Why should YOU love Llandrindod Wells?

NEW TOWN BRANDING

Llandrindod Wells has recently been re-branded as Llandrindod Wellness as part of the Welsh Governments support for the Powys Local Growth Zones initiative with the appointment of Llandrindod Wells' Town Champion, Jude Boutle. 

"Our place brand is Llandrindod Wellness or Llawen-drindod.

Our brand is grounded in our spa town heritage and recognises that natural health and wellness are increasingly important in today's world. After all, our traditional town emblem features Hygieia the Goddess of Health."

TOWN WIFI

 

One of the things that has arisen from the Llandrindod Wellness town branding is the launch of the town's WiFI system, installed at different sites around the town including the train station, Middleton Street, Temple Gardens, Rock Park and the Lake. 

"The system will benefit local people, residents and visitors. Not only will Llandrindod Wells be able to use the system to showcase what the town has to offer, but it could become a great tool for the town's businesses to inform the way they market their business in the future" ~ Avril York, Powys council's cabinet member for regeneration 

LOCALLY OWNED INDEPENDENT SHOPS & BUSINESSES  

Llandrindod Wells is so lucky to have locally owned friendly shops and businesses such as Happy Home Gift Company and Junk n Disorderly amongst many more. Shops and local businesses such as these make Llandrindod such a welcoming town with so many things to look at and buy, proving that the Victorian Spa town is flourishing in the 21st Century. Llandrindod is blessed with a diverse range of shops and businesses selling an assorted and wide range of gifts and items.

Here are just a few of the shops, businesses and services available to the Llandrindod Wells community. 

SHOPS:

gift shops, charity shops, book shop, supermarket, electrical shops, furniture shops, newsagents, butchers, bike shop, pubs and many more...

SERVICES:

doctors, hairdressers, travel agents, hospital, dance centre, leisure centre, railway, bus routes, taxi, gym, opticians, pharmacy and many more...

FIRST MICRO-PUB IN POWYS

 

Llandrindod plays host to Arvon Ales the first Micro-Pub in Powys. This Micro-Pub does not only sell a wide range of locally sourced delicious ales, but also has Folk Sessions every 2nd and 4th Sundays of the month. Their first Blues and Acoustic Jam Session is due to start May 15th at 4pm. People travel from far and wide to Llandrindod Wells just to visit this friendly, unique Micro-Pub so this is definitely one of the factors that help to enhance life in Llandrindod Wells.

OUTDOOR SPACE

 

It is easy to see why Llandrindod is such a great place to live even when you just take a walk around the town. There is so much green space available to the community. This ranges from Temple Gardens, The Rock Park, The Lake, and lots of footpaths around the town and through the fields in the local area. This green space provides a place for the community and visitors to relax, have family days out, walk the dog, play sport and take in the views......

STUNNING SCENERY

 

If you have never walked, ran, cycled or taken the car up to the top of  Little Hill above Llandrindod Wells Golf Course, you are missing out and I strongly advise you to. On a clear day, you can see for miles, and even when the weather isn't as nice, the view is still breathtaking. 

HISTORY

 

I think it is important to know and recognise the history of where you live. Llandrindod Wells is a Victorian town with many stories to tell of days gone by. We should embrace this. There is no escaping the history as if you walk anywhere in the town you are surrounded by tall grand Victorian buildings which help to convey Llandrindod's grand history. Without this history, Llandrindod would not be the town and place it is today and this makes the town very special.

NATIONAL CYCLE MUSEUM

 

Llandrindod Wells also plays host to the National Cycle Museum located at the Automobile Palace on Temple Street. This museum is stooped in history and personally, I think it's possible to spend hours in the museum pouring over the history and when you leave you will feel as if you know all about the history of cycling and probably want to get out on your bike right that minute. The collection also draws people into Llandrindod Wells from afar and is a popular tourist attraction to visitors. 

 

COMMUNITY

 

Llandrindod is a special place, not least because of the community feeling within the town. Everyone has a kind word for everyone and people look out for each other.

Community links are an important part of Llandrindod life and without this thriving community, Llandrindod would not be such a fabulous place to live. The community can pull together during times of hardship and the community can act as a powerful and strong voice to stand together as one and fight for all the extraordinary factors that encompass all of life in Llandrindod.

LLANDRINDOD WELLS IS WELL AND TRULY BACK ON THE UP

 

The reopening of the Grand Pavilion, the development of Riversimple's hydrogen cell powered green car, the all new Rasa in Llandrindod Wells, Play Radnor's £250,000 lottery grant, the funding for the successful Town Champion for another year, the new birthing centre being developed at the hospital, the launch of Llandrindance aiming to get the whole town dancing, nine new businesses have opened or are opening in recent months...these are just some of the reasons why Llandrindod is continuing to flourish and why I am happy to say I am proud to live in this special town and be part of life in Llandrindod Wells. 

I hope I have shown you why YOU should love YOUR town and YOUR community. I am committed to helping people realise this town is a special place and fully enhance #llandrindodlife

Happy Home Gift Company

Happy Home Gift Company is a family-run local business owned by John Knill and Gemma Staton. The business location at 5 Middleton Street has meaning to John as it used to be his grandfather's butchers shop before it was passed down to his father when John was growing up in the town. The shop was sold out of the family and John moved away.

Find happy gifts in Llandrindod

When John discovered that the shop was up for sale once again, he and Gemma decided to take the plunge at making a successful business within the old family location, with Gemma leaving her teaching job in Dorset. Happy Home Gift Company opened up their doors to the community of Llandrindod Wells on October 2nd 2015 and they haven't looked back since.

