a Holiday in Wales

Machynlleth is a small market town with a population of around 2,000. It stands by the River Dyfi in Mid Wales at the head of the beautiful Dyfi estuary. For such a small town it has a lot of history - its main claim to fame being the location for the crowning of the Welsh rebel Owain Glyndwr as Prince of Wales in 1404, and for his holding of a parliament in the town. There are several historic buildings in the town including the medieval town house known as "The Parliament House" in Maengwyn Street, which now houses an interpretive centre dealing with Owain Glyndwr. Another is "Royal House" where Garsiwn Lane joins Penrallt Street, possibly built in the 1300's and where Charles I is supposed to have stayed in 1644, hence its name.
Besides Owain Glyndwr Machynlleth is probably best known as the "town with the clock". The clock tower, is the first thing many visitors will notice when entering or travelling through Machynlleth. It was built by the townspeople of Machynlleth in the 1870's and is the hub of the town, from which the three main streets radiate.



Maengwyn Street, (leads East to Welshpool and Newtown), is the main street that holds the famous Wednesday Markets. The Wednesday street market attracts many people from afar with its great variety of traders and craftsmen. A charter granted in 1291 by Edward 1 gave the right to hold "a market at Machynlleth every Wednesday for ever and two fairs every year". The town also boasts a wide selection of independent shops, so very different from the usual collection of national retail chains found in most places today, including a butchers, a greengrocers, vegetarian / wholefoods store, jewellers with fine Celtic offerings, several cafes, takeaways and public houses (pubs), an art gallery, and an alternative therapy practitioner. Continue up Maengwyn Street and you come to Parliament House and the Tourist Information Centre.

Penrallt Street (leading North to Dolgellau) includes the Royal House (see above), the Tabernacle Arts Centre, shops selling goods from locally-produced meat, to ironmongers, and continues on toward the Railway Station, the River Dyfi, and Dyfi Bridge. The Tabernacle Arts Centre is a neo-classical Methodist chapel that together with adjacent buildings forms a cultural centre - The Tabernacle, It is home to the Museum of Modern Art Wales, houses a permanent art collection and hosts a sequence of exhibitions. The restored, galleried chapel functions as a performance space, with the original pews for seating.

Pentrerhedyn Street (leading South towards Aberystwyth) takes you to Plas Machynlleth in the parkland that fringes the town, and until recently hosted the now defunct Celtica Centre. You will also find the rather strange looking Smithy of 1896 in Pentrehedyn Street. It looks to me like they have used the elaborate brickwork from a tunnel entrance to form the entrance to a .......shed!

When Machynlleth is mentioned one thinks of "alternative", "ageing hippies", "rain" and "Welsh". An unusual mix but it seems to work and as a holiday destination Machynlleth has a lot going for it. You will find sellers of arts and crafts, demonstrations of renewable energy sources, beautiful scenery, and Welsh history, all in one small Welsh town. The railway enables travellers from the midlands of England to travel via Shrewsbury, while the Cambrian Coast Railway Line enables travel to and from the North and South of Wales. The road bridge over the River Dyfi is a gateway northwards into the southern reaches of the Snowdonia National Park (Eryri), and there are alternative roads to both south Wales and the Midlands of England available.
For eating out there are a number of hotels/restaurants/pubs and also an Indian restaurant in Penrallt Street. In the daytime you have a choice of cafes in Maengwyn Street, all of which do hot food, including a vegetarian restaurant. There are several hotels and guesthouses for accommodation, and five pubs, plus various clubs (golf, bowling, rugby and so on).
There is a Glyndwr Festival in the first week in September.
The Machynlleth Festival takes place in the auditorium in The Tabernacle late August every year. During the week eminent performers take part in events ranging from recitals for children to jazz.