New Year 2026

Happy New Year

Happy new 2026 to all our guests and website visitors.

We started the year with a snowy blast, however the amazing views and the special quiet that it brought made up for any inconvenience.

2025 was a good one for us, we hope it was for you too. The year was our best ever in terms of guests with more stays than ever, and we have a healthy start to 2026. As always, it is gratifying to see so many returners who have a special place in their hearts for Berclas; the view, peace (and hopefully the welcome!) bring them back year after year.

And in other great news, since the last blog we can report that by being more proactive with our energy usage, we are now overall electricity negative, with our annual export exceeding our import. I’m sure there are very few, if any, similar businesses who can claim this. Although we have always offered overnight charging to our guests with electric cars, for greater convenience we will have a fast charger installed in the next couple of weeks.

We always enjoy the great mix of guests who visit. We were honoured to help host a very special 60th reunion of international mountaineers from the 1975 expedition to the Himalayan Kishtwar, which at the time was unchartered. The expedition was led by our neighbour, eminent mountaineer and neurologist, Dr Charles Clarke. All the participants, now in their 80s attended, and made it here from around the world.

We also had a New Year’s eve proposal, to the backdrop of fireworks (she said yes!).

2025 was rounded off for us with a fantastic Central America trip, including climbing to the 13,000 foot summit of Acatenango in Guatemala. It has to be one of the most awe inspiring locations in the world, as it has a direct view of the highly active Volcán de Fuego, just over a mile away, which dramatically erupts every 15 minutes or so, ejecting molten lava hundreds of feet into the air. We camped near the top and at night the view is even more spectacular, not just the fiery red of each blast but also the deep roar that goes through your body.

We did have to do some serious training beforehand, and thankfully Snowdonia is on our doorstep!

In the months beforehand we would head there a couple of times each week, not always in the best of weather, but were rewarded with some amazing views.

It strikes us how Snowdon is many people’s go-to in the area, but arguably there are even better views from nearby peaks that are far less frequented and consequently have a truly remote beauty, such as Moel Eilio, Moel Wnion and Elidir Fawr. We are really happy to share our routes and tips to anyone wanting to venture there.

Finally, I had a lovely message from across the pond from a previous cottage guest, Breila, with very touching memories of her time here, and saying how much she enjoyed these posts to remind her of her stay, so a special thank you to her. Breila means rose so, for her, here is a photo of a splendid one that bloomed here a few months ago.

October 22, 2024February 18, 2026

Energy update

Coed y Berclas energy project update

It’s now been a year since we got up and running with our solar panels and heat pumps, which have proved to be a great success. We are very happy to report that over the year, solar production and consumption are within 1% of each other. The consumption includes all the heating, hot water and cooking in Seascape, the Guest Room and our house, plus electricity use in the cottage, along with charging our all-electric Mini and a good selection of guests’ cars. We have a battery which we charge by solar during the day and generally gets us through the evening and most of the night, and over the summer we export the excess generation, and import over the winter.

Our electricity carbon footprint (and bills) have reduced to be almost energy neutral, we are very proud of this achievement. This positions us well ahead of other luxury holiday accommodation in terms of sustainability.

February 6, 2024February 18, 2026

Coed y Berclas Green Energy project

We’ve had a busy year substantially improving and committing to our green credentials. We are really happy to have installed north Wales’s largest domestic PV solar array, 45 panels! We have replaced the gas boiler in the main house with super-efficient air source heat pumps, and we have a battery to help us tick over through the night. Our ambition is to be energy neutral (or even better; a net generator) across the year, exporting excess electricity in the summer and importing any deficit in the winter. If any guests would like further information then please talk to us – we’ll be happy to ramble on for hours ! This also includes running our all-electric car; it’s a great feeling beetling around the island knowing it is literally running on sunshine.

February 6, 2024February 18, 2026

Autumn 2023

Happy Autumn 2023

We’ve had a great summer but September always has a special charm; the busyness on the island shifts down a gear. We made the most of the amazing weather and last week, over 6 days, cycled the Lon Las Cymru, a wonderful and beautiful national cycle route from Cardiff back to Berclas. Around 230 miles – and nearly 15,000 feet of ascent ! Not for the faint hearted – but far less so on the electric bikes.

