Geographical Description

The Estate is located in the lower part of the Conwy Valley, only about 7 miles south of the North Wales coast at Llandudno. For the precise location and how to get here, please click on the Location Page.

The Estate is predominantly agricultural, with a lot of woodland and some lakes, and also some mountain land high in Snowdonia. There are three main areas of the Bodnant Estate:

	The main part of the Estate lies on the east bank of the River Conwy, centred on the Eglwysbach valley.
	Some of the Estate lies in the flood plain on the west bank of the River Conwy.
	The Estate also has some land high in Snowdonia, in the upper part of Cwm Eigiau, a wild and unspoilt valley high in the Carneddau range of mountains.

Agriculture

The agriculture on the Estate is typical of North Wales, mainly the rearing of sheep, with some dairy and beef cattle. There is little arable farming. The Estate comprises about a dozen small or modest-sized farms plus some smallholdings. Since the mid 1960s all of the farming has been let out to tenant farmers.

Forestry

There are nearly 600 acres of mostly mature woodland on the Estate. Some of the woodland is categorised as “semi-natural ancient woodland” (predominantly sessile oak), and has changed little for centuries. The Estate’s policy is to attempt to manage the woodland more actively than in the past, where possible on a continuous cover basis (as opposed to clear felling). Although depressed timber prices and difficulties of extraction make the active management of the woodland a loss-making activity, the Estate continues to do this in order to preserve and enhance the landscape for the future and for environmental and biodiversity reasons.

Walking

There are more than 20 miles of tracks through the woods and over the farms on the Estate. Except for a few footpaths and bridle paths, most of the tracks were made early in the 20th century for pony carriages to tour the Estate. If you are staying in one of our holiday cottages, you would be welcome to walk on all these tracks, which we try to maintain and keep clear.

Riding

The Estate is wonderful riding country, because of the dramatic lie of the land, the many Estate paths and the beauty of the scenery. So our policy is to try to develop facilities for equestrian activities on the Estate. However, those facilities are not yet in place. For more about our equestrian plans, see the Country Pursuits page.

Fishing

There is fishing on three lakes on the Estate, including the largest (Llyn Syberi). This fishing is let out, as also is the right to access the fishing on parts of the River Conwy. For details of day tickets for fishing in Llyn Syberi, see the Country Pursuits page.

Shooting

The shooting on the Estate (mainly reared pheasants but also some wildfowl) has been let out. For details of purchasing a day's shooting, see the Country Pursuits page.

Residential Properties

There are a number of houses and cottages for rent on the Estate.

	Some of them are available for rent as holiday cottages: see the Holiday Cottages pages.
	Most of the houses on the Estate are rented to permanent residents on assured shorthold tenancies: see the Properties for Rent page.
	A number of the other houses are occupied by employees of the various enterprises connected with Bodnant – the Estate, the Garden and the Garden Nursery.
	About 10 Estate houses are occupied free of charge by pensioners (or their surviving spouses) formerly employed by Bodnant enterprises.

Commercial Properties

There is some commercial property rented on the Estate. For enquiries as to vacancies, see the Properties for Rent page.