In 1785 Morgan David Morgan agreed to rent this cottage from the Plas Taliaris estate for about £9 a year.

The family were self-sufficient, keeping a pig and growing vegetables, so they could have food available all year – even if money was scarce.

The walls of their cottage were mad of ‘clom’ – a mixture of clay, stone and straw. Friends and family often helped with building work. The thick walls helped keep the house warm in winter and cool in summer.

The chimney is made from woven branches of hazel just like a basket, and its surface is covered with daub – a mixture of clay and dung.*

*information from a signboard next to the house and pigsty

Henry David Thoreau

When the house was built in 1508, it was a luxurious house by Tudor standards. We know that by 1754, Robert and Ann Foulkes lived here. The last of the family to live at Hendre’r-ywyd, Mary Elizabeth Foulkes, died in 1912.

The family shared their home with the cattle which were kept in the two lower bays. The three upper bays formed the family home.

Originally, there was no chimney – the smoke from the fire would escape through the open windows and the rood.*

*from a signboard next to the farmhouse

Albert Einstein

Circular pigsties like this one were common in South Wales.

Pigs love to dig, especially in corners. This is why this sty is circular, so it’s harder for them to dig their  way out.*

*from a nearby signboard

During the Second World War, this small two-room building was a hub of communications for the countryside around Blaenwaun in south-west Wales.

Letters, telegrams, newspapers and phone calls all radiated from here. During the war, Blaenwaun Post Office had a War Department radio receiver for urgent messages.*

*from a signboard next to the building.

Situated in the Parkgate Hotel in Cardiff The Sorting room offers Michelin starred fine dining.

In the grand rooms of the old Post Office, once filled with hand-written letters and brown-paper packages, now there are glittering chandeliers and plush leather sofas, where elegant lunches are enjoyed and sumptuous dinners savoured in the most glamorous surroundings.

Whether you linger leisurely over lunch, dress up for dinner or spoil yourself with our sumptuous Sunday lunch, the delicious dishes of our British-inspired brasserie menu and heady blend of bygone glamour in the most elegant surroundings, make any meal here an experience to savour.*

*from the Parkgate Hotel website