Nestled high up on a hill in the Brecon Beacons sits a beautifully designed, black clad hideout complete with big picture windows and toasty wood burner. I’m a sucker for both modern architecture and Scandinavian design, so Unyoked’s Elin cabin really was the ideal getaway for us.

Not overly difficult to get to from Bristol, if you’re fortunate to have a car, the cabin felt perfectly tucked away in nature. Shrouded in woodland with panoramic views of the Brecons rolling hills on two sides and with virtually no noise, except the local wildlife, it granted us the space and peace to reconnect with what really matters, even for a short while.

Though I love my day job, I’m a designer if you didn’t already know that, it’s in quite a fast-paced industry and because of that, I can sometimes feel close to burn-out. October of last year was one such time. I was often stressed, frustrated and completely overwhelmed. Though these moments in life are inevitable (and I’m happy to report things have improved since), I knew I needed a break away to reset and that’s when we stumbled across Unyoked.

There are many things that fill my soul and photography has always been one of them, that’s why this blog even exists for you to read right now. Being outdoors is the polar opposite to sitting sedentary at a computer all day, so any chance I get to immerse myself in it, I’m there with camera in hand. If friends, family or my partner, Dan are there too then that’s a bonus.

After loading up the wheelbarrow provided we followed the well sign-posted dirt track through a small wooded area and then out into an open field where the cabin resides. With the short Winter daylight hours, the sun was setting at this point so we quickly collected the key from the lock box by the door, loaded in all our bagage and I ran around taking photos of the cabin before all the light had gone. It does take me a little while to switch off from ‘productive mode’ so this doesn’t surprise me one bit.

I had romanticised the first evening somewhat, we were going to make a fire in the wood burner, cook up some spiced pumpkin soup and read our books with some smooth jazz on in the background and whilst we did do all of those things, I fell asleep at the foot of the bed, dead to the world, within just a few pages. I think that speaks volumes of just how much my body and mind required respite.

On the second day, a drizzly one, we locked up the cabin and headed to the nearby quiet border market town of Hay-on-Wye. Revered by bookworms throughout the UK and considering my new found affinity for reading, I couldn’t wait to have a mooch around. We enjoyed perusing through many of the bookshops but the pièce de résistance has to be Richard Booth's Bookshop on Lion Street. I could have simply spent the whole day in there, browsing every shelf whilst costing me a small fortune in the process.

Aisle after aisle and row after row of colossal wooden shelves laden with all kinds of stories stood before me. There was something for everyone and I found myself looking at books about photography, folklore, adventure and even a book about book-jacket illustration over the ages, whilst Dan had his head firmly in a book about space. The second floor was my favourite, with its exposed rafters and large roof windows that illuminated the space. I could go on and on about it but if you like reading then this is a destination for your bookshop bucket list.

Next we went to have a look around Hay Castle, which also had it’s own honesty-box book collection in a covered garden. The exhibitions around the castle were interesting and well considered, we especially liked the animations in the cellar, the norman keep ruins and the viewpoint across Hay from the top.

They’ve considerably modernised the building inside, after a disastrous fire destroyed most of it, and used innovative lighting but in a way that still respects the original structure and materials. The history of the castle is really quite unusual and involves Richard Booth himself, a kooky character who declared himself ‘King of Hay’ (see the bronze portrait above) after granting the town independence in 1977. They even invented their own ‘Hay Sausage’.

I did a little Christmas shopping in Bartrums & Co, which from the outside, looks straight out of Diagon Alley, whilst Dan had the best salad he’s ever eaten from The Salad Project opposite. I stumbled across Flow, a homewares, clothing and gifts shop with an outdoorsy vibe on Castle Street. This store was an adventure-seeker’s dream and I ended buying a few bits, including and Hay-on-Wye pennant flag for my office.

We ducked out of the rain and into Shepherds Parlour, where Dan had some gelato and I devoured a truly incredible scone. Then before we hopped back in the car we stopped off at The Fudge Shop, which was like an emporium brimming of sweet things everywhere you looked. They have been making fudge by hand for twenty years and there’s over sixteen different scrumptious fudges to choose from.

Returning to the cabin, armed with new books and traditional vanilla fudge, we settled in for a cosy evening of reading, cooking up some brioche halloumi burgers and generally unwinding before trekking outside to celebrate bonfire night with a crackling campfire and a hot chocolate.

I’ll leave you with some further images of the cabin, it’s facilities and the area it’s located in, including the great oak tree that’s perfectly framed from inside the cabin. The only thing I would note is that cooking burgers in a small cabin without having all the doors and windows wide open (Winter) did set the fire alarm off. It was so high up, we couldn’t reach it very well leaving us frantically wafting tea-towels around (with little effect) for a while before it turned off.

It always amazes me how restorative a weekend away, preferably in a cabin, is when you feel like it’s all getting a bit much. It forces me to slow down and take stock when I’m so used to going a million miles an hour. I come away recharged, feeling like a better version of myself and ready to implement my new perspectives into the everyday, or at least until I need another reminder.

I would love to return sometime in the summer, or maybe to another of Unyoked’s many other cabins dotted around the UK, when we can make full use of the space outside, potentially without threat of rain or dark evenings. I’d also love to return to Hay-on-Wye when the festival is full swing and to eat more of the delicious food. If you’re looking for a quiet cosy place to retreat to, away from the hustle and bustle of city life, then this is the perfect place for you.