How accessible are our apartments?

The mill nestles in a steep sided, wooded valley with no other houses in sight. It is surrounded by beautiful lawned gardens, which can be accessed without tackling steps, through which a lively mountain stream rushes.  Bird song fills the valley and guests can enjoy a truly peaceful experience.

Accessibility

There are 4 apartments inside the Mill building.  2 of the apartments (Spinners and Carders Corner) are accessible from the driveway without descending stairs.  They are accessible to wheelchair users but the doorway to the bathroom is too small to admit wheelchairs and they are fitted with corner showers.  The fire escapes also require guests to be able to negotiate at least one step.

The other 2 apartments (Bobbin Box and Wheel House) involve descending one flight of stairs.  They can also be accessed through double doors from the garden.

Pets are only accepted in our Wheelhouse apartment but guide dogs are welcomed.

Pre-arrival

Information

There is no mobile signal available to guests at the mill.

Web site – The web site has been designed to be clear and simple to use.  The reader can adjust the size of text using their own computer facilities.  The owners will produce large sized print text documents if needed – please call or e-mail.  Braille versions are not available.

Local towns

  • The nearest town, Newcastle Emlyn, is 4 miles away.
  • The local village, Capel Iwan, is 1 mile away.  This can be reached by climbing a steep road or by walking the footpath along the Mamog gorge.  It has no shops.

Public Transport

The valley is very remote and guests need to have their own transport to make the most of a holiday experience here.

  • Buses run from Newcastle Emlyn to Carmarthen, where the nearest railway station is situated and National Express coaches run from the bus station.
  • The local taxi service is Home James (01239 711 201).
  • There is a bus service called Bwcabws which allows you to book a bus to pick you up from Capel Iwan or Godremamog Mill and take you to Newcastle Emlyn.  see www.bwcabus.traveline-cymru.info

Shopmobility

  • Cardigan has a shopmobility scheme.  Call 07815 151341.
  • Carmarthen has a shopmobility scheme in the St Catherine’s Walk shopping centre.  Call 01267 233699.  It is underneath the car park around the corner from the lifts.

Provisons

  • The nearest supermarket is CKs at Newcastle Emlyn.
  • Coop has a store in Newcastle Emlyn.  There is also a good butchers, a deli, an organic shop and a health food shop in the town.
  • Tescos have stores at Cardigan and Carmarthen, about 1/2 hour away in each direction.

Tesco on-line, Asda and the local butcher, Dewi James (tel 01239 710519will deliver to the mill & a fish van visits Godremamog Mill on Thursdays but no other delivery facilities are available.  Internet connectivity is available at the mill.

Arrival & Car Parking

  • The mill has its own large car park at the top of the drive, with plenty of spaces for all guests.
  • Both of these car parks are gravelled.
  •  No charges are made for parking.
  • The drive is approximately 100 meters long.  It is also gravelled.
  • Please note that the outside of the mill is lit until midnight but a torch would still be useful.
  • Guests can drive right up to the porch at the entrance of the mill. Passengers can disembark there and luggage can be dropped off.   Most guests park in the car park at the top of the drive but disabled parking in the smaller car park can be arranged on request.

There is a porch at the entrance to the mill.  The gravel goes right up to the threshold.  The porch is 4 meters long and 190 cms wide, with  book shelves along the one side.  There is slip resistant vinyl flooring in a brown tiling pattern.  

 Main Entrance & Communal Areas

Layout

The layout of the mill is very simple – a central concrete stairway with small landings (236 cm x 124 cm) on each floor, each giving access to two apartments.  The entrance is at 1st floor level because the mill is on a sideways slope.

Spinners and Carders Corner are at the entrance level.

Guests go up one floor to reach the Owners’ apartment (see below).

Guests go down one floor to reach Wheel House and the Bobbin Box.

Floor plans can be found on the page for each apartment:

There are no lifts or automatic doors.

  • The hosts show the guests around their apartments on arrival.
  • The hosts live on-site and make themselves available to answer any questions.

Please note:  While Spinners and Carders Corner can both be accessed by wheelchair users from the main entrance, if the fire escape is needed, Spinners requires the guest to negotiate a step down onto an open ironwork platform which must be crossed to reach the driveway.  Carders Corner requires the guest to step down onto a flight of 5 iron steps, across a small wooden bridge and up a gravelled garden path, including 2 shallow slate steps, to the driveway.  Wheel House and Bobbin Box both require guests to descend a flight of stairs to access them.

