You'll love Llama Trekking at Old King Street Farm! These charming, inquisitive and gentle animals will delight in accompanying you on a walk through the beautiful south Herefordshire countryside.
A typical half-day llama trek will start with calling the llamas into the penning area. An incentive (a bribe!) of a mouthful of their specialist feed will surely help!
Each llama on its lead rope will follow you as you set off at a gentle stroll. You'll trek through fields and down the hill into the village. A trip through the countryside with its open expanses and woodland walks might follow.
When you return to the farmyard, the llamas are rewarded with some more food before you release your llama to stroll back to the field. Often the llamas will linger for five minutes before leaving, a sure sign that they have enjoyed themselves.
You will notice the different characters of the llamas. They are traditionally seen as curious yet aloof. They are the most interested of all animals and love new experiences. They have distinctive personalities. As well as having different personalities, llamas can display quite different physical traits.
Llama trekking is available to visitors by appointment. A llama trek around the edge of the Black Mountains in this most beautiful corner of Herefordshire at short notice.
The charming and welcoming Abergavenny Museum is set within the grounds of an atmospheric 'ruined' Norman Castle, where you and the kids can enjoy a picnic during the summer or alternatively a brisk crisp walk on colder days! The museum building was formerly a hunting lodge built by the Marquess of Abergavenny.
The fascinating displays tell the story of this historic market town from prehistory through to the present day. The displays are exhibited on several levels and with some help most areas are accessible to wheelchair users and those in buggies.
The museum also features an Activity Room for children where there is the opportunity to colour, cut and stick stuff! At certain times they offer workshops led by museum staff too so there are plenty of chances to slip extra fun into the day!
It's a fun and educational stop for folks with curious smalls, with plenty to see and do but also plenty to learn so school agers should come out with some interesting knowledge!
You can also stop and have a picnic in the grounds if you like too, so bring the frisbee!
The historic Blaenavon Ironworks is where the recent BBC series Coal House was filmed, because the site includes 3 rows of the original workers' terraced cottages, scenic and atmospheric and still standing now if you fancy a historical day out!
Of the 2 houses 1 is furnished and other contains an interesting exhibition on ironworks and mining life. One cottage is furnished to show the household of a skilled ironworker from around about 1790. Another cottage shows the life of a poor family in about 1841. All in all it's pretty immersive so it's great for imaginative kids who can really dip into the feeling of being there.
Also on view at Blaenavon are the big furnaces, the cast house and the foundry, a balance tower and the pay office of the works. It's enough for a couple of hours' walk about and the kids will pick up quite a lot from it.
There are events held here now and then too throughout the year, a particular sweet spot being the end of October when they do numerous Halloween based events!
Into the Black Mountains
Climbing steadily out of Pandy, armed with food and drink for an isolated trek, you’ll soon be amid the splendour of the Black Mountains. The Trail snakes through an extensive area designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest, closely following the border on a well-defined ridge walk that at its highest point rises to 700m, at Hatterall Ridge. The going then gets easier as you traverse these uplands, offering stunning if windswept scenery over huge expanses of both sides of the border, for some 20km and over the 677m summit of Hay Bluff before the descent into the town of Hay on Wye.
The Sugar Loaf mountain is a favourite Brecon Beacons walk , towering over the market town of Abergavenny, on the southern edge of the National Park.
Peering between the ridges of the Llanwenarth, Deri and Rholben hills, the Sugar Loaf is one of the highest peaks in the heart of the Black Mountains. It stands at 596m high and offers glorious panoramic views across South Wales, the Brecon Beacons, and into south-west England.
Its conical shape is reminiscent of a volcano, but the mountain is made of the same old red sandstone as the rest of the Black Mountains.
This walk takes you from the centre of town all the way to summit. The gentle, rounded heather and bracken-clad shoulders of the mountain are criss-crossed with paths and provide an exhilarating place to walk and take in the landscape’s rugged wilderness and wildlife throughout the year.
Take a relaxed stroll around the vineyard, through the orderly rows of vines, secure in warm fields sheltered by high hedges, beneath glossy green leaves, promising another rich harvest for the next vintage.
Follow our Vineyard Trail and learn about the work we do here at Sugarloaf Vineyards.
Please note Vineyard tours are available during the months of March - October.
To avoid disappointment we strongly advise any group to pre-book we are a small business with limited seating and may not be able to accommodate parties during busy periods.
Guided Tours with wine tasting are available for groups of between 8-25 people. Ideal for small informal gatherings or for groups, associations and organisations. They include a tour of the vineyard (weather permitting) and a wine tasting, lasting approximately and hour and a half. Catering can be arranged for after your tour please email or telephone to request a price list. Please note: Guided tours are usually evening tours and we do not have the seating capacity for large parties during the day time.
We have a licensed coffee shop serving light refreshments, coffee & cake, cream teas or our delicious local cheese sharing platter which are perfect to enjoy with a glass of wine!
We stock locally made honey and preserves & Welsh cheese. There are also vines for sale.a bit of real local flavour at Sugar Loaf Vineyard, set on the lower slopes of the Sugar Loaf mountain overlooking the town. Drop in for a tasting of some award-winning Welsh wines, take a tour of the vineyards and enjoy the views over the Usk Valley. There’s also an onsite café and shop.
Goytre Wharf is located on the canal with over 200 years of industrial heritage to discover. The site is now developed for leisure within an area of outstanding natural beauty, but still retaining many of its historic features.
It can be an interesting place to visit for an hour or a day, or a part of a trip to the surrounding area with its World Heritage sites of Blaenavon Big Pit and the Ironworks Visitor Centre. You can even make the wharf your base by staying the historic cottage which originally housed the weighbridge mechanism and managers office. The cottage is adjacent to the Aqueduct carrying the Mon & Brec canal which you can go under to reach the canal tow path and National Cycle route.
There is an onsite cafe & Coffee bar with public toilets available during its opening hours. You can enjoy hot or cold drinks and food, or just bring a picnic and sit of the grass next top the lime kilns.
The wharf is home to ABC boat hire where you can start your boat holiday or short break or hire a boat or canoe by the hour or day. They also have a shop selling sweets, ice creams and souvenirs.