a weekend in the brecon beacons

It was a bit of a last minute getaway this but seeing as I'd not left London for a night since Yorkshire (back in September), I was in desperate need of a getaway!

A small group of us pootled off to Wales for the last walking weekend of the year. The weather was pretty bad - 50mph winds, A LOT of rain and freezing temperatures - turns out the first week of December aint the best time of year for walks, who knew! We stayed in a great little YHA (aptly named the mountain bunkhouse) on a hill in the middle of nowhere, in the south east bit of the brecon beacons, a little south of Crickhowell in case that means anything to you. Afore mentioned terrible weather wasn't enough to put us off a short walk so we ventured out onto the hills up by the cliffs overlooking the hostel, stopping only to gawp at the beautiful scenery (and a drain a cup or two of mulled wine). As it started to get to dark (and progressively more and more windy) we decided to go back to the hostel, jump in the car and drive to Crickhowell in search of a cosy pub. We settled on The Bear which was perfect (and I'd reccommend it if you're ever in the area). Bellies full we returned to the hostel for much wine, cheese and games.

Before heading back to London on the Sunday we took a detour a little further north to spend a few hours at CAT, the centre for alternative technology. Built in an old disused quarry, it's a pretty incredible place, originally started up by a community in the 1970s who were united in the belief that the world needed more sustainable options in everyday life. The centre has grown since the 70s but inspiring, encouraging and researching more eco-friendly and sustainable ways of living is still very much at its core. The interative installations were interesting and certainly gave us a lot of food for thought but my favourite bit was the herb gardens. What with it being winter the centre was a bit of a ghost town - good for us because I hate crowds, but it did seem a little bleak, I imagine in the summer there's probably quite a lot going on. We posed for a pic on the blade of the wind turbine in the car park (naturally) before starting the long drive back to London. We'll definitely need to head back to the brecon beacons in warmer weather as there's so much of it we didn't see or climb!