should be adopted as the standard model for bookshops in every town. - Nigel Evans, Brecon & Radnor Express.

Welcome to The Hours Café & Bookshop

Brecon Beacons Tourism’s Best Eating Out Experience/ Cafe of the Year 2016

At the foot of the beautiful Brecon Beacons, in the flagship town of the National Park, a short walk from the banks where the rivers Honddu and Usk meet, you will find The Hours Cafe & Bookshop. ‘The Hours’ is the perfect spot to sit and unwind, to catch up with family and friends in relaxed surroundings with the daily papers, scrabble and backgammon close at hand… in fact it’s the just the place to wile away the hours.

Situated in a gorgeously wonky Grade II listed building on one of Brecon’s oldest streets, we stock a fine selection of carefully hand-picked books. Our quirky second floor meanwhile, exhibits art by Welsh and Wales-based artists and houses a selection of literary gifts and used books. Please go to our events page to read about upcoming exhibitions.

Our charming café offers a scrumptious array of freshly prepared food including sandwiches, homemade quiches and hearty platters using local produce where possible, as well as home-made cakes and deliciously smooth fair-trade coffee.

Latest news

Join us on Thursday 1 June 2017, at 7pm, for the opening of ‘Up Ship Street’ by Susan Adams with readings by Lesley Saunders and Jo Mazelis. ‘Up Ship Street’ is an exhibition of artist Susan Adams’s creative exchanges with Jerwood prize-winning author Jo Mazel

January 26, 2017

‘Backstage’ is our fantastic new exhibition by Neath artist, Paul Rees. Born in Pontypool in 1971 and brought up in Neath, Paul studied Fine Art at Swansea Metropolitan University graduating with first class honours in 2008. He has since exhibited regularly throughout Wal

Testimonials

Bookshops are only usually like this in dreams. Housed in a three-storey Tudor building, all exposed stone walls and inviting nooks, the Hours is a bijou shop stocking just 1,000 covetable titles (fiction, art, poetry, crime, children's titles, walking guides and local interest) in an environment to invite lingering. The current owners opened the shop in 2010 after years in the corporate sector. They wanted to create a place to stumble upon and cherish, and they've succeeded. Next to the books, there's a brilliant cafe with free wireless internet access and papers; upstairs there's a comfy reading room. The shop takes its name from the working title for Mrs Dalloway. Virginia Woolf, you feel, would have loved this tranquil, creative place.

The Hours is just beautiful. Although small, the book selection is splendid, and the commitment of the owners to literature is exemplary. It is a centre of reading in Brecon, and you can have a beautiful meal while you browse or buy. Brecon has long deserved a good bookshop and now it has one.

Jayne Evans on The Telegraph website

Oh the joy of a good cup of coffee whilst you tap away at your laptop, read, or chat with friends in a warm, welcoming coffee shop. One that has fabulous food and drinks that aren’t ridiculously overpriced; that’s buzzing, but not too busy, with nice background music that you don’t have to shout over. It needs to have great service and you shouldn’t feel rushed. It’s an elusive Utopia, but I’ve finally discovered such a perfect haven.

Girly Scribbles Book Reviews

Brecon’s unsung hero: The lopsided door opens into a charming book lined cafe, tables nicely spaced and scattered around the low ceilinged room. The staff are charming and helpful and the poached eggs and bacon exemplary. If Brecon has nothing else to offer the weary traveller it has the Hours to make up for that.

Trip advisor review

An intimate and relaxing setting, situated in a unique and traditional Brecon building. There are some scrumptious sandwiches on the menu and some delicious cakes that balance a coffee or tea perfectly.

Ten of the Best Brecon Beacons Cafes - Brecon Beacons blog