in. Until a few years ago, it was just a few ruined walls overgrown by vegetation – as the before and after pictures in the kitchen graphically illustrate. Since then it has been completely rebuilt using traditional, local materials.

For owner Steve Greenow, whose family bought this place in 1841, this has clearly been a labour of love. But you can't help wondering what the shepherds who once lived here would have made of the massive TV screen, with its hidden HD box, the glossy black granite tops in the kitchen and bathroom, the Zeppelin iPod dock, or the huge walk-in shower.

Knightsfield is one of a kind. But it's also one of a small collection of special country homes gathered together by Sheepskin Life, founded a year ago by Helen Howitt and Adam Lloyd, who clearly felt there was a market for holiday cottages with decent bedding, heating that works and quality furniture that doesn't look like the owners' broken down cast-offs. Sheepskin customers are asked about their specific interests and then presented with a spiral-bound booklet with general information about the house and its locality, as well as personalised advice. We said we were interested in walking, pub lunches, afternoon teas and food shopping for eating in – and the information was tailored especially for us.

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As it happens, we stocked up so effectively en route at a service station, Waitrose, the wonderful Welsh Venison Centre farm shop in Bwlch, and at Hay's Co-op, that for the three days we were there, we had no need for civilisation and its temptations.

We had called in on Hay-on-Wye on our way in, curious to see the little market town that attracts 80,000 visitors every year to its June literary festival, which has grown enormously since it began in 1988.

There are about 30 independent bookshops in the town, which is extraordinary when you think how few towns have even one these days. It seems that wherever you turn, there are books.There's even an open-air store: hundreds of books lined up on outside shelves beneath the ruined castle in the "honesty" bookshop. Browse, sit at the benches for a good read, then pay for your chosen book in the honesty box.

It's open 24 hours a day but in all honesty, it's a concept that probably works better in the summer than in November. Hay is clearly a prosperous town. Restaurants and gastropubs like these can't survive on a 10-day festival once a year. And the clothes and interior design shops don't say "small country market town".

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So it's good to be reminded that some things don't change. We visited on a Tuesday – early closing day. There won't be many people under about 40 in our towns and cities who are familiar with that quaint concept. Hay is in Wales but is so near to the Herefordshire border that a trip to the town's only supermarket takes you past a sign that welcomes you to England.

But it doesn't take long to get away from it all. Close to Knightsfield is the Gospel Pass, a narrow road with the hills rising steeply up on each side. A few miles down this road is Capel Y Ffin, a hamlet that consists of not much more than a farmhouse and a phone box. But it's worth a visit for its neighbouring church and Baptist chapel – both tiny with a traditional wooden gallery, 18th century and almost identical on each side of a stream.

Then, in the 19th century, a third challenger for the souls of the valley arrived when the Rev Joseph Lyne renamed himself Father Ignatius and founded Llanthony Monastery. Alas for him, Roman Catholicism never took off in the area and the monastery is now privately owned. It was once the home of sculptor Eric Gill.Four miles further on is Llanthony, the site of another even more ancient religious settlement. St David himself is said to have lived in a cell here, but the main attraction is the evocative ruins of the 12th century priory, founded after the Norman invasion. It fell into ruins after the dissolution of the monasteries but is still worth a visit for its spectacular setting.

Another unusual attraction is the Priory Hotel, built into the 12th century ruins with four bedrooms in the priory tower and a bar and dining room in the vaults. A pint seemed like a good idea but, sadly, it's only open at lunchtimes during the summer season.This is walking country – Offa's Dyke path is nearby – and we took the advice of our welcome pack.

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From Knightsfield we were able to walk to the summit of Hay Bluff – where we could look down on the gliders flying past – and along the top to Twmpa, less politely known as Lord Hereford's Knob. It was a glorious day in wonderful early winter weather, frosty underfoot and exhilarating. We enjoyed the company of the ponies and the shepherds rounding up their flocks for the winter.

And what made it even more pleasurable was the knowledge that at the end of the walk, as the light began to fade, a log fire and a joint of venison were waiting for us – after a therapeutic soak in the hot tub.

Getting there

Sheepskin Life cottages at www.sheepskinlife.com.

Three nights in the main house at Knightsfield cost 820, and seven nights 1,800. A week for the house and barn together is 2,945.

But that is a year-round rate, so summer holiday bookings, when cottage rates usually rocket, look like good value.

YP MAG 24/12/10

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