Wernog Wood

Wernog Wood is a very special place - if you get the opportunity to visit, clear out your diary and get yourself down there!Claire and Rob are warm and welcoming hosts who have built something wonderful, and you can see the love they have put into the place from the moment you arrive. They can't do enough for their guests - even providing freshly baked bread, cakes and delicious lunches which fueled us through our art course.The bell tents have everything you'll need, including a very comfortable mattress and warm duvets that kept us cosy even in the rainy weather. The showers and bathroom areas are modern and clean, and there are enough facilities that there was never a queue. There is also the 'Red Shed' accommodation if you prefer a solid roof to sleeping under canvas.The large work/ living space is ideal and well equipped for any kind of arts, crafts or other handiwork and we also enjoyed the communal living and getting to know the other people sharing the space. The dogs, cat and chickens are constant lovely companions too! If you're a creative or practically minded person who enjoys being out in nature, you are guaranteed to love your time here.Thanks so much Claire and Rob for a truly memorable experience - I hope I get chance to visit again in the future!

Spent a week here on a timber framing course with Fred and Joe. Fantastic week of learning and socialising. Great environment to learn in. Our whole course ate together at lunch and dinner and had very tasty meals provided throughout. Didn’t have to leave the place once during the week as all my needs were catered for by the owners. Can’t wait to get back for another course!

I went on the dry stone walling course in August 2023 - something I had wanted to try my hand at for years.Claire and Rob are very welcoming, and the hospitality is first rate. It is a wonderful place to visit.Due to he nature of the course it was quite physical, and you certainly knew you had done some work by the end of each day, but we were all really pleased and impressed with what we had created at the end of the course.Xander (the tutor) was very helpful (and patient!) with us, and was happy to advise and help us as we went.Well worth it!

What a great place! My first time at Wernog Wood on a 3 day lino print course, the hosts Claire and Rob couldn’t have been more accommodating, even inflating my almost flat tyre at the end of the day!The facilities are fantastic, Claire’s food hits the spot and there is a really relaxed and friendly atmosphere about the place. Brontë Adams our tutor filled us all with confidence and really got the best out of the group. Certainly a place I will visit again.

Really lovely weekend blacksmithing with gwil this weekend. Started with a blank and both of us walked away with very different knives. Claire and Rob were great hosts with filling lunches provided with this course.Set in the beautiful Welsh countryside with atmosphere and fun.

Such a happy haven. 5 days of the best sort of holiday. Combination of hard work learning lots of new skills in order to make a chair starting with ash logs. Working with 6 others with a variety of experience, in a very supportive encouraging atmosphere. Ben is a very good teacher, enabling us to make another chair at home if we so desired and had the tools. The meals were a high point, homemade cakes, fresh healthy lunch and we took it in turns to make supper in pairs. A surprising delight, and our hosts Claire and Rob were so welcoming. My husband went walking every day, lots of good places, and we stayed in the Red Shed, glorious views from the hill behind. Comfortable and cosy, and we had time to read as well which is another important part of a holiday for us.

Everything I would have said about this wonderful setup at Wernog Wood has already been perfectly expressed. Claire and Rob could not have made us more welcome and comfortable and everything was beautifully organised. Meeting other artists, all of them delightful and interesting people, was a real bonus. Altogether extremely enjoyable. Thank you to Claire and Rob for creating such a special place.

I emailed Wernog Wood at to ask if they knew someone who could make me a memorial bench instead of me just buying one on-line. Claire replied why not make one yourself! we are running a chair and bench making course in July. What a lovely idea I thought so after a few emails between Ben (the course tutor) and myself we had a rough idea of what I was going to make, but this was going to be a new venture for everyone.When I arrived on Saturday, I was presented with a pile of wood, cut by Rob and while it looked a bit like a bench, I felt the task ahead of me was daunting.I arranged the wood in to the final shape and after a bit of trimming the resized large chunks of oak were transported to the outside work area, where I met the rest of the group. Ben set me the task of stripping off the bark and tidying the surfaces with an axe and draw knife. The next day, I was shaping and sanding the wood. On the sunny days it was such a pleasure to be outside, in the wood, working with wood, it was hard work but relaxing at the same time.While my bench was very different to the chairs the rest of the group were making, I would periodically stop to watch Ben demonstrations various woodworking skills needed to make the chairs which was interesting and informative.By the third day it was time to start to drill holes ready for the bench to be bolted together. This was a little tricky and there were very few straight edges and getting it wrong would have ruined the bench, but with Bens guidance all went well. On the final day it was time to bolt the bench together and plug the holes with some turned dried oak, it looks tricky but wasn’t too bad in the end. I didn’t bolt it all together as the bench would have been too heavy to move, but I was now armed with the skill and knowledge to do it when I got it back home.I can’t recommend Wernog Wood enough, the atmosphere was lovely, like a family we had fantastic communal lunches where everyone chatted about our projects and life in general. As I live locally, I didn’t stay over but from what I heard the evenings were great fun and the beer flowed. Claire and Rob could not do enough to help, and Ben was very knowledgeable and happy to pass that knowledge on to others while not doing the job for you. I had a great time and came away with new skills and a beautiful bench I made in memory of my Mum, Dad and Brother. Thank you Wernog Wood

Just finished my second four day course at WW. It’s my idea of heaven. The tutors are simply the best - patient and so knowledgeable. What makes it extra special has to be Rob and Claire themselves. They have set it all up so you can really step in to their world for the experience. Hanging around in the evenings to chat or keep working after the communal meal is terrific. It takes a very special kind of person that can be so facilitating and kind all day every day.

It's 5 stars from me for both the course I took, 'Soap Making' with Sami Blackford and the oh so gorgeous surroundings, both inside and out, of Wernog Wood.We mixed, melted and watched as magic happened before our very eyes, leaving Wernog Wood with excellent instructions and information for making our own soap.I also left Wernog Wood grateful for the company, the food and the sense of relaxation my body was enjoying after the day in such pleasant surroundings.I'm now wondering which course will be my next one at Wernog Wood?With warmthDenise Oliver