Monday, 27th to Friday, 31^st October 2008

A time for relaxation, friendship, prayer and renewal - come and join us!

About Coleg Trefeca

Coleg Trefeca is a Grade 2* historic listed building, including the home of Howell Harris (1714-1773), the first Methodist. It is now a Lay Training Centre owned by the Presbyterian Church of Wales.

Trefeca offers:

• Accommodation for 37 in twin-bed rooms
• Coffee and tea-making facilities
• Good home cooking
• Main lounge, games room, reception lounge and a number of areas for small groups to meet
• A small chapel (Capel Bach)
• A library of religious books, pamphlets, periodicals and videos
• Museum including furniture, books and prints from the time of Howell Harris
• One bedroom (en-suite) adapted for wheel-chair users.
• Some adaptations in the main building including wheelchair lift to the main lounge and chairlifts on other stairs.

• Hearing loop system.

  About the area

  Coleg Trefeca is located in the heart of the Brecon Beacons, a mile from Talgarth and 8 miles from Brecon. It is a beautiful and historic area.

  Programme

  Trefeca supplies a light breakfast at 8.30am, lunch at 12.45pm (or a packed lunch) and supper at 6pm. There is also mid-morning coffee with home-made biscuits and afternoon tea with home-made cakes.

  We will arrive on Monday by 4pm (for tea and cake!) and depart after lunch at about 2pm on Friday.

  We will agree a destination for a day out on the Wednesday – perhaps to Llandovery or to Strata Florida - and we will arrange half-day trips to places such as Brecon, Hay-on-Wye and the National Park Visitors' Centre at Libanus.

  We will also spend time in Trefeca, with daily prayers and a communion service on the Friday morning, a guided tour of the historic building and museum, Bible study and a chance in the evening to relax.

  Cost

  Trefeca charges £185.90 for 4 nights full board (children half price). With transport, the TOTAL cost will be about £225 each.

• Please book by printing out the booking form at the foot of this page, or you can apply for a phone by e-mail, phone or post by contacting the church (click 'Contact us' on the left hand menu bar)

  What you will need

  You will need to bring your own towels (but all bedding, soap, etc. is provided). The bathrooms and showers are shared, so you will need dressing gown and slippers.

  Please bring anything that will contribute to the general entertainment (games, small musical instruments, etc.)

Pictures from the 2007 holiday
by Jan Harris and Fiona Liddell.

May 2007 was our second Pastorate Holiday for Castle Square and Porth churches in Coleg Trefeca in Breconshire. We had a wonderful time, as we hope you can see from these pictures.

     

The lovely grounds of Coleg Trefeca entranced us and the Howell Harris Museum educated us

   

We drank plenty of cups of tea, ate lots of home-made cake and even the washing up was fun!

We went on a pilgrimage to places associated with Howell Harris, including St Gwendoline's Church, Talgarth (where he is buried) and St Gastyn's church, Llangasty (on the shore of Llyn Syfaddan, Llangors lake), where his conversion was sealed in June 1735 as "I felt my heart melt within me like wax before the fire."

 

 

 

Our outing to Hereford was a little wet - but the Cathedral provided welcome shelter for our picnic.

 

We were taken everywhere by our trusty Charter mini-bus - and the Trefeca food was wonderful!

 

And there was so much else to do - local walks (the picture on the left shows walkers in front of the beautiful manor house, Trefeca Fawr), playing bowls on Brecon Promenade, playing snooker in the games room - and last, but not least, taking a well-earned rest!

 

 

Read Jan's report on the 2006 holiday below.

Trefeca 2006

In June this year I set off on a trip to Trefeca with some apprehension. I was the only one going from Castle Square and I wondered if I would feel’out of it’. Well, I needn’t have worried. There were eleven of us and we had a great time. By the end of the week, we were all good friends.

Gethin and Fiona and the girls picked me up in our mini bus and then we travelled to Porth to collect the others. The drivers were excellent – no worries there! 

The centre is a most interesting place to visit and the welcome was warm and the food good!! There was also plenty of it. A rather nice touch was home made cakes every afternoon with tea or coffee.

We were fortunate to have good weather and the trips we made to Brecon and to see the red kites were very enjoyable.

We gathered together every morning and evening for a short time of worship and some of us took turns in leading the evening worship.

You will see details of next year’s Trefeca holiday above, and there is a booking form below. I urge you to think about it and join with us. I assure you it will be worth it. 

  Jan

Booking form

If you wish to pay by instalments, Kay will gladly provide you with a contribution card.