GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND - Clean Breaks: 500 New Ways to See the World - page 10

double beds in a cottage (like Perth-y-Pia, high
up on Table Mountain near Crickhowell). Each
bunkhouse is stocked with information on local
walks and cycling paths as well as details of
operators who run adventure activities nearby.
One of the most scenic bunkhouses is Trericket
Mill near Talgarth, at the northern edge of the
park. It's in secluded woodland across from the
old mill, where you can treat yourself to dinner
in the beautifully restored building. From
Trericket you can walk along a path that follows
the River Usk to Glasbury, where there's a good
selection of food served in the boathouse. The
owners also rent out canoes so you can paddle all
the way to Hay-on-Wye, home to Britain's largest
collection of secondhand topics.

006 Stay in a bunkhouSe barn
in the brecon beaconS, WaleS

As in all of the UK's national parks, the Brecon
Beacons has plenty of hostels that offer budget
accommodation for a single night. But there's
also a network of locally run “bunkhouse” barns,
which provide facilities for a longer stay. The
concept of bunkhouses began in the Yorkshire
Dales in the 1980s, where redundant agricultural
barns near long-distance footpaths were
converted into basic lodgings for hikers. The idea
soon caught on in the Beacons, and there are now
24 bunkhouses in some of the park's most scenic
areas, from Abergavenny in the east (where the
Brecon Beacons Way begins) to Builth Wells in
the north and Llandeilo in the far west.
A bunkhouse should provide all you'll need
for several days in the outdoors, such as a
drying room for wet kit, storage facilities,
cooking equipment and hot showers. As the
term “bunkhouse” suggests, the buildings can
be as basic as just a collection of bunk-beds in
a restored barn (such as the Wain House next
to the medieval ruin of Llanthony Priory) but
others are more sophisticated, with single and

Need to know Booking is advisable and in some
cases essential. For details of each bunkhouse,
including rates, see W www.hostelswales.com/
bunkhouses.htm. Twelve bunkhouses have joined
together to coordinate information - for details,
including local attractions and activities, see
W www.bootsbikesbunkhouses.co.uk. For canoe
hire at Glasbury see W www.wyevalleycanoes.co.uk;
T [phone]. More information on the
park is at W www.visitbreconbeacons.com.

Bar and rooms at Llanthony
Priory ruins; a welcome
rest overlooking the Fan
Hir escarpment, Brecon
Beacons National Park