It is demonstrated on a sign outside the shop that Happy Home is a place of happiness away from the monotony of every day life. When you enter the shop, this is certainly clear and is one of the many things that draws shoppers in.

Every time I walk into the haven of Happy Home Gift Company, the wonderful aroma of unique candles always seems to hit me first and creates an eruption of scents in my nose. (Look out for the source of this later in the blog post.)

The next thing to strike me is the friendliness and the way in which Gemma and John seem to go out of their way to make everyone feel so welcome.

Find happiness at Happy Home

Strolling into the happy haven

Happy Home sell a wide range of gifts, such as scarves, jewellery, kitchen and bakeware, an enormous collection of cards to suit any occasion, teddies, mirrors, clocks and many many more items. 

A perfect gift for a loved one

Another cute wall hang

Happy Home has an extensive variety of happy gifts suiting everyones' needs. To highlight this, Gemma told me lots of people recently have asked for umbrellas to be sold as we have been experiencing very wet Welsh weather here in Llandrindod. So she spent some time searching around to find some that were a bit quirky, unique and different in order to suit the vibe of the shop.
 

There are lots of gifts available to buy at Happy Home

Little Hotties are the source of the lovely smell that hits you as soon as you walk off of the street and into Happy Home. These are a varied range of exclusive, unique candles that you can fill a box with to burn on your oil burner and tea light warmers at home. The boxes are £6.50 each and you can fill them with as many of the little Home Fragrance Melters/candles as you can. The selection of candles sold in the shop change throughout the year to fit the seasons and when they are mixed on the oil burner it creates an amazing intermingled scent that will never be the same twice. Fresh Fruit Salad, Rain Soaked Lawn, Cheery Bakewell and Fairy Dust are just some examples detailed within the little booklet of the smells that you can create by adding the Melters together. 

The source of the wonderful smell

Over the coming few weeks, Happy Home will become even happier (if that is even possible!) with about a thousand more gifts being added to the shop. This ranges from scarves, jewellery, baby clothing (which will be suitable from birth), foot and hand cream to a world exclusive of some superhero posters that are designed by Gemma's friend. The list is almost endless and there is so much to look forward to.

These unique pens are for sale in the shop and 
are made by Gemma's Dad...no two are the same

I LOVE my lunch box purchased from Happy Home

As well as selling these special gifts, Happy Home Gift Company also provides services to the community such as picture framing, key cutting, fine art and vehicle graphics. When the shop first opened these services were not advertised to the community but now lots of people are hearing about them and it is bringing many different people in that would not often visit a gift shop. Ladies are bringing their partners in to get their keys cut and the fact they can have a browse around the shop when John is carrying out the process is definitely benefiting the company and their sales, whilst also helping to spread the happiness vibe. 

There are lots of framed to choose from

Did you know, you can get your keys cut at Happy Home?

In the near future, Happy Home will be expanding with the development of a website from which they will be selling their gifts to the whole of mainland UK.  The shop is flourishing in the old spa town of Llandrindod Wells, being open 9am until 5pm, Monday to Saturday and I cannot wait to see the advancement of the website which will help to unfurl happiness out all over the country.

Here is what some of the community of Llandrindod Wells have had to say about the shop on their Facebook page. (You can also follow Happy Home Gift Company on Twitter.)

"Lovely shop, just what Llandod needed. Fantastic products and a very welcoming feel as soon as you walk through the door. Good luck to you both."~Donna Jones

"Fab cards, gifts and friendly service. Highly recommended!"~Sian Pugh

"Lovely atmosphere, friendly smiling staff, beautiful stock. Definitely worth taking a look. Wishing the Happy Home Gift Company every success."~Jan Bowen

 "Great shop with some lovely things at good prices too, I bought a lovely dog cushion and can't wait to buy another one too!"~Diane Jackson

"Great shop, gorgeous products and lovely friendly staff. A little gem in Llandod!"~Helen Baynham

A collection of teddies on sale

Just one of Gemma's favourite cards on sale

John and Gemma see Llandrindod as a supporting, independent town that is very family orientated with a real feel of community. John and Gemma love that everyone is so friendly and they can have a proper conversation and get to know other business owners in the town. They also value the abundance of places to walk in the local area and being able to get outside and see wildlife on the doorstep.

The shop's owners also believe some locals do not realise or appreciate how well the old spa town is doing in the 21st Century.

"When people come to the town from a city on holiday or are just passing through; they love it here."

This has been demonstrated recently by Andrea Cremer, New York Times and international bestselling author of the Nightshade series, who enjoyed a short visit to Llandrindod Wells. During her time here she found the town struck her as, "idyllic, beautiful and delightful".

I challenged John and Gemma to describe Llandrindod in one word. John felt when he was younger he would have described the town as "quiet" but in a negative way as there was little for him to do. Nevertheless, now having returned to the location of Mid Wales after living in cities, he would describe the town as "beautiful" and has learned to appreciate the local area.

Gemma describes the town as "quaint and quiet" but in a positive way, as like John, she has learned to appreciate living in the heart of Wales surrounded by wildlife and such a friendly community after living in cities for most of her life.  

I think it is only fair I challenge myself to describe Happy Home Gift Company in one word; except it is not really a challenge and relatively simple...

"blissful"

If you want a little dose of happiness in your life, get over to Happy Home where I am sure they will be able to fix you up. (The only problem is you probably will not want to leave!) 

John & Gemma outside Happy Home

Below is a slideshow telling the story of Happy Home Gift Company Ltd.

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