You might have seen in one of my recent honest chat posts that I am taking things back to basics and that I’m going to start sharing more of my adventures on the blog. So with that in mind, last weekend’s escapades inspired me to create a new series especially for my blog – the National Trust photo diaries. There will also be a vlogging series over on my YouTube channel too!
At the end of last year, I bought Ryan and I a National Trust membership because we love being out and about and exploring new places. I knew they sent out with a huge book full of the places to visit and there were plenty of walks and things to do, so it seemed the perfect way to give us a bucket list of places to go. Needless to say, with Christmas, new year, birthdays and just the general crappy weather we haven’t managed to make the most of it so far.
That changed last weekend.
We decided to tick off our first place in the book and went to the Aberdulais Tin Works & Waterfall.
We made our plans Friday night, but we were rudely woken up early Saturday morning to ridiculously high winds. Regardless we both got up and started getting ready and had a little bit of a shock opening the blinds to snow coming down. We immediately decided a few extra layers might be needed.
After bundling myself up in my new Joules jumper (which I LOVE by the way) and scarf we hopped on the motorway and headed towards Swansea. We were quite lucky in that it was only 35 minutes from home.
Once we got there, the lovely staff gave us a little guide to where everything was and off we went. The waterfall was beautiful and there were some great viewpoints too. Even though it’s really close to the main road, it was so quiet and relaxing.
After wandering around for a while we headed into the tea rooms in the old school to escape the cold for a little bit. We opted for a cup of tea and a warm scone, which went perfectly with the miniature National Trust jam.
Whilst cosying up with my cup of tea, I used the National Trust app to find a walking trail that was 2 minutes up the road. So after hiding away from the 2 degree weather and refuelling, we headed to do the circular Craig Gwladys walk in a little village called Cadoxton. It was a fairly easy walk, with what I can only describe as a fairy trail. Lots of the trees had teenie little doors hidden on them. Naturally, I was like a big kid hunting them all down along the way. The trail was quite high up, so there were some great views of the Neath valley too.
We had a great day and would definitely recommend both the places we visited. So much so that we have already planned our next little adventure!
Details
- Aberdulais Tin Works & Waterfall – Neath, Neath Port Talbot, SA10 8EU
- Dogs welcome on leads
- Prices – £6.50 adult, £3.25 child or free for National Trust members.
- Parking available
- Craig Gwladys Walk – Aberdulais, Neath SA10 8LG
- Dog friendly
- Prices – Free
- Parking available
Do you have a National Trust Membership? I’d love to hear your recommendations of places to visit, so please leave me a comment below.
Shop the post:
This looks like such a fab day! I can’t wait to see your next post babe, loving that you’re stripping it back to basics xxx
Abi | abistreetx
It was so good, I would recommend it! Thanks, I think it suits me so much more! x
Aberdulais looks so beautiful! I really want to get a National Trust membership. It’s the perfect thing to get out and about and visit new places. I love to go round stately homes the most, looking at all the fancy decor is right up my street! xx
I would definitely recommend the membership, it has ben great so far. It has definitely motivated us to tick off a few more places. x
Looks like you had a fab day out surrounded by beautiful scenery! Definitely getting me into the mood to explore more when the weather gets better.
Heather xo | http://www.xhighlandbeauty.co.uk
It was such a goo day and I am so glad we went! I am hoping for better weather too so we can go to some places a little further away from home. x
We are so blessed to have such wonderful nature in England and the uk! I was always being dragged around places like this as a kid and would hate the idea but as soon as my brother and sisters and I were out there exploring, we were loving it!
Ha ha it’s so funny how things change as we get older. It’s so beautiful in this country and we really want to make the most of it! x
I adore country walks like this! We have our own national trust centre here in Staffordshire (Biddulph Grange Gardens) I’m hoping to do a blog post there soon!
Oh fab! I haven’t been there, but I have seen it in the membership book. We are hoping to venture out to some further places soon, so hopefully we will make it there. x
Great post, definitely want to go there and the little doors are so cute x
They were adorable, I was like a big kid! x
This is such a good idea for a series! Love all the photos you’ve taken, you can’t beat a walk around a National Trust property!
Thank you, I thought it would be something a little different to capture on my blog. X
Your photographs are absolutely stunning! I love to go exploring but we don’t have anywhere like this near us! x
Thank you so much! Oh thats annoying, I am quite lucky to have quite a few things like this near where I live and I just want to make the most of it! x
Oh my goodness, this place looks absolutely beautiful! The membership sounds fab and such a good way to see new places. There’s some truly stunning areas in the UK!
Katie x
http://www.katie-middleton.co.uk
It definitely was lovely, the membership is great too. It has definitely got us out and about more! x
Oh wow this looks so amazing! I’ve heard a lot of things about how pretty the national trust parks are but I wasn’t sure if they were dog friendly or not, I think I might have to sign up my little dog would love it!
Alicia | http://www.alicia-a-la-mode.com
Yeh a lot of the places are dog friendly, it’s great! I think the website tells you where they are allowed to go. x