Locke's Cottage - A perfect little West Wales getaway

21 Jun

Winding down narrow lanes lined with trees, with the greenest countryside on either side, you will find, hidden away at the end of a little track, Locke's cottage. It's a difficult one to describe, its neither a cottage nor a log cabin, yet it is a perfect combination of the two. It has stone walls at floor level, housing a kitchen and a lounge/dining area, and a wooden upper level, complete with lounge, bathroom, bedroom and a balcony. It even has a tree growing in the middle of it. It is a very unique place indeed.

Nestled in amongst the hills, the views from the cottage do not disappoint. You can see a few farmhouses in the distance, but you are well and truly in the middle of nowhere. We explored the surrounding paths and lanes and other than a lone dog walker, we didn't encounter another person or car the entire time. There is very little phone signal, but that always feels like a little gift when on holiday. A chance to disconnect and really unplug from the world. Lots of fun family time, which with an 8, 6 and 2 year old basically consisted of one of us playing card games with the older 2 whilst the other cons the youngest into believing he is actually playing too. And then taking turns at stealing some relaxing moments whilst the other keeps the 2 year old alive, which lets face it, is basically a full time job.

Locke's Cottage is a Canopy & Stars gem and is somewhere I would definitely like to go back to without the children one day (hint, hint Mum). The owners have crafted the perfect relaxing getaway, with lovely features like a freestanding bath, and the beautiful balcony overlooking the hills, but with the advantages of being cut off from the world and surrounded by nature. It is completely off the grid and even uses solar panels to produce its own electricity.

As if all of this wasn't enough, the location of the cottage is the icing on the cake. Anyone who's been following my blog for a while will know I love Wales. I love it so much I moved here and we are raising our family here. Ceredigion in West Wales is just a short journey for us but is an area we haven't explored much in the past. However, it has well and truly won us over. The coastline is unspoilt and breathtaking. We visited quite a few different beaches and towns on our trip and they were all lovely.

If you are lucky enough to visit Locke's Cottage then you must visit Penbryn beach, it is possible to walk there from the cottage but we didn't quite make it all the way on foot with our little ones. It has a National Trust car park so it is easy to visit with the car too. It's a gorgeous sandy beach with lots of caves to explore, and even got the approval of all 3 of our children. They know their beaches; they do not give it lightly. When you return from the beach you must visit the cafe in the car park; "The Plwmp Tart". Their cakes were heavenly. And I do not say that lightly. I rarely appreciate cakes in cafes, my Mother is an amazing cook and I was brought up on the tastiest cakes, so I often find myself very disappointed that cafes can't live up to my Mother's high standard. This cafe however has me contemplating an hour and a half car journey just to get another slice!

We also visited another nearby beach called Mwnt. After our last adventure in Ceridigion numerous people commented we should have gone there. So it was top of the list this time around. And it did not disappoint. Not only breathtakingly beautiful but we were lucky enough to see Dolphins swimming around in the bay. The highlight of the trip for me. I totally had a dolphin phase as a kid, one that saw me still receiving dolphin paraphanalia long after the phase had passed from those who hadn't got the memo that I'd moved on. But my love of them didn't really go away, so to see them swimming around was really very magical.

There are so many lovely places to visit near the cottage that you would never be short of things to do, but equally if you decided not to stray further than the balcony I believe you would still have a wonderful time. Locke's cottage really is the perfect little West Wales getaway. So what are you waiting for? Go book yourself a holiday already.