On this page you will occasionally find a few news items that have significance for the community of Painscastle and Rhosgoch and visitors to the area. Below is a flavour of events that illustrate just how much there is to see and enjoy in this area and slightly further afield over the course of the year. Shown are what is usually generally available in the area each year with specific mention of special events both past and future.
The world-famous Hay Literary Festival is held in the very pretty town of Hay-on-Wye, just a few miles from Painscastle, across 11 days at the end May - beginning June (25th May to 4 June in 2023). Those who regularly attend this event know that they need to book accommodation well in advance, so if you want to come to any future events then please start by looking at our Links page for further details of a variety of local places to stay.
Billed as 'The World's Largest Music & Philosophy Festival' the How The Light Gets In event takes place from a Thurs to Sun over the final four days of the Hay Festival. In 2023 this is 1-4 June. They bring a wide ranging list of speakers and music events over the four days to the field in the town beside the Wye and behind the Co-Op. Well worth investigating.... For more information consult their website https://howthelightgetsin.org/
The ever-popular Crickhowell Walking Festival takes place in early to mid-March each year. The nine days of guided walks and events took place in and around Crickhowell and the Black Mountains, which are easily accessed from Painscastle.
The seventh Talgarth Walking Festival is held acros four days at the end Apr/ start May. The walk leaders are experts on the Black Mountains and they will have many interesting routes planned for next year.
Pretty much everybody in this area stops normal activity at the end of July and heads for the Royal Welsh Show in Builth Wells, which is also only a twenty minute drive away from Painscastle. This major agricultural show is held over four days Sun-Wed during mid-late July: see their website for more details. A visit to this seriously large event is highly recommended. Please note also that many other events are held at the RWAS Showground throughout the year, including the excellent Smallholding and Countryside Festival in May (please check) and the Winter Fair, which is normally held over two days at the end of November. These shows all have plenty to interest those of you who are not farmers!
For a rather smaller yet equally interesting introduction to local agricultural excellence, try the one-day Brecon County Show, held in August.
The traditional Victorian Festival held in Llandrindod Wells, just 30 minutes' drive from Painscastle, is now a rather smaller affair than it used to be, but diehards will organise some interesting events each summer, held over a week in late Aug.
Look out for the annual Vintage Steam Rally organised by the Three Cocks Vintage Society and held near Hay-on-Wye during August. This really is a major event for steam fans nationwide and you do need a whole day to make the most of it. Like many other local events, there is much more to this rally than its name might suggest.
Lovers of alternative music will be delighted that the Green Man Festival is held each year in mid to late August in the lovely surroundings of the Glanusk Estate near Crickhowell. Tickets will usually go on sale in January and usually sell out very quickly indeed.
The local highlight of the year is surely the Painscastle and Rhosgoch Annual Fete, which was held in and around the village hall on the last Sunday in August. This is a full afternoon and evening of fun and merrymaking for all of the family and all had a fantastic time this year!
The Kington Walking Festival is held in mid-September. This type of festival is becoming increasingly popular and it is easy to understand why when you see what a good range of guided walks and other events are being held in and around the small market town on the English side of the border this year. They are also promising a smaller Spring event during April, so please see their website for more.
The Kington Horse Show took place normally on the second Saturday in September. This is another excellent one-day agricultural show that draws many competitors and spectators from both sides of the border and despite the title there is much more to this show than horses. It is especially popular with Painscastle folk.
The 2014 Tour of Britain professional cycle race actually came through Painscastle and Rhosgoch and spectators attracted by the event donated enough money to enable defibrillators to be installed in each village for public use. It is usually held annually over a week in early Sept.
The major annual Abergavenny Food Festival takes place over a weekend in mid-September. This is always a great place to get good advice and buy the best of local produce.
In 2022 the Wales Rally GB took to the roads and forest tracks of Mid Wales at the end of October, with many of the stages taking place in locations easily accessible from Painscastle and Rhosgoch. Keep checking their website for further details for the current year about this major event forming part of the FIA World Rally Championships.
The Brecon Baroque Festival has been enthralling audiences in splendid locations such as Brecon Cathedral since 2006 and will probably continue to be held annually over four days in late Oct. More wonderful music by J.S. Bach and others is promised with live performances from Brecon Cathedral and Theatr Brycheiniog.
If you can't get enough of the Hay Festival earlier in the year, you can try your luck again at the end of November, when the Festival hosts its Winter Weekend. There is not such a large choice of events, but the hotels will be emptier.
