Tinsel, Turkey and Trails

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Christmas Holiday Cottage

Fancy doing something different this Christmas?

We have two warm and cosy cottages, decorated in our own idiosyncratic style and with stunning views, six trail centres within a 30 minute drive and Christmas lunch in a 17th Century traditional Welsh pub.

Our local, the Bryntirion in Llandderfel, is open on Christmas Day and is offering a very special Christmas Day 7 course lunch.  Yes, that’s 7 courses.  We have booked ours and have reserved a further 4 places for our guests.  For only £320 your can enjoy 3 nights in one of our cottages and a Christmas Day lunch at the Bryn for two people.  You can even bring your faithful hound if you book into the Stable.

If you don’t want to eat out, no problem.  Our kitchens are fully equipped for you to cook at home and we’ll even order a turkey for you from one of Bala’s two award winning butchers if you ask nicely and give us plently of notice.

You’ll want to work off that Christmas lunch with a bike ride.  Natural trails never close, but can be a little muddy this time of year, especially after the battering Abigail, Kate and Barney have just dished out, but the trail centres are rideable all year round.  Coed y Brenin Visitor Centre is closed Christmas Day and Boxing Day but the trails are open so if you are planning to visit then, take a picnic.  And some warm clothes.  Oneplanet Adventure at Llandegla closes on Christmas Day but is open at all other times.  Penmachno and Marin trails never close.

Booking closes for the Christmas Special on 11 December.  Email me if you’re interested.

Have a look at our Prices and Availability page for other bookings.

So, that’s Christmas sorted.

Bike House

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Two mud loving MTBers stayed at Ty Beic this weekend and they like what they found…

“Lived up to expectations”
 Reviewed yesterday for a stay in November 2015
We found Ty Beic to be very comfortable, very clean, well equipped (including for cyclist/MTBers, as per the name!), warm, tastefully renovated with a lot of attention to details and a very high finish throughout. The woodwork done by Richard was a joy to look at! It’s a very quiet, rural location with fantastic views, and facing South. As no-one was booked in on the day we left, Karen extended our departure time which made for a nice relaxing day.
Charlotte and Mark stayed braved the wet and windy weather to try out so some local routes (roots).  The slightly muddy conditions meant they made full use of our bike washing facilities.
 bike wash
*I don’t have any photos of our guests so the main photo is of Richard, the wood botherer, taken at Llyn Brenig the weekend before.

Autumn at Ty Beic

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After one of the wettest summers in memory we have had a glorious September and October, although it has started to become a little moist over the last few days.  We’ve been busy uncovering some local trails and taking some direct action where necessary to help make them more rideable.  Just don’t tell anyone.

Trail dog Cyclocross Natural trails

As well as the wonderful natural riding, we also have some of the UK’s best trail centres on our doorstep. With so many trail centres within easy reach you could ride a different one every day in a week and as these trails are manmade, they’re rideable all year round.  My favourite is Coed y Brenin as it has something for everyone from the family friendly Afon trail to the twisty and rocky Tarw Du.   We have friends staying with us this week.  Three children aged 2 – 10, two parents and one loony Jack Russell.  We’re planning a day at Coed y Brenin riding, walking, running, swimming (dogs only) and enjoying the cafe.

Wild Horse Beers

We’ve teamed up with our friends at Stori to offer our guests tickets to their Meet the Brewer evenings on 4 November and 2 December.  It’s a chance to meet the brewer, learn about the hops, malts and the inspiration behind the brews.  And drink some beer.

The first one – Wild Horse brewery from Llandudno – is only a couple of week’s way so you’ll need to book by 26 October.
Send me an e-mail if you’re interested.

Bala Holiday Cottage

Our other cottage, the Stable, is nearly finished.  Keep an eye on twitter and facebook for progress reports.  The first guests arrive on 13 November.

Why not visit Ty Beic with some friends and book both cottages?  5% discount if you do.

