Our family, with two young children, live on the property. We will be on hand to answer queries, provide support and guidance on local attractions and activities during your stay. Very simply - we want your holiday to be amazing!
We consider ourselves adventurers. Lyns and Adam actually met whilst living in Hong Kong, and at the famous Hong Kong Sevens rugby tournament! After 15 years in Asia we are very well traveled and have a good idea of what makes a stay perfect.
We are outdoor people and these days love mini adventures with the kids and get out and about all over The Gower Peninsula. We will be delighted to share our experiences and our knowledge of what to do, particularly in different types of weather conditions.
Adam is a sports enthusiast and a keen runner, surfer, cyclist and ex rugby player. Lyns comes from a beauty and therapy background, a keen runner and expert on diet and fitness.
Blaen Cedi grounds are accessed through a secure electric gate and the cottages are found hidden away at the end of a short, green, leafy lane. The cottages are nestled amongst green farmland, woodland and fields, and offer delightful views of the Lougher Estuary and Llanrhidian Marshes.
We have our own woodland that straddles the Cedi. As you explore you’ll see many badger and fox tracks and in the evening as the light dims you will catch a glimpse of small bats. The woods and stream are a young person’s ideal adventure playground. There are dens and dams to make, rope swings over the stream and varies paths to explore The woods and stream are natural with the normal risks and young children should be supervised. The boundary to our land has a gate so it should be clear where the limits are.
There is no light pollution so when the sky is clear we get to see the stars at their best. The Gallery has the best window for this with the skylight offering a perfect upward view of the heavens.
Blaen Cedi means ‘above the Cedi stream’ in Welsh.
The current farm house and outbuildings are approximately 300 years old. Some of the hedges have been dated at 1600. It farmed a mixture of arable land and pasture. This is been sold off over time and now we get to gaze into the rolling fields at the horses and cows whilst someone else is accountable for them. Happy days!
The farmhouse and one property opposite were all of what is now “Blue Anchor”. The property opposite became the local pub, and neatly situated on one of the colliery paths from Penclawdd village thrived in its day. It was Adam’s grandmother’s favourite pub in Gower. Unfortunately it closed in 2015 and the land was sold to developers. The positive is that our colliery path is now quiet with few visitors.
We do have chickens though! A recent addition and “Rebecca the pecker” and “Andrea” have been laying fresh eggs for us on a daily basis. They are free range and friendly, and importantly great with kids. Please keep your dogs under control!
We are blessed with 3 acres of diverse fauna and a large variety of wildlife to enjoy or photograph. The air is clean and we have no light pollution, so its great for star gazing.
As you enter the grounds through the electric gates you pass through an area of mown lawn. On the far side there is an area of stream and woodland that is deliberately left to nature. The stream gracefully meanders into the main woodland area which is carpeted with a beautiful array of flowers, particularly in the spring. Late winter sees the woods white with snowdrops, which are soon followed by a carpet of bright yellow celandine and daffodils. By late spring the carpet turns from yellow to blue as the bluebells bloom. As you stroll through the wood, look out for the many types of lichens, hanging from trees like dwarf’s beards. These are very sensitive to pollution and a great indicator of the very-clean local air.
We are frequently finding slow worms, which is great as they are a protected species. They are completely harmless and feed on insects so if you see a little brown snake don’t be scared and give it time to wriggle off into the undergrowth.
Another protected species that were lucky to have is the red kite. We have one of these graceful birds visitors on a daily basis, gliding above the woods and the grasslands on the thermals, looking for food. It’s fabulous and calming to watch.
We also have an occasional buzzard that regularly visits the woods. Just into the fields is a large and quite impressive badger set. Although you don’t see these in daytime there is clear evidence of badger highways running through the wood.
Three of our cottages are dog friendly.
There are plenty of walks from the doorstep of the cottage, including down onto The Welsh Coastal Path and this means that you never have to go far for morning or evening walks. There is also plenty of room on the grounds for your dog to stretch their legs.
Many of our guests actually found us by looking for "dog friendly Gower cottages" and found that here in Gower they can enjoy the best of both worlds; dog friendly beaches, The Gower Coastal Path and also extensive hiking in the hills such as Cefn Bryn.
Within a short drive we have many fabulous beaches that have a dog friendly status. Our favourite beach for dogs is Whiteford Sands and Broughten Bay, which is a delightful walk down from "Cwm Ivy" and boasts several kilometres of beautiful woodland, tree covered sand dunes and beach all the way out to the iconic lighthouse. The best bit is that it is off the beaten tourist path and so it often feels like you have it almost to yourself!
