Green Man

The Green Man gallery sits just outside Crickhowell in the Black Mountains, housed in a converted Welsh chapel that's been given a proper second life. Inside you'll find contemporary art and craft work - painting, sculpture, jewellery - rotating throughout the year, so what's on depends entirely on when you visit. It's a working artist community as much as a gallery, which means you'll often find makers in their studios, and that's where it gets interesting. You can actually watch someone at the loom or the kiln rather than just looking at finished pieces behind glass.

This isn't a massive institutional space. You'll spend maybe an hour here, possibly less if the current exhibition doesn't grab you, but that's sort of the point - it's intimate and genuinely low-key. The chapel conversion is sympathetic and atmospheric; all exposed stone and good light pouring through those tall windows. Art and craft enthusiasts will absolutely get more from it than casual browsers, though families won't feel unwelcome.

It works brilliantly as part of a broader Powys tour - Crickhowell itself is only a short drive away and worth an afternoon for the bridge and high street, and if you're staying at Cwmdu Campsite just two and a half miles south, the gallery makes an easy morning detour. Check their website before you go for opening times and what's currently on display, because they're not open every single day and seasonal hours do shift. Worth the small effort to plan around, though.