Oak Moor Shepherd Hut

A shepherd’s hut in a meadow above Llangorse Lake

Oak Moor Shepherd Hut stands in long meadow grass at Tal-y-llyn in the parish of Llangors, six miles east of Brecon, with Llangorse Lake a couple of miles down the hill and high ground on three sides. It sleeps two. Guests on Booking.com score it 9.2 out of 10 and give the location full marks.

Inside the hut

It is painted a deep blue above a white boarded dado, with a white ceiling curving over an oak beam, lighting hidden in the coving and wide oak boards underfoot. The bed sits against the blue wall with a black light either side and a small square window at the head, so there are green hills showing through the glass from the pillow. There is a television, a grey bench seat with storage baskets under it, and a tree-print curtain at the door. The blue is darker than it looks in photographs and makes the hut feel like a room rather than a box.

The breakfast bar and the shower

A narrow oak breakfast bar with two black-legged stools stands by the glazed door, with a white plate rack on the blue wall and mugs hanging under it. The worktop is oak under a stainless splashback, with a strip of light beneath the cupboard, a hob, a white kettle and toaster and three navy canisters marked Tea, Coffee and Sugar. The bathroom is the hut’s own — a shower behind a black-framed screen, a white pedestal basin with a black tap, a WC and a heated towel rail, and a window looking straight out at pasture.

Outside

Timber steps climb to a raised deck at the front, railed in black on oak posts, and a fire bowl stands on the brick paving alongside. The hut is clad in larch with dark grey window frames and a curved dark roof, standing on its cast iron wheels with clover and meadow grass up to them. The end wall is dark green corrugated sheet with one small square window in it, and there is a gravel apron and a field gate. Parking is free on site and so is the WiFi.

The activity centre at Llangorse

A couple of miles down the lane is Llangorse Multi Activity Centre, which has been going since 1958 and is a genuinely useful thing to have nearby on a wet week. Indoors there is a natural rock climbing face, the only one of its kind in Wales. Alongside it are artificial walls, a bouldering area, rope bridges, a cargo net, a caving system built into the rock, an abseiling tower and an indoor zip line. Outside, the Sky Trek rope course runs over three kilometres through the tree tops, with platforms looking across the lake to the Beacons. It is open all year.

Getting here

It is six miles along the A40 into Brecon, and the road south over the pass at Bwlch puts you in the Usk valley inside a quarter of an hour. For a train you are looking at Abergavenny, twenty miles south-east, so bring the car.

Good to know

How many does it sleep? Two, in one double bed.

Is the bathroom private? Yes, inside the hut.

Is there a kitchen? A kitchenette with an oven, a hob, a fridge, a kettle and a toaster.

Is there a fire outside? Yes, a fire bowl on the paving.

Is there parking? Yes, free, on site.

Is there WiFi? Yes, free.

Is this suitable for children? No — the hut takes adults only.

What does it cost? From £110 a night for two, plus a £5 a night booking fee, and two nights minimum.