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Happy New Year!
Happy New Year from the National Botanic Garden of Wales! There’s FREE entry on weekdays throughout January, with a highly discounted entry price of just £4 per person on weekends.
There’s something special on every weekend this month:
Saturday 6th – Sunday 7th of January
Doggy Weekend – Bring your pet pooch for fabulous walk and to enjoy some of Carmarthenshire’s best fresh air.
Saturday 13th – Sunday 14th of January
Woodcraft Weekend – All that is good about wood featuring turners, carvers, stickmakers and traders.
Saturday 20th – Sunday 21st of January
Food Fair – The finest food and drink from in and around West Wales.
Saturday 27th – Sunday 28th of January
Antiques Fair Weekend – A vast vintage cornucopia of curios and collectibles will transform the Garden, with BBC’s Bargain Hunt returning to film!
Keep Fit – For FREE!
Take advantage of FREE entry on weekdays in January to keep fit with a choice of walks, with plenty of plants and wildlife to enjoy on the way. Pick up a ‘Fit For Free‘ trails leaflet at the main entrance on your way in, or take a look here to plan your visit beforehand.
Why not crack on with those new year resolutions and burn some unwanted calories against the stunning backdrop of 568 acres of National Botanic Garden?
We have created a series of trails around the Garden – some on flat paths to suit strollers, pushchairs and wheelchairs; and some more rugged, off-road routes around the estate.
The various trails are clearly way-marked and there’s a free map to accompany you on your journey – and each route has a ‘cupcake’ rating that indicates the degree of difficulty.
If you enjoy this way of staying healthy, think about taking a year’s membership so that you can keep coming in for free for the rest of the year.
Nordic Walking Classes
Starting on Monday January 8th, join Pilates in the Nordic for Nordic Walking Classes every Monday during school term-time, from 12:30-2:30pm.
Nordic Walking is an enhancement of ordinary walking – it makes something we can all do… twice as effective! Nordic Walking uses poles to in order to propel the walker along. This means they work harder than usual yet the support given by the poles makes it feel easier. The use of poles means the upper body muscles are used as well as the legs, taking pressure of the joints.
All classes must be booked in advance. For more information please contact Becki at Pilates in the Nordic on 07502 215827or pilatesinthenordic@gmail.com or book online via the activities page of www.pilatesinthenordic.com
Free Lunchtime Talks
There’s a chance to cheer up the chilly winter days of January by hearing tales of botanical derring-do from around the world.
Three international modern-day plant explorers will be giving talks at the National Botanic Garden of Wales on three consecutive Fridays at 12 noon – the talks are free and admission to the Garden is free, too.
On January 12, Alex Summers, Senior Horticulturist at Cambridge University Botanic Garden, will give a talk entitled ‘Plant hunting in Northern Vietnam’, which will focus on his expedition to the forested slopes of the Hoang Lien Mountains in Northern Vietnam.
On the 19th, it’s the turn of Tom Christian, Project Officer at the International Conifer Conservation Programme. His talk ‘Travel in search of Conifers’ will draw on his many travels in search of conifers both at home and abroad, and will help to present this extraordinary group of plants in a new light.
Guardian columnist Robbie Blackhall-Miles completes the trio of intrepid horticultural hunters on January 26 with a talk entitled ‘Hunting Shapeshifters: the search for Proteas in the mountains of South Africa’. Robbie is a plantsman and conservationist. Fossil Plants, his backyard botanic garden in North Wales, houses a collection of early evolutionary plants.
The talks start at 12 noon in the Garden’s Theatr Botanica. For more information, call 01558 667149, email info@gardenofwales.org.uk or visit https://gardenofwales.wpenginepowered.com
Doggy Weekend
Bring your pet pooch for a fabulous walk at the National Botanic Garden of Wales, at one of our monthly Doggy Weekends.
January’s Doggy Weekend will be held on Saturday 6th and Sunday 7th, and entry will be just £4 per person!
And don’t forget, EVERY Monday is Doggy Day at the Garden!
A full list of Doggy Day rules can be seen here.
Dogs are permitted in Y Pot Blodyn’s coffee shop, the Seasons Restaurant, the Gift Shop and the main concourse of the Great Glasshouse.
Dogs are not permitted on the Great Glasshouse’s inner paths, the Butterfly House, nor the children’s play area. Extendable leads are not permitted, you can swap yours for a non-extendable one at the Gatehouse for the duration of your visit.