A Flavour of Some Past Events
Platinum Jubilee 2022
This page, like many others, must sadly reflect the damage caused by the last two, lean Covid years, but thankfully that all changed on Thursday 2nd June 2022 when Painscastle and Rhosgoch hosted their own Platinum Jubilee celebrations and took time out to wish Her Majesty well. It was a glorious, sunny afternoon when our very own Jubilee Queen Ruby Bagley, resplendent in her original wedding dress, headed the procession through the village that launched the festivities and then continued by presenting local children with specially-made mugs. The rest of the day continued in the same style for which Painscastle and Rhosgoch are well-known - sporting challenges throughout the village, a variety of tasty cakes for tea, endless chatter and good humour, an excellent barbecue and bar and a humorous revue by young farmers. To cap it all, those who decided not to take part in the relay race could climb onto one of the tractor-drawn trailers and be driven up to Llanbedr Hill to watch the lighting of the official beacon and see a few more in the distance, followed by a spectacular firework display. For many this will have been their first night-time trip to the hills, which looked wonderful on this lovely day. The author had never seen so many people in the village and all will have excellent memories of this day. Painscastle and Rhosgoch are truly open for business again.
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2020 Painscastle and Rhosgoch Photographic Competition
Thank you once again to those of you who entered the 2020 Painscastle and Rhosgoch Photographic Competition on the theme of "Radnorshire Life". It is probably fair to say that conditions over the last six weeks have been a little challenging, but the standard and diversity of entries demonstrate that many local residents refused to be daunted by the imposition of a "lock-down". In all there were just under 40 entries from all across the Bachawy Valley, so it was a good and representative contest. We were pleased to see that a number of our younger citizens entered too.
The competition was judged by Peter Seaman, who is the current Chair of Hay Camera Club. Peter is a very experienced photographer and is particularly fond of capturing the Brecknockshire and Radnorshire landscapes and the people who live in them.
All entrants have now been sent feedback from the judge on their entries. If you have not won please do not be dissuaded from taking more photographs, especially of the lovely area we all call home, as we can always use plenty more on this web site and we look forward to receiving more of your images in the near future - we know where to find you now! We shall be publishing all of the competition entries in the Gallery in due course.
If you feel that your photographic technique needs a little brushing up or that you have been inspired to find out more about this fine hobby, then why not consider joining Hay Camera Club? The Club is not currently meeting because of the Covid-19 emergency, but members are holding video conferencing sessions that are well attended and cover a lot of interesting subjects, the details of which can be seen on their web site. Anybody who is interested in joining will be most welcome to take part in the virtual meetings. The Club has recently changed the design and address of its site, so please take a look at the new one and let them know what you think or get in touch about membership.
Above all, please stay safe during the current emergency and remember that it is even more important now to take photographs of your family and the people and places we love.
And the winner is…
The competition was judged by Peter Seaman, who is the current Chair of Hay Camera Club. Peter is a very experienced photographer and is particularly fond of capturing the Brecknockshire and Radnorshire landscapes and the people who live in them.
All entrants have now been sent feedback from the judge on their entries. If you have not won please do not be dissuaded from taking more photographs, especially of the lovely area we all call home, as we can always use plenty more on this web site and we look forward to receiving more of your images in the near future - we know where to find you now! We shall be publishing all of the competition entries in the Gallery in due course.
If you feel that your photographic technique needs a little brushing up or that you have been inspired to find out more about this fine hobby, then why not consider joining Hay Camera Club? The Club is not currently meeting because of the Covid-19 emergency, but members are holding video conferencing sessions that are well attended and cover a lot of interesting subjects, the details of which can be seen on their web site. Anybody who is interested in joining will be most welcome to take part in the virtual meetings. The Club has recently changed the design and address of its site, so please take a look at the new one and let them know what you think or get in touch about membership.
Above all, please stay safe during the current emergency and remember that it is even more important now to take photographs of your family and the people and places we love.
And the winner is…
Joint third-placed entries…
Joint third-placed entries…
Maureen Lloyd elected to receive a printed copy of her winning entry, as she claims she is far too busy to even think about membership of a camera club. She can be seen at right with her print on yet another beautiful day near the spot where the original photograph was taken on her farm above Painscastle. The continuing Coronavirus emergency necessitated appropriate "social distancing" from competition organiser Dainis Ozols.
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2019 - First serious snowfall!
Many thanks to Painscastle resident Huw Jones for the lovely image at right of the first serious snow to fall here, although the higher than average January temperatures soon cleared it away.
