Plas-Y-Nant - Country House and Conference Centre in North Wales

The History of Plas-y-Nant

Plas-y-Nant has a long history going back to the 19th century. It was originally a private house with its own chapel and extensive grounds.

From the 1930s until 1985 Plas-y-Nant was owned and operated by Christian Endeavour Holiday Homes, a charity providing low cost holidays to mainly young people from the Manchester and Lancashire areas.

Holidays were organised year-round, and generally featured

Accommodation in dormitory-style rooms for 100-120 people
Activities organised by 2-3 “excursion leaders”, who usually led three excursions 4 days per week – the “A” party undertook an energetic hill or mountain walk, the “B” party undertook a gentle forest ramble, and the “C” party went sightseeing by coach, often to the seaside or a castle / town.
In the evenings entertainment was usually by the guests for the guests – concerts, games etc

For many years Plas-y-Nant was managed by Lena Coughlan, a dedicated single lady who managed staffing, catering and pastoral care for the young people in her care.

Plas-y-Nant suffered competition from mass tourism, and attendance declined until the property was closed for business in 1985. It then lay empty and disused until 1993 when Andy and Andrea Goodall bought the property, undertook significant upgrades, and began to run the property as a small country hostel.

In 2003 Tony and Diane Phillips began working at Plas, and since early 2005 have been the outright owners of the business.

Tony has a long family association with Plas-y-Nant – his father (Stan Phillips) was an excursion leader at Plas in the 1950s, and met his mother (Barbara Phillips) there. Tony and one of his brothers were also excursion Leaders in the 1980s before Plas closed down.