@ bushwacker

[tomtrux]

Hi mate, just wondering where in south wales you live? I was looking at the rhonda vally and bridgend areas as they are cheap to rent/buy would you know if these places are cheap for a particular reason or just because the coal/mining industry has gone? I have been to cwm bran area and think its beautiful country and the people are friendly! I was gonna take the family to s/wales for a camping trip in the summer so the wife can decide what she thinks. Any advice on the area or a place to visit/ camp would be great! Thanks

[BUSHWHACKER]

I wouldn't recommend the top end of the Rhonda valley, it's very depressing.
It just 'feels' cold, damp and miserable there all the time, including summer!

The best part of Wales IMHO is Camarthenshire and Pembrokeshire, especially the west coast. Land is very cheap over that way too. It's where we want to eventually move to to do a self build.

As for camping, around Monmouth is very nice, as is around Brecon, but the weather is unpredictable there because of the surrounding mountains. There's also the border areas such as the Forest of Dean and Herefordshire.
We tend to head towards Tenby nowadays.

[angloabroad]

if you want ,theres a couple of old mines to go down,and some old stone walling to look at(the locals call thm castles) or you can go hill walking.
theres lots of hills to walk up.and walk down.and if you get bored of that.then WEYMOUTH is only 3 hours away
much more fun

[tomtrux]

Hey guys. Thanks for the advice :smile: will do some googling and get planning our camping trip for the summer! Like I said the wife needs convincing so a trip to the right places may sway her. Although I agree we need to look at schools and the economy with work etc. But thanks again for the help!!

[BUSHWHACKER]

Hey guys. Thanks for the advice :smile: will do some googling and get planning our camping trip for the summer! Like I said the wife needs convincing so a trip to the right places may sway her. Although I agree we need to look at schools and the economy with work etc. But thanks again for the help!!

It sounds like Cwmbran or Caerleon would suit you then. Plenty of schools/shopping etc. Newport is only 5 mins away and Cardiff 20-25 mins.

[tomtrux]

Cwm bran or (cwm carn) is where I've been too. I went to the "cwm down" mountain biking place. We camped and went into the village for a few beers ect and the people were friendly. Will keep that in mind too but Camarthenshire and the pembroke areas did look lovely, anyway thanks again for the advice, I got a broader idea of where to look now. Start deciding where co go this summer and go from there!!!

[BUSHWHACKER]

Do you mean Cwmcarn scenic drive? There's a mountain bike competition held there every year.
I'm two mins away from there.
No. 5 here...
http://www.forestry.gov.uk/forestry/INFD-6RLFD3

[tomtrux]

That's the place! I've been there twice I used to mountain bike a lot!! We camped on the sight ant you could see newport from the top of the mountain! We went to the local pubs and they were very friendly! What's newport and cardiff like to visit for shopping etc? The mountains around cwmcarn are amazing, I lice in cornwall but I'm not really a beach person lol

[BUSHWHACKER]

We prefer Cardiff to Newport for shopping, even though we're closer to Newport.

Cardiff is mostly huge shopping malls, or olde world shopping arcades that link different parts of the city centre, you don't need to drive anywhere once you park up. Just park in the multi-storey (about 4 quid for the whole day) and everywhere is pedestrianised.
Even the Millenium Stadium is right there near the shops.
there are retail parks on the outskirts too.
We can get the train to Cardiff now, as they've re-opened the old line from Ebbw vale to Cardiff. (13 quid return for the two of us plus a toddler) Cardiff station is right near the shopping centre too.