As ever, we’ve had a brilliantly busy year with so many regular returners who come for their annual Berclas fix. It’s always lovely to see familiar faces.

In another project, the lovely cottage orchard now has a private, elevated drinks terrace, with sofa and chairs, to take in the view. Over the water to the mountains. We felt it needed ‘relaxing spot’ for an evening g&t, and a sheltered, sun trap gap between the apple trees was the perfect location.

Bangor Pier in the mist from the cottage orchard

This is the time of year that we sort out our pricing for the following one. We know it’s a tricky time for everyone so have been very modest in our increases. As always we just take no-deposit reservations this side of the new year so you can pencil a date in with no commitment for now. Many of the early summer weeks are already reserved by returners so do get in touch if you need a berclas fix to look forward to!

November 7, 2022February 18, 2026

Autumn 2022

Happy Autumn 2022

Happy autumn to you all. It’s been a while so there’s lots to catch up on!

In 2021 we were delighted to win a Lux Magazine award for best luxury self catering on Anglesey. We were not expecting to exceed that but this year we have won a UK Enterprise award for Best Luxury accommodation in Wales, and an additional award for Hospitality Excellence 🙂 We always strive to give our guests a fantastic experience, and it’s extremely gratifying to receive positive reviews, but to be recognised by our peers within a competitive industry is very special and not a little humbling. The awards set a high bar but we really hope that our guests would agree that we offer something truly exceptional here (the view helps!). We have an extremely high rate of returners which we feel is testament to this.

On a similar note Jane was invited by the Secretary of State for Wales to a reception at Whitehall to celebrate the success of Welsh female entrepreneurs. It was a brilliant event and an opportunity to share our story and meet some very inspiring women.

We’ve had a great year with the holiday lets, with many familiar faces and new guests, thank you to you all. In May we very sadly lost our much loved spaniel, Ollie, aged almost 15. He was such a wonderful character and a real trooper, having lost a leg to cancer three years earlier, but was always cheerful and full of beans in the face of adversity. His loss left us with a doggie shaped hole in our hearts, so in September we welcomed little Otto to Berclas. He’s Ollie’s great great nephew, and has been (self) appointed as Head of Enthusiastic Welcomes; he is very much looking forward to meeting you all!

And finally, please look out for us on Tuesday 8th November on ‘Escape to the Country’ on BBC1. We do a 2 minute segment about our move to Anglesey and our lives here. It will be a great way to showcase our stunning views to the nation!

January 7, 2022February 18, 2026

Happy New Year 2022

A new dawn for a new year. Wishing all our guests a happy and healthy 2022.

The two photos below were taken just before sunrise on the 6th January by each of us, 5 minutes apart. We couldn’t decide which we preferred !

May 11, 2014November 2, 2017

5 Star Grading for the New Apartment at Coed y Berclas

The new Apartment at Coed y Berclas is now ready to receive guests.

Both the Cottage and the Apartment have been graded this week by one of the inspectors from ‘Visit Wales’, the Welsh Assembly Government’s Tourism Department. The cottage has had 4 stars since we began letting it, some years ago, and we are very pleased to say that the Apartment has been awarded 5 stars (and a lot of compliments on the work we have done). It has been really enjoyable selecting all the furniture and textiles to decorate the Apartment, and watching its personality develop: now what we need is some guests to come and enjoy it.

The views are wonderful – I know a lot of holiday websites boast this for their property, but look at the images to see the view from Coed y Berclas and decide for yourself – the sitting/dining room, and one of the two ensuite double bedrooms, look out directly across the Menai Strait, and Bangor Pier, to the Snowdonia Mountain range beyond, and you can lie in bed and watch the sun rise over the mountains.

Each of the rooms also has its own terraced area just outside the French windows.

