What’s going for it? “Follow the artists”, canny home hunters always say, “they’re always a step ahead.” I beg to differ. Follow the monks. Monks, after all, were the original downshifters. Tired of the hullabaloo and poor work-pray balance of 14th-century life (and who wouldn’t be?), they had a knack of rooting out the most delightful and away-from-it-all spots on God’s Earth. Spots so lovely, one would be quite content to spend the rest of one’s life there without being tempted back to medieval Sodoms or Gomorrahs. Spots like Rhayader and the Elan valley. The landscape round here is crisscrossed by monks’ trods, holy motorways of commerce and communication between mid-Wales abbeys like Strata Florida. Centuries on, you can see the attraction of the “Welsh Lake District”. Don’t come for mod cons or fleshpots. Come for reflective quiet and sublime natural beauty. Come for red kites. Though judging from the wholefood shops, organic farms and high per capita pub ratio hereabouts, it’s more craft beer spelt-eaters than spiritual gurus the valley’s attracting these days.
The case against Wet: bring gills. Converging trunk roads can turn Rhayader into Piccadilly Circus (ish).
Well connected? Of course not. There are buses every couple of hours to Builth Wells (45 minutes), Llandrindod Wells (17) and beyond to Aberystwyth. A car would be handy: it’s 20 minutes to Llandrindod Wells and its train station; an hour to Aberystwyth and the coast.
Schools Primaries: Rhayader CiW is “adequate”, says Estyn, though has “good” prospects for improvement; nearby Newbridge-on-Wye CiW is “good”. Secondaries: the nearest, Llandrindod High, is “unsatisfactory”, says Estyn.
Hang out at… Ty Morgans rules the roost. The Crown Inn is cute as a button, while, out of town, the Triangle Inn is splendid in fine weather.
Where to buy Rhayader itself is neat and tidy and pretty, all grey stone Victorians or Georgians, town houses and cottages, huddled round the sweet little clock tower at the crossroads. Beyond, the countryside contains fairly remote and thinly populated villages; look out for nice stone farmhouses, and an awful lot of bungalows. Large detacheds and town houses, £400,000-£550,000. Detacheds and smaller town houses, £140,000-£400,000. Semis, £130,000-£200,000. Terraces and cottages, £100,000-£150,000.
Bargain of the week Six-bedroom Victorian home, with a former shop on the ground floor, £169,000, with clareevansandco.co.uk.
From the streets
Pippa Boss “The best walking, wildlife, mountain biking and dark skies in Wales.”
Ric Johnson “No Michelin stars, but we do have more pubs per head of population than any other UK town. If you don’t like rain, go east.”
Daniel Butler “Spectacularly beautiful and incredibly overlooked, the valley is an oasis.”
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