The Horseshoe Inn, Old Abergavenny Road, Pontypool NP4 8QZ  01873 880542 - Friendly pub with good pub grup. Beautiful views from outside seating area.

The Star Inn, Old Abergavenny Road, Pontypool NP4 0JF 01495 785319 - run by local farming family.

The Unicorn Pub, Albion Road, Pontypool NP4 6LE 01495 751304 - good sized portions in this pub!

The Three Moguls Indian Restaurant, 7 Western Valley Road, Rogerstone NP10 9DS 01633 894365 - Lovely Indian restaurant and great food to boot!

The Otter on Newbridge roundabout - Chain but nice pub with decent food. This is the closest pub to the farmhouse and is family friendly.

The Hardwick Restaurant, Old Raglan Road, Abergavenny NP7 9AA  01873 854220 - a bit further away but worth the drive. Fantastic food cooked by Stephen Terry.

Held at the historical Caldicot Castle on the second bank holiday weekend in May, the Welsh Perry and Cider Festival is the premier cider festival of the year. Patrons can't only sample some of the bast craft ciders and perries from around Wales, but from across the rest of the UK and France as well. Live music, medieval-style fames, tutored tastings and artisanal food stalls are also on the menu.

As the biggest and most loved food festival in the country, every September Abergavenny exhibits over 200 artisanal food and drinks vendors from all over the country. It's renowned for celebrity chef appearances and kitchen demonstrations from the likes of Tom Kerridge, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and food critic, Jay Raynor. There's live music, a night market and loads of fancy booze, but it's worth going just to see how many different types of cheese you can 'sample' without paying a penny.

Welsh people love cheese. So much so there's an entire festival in Caerphilly dedicated to it. For 2 days in July the grounds of Caerphilly Castle get taken over by brightly coloured tents, bunting, hoards of cheese eating maniacs and plenty of historical antics, like falconry and fire-eating. Plus the odd b-list celeb often turns up. The Big Cheese is usually held on the last weekend in July and is always free.