The Victorian spas of mid-Wales obviously made much of the claimed medical benefits of the natural spring waters of the area. But they also advertised the clear mountain air and the healthy countryside, which was a great attraction to many miners and steelworkers and their families from the very unhealthy industrial surroundings of the valleys of the south.
The district offered "the charms of wooded hillsides, glistening streams, and wooded valleys" and illustrations like the one below were used to encourage visitors.

This picture from an old guide to the spas of mid-Wales shows the Irfon Valley to the west of Llanwrtyd Wells looking towards Abergwesyn.
The house in the foreground was called Glenview, once the home of the Rev. J.Kilsby Jones, a famous Welsh Congegational minister. The house was later renamed 'Kilsby'.

Back to Llanwrtyd picture menu