Entrance

  • There is a porch at the entrance to the mill with double doors and a UPVC threshold, approx 8 cm high and 20 cm wide.  This is 4 meters long by 2 meters wide and leads to double wooden glazed doors at the entrance to the main building, with a wooden threshold, which drops 5 cm into the hallway.
  • The entrance doors lead into a small hallway giving access to the two apartments on this floor (Spinners and Carders Corner) and two flights of stairs, one going up to the payphone and Hosts’ apartment and one going down to Wheel House and the Bobbin Box.
  • There are no further thresholds to negotiate.
  • The porch has non-slip vinyl in a brown tile pattern.  The hall and stairs are carpeted in brown, low lying carpet.  Door mats are provided with a small mat at each threshold and a larger one in the entrance area.  
  • There is no reception area, other than the porch.
  • There is a doorbell on the outside of the mill to summon the hosts.
  • Guests staying in Wheel House and the Bobbin Box on the lower floor can also access their apartment from the garden.
    • Bobbin Box has double wooden doors which lead into the double bedroom.  These can be reached from the top of the drive across approximately 100 meters of lawn which is uneven in places and a wooden bridge over a stream.  There is a wooden threshold 7 cm high and 15 cm across.
    • Wheel House has UPVC French windows which lead into the lounge.  These can be reached from the top of the drive across approximately 100 meters of lawn which is uneven in places and a wooden bridge over a stream, plus approximately 30 meters of gravelled garden next to the leat.  Please note, the leat garden narrows to just 69 cm wide between the walls of the house and the leat at one point.   The UPVC threshold to Wheel House is 9 cm high and 18 cm wide.

Signs

  • Each apartment is clearly labelled with a decorative plaque 12cm x 18cm, approximately 160 cm from the floor.

Stairways

  • The stairways are carpeted with a brown low-lying carpet over concrete stairs.  Each stair is finished with a brown plastic strip, ensuring that the carpet does not rise up at all.
  • The stairs are even, except for the very top stair, which is slightly higher than the others.
  • The stairway is 75cm wide between the hand rails on either side, which are made of squared-off varnished wood.
  • At the top and bottom there are small landings, each carpeted in the same way.

Lighting

  • The communal stairways and entrance are lit by economy bulbs in the stairway, assisted by a lamp on the lower level at night.
  • There is also natural lighting from the windows/glazed doors at each level.
  • The outside of the mill, and the garden by the pools and BBQ hut is lit by economy bulbs until midnight each night.  The top car park is not lit.

Lighting within the apartments is described below.

Phone

  • There is no mobile phone reception at the mill.

Keys

  • Guests are provided with a key to their apartment on arrival.
  • Additional keys are not normally provided.
  • The doors can be left unlocked while guests are in the garden.

Apartments

Floor plans can be found on the page for each apartment:

  • Each apartment has a lounge, kitchen, bathroom, double bedroom and twin/single bedroom.
  • The mill is all-electric, apart from the central heating, which is oil fired.  Each apartment has a log-effect electric fire, a plinth fan heater in the kitchen and an electric emersion heater for hot water. 

Doors

  • The main doors to the apartments are fire doors.  They open and close very easily.  They will self close, and weights are provided if the door is to be held open.  They are fitted with mortice locks, approximately 125 cm from the floor.
  • Other doors in the apartment are normal internal doors with simple level handles.
  • Doorways are normally 75 cm wide, but the door leading to the lobby with access to the airing cupboard and bathroom is smaller – around 67 cm.
  • There is also a door in the twin bedrooms in Spinners and Carders Corner and the French doors in Wheel House – these are Glass and UPVC. They open and close very easily.  The double doors in Wheel House are wood and glass and open and close easily.

Bedrooms

  • All mattresses are relatively firm, with a memory foam topping. 
  • Each single/double bed is made up with a fitted sheet, a single/double duvet in a duvet cover, and 2 / 4 pillows in pillow slips.
ApartmentDouble BedroomSingle Bedroom
Wheel HouseWooden four posterDivan twin beds
SpinnersMetal four posterDivan  twin beds
Carders CornerMetal four posterDivan twin beds
Bobbin BoxMetal four posterWooden twin beds

 Bathroom

Each bathroom is tiled.