You can see more local views in our Gallery. We would really appreciate more images of this lovely area, so please contact us if you have any photographs you would like to share with other readers. |
Woolly Painscastle
Woolly Painscastle is a giant knitted map of the village and surrounding landscape. It has been a tremendous community effort, created by 55 volunteers who knitted fields, houses, roads and sheep over a period of 15 months during 2017 and 2018. The youngest contributor was just 4, the oldest 94, and the local Brownies had a special meeting to make the pom-pom tree and bushes.
The map includes every house in the village along with the farms, livestock, community buildings, gardens, wildlife and pets. It depicts the annual fete and other references to the vibrant village life. It also includes historical references to the original Castle from which the village got its name and the drovers who passed through on their way to markets. |
The map measures 3 metres wide, is 1.8 metres long and weighs approximately 7 kg. It is estimated that there are over 275,000 stitches in the map which is made almost entirely of pure wool, including wool spun from fleeces donated by the village farmers. Spinning was just one of several skills learnt during the project, some contributors learned to knit, needle felt, embroider and dye the wool using locally produced plant dyes.
Woolly Painscastle is very grateful to everyone who contributed, to the knitters of Llandysul and Wonderwool Wales for their initial inspiration and to Cambrian Wool who donated Welsh wool to the project. Pending a final display location, the map is available for loan to the local community and for events. For further information, please email Jackie Stephens .
Woolly Painscastle is very grateful to everyone who contributed, to the knitters of Llandysul and Wonderwool Wales for their initial inspiration and to Cambrian Wool who donated Welsh wool to the project. Pending a final display location, the map is available for loan to the local community and for events. For further information, please email Jackie Stephens .
The Beast from the East
Like much of Western and South-Western Britain, Painscastle was badly affected by the severe weather systems that brought two full days of very strong winds and heavy snow at the beginning of March 2018. The resulting snow drifts were bigger than most people could remember and effectively blocked every road in the area. Luckily for us, however, we have a lot of very helpful and public-spirited farmers and other enthusiasts living amongst us who brought their tractors and other heavy machinery to bear as soon as the blizzards stopped. Because of their hard work Painscastle and Rhosgoch were "open for business" within several days. Thank you very much guys.
Painscastle Bus Shelter
Volunteers in Painscastle have been hard at work since last summer completing the transformation of the former village bus shelter into an information point. Regular bus services to Hay, Kington and Builth Wells finished many years ago and since then the shelter has been slowly degrading, although it is still used regularly by walkers and cyclists passing through the village and who want to eat their lunch in relative comfort. Thanks to the volunteers they can now enjoy better protection from the elements and also study the new village notice board at the same time. Also, we have installed hand-drawn maps of the Bachawy Valley and the village of Painscastle showing the main points of interest and some suggested recreational opportunities. There is also a wealth of historical information about the 11th Century Norman castle and the 1198 Battle of Painscastle that is said to have resulted in the deaths of more than 3700 Welsh soldiers.
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Common Land Access Restrictions to 24 June 2026
Local people and visitors who intend to walk or ride on the extensive common land to the North of Painscastle and Rhosgoch need to know that certain access restrictions in force have now been extended to June 2026. The restrictions have been imposed by Natural Resources Wales (NRW) and the landowner in order to avoid disturbance to breeding grouse and other upland birds, more especially by uncontrolled dogs.
No dogs, other than assistance dogs, are allowed (even on leads) on land in the three Access Restriction areas shown at any time.
The restrictions also exclude all people with or without dogs from the affected areas for up to 28 days in any one year for the duration of the 5 year period on certain specific days within the nesting season, the details of which you will find on the individual 2019 notices below. These are being extended yearly for following years for a four week period each year in late June/ early July. We can therefore expect the same restriction in June/ July 2023.
The use of routes which are official rights of way, roads or unclassified roads is unaffected by any of these restrictions. Similarly, people with assistance dogs are unaffected.
If you require further information you will find the NRW documents listed below useful. You will also see posters showing this information on various entrances to the common land, eg. at the cattle grid up from the Roast Ox.
No dogs, other than assistance dogs, are allowed (even on leads) on land in the three Access Restriction areas shown at any time.
The restrictions also exclude all people with or without dogs from the affected areas for up to 28 days in any one year for the duration of the 5 year period on certain specific days within the nesting season, the details of which you will find on the individual 2019 notices below. These are being extended yearly for following years for a four week period each year in late June/ early July. We can therefore expect the same restriction in June/ July 2023.
The use of routes which are official rights of way, roads or unclassified roads is unaffected by any of these restrictions. Similarly, people with assistance dogs are unaffected.
If you require further information you will find the NRW documents listed below useful. You will also see posters showing this information on various entrances to the common land, eg. at the cattle grid up from the Roast Ox.
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