Like many others last year did not go to plan at Brynkir Coach House (formerly known as Cwm Pennant Centre), but we carried on in hope that things would get better!

We had taken the building back in hand in 2019, after it had been rented out for many years. We closed it down for what we thought would be the summer of 2019, to give it a much needed makeover. New heating and hot water systems were installed, pine bunks lovingly (!) hand painted, family rooms and en-suites built, a new games rooms came alive, wood burners installed, large TV erected, secure bike storage and boot room created, and coats and coats of paint applied.

This was all being done in readiness for our first guests who were due to arrive in June 2020. Alas it didn’t happen. There were flickers of hope, bookings taken, and cancelled. All except a couple who we managed to fit in with the rules at the time. Far from the season we had expected. All geared up for large family gatherings, Granny’s birthday, stag & hen parties, the much anticipated school leaver trips, school residentials, but no; thanks to Covid it was all pretty much put on hold.

We carried on in hope that 2021 would be better, things would be back to ‘normal’. Hope….it kept us all going. Better days were coming. I think its fair to say the start to 2021 has been slow. The weather has been slow to warm up, the swallows slow to arrive, and likewise the influx of guests, that we had hoped for has certainly been slower than anticipated. However, slowly but surely the bookings are coming in.

Not big bookings, which is what we had in mind for a 66 bed hostel, but never the less people are coming – hooray! We have a small self contained flat at Brynkir Coach House known as Cadar Idris, quaint and cosy sleeping 6. This has proved popular. We have also accepted that we need to take smaller bookings, of single families and then two and three families as and when the rules allow. Seeing the old building being used and enjoyed makes the hours and hours of work all worth while. Hopefully as time goes on we can welcome back the big school parties, and team bonding groups. In the meantime some lucky families will have a HUGE bunkhouse to themselves!

There is one thing I have come to appreciate from this pandemic, and that is not to take the little things for granted. Our children used to bring home the forms from school for trips. We’d sign them, pack their kit and off they’d go. I may well grumble about having to fill out what seemed like endless forms, collecting information I was sure I had provided the school with at least 14 times before! Why did I grumble, it wasn’t really a problem was it, and what I’d do to be filling out those forms again now…. Who’d have thought 18 months ago something that was so simple, is now still not near possible. It has shown how important they really are, and puts so many other things into perspective.

I hope 2021 is a turning point for us all.