All bathrooms have corner walk in showers.

  • a basin, standing approximately 80 cm high.
  • a toilet, approximately 44 cm from seat to floor.
  • A non-slip bath mat is provided.

Kitchen

Each kitchen has:

  • A ceramic electric hob, an electric oven, a fridge with small freezer compartment, a separate freezer and a slimline dishwasher, a microwave, kettle and toaster.
  • A plinth level fan heater.
  • An extractor cooker hood.
  • Crockery, cutlery, glasses, pots and pans, knives, utensils and cleaning materials are provided.
  • Most cupboards are at floor level but the crockery and glassware is kept in wall cupboards above the sink.  Arrangements can be made for the contents to be moved to a lower level if necessary, though this will restrict the available cupboard space.
  • Taps are clearly marked hot or cold.  They are single taps, not mixer taps and turn using standard tops.  There are no lever taps.

Fire Escapes & Alarms

  • Spinners requires the guest to negotiate a step down onto an open ironwork platform which must be crossed to reach the driveway.
  • Carders Corner requires the guest to step down onto a flight of 5 iron steps, across a small wooden bridge and up a gravelled garden path, including 2 shallow slate steps, to the driveway.
  • Wheel House requires the guest to walk up the stair case or to exit through the lounge French windows.
  • Bobbin Box can be exited simply from the double doors in the double bedroom.  Guests in the single bedroom may have to exit from their window, which would require climbing up to the window sill (about waist height, accessed directly from the bed) through the window and down the other side.
  • Each apartment is fitted with interlinked smoke alarms, which emit a piercing sound.
  • In the event of a fire, guests are requested to congregate in the small car park next to the mill.

Gardens

  • The main part of the garden, in Carmarthenshire, can be reached down a fairly steep slope from the car park next to the mill, which is slabbed, or along a lawn which is uneven at times from the main car park – this route involves crossing a small wooden bridge. 
    • This garden is lawned and runs alongside the river.
    • The lawn runs right up to the top of a dry stone wall which protects the mill from the water, so good views of the water are available but the wall is not fenced (except in the garden next to the wheel), so care must be taken.
    • Two sturdy picnic tables for 6 are available in the garden next to the waterwheel, along with various other round metal tables and chairs. 
    • Further sturdy wooden benches and metal chairs and tables are available in other parts of the garden.  Plastic garden chairs are also available.
  • Beyond the garden next to the waterwheel, a gate leads onto the riverside walk, which runs through the meadow leading to Park Villa.  It is kept mowed in summer but the grass may be longer than the main garden.  The ground is uneven and care must be taken, especially next to the river, which is unfenced.  Rustic picnic benches are provided at intervals; they are made from logs from the Mill woodland.
  • The Pembrokeshire part of the garden is reached across a level concrete walking bridge with iron railings on either side.  Good views of the river Cych are available from this bridge and trout can often be observed swimming in the river below the bridge.  Again, the garden is lawned and uneven in parts. The lawn runs right up to the top of a dry stone wall which protects the bank from the water, so good views of the water are available but the wall is not fenced, so care must be taken.  There are various stone steps down to the water
  • The garden extends up the hillside.  This part of the garden can be reached up steep, rough steps formed of wood with soil and bark-chipping filling.  Extreme care must be taken when using these steps.  There is no handrail.  This part of the garden can also be viewed from the driveway and from inside the mill.

  • A footpath leads away from the main garden.  This is level until the end, about 1/4 mile away, when it rises up a steep slope to the road.   It is a rough path at the edge of woodland and is covered in leaf mould.

  • Another footpath leads away from the main car park.  It is accessed via a metal walking bridge, this bridge provides good views of the Mamog river.  The path then rises steeply up a rocky gorge to a wider but uneven footpath following the river Mamog to the road.

  • The river makes a wonderful sound as it rushes through the garden, complemented by the bird song.  

  • The road is extremely quiet, being a single track road serving only a few houses along it and the tiny hamlet of Cwmorgan.

  • A butterfly garden has been planted close to the main car park and there is a herb garden in a raised bed running next to the driveway for several yards.

Award winning self catering holidays with hot tub in beautiful West Wales: 4 cosy watermill apartments from 2–16 people