We spent a wonderful, if slightly soggy, day with seven members of the Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland in late May, walking the land on the search for plants here at Llwynbwch. We were pretty blown away by the deep level of knowledge in this lovely group of plant botherers! We learnt a huge amount and were so pleased to see the huge diversity of such a small area.

Plants of local significance recorded by the BSBI group included Wood Horsetail, the form of Lesser Celandine with bulbils in the nodes,  Hedgerow Crane's-bill, Corn Mint, Lousewort, the hybrid cinquefoil Potentilla x suberecta, Bulbous  Buttercup, Northern Yellowcress and Great Burnet. The party also recorded ten sedge species  including Spring Sedge, Pale Sedge, Pill Sedge, Common Sedge and Star Sedge, which are all  noteworthy in a local context. In addition, the discovery of hybrid shield-fern Polystichum x bicknellii is  of county interest and is the first record for this area.

 Also, Round-leaved Crowfoot, a species regarded by the Countryside  Council for Wales (now Natural Resources Wales) as globally threatened, although not uncommon in  Wales, was found growing in the wet mud in one gateway. Whorled Caraway and Primrose are also  included on the CCW globally threatened lists.  

We’re over the moon happy to have welcomed our first guests to Ty Mawr, our new communal building!

Situated in a beautiful, peaceful meadow under ‘y fan’ (our beautiful local hill), Ty Mawr is a short enough walk from both Hafan and Derwen cabins, whilst each space still remains private.

Ty Mawr literally means ‘big house’ and it’s here that you can enjoy a relaxing time with friends and family. Inside you’ll find a large, light room with a comfy seating area to chill around a woodburner, a kitchen area and a large dining table which can easily seat eight. There are also books, board games and a bluetooth speaker for all your favourite tunes. Outside, take it easy on the deck which is a suntrap by day, or by night chill under starry skies. Perhaps you’re hoping to toast marshmallows during your stay – just pull up a bench by the firepit!

‘What’s that?’ You may well ask!

Toilet Twinning has been running since 2010 and funds global water, sanitation and hygiene programmes run by Tearfund. ‘Tearfund’s partners work alongside communities, bringing people together in workshops and action groups focused on issues that concern them – such as farming. Lasting, whole-life transformation comes from working alongside someone, not making decisions on their behalf. Toilet Twinning’s approach is about dignity and self-respect as much as it is about alleviating poverty and accessing safe sanitation.’ (words from Toilet Twinning’s website).

Our Carbon Footprint…

We’re really happy to receive results of our Carbon Emissions Survey from Ecollective, in collaboration with Canopy and Stars. We’re super excited to report that our carbon footprint per cabin per night is currently 1.0kg CO2e. This amount can be compared with the National average for UK Hotels of 14.9kg (CO2e) per bedroom per night.

We’re feeling excited, tired and muddy. Very muddy!

We’ve finally started work on our new build – the next stage for Under Starry Skies. We’re creating a communal building for use of our guests in Hafan & Derwen cabins. It will have a lovely light & homely room for cooking, eating & chilling together and an outside deck for enjoying summer days. We hope this will be the perfect place for families or friends to hang out together. There will also be two shower rooms and a new home for our teeny tiny honesty shop. The building will be off-grid and made from local materials where possible. It will be located a short walk from the cabins, near to the car parking area, so everything will be close together.

As 2020 gets into full swing, we’ve been reflecting on some of our highlights from 2019. We’re really proud to have had a year which has seen us lowering our carbon footprint even further.

Firstly, a huge ‘Thank you’ to all our guests who have either discovered us during this past year, or who have returned. We really enjoy meeting you all and sharing Llwynbwch farm, the beauty of the Twyi Valley and all that Carmarthenshire has to offer and we’re genuinely grateful that you have chosen Under Starry Skies for your holiday.

Who Gives a Crap? We do!

That’s why we’ve started stocking all our toilets at Under Starry Skies with Who gives a crap toilet paper.

Our first blog, hopefully one of a series of updates about what’s been happening here at Under Starry Skies. Some ideas of places for you to explore during your stay, exciting events in the area and life here on the farm… we hope you’ll pop back and see what we’re up to…