The Old Rectory on the lake, Talyllyn

Over the last few years Sandrea Mosses and her partner David have been regular visitors to The Old Rectory. We knew that Sandrea was a medium as she came from the West Midlands to hold services in nearby Tywyn. And we also knew that she appreciated the peace and quiet that we can offer here as she often locked herself away in our Rectory Retreat only to appear for supper. But what we did not know that Sandrea was here to write a book! Now the results of her endeavours are out in print and we get a mention! She writes:-

‘Thank you to The Old Rectory on the lake in Tal-y-llyn for providing me with spectacular views of the mountains and the lake. Which in turn gave me peace, strength, inspiration and internal power to keep writing.’

Sandra’s book gives a very personal insight into the spiritual world and we are sure that will be of interest to believers and non-believers alike and we wish her well with it. It is published by www.blackleafpublishing.com priced £10.95.

The picture of Sandrea for this blog was taken in the nearby St Mary’s Church – the chapel that the Rector who used to live here looked after. The Old Rectory went back into private hands about forty years ago when it was sold by The Church in Wales.

Three years ago two Black Country musicians came to stay with us while playing at a wedding across the lake - we obviously hit the right note as they have been back many times to stay bringing with them their delightful wives. Trevor Pedley and Will Morgan - aka The Elderly Brothers - are very talented guitarists and singers and our guests are always promised a great musical evening when they pick up their instruments after supper and often play into the early hours. Will is a devotee of Jake Thackray and all enjoy his tribute to this wry, amusing songwriter who sadly died far too young. Trevor and Jill, Will and Chris and their friends, Jean and Nick, came to stay for a couple of nights in September and were blessed with incredible weather. We were blessed later with an incredible evening's entertainment!!!

They say the world is getting smaller by the day and now a little book of poems carried by one of our foriegn guests has proved just that!

Every Sunday, for the last 30 years, Katrien Marcelis-Hanssens of Brussels, has visited her grandmother who shares with her cuttings taken from newspapers relating to Kirsten's great love of the United Kingdom ... and Wales in particular. A few weeks ago Kirsten's granny showed her a glowing article about us and on the strength of that she and her husband, Johan, decided to come and stay. Arriving at The Old Rectory on the lake Kirsten looked at our website's blog and saw that Belgium writer, Bart Plouvier, had been a recent guest and was pictured at the top of Cader Idris. (See below). She mentioned this to her husband who then pulled a book of Bart's poems that he had brought for holiday reading out of his rucksack. "It really was an amazing co-incidence," said Katrien who works as a banker. Her husband just could not believe this either. "I have always been an admirer of Bart Plouvier's written work. There is something mystical about his poems and I think they really capture the melancholic feelings of the mountains - something that is so evocative of this part of Wales," said Johan. The young couple decided that as Bart and his partner had conquered Cader Idris so should they, so on a beautiful autumnal morning they set off from The Old Rectory on the lake and two and half hours later were at the summit. Like many of our guests they got their camera out to prove that they had reached the top and Katrien took a picture of her husband, appropriately enough, reading one of Bart's poems. The Marcelis - Hanssens have now emailed these images to him to prove that Bart's poems have really now really reached new heights!

During August we were joined by a number of Belgium journalists who had come to report on us following a glowing write up in one of their national weekend newspapers. This was prompted by the tourist magazine Britain choosing us in their best pick of five star bed and breakfasts - the only one highlighted in Wales. To say we were pleased was an understatement. Some came by motorcycle and some came by train having got the ferry over and then continuing their journey by rail and ultimately taxi from the big city of Machynlleth. Writer Bart Plouver chose the latter way of arriving at The Old Rectory on the lake and he, and his photographer partner Anne, stayed here for four days. During that time they went down the mine at Corris, cycled the Mawddach trail from Dolgellau to Barmouth and of course had to attempt Cader Idris. They left us in not that favourable weather but were rewarded with a bit of view on the way up. They were amazed to see so many people at the summit. In his email accompany the image below for our blog he wrote:-

'John, just say that we didn't think we were going to make it. But we did. It took us seven hours up and down. Great satisfaction!'

The latest guests to conquer Cader Idris are Laurian Stokes and Peter Gilboy from Ash Vale, on the Surrey/Hampshire borders. They stayed with us towards the end of August 2009 and as you will see from their images they were blessed with great weather. They walked from The Old Rectory along the single track by the lake and then went up via the Minffordd Track. Once at the top of Pen y Gader (2,927 feet above sea level) they walked back to the summit of Craig Cau (2,594 ft) and then followed the fence line down to Rhiwogof farm above us. From there they walked down the farm's drive and then after the cattle grid turned down left through the forest to the bottom of our drive. A circular walk that more and more of our guests are doing. Laurian and Peter recount their experiences below:

'Hello John and Ricky, thank you once again for the warm welcome and a wonderful stay at The Rectory on the lake. The location is truly something special and we thoroughly enjoyed our time there - especially the delicious breakfasts and all the walking to work them off again! Here are some of our photos and feel free to use any on the blog as you wish. We've included some of our favourite shots - the light and colours of the lake, grass on the hillside, flowers and mist on the mountain were truly magical that day! The views from the top of Cader Idris were fantastic - as you say - we were really lucky with the weather (sadly our photographer cut off our legs - but beggars can't be choosers!) We've also included one from our descent featuring 'the fence' from 'John's Fence Route'. Our legs are still a little stiff but we're really thrilled that you talked us into doing this walk instead of Snowdon!'

We have been encouraged by the number of kind comments we have had about this blog so we have decided to try and add to it regularly. This kind of electronic dialogues is all quite high tech for us and we certainly are not about to twitter - the only twittering that goes on here is early in the morning when the dawn chorus starts! We are blessed with being in such an amazing location and our guests never fail to be impressed by the breath taking views.

The Old Rectory on the lake is on the slopes of Cader Idris which is fifty foot short of three thousand feet above sea level. This is an amazing mountain and many of the folk who stay with us walk to the top - there are about five routes up of varying difficulty. The latest to get to the top - walking from our front door - are Louise and Dave from Winchester who were very fortunate to enjoy a decent view - visibility is not always as clear!! In their email to us they said they really enjoyed their stay at The Old Rectory on the lake and we are indebitted to them for allowing us to reproduce these images of a memorable ascent.

The Old Rectory on the lake has been overlooking Talyllyn, in south Snowdonia for over a hundred years. This imposing residence stands on the foothills of Cader Idris and offers five star luxurious bed and breakfast accommodation in a stunning setting. It is the ideal base for the discerning visitor to explore this particularly quiet and unspoilt scenic area of Wales.
We are equidistant between the bustling market towns of Machynlleth and Dolgellau and the delightful coastal village of Aberdyfi.
The Old Rectory on the lake has three double letting rooms – all ensuite – and all look out onto the lake. Our bathrooms upstairs were described as being ‘outstanding contemporary ensuites’ by the Visit Wales inspector.
Already our culinary reputation is beginning to be recognised – indeed we have even been mentioned by name in The House of Commons during a debate on Welsh produce. Our chef can cater for any dietary requirement. The Old Rectory on the lake is licensed.
We suggest that this is the ultimate place to unwind; the scenery is breath taking and the silence deafening. All our beds have crisp Egyptian cotton sheets and freshly laundered fluffy towels are in every bathroom and also in the sauna and out outdoor hot tub area which – like most of our windows – looks out over the ever changing Talyllyn - enthusiastically penned in our entry in Alistair Sawday’s Special Places to Stay book as ‘ large, lovely and luminous’.
We look forward to perhaps welcoming you here very soon.