The view from the cottage is partly occluded by the main house, which is just down hill from it, but opens to its full glory from the orchard, which is used only by cottage guests. We lived in the cottage as our children grew up and I well remember us all standing on the muddy patch (which became the orchard!) at millenium midnight, watching all the bonfires, fireworks and flares across the water. The reflections were wonderful too.

Speaking of fireworks, it’s getting very close to Bonfire Night in Beaumaris (Saturday 2nd November): the cottage is booked, but the Apartment is still available. The fireworks are always spectacular (a very good adjective for fireworks, n’est pas!)

Give me a call.
07941 102185 and 01248 716316

Dorothy

May 11, 2014November 2, 2017

Hello 2013!

Daf and I celebrated the change-over from 2012 to 2013 watching the Beaumaris fireworks from the mainland. It may seem strange to drive along the coast road when we live only two miles from Beaumaris, but Daf wanted to take photos of the fireworks reflected in the waters of the Menai Strait.

New Year fireworks at Beaumaris taken from the Llandygai shore

The weather was calm, the sky was clear and, most importantly, the tide was high, giving good reflections.

We had a walk along the lane on the morning of the 1st January and were delighted to see our first lambs of the year. I hope they have lovely thick wooly coats in case the weather turns cold – so far it’s damp but mild. Why is it always so lovely to see young lambs? Is it all about new life, or the promise of spring and the return of warm sunny days.

Sheep with new lambs along our lane

It’s hard to believe it’s already 2013 – let’s hope this year brings a better financial situation around the globe – I’d love to wish for an end to the greed which brought the econimic downturn, but I’ll try to stay realistic!!

Now Christmas is ‘done and dusted’ it’s time to book a ‘recovery break’ at Coed y Berclas – well, I had to get a plug in somewhere!

Happy New Year

Dorothy

May 10, 2014November 2, 2017

Olympic Torch Beaumaris Menai Bridge 29th May 2012

Flotilla of RAF rescue helicopter and boats accompany the Olympic torch down the Menai Strait

Early this morning, we walked down our lane to the shore of the Menai Strait and waited on the jetty by The Gazelle to see the Olympic Flame carried, on the Beaumaris RNLI Lifeboat, from the town of Beaumaris to Menai Bridge.

Its journey began at Beaumaris Castle; it was escorted through the town to the lifeboat station, by the root of Beaumaris Pier, where it was handed to the Lifeboat boat crew and taken aboard the station’s Atlantic 85 RIB, the Annette Mary Liddington.

The Inshore Lifeboat carrying the Olympic Torch then left bound for Menai Bridge, escorted by a flotilla of small boats, mainly RIBs, with the magnificent Sea King Air Sea Rescue helicopter from RAF Valley flying overhead like a guardian angel.

the armada powered toward us

It was very moving as this mini armada powered toward us, coming from the east as the sun rose higher into a bright sky, and most exciting as it passed between where we stood on the Anglesey shore and the end of Bangor Pier, where more well-wishers stood to wave it on its way.

Flotilla forges on to Menai Bridge

On arrival at Menai Bridge, the flame was carried through the town and across the beautiful Telford Suspension Bridge back to the Welsh mainland, continuing its journey to the mountains of Snowdonia where it was carried to the summit of Snowdon by the climber, Sir Chris Bonington, who travelled, for the first time, on the Snowdon Mountain Railway.

Sunshine, blue skies and birdsong all day long – wonderful!

Dorothy Russell

12th May 2012

May 4, 2014January 18, 2017

Beautiful August night.

Moonlight over Snowdonia

After a beautiful August day, came one of those magical moments when the moon rose through whispy clouds over Carnedd Llewelyn, Snowdonia.

The sun’s last pink glow, promising good weather for the morrow, had just left the mountains, handing them over to night’s caressing darkness, when the creamy moon slipped silently up from misty, cloud shrouded mountain tops and rose high in the sky to glow with a mysterious and ethereal light. The Menai Strait lay becalmed and silent below, the lights of Bangor foreshore reflecting languidly in her still waters.

Dorothy.

5th August 2009… a few minutes ago