Ex‑journalist launches luxury farm glamping site in Conwy
Former North Wales reporter Kelly Williams swaps news for ewes, preparing to open a two‑pod glamping retreat on a Llannefydd farm by New Year.
A former regional reporter has swapped her notepad for a flock of ewes as she prepares to open a luxury glamping retreat on a Conwy‑Denbighshire farm.
Kelly Williams, a mum of three with a two‑decade career that includes stints at the North Wales Pioneer, the Evening Leader and the Daily Star, is now a farmer‑turned‑entrepreneur.
The partnership began eight years ago when she met fourth‑generation farmer and mechanic Dyfan Owen in a Rhyl nightclub, a chance encounter that led to a life‑changing move.
Williams, originally from the Wirral, later relocated from Rhyl to the family farm at Llannefydd, packing her belongings into a livestock trailer before settling on the border of Conwy and Denbighshire.
Soon after the move she discovered she was pregnant, adding a second child to her family and prompting a hectic routine of farm work, childcare and remote journalism.
With no agricultural background she quickly became a hands‑on farmhand, learning cattle herding and sheep sorting on the job.
It was during this period that the idea of diversifying the farm into a glamping venue took shape, offering visitors a rural retreat with modern comforts.
The planning process was a real eye opener for us and it’s taken us a long time to get to this point.
We naively thought if you have your own land, you can do what you want on it – within reason.
We initially asked for permission for four glamping pods on a field across the road from the farm yard, but that was refused, despite support from all the neighbours.
After almost three years of applications, appeals and revisions, the council finally approved two pods, each fitted with an en‑suite bathroom, sauna, hot tub and underfloor heating, and positioned to command sea views over the Clwydian Range.
Groundworks and landscaping are now under way, with the couple hoping to welcome their first guests by the New Year.
Williams says the transition feels surreal, adding that if anyone had told her a decade ago she would be chasing animals and running a glamping site, she would never have believed it.