Ballas Farm Guest House
Our original plan when leaving Cardiff was to stay in Swansea so we could get a feel for that well known Welsh city. However, not finding any reasonably priced accommodation I booked us into a guest house, in other words a bed and breakfast – called Ballas Farm Guesthouse, near the town of Bridgend. This bed and breakfast was located in a semi-rural area, or another way of describing it – in the middle of nowhere. In saying that, it is a very peaceful and pretty middle of nowhere, set on a small farm. The house only has four rooms, we appeared to be in the smallest of these rooms. To be honest, when you are only staying somewhere two nights, all you need is a comfy bed, so the fact the room was only big enough to contain just enough oxygen for us to breath while sleeping, and the bathroom big enough to get in and out of – with minimal use of a large crowbar, meant it was just fine. The house itself is also not huge, or at least not the part that the guests can access – which is more or less their room, the small front foyer and a small hallway. However, there is a pleasant dining area for the breakfasts – which were pretty good. The host we met was friendly and helpful, and like most people in Wales – rugby mad! Subsequently our breakfast conversation with him, as he served us, went something like “So would you like your eggs scrambled or fried, and those All Blacks played well last year didn’t they? Coffee or tea, and England are likely to lose to Wales on the weekend. Did you also want some juice, game tonight starts at 7pm.”
Not all BnB’s allow you to use their washing machines, nor have laundry services available – however the lovely hosts at Balla Farm Guest House were more than happy to allow us to use their washing machine. Interestingly it was located in an outer building near the main house, which also doubled as a hair salon – which the host also ran. He told us he was a hairdresser originally based in a town location, but moved the business to there when buying the BnB. So yes – the BnB is in the middle of nowhere, the hair salon was in the middle of nowhere. It just goes to show that if you provide great service, people will even travel that little further to do business with you rather than go somewhere that has sub-par service.
St Michael and All Angels Church, Colwinston and Ewenny Prior
The host at Ballas Farm was kind enough to tell us about some fairly nearby historic sites that were well worth a visit. One of these locations was the Ewenny Prior, which is mostly ruins – or at least the parts that we could see were. There are some internal parts still intact though, but can only be accessed on open days. The Pror was built some time in the 1100’s, and housed Benedictine Monks.
It is an unusual structure in that it has military style embattlements . Priory’s would not usually have such high and thick stone walls protecting them as this one does, and most historians are puzzled as to why they were built to this degree of defence. In saying that, either way the stone defences look great in a photo!
There is a small community that lives in the area, and while walking on the road outside where St Michael and All Angels church sits one of the locals walked past me with her dog. She let me know about the church and said it’s fine looking around. I remember thinking she was much like a character from a tv show from years back called ‘From the Manor Born’. I’m not sure if this helpful lady was in fact officially a “Lady” or Dame, but if she wasn’t – she certainly looked the part either way!
The St Michael and All Angels church (what a very cool and impressive name!), stands only about 50 metres or so from the Prior. The church was built in 1111, though has had some changes and reconstruction over the years. To enter it you walk past several very old graves, which are a sight to experience in themselves. Though the church isn’t anywhere as grand as many others are in the UK and elsewhere, just the age, and location – seemingly surrounded by farmland, gives it a peaceful and calming presence. Though not large, we enjoyed spending a good twenty minutes inside soaking up the atmosphere, and lighting some votive candles in memory of our parents who had passed away in recent times. If you are anywhere near Swansea and have even a little interest in churches or historic sites, I strongly recommend going to see St Michael and All Angels Church. 
