My first visit to this Pretty market town that totally enchanted us even though it didn’t fully embrace us
There are some places in Wales that seem to regularly pop up in conversation and appear online while you are scrolling that seem intriguing enough to add to your own personal list of ‘want to visit’, and this pretty Carmarthenshire town has been on my list for some time.
With a few days of annual leave needed to be taken before the end of the year, it seemed like the perfect time to explore and so we set the satnav for Llandeilo and set off for Carmarthenshire and straight into torrential rain as part of a 24 hour Met office yellow warning for rain and wind.
The last part of our journey was intense, driving slowly, visibility low and on the hunt to find our pretty holiday let where we were staying called West Cottage near the delightfully sounding Red Roses. For more property stories sent to your inbox twice a week sign up to the property newsletter here.
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After a lovely stay at the cottage, the next morning the landscape revealed the aftermath of the extreme weather as we began our journey to Llandeilo, with substantial areas of fields completely under water and some roads closed and diversions in place.
The rain and wind were still battering the car when we arrived at the pretty town, ready to explore. Parking was very easy to find and, as I am used to the cost of parking in a city, I was very pleasantly surprised to find that we could stay all day for just £1.70.
We wandered out onto the main street and it was quieter than expected and after just a few minutes of strolling around we realised why – a substantial amount of the shops and eateries were closed, at a rough estimate it was about half.
Before the good people of Llandeilo shout at me through their screens, this unfortunate scenario is all on me – I have always lived in a big city and it didn’t even occur to me that any shops and eateries would be closed on a Monday and some even staying shut on a Tuesday too.
I totally understand the need for a shop or eatery in a small town to close at the beginning of the week due to opening and working through the weekend, I just hadn’t considered it at the time – oops.
It was disappointing not to be able to experience the whole of Llandeilo’s offering but it was down to me not pre-planning the trip, including finding somewhere to eat. The choice for lunch was slimmer than the number of options listed on Tripadvisor but this limited choice also looked very appetising.
Flows Café Bar on the very charming Market Street looked very appealing, enhanced by the Christmas decorations outside, and looked full of character inside.
Diod is described online as ‘a popular independent café, wine shop, and deli known for its relaxed Scandi-Welsh vibe’. Being obsessed with property and interior design I was struck by this interesting fusion of design styles, as well as the inviting prospect of offering shoppers two of my favourite things – coffee and wine.
But in the end we went to Cawdor, a boutique hotel, bar and restaurant that dates back to 1765 in parts and visually dominates the main street through the town, painted a strident shade of deep, earthy red. The hotel offers 24 rooms, two penthouse apartments and even a former chapel now restored and used for meetings, parties and wedding celebrations.
The restaurant was closed but the bar was serving food and was quite busy. The atmosphere was relaxed and friendly, the menu was more limited from the Lite Bites menu but there was still a good variety. We chose toasties that sound like a snack but they were packed with filling, so much so that they needed a wooden skewer to keep them in place.
Our choices were one toastie stuffed with pork sausage, caramelised onion, dijon mustard with Welsh cheddar and one oozing with bacon, brie and cranberry, both costing £9.50 each.
Once we had eaten we decided to walk around the town centre, strolling along the winding streets that are flanked by period homes and historic buildings and see what we could find, and some gems really stood out, such as Yr Hen Farchnad Old Market Hall on Carmarthen Street.
This beautifully restored Grade II listed building was once the Provisions Market, and is now also home to Cegin Diod café and a number of local businesses as well as the town’s library.
Opposite this impressive building stands the former National School with the former Master’s House next door, which boasts a memorable timber framed structure, both Grade II listed by Cadw for their group value within this section of the street.
Wander down Carmarthen Street towards the town centre and The Shire Hall called Hengwrt will surely make you pause with its sunny yellow painted façade and now a community, heritage, and visitor centre that includes a meeting room plus gift and book shop.
As with so many buildings in the town, Hengwrt has a fascinating history that includes being used as a police station, magistrates court, open market and offices and is now also the headquarters of Llandeilo Fawr Town Council.
More amazing, historic buildings can be found on local website llandeilo.org and armed with the useful information on the site a good guide for a walking tour to see the impressive number of listed buildings that make the built environment and aesthetic views of Llandeilo so special is very enjoyable.
But the disappointment of not being able to visit all the shops was soon forgotten when the staff inside the shops that were open greeted me with such a warm welcome.
Establishments visited and enjoyed included Copper Foxes, Peppercorn, Dot Clothing, Toast, Mark Thomas Jewellery, and the Welsh chocolate shop Heavenly Chocolate Emporium where a number of special Christmas presents were bought.
Walking inside this lovely shop is like stepping into a page of Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory book complete with a wave of chocolate scent that wafts to greet you at the front door.
There are, of course, a number of gift and homeware shops aimed at visitors and I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to Scorpio where I got chatting to the very friendly owner who confirmed that more places were closed today than normal due to the weather.
More Christmas presents were bought in Scorpio from the wonderful selection of products, many of them sourced in Wales. There were so many more places to visit but time was moving on and daylight was slipping away, but before we headed back to the car Llandeilo had an enchanting surprise for us.
As dusk started to descend Llandeilo offered me a surprise that was magical – coloured lights started to appear within the historic St Teilo’s church’s graveyard either side of the main road as part of an event I later found out was called Festival of the Senses.
According to the event’s website the festival is an annual weekend in November that began in 2008 organised by local traders and volunteers ‘who were determined to showcase the unique character and charm of Llandeilo’.
It has grown in size and popularity since then and now offers a blend of artisan stalls, local crafts, food and drink tastings, live music, and street performances, continuing to attract participating traders and visitors from all over the county, and way beyond too.
The lights that lit up the trees and large Christmas tree in the grounds of the church stay on past the festival and through the advent period and were an unexpected but enchanting visual treat to the end of our time in the town.
Shades of blue, green, red and yellow shone brightly on the textured barks as they soared up the tree trunks to dance through the leaves and branches above us with shrubs and bushes also joining the visual display – it was an absolute delight and a beautiful bonus to our day in Llandeilo.
There was just time to wander down to the bridge at the edge of the town that strides over the river Towy and today, due to the weather it had burst its banks and flooded the land around it.
It was here that we saw maybe the most spectacular and natural light festival of all – a stunning sunset that lit up the sky with layers of orange and gold that reflected in the water – magical.
If there had been time then a trip to the nearby Carmel Nature Reserve and also the National Trust owned Dinefwr Park and Newton House would have been extra, memorable aspects of our trip.
However, a soggy Monday in December was not the best time to visit either, especially as the house does not open full until March, but they are both on our list for the next time we visit.
And we will come again because Llandeilo is a very tempting proposition for a visitor, I definitely recommend a visit to enjoy what the small town has to offer, and it is also a great base from which to explore the county of Carmarthenshire that too many people just drive through on their way to Pembrokeshire.
The bad weather meant we had to take a number of detours away from the main A40 road and although some people might have found that annoying it was actually a pleasure. The rain had stopped, the sun was making an appearance and the extra miles travelled revealed more of the stunning countryside of this glorious county.
Quiet hamlets, fields stretching for miles and flowing over hilltops, pockets of ancient woodland, surprising buildings that grabbed our attention such as Paxton’s Tower – add to the list.
As evening fully descended and we made our way back home we knew Carmarthenshire needed to be explored in more depth and Llandeilo is definitely worth another visit, except next time I will check on the weather and the opening times.
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