Free Beer

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We appreciate that this won’t appeal to the vast majority of the finely honed athletes reading this, however if there is anyone out there who likes a well crafted beer, our friends at our favourite local beer shop, Stori, are hosting a series of ‘Meet the Brewer‘ evenings this Autumn/Winter.

You can meet the brewer, learn about the brewing process and taste lots of lovely beer.  All the breweries featured are from North Wales. November focuses on the Wild Horse brewery from Llandudno (I recommend their Buckskin BlondeWild Horse Beers) and December is our most local bragdy, Geipel, about 10 miles away in Gellioedd.

Geipel Beer

We’re offering two free tickets to Stori’s Hop Circles in November and December when you book two or more nights at Ty Beic.  The next one is on 2 December so get in contact with us sharpish to book your slot.

Don’t forget that our local trail centres are rideable all year round so bring your bike and earn that pint.

The house that Jac built

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We finally finished the Barn on 14 August, 2 hours before our first guests arrived.  Since then we have welcomed 21 guests from 8 different countries.  Not bad for 6 weeks.  We have loved meeting so many interesting and different people but so far only one guest has come with a bicycle.

We’re not complaining but Ty Beic is all about cycling and we would love more cyclists to visit so we can show them the fantastic road cycling and mountain biking that North Wales has to offer and they can make full use of our bike storage, bike wash, laundry, workshop tools and free copies of Singletrack.  If that’s not enough to entice you, bring your bike and will be give you 10% of your next booking*.  Just quote “mae gynnon ni beiciau” when booking.  Google translate will help if you would like to know what that means

If you are wondering about the Stable, that’s nearly finished and we hope to have it ready by the end of October.

And for those that are interested, here are some photos of the project from start to finish….

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*Valid from now until end of March 2016 excluding Christmas, New Year and Easter.  Subject to availability

Larching around

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Yet more windows, this time for the barn extension. larch window

They’re large, allowing light to flood into the cottage and give views of farmland to the east. 

The frames are made from burnt Welsh larch.  The burning brings out the sap, making the timber weatherproof. larch windowIt also creates a rather striking pattern in the wood.

The extension will be clad in Welsh larch to contrast with the stone of the rest of the cottage .  We’re mixing old and new quite a lot in these conversions.  It is part of our desire to create characterful buildings that reflect our eclectic and eccentric tastes.

They’re not boring.

You’ve Been Framed

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The windows, well most of them, are in.

You've Been Framed

Made by Catchweasel from locally sourced oak, with a little help from Jac.  Bendigedig.

Blog posts have been a little infrequent recently.  We’ve been busy doing other things.  Here are a few images of what we have been up to over the last few weeks…..

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The weather has been better so we’ve also been riding our bikes more.  It’s important to get one’s priorities right.

Our first guests arrive at the end of July.  This is exciting news.  We’d like more so if you or anyone you know would like to stay with us this summer, let us know by completing a booking form here.

Through the Pane Barrier

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Catchweasel windowRichard is making windows.  Eight of them.

Made from sustainably sourced oak supplied by our local timber yard, each one is different.

Inspired by old Welsh farmhouses, they are a modern take on an old style designed to keep the weather out, the heat in, and the spectacular views framed.  Nicely done.

Mountain Bike Heaven

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As I had said before, one of the reasons we decided to move to Bala was its proximity to trail centres.  We’re a short drive away from Coed y Brenin, Llandegla, Antur Stiniog (Blaenau Ffestiniog), Revolution Bike Park (Llangynog), One Giant Leap (Llangollen) and the ClimachX, Marin and Penmachno MTB trails

What we are also discovering is how much wonderful natural riding there is on our doorstep.  It’s possible to ride out of the back gate and string together everything from a gentle cross country ride to an insanely steep plummet through a forest, from a short evening potter to an all day adventure and everything in between.

Ty Beic Mountain Biking

We also have a little project of our own.  May I introduce Richie’s red bits……

Ty Beic Mountain Bike Centre
We’re building a track in our field.  It’s going to take a while as we do need to finish converting the barns first, but its a fun distraction.