Buying locally

Food

Vegetables: our neighbours Liz & Jeremy grow organic veggies and salad, which they sell at Machynlleth Wednesday market along with other Fresh & Local suppliers. Neighbours and guests can go direct – taking the veggies straight from the garden into the pot. Great Oak foods in Llani’ sell local food and organic fruit & veg’, and Cultivate in Newtown are a great source.

Bacon & sausages: Lynda Brown at Neuadd Fach Baconry in Llandinam has a range of delicious pork products. Our local shop in Carno also sells them – along with some other Welsh fare.

Bread: Andy’s Bread from nearby Llanidloes (www.andysbread.co.uk) is not to be missed. It can be bought ordered & collected direct from The Old Mill where Andy does his baking, or found in Great Oak foods, Llanidloes, or Cultivate in the wonderful re-furbished Glanhafren market hall in Newtown. A little warning - this bread runs out very quickly. We are happy to order it in for guests, and always use it when catering ourselves.

Eggs: free range eggs can be bought from the farm in Aberhafesp – look our for the sign and wooden shed by the roadside.

Jams, marmalades and chutneys are plentiful locally – with all sorts of magical varieties using local fruit and deliciousness from the hedgerow - try our neighbour Liz or Lois who you can normally only catch at food festivals, but who provides us with her yummy preserves. All these make great gifts too, so we keep a small stock at Tyddyn Retreat - especially for those last minute thoughts of "oh... I need to take something to Auntie......!"

Honey: Pure Welsh Honey from our friends Pippa and Rob in Carno village www.the-gorfanc-hideaway.co.uk/?page_id=176 or from Hilltop Honey www.hilltop-honey.com who are getting rather famous with Scott's appearance at the NATO summit in 2015.

Meat: we have some amazing award winning butchers in the area – notably William Lloyd Williams & Son in Machynlleth (www.wil-lloyd.co.uk), and Williams family butcher in Llanidloes (no relation). Our absolute favourite is Twink in Llanidloes. He can't be beaten for local meats and the most amazing array of special BBQ offerings for special occasions. Don't forget to try the Welsh Black Beef and free range chicken from Bryn Derw Farm, and of course Welsh lamb.

Fish: Tim at Ingrams in Llanidloes does a great job, and ‘the fish man’ at Mach’ Wednesday market is another local favourite.

Cheese: in Mach’ market again you’ll find ‘the cheese man’ with a great range of Welsh and international cheeses.

Wine: Penarth Vineyard just outside Newtown has a range of wines – including a wonderful sparkling pink – also available at Feast of Food in Caersws. www.penarthvineyard.co.uk 01686 610383

Crafts & Welsh treasures

It is sometimes hard to find things that are genuinely made in Wales – a dragon made in China just doesn’t quite do it ! In Mid Wales we have a huge range of photographers, weavers, painters, potters, sculptors and other craftspeople whose creativity has been fuelled by the area’s natural beauty.

Here are a few of the places you can find some of the folks we particularly appreciate, along with their gifts:

MOMA (Museum of Modern Art), Machynlleth, has a permanent collection of art and ever changing exhibitions from artists living or working in Wales. They also run the Machynlleth Festival of internationally acclaimed classical musicians in August & other musical events throughout the year www.momawales.org.uk
Corris Craft Centre, nr Machynlleth. Seven studios of individual crafts people are here. We particularly love the handmade pottery (2 hares and a bird bath can be found at Tyddyn Retreat), and the candle maker, where you can make your own candles and the dog takes the money! www.corriscraftcentre.co.uk
Kelvin Jenkins, Machynlleth – a designer jeweller and Welsh Gold specialist. Great for silver, platinum and other treasures and gifts www.kelvinjenkins.co.uk
Books: Great Oak Bookshop, LLanidloes – great collection of books, including Welsh and previously-loved ones. Coch-y-Bonddu Books, Machynlleth are leading international dealers in new and out-of-print books on angling, game shooting, sporting dogs and falconry. www.anglebooks.com 01654 702837 Penrallt Gallery Bookshop, Machynlleth – a delightful small bookshop with new and second-hand books, focusing on the arts, poetry, ecology, politics, film and Welsh publishers – including First Thursdays book readings and gatherings. 01654 700559

And you can't beat a day just wandering the antique and treasure shops of Machylleth, insterspersed with something yummy at one of the many great eateries.