A Ride to the Riverside

 

Our saunas are built by a close-knit team of skilled carpenters who share a passion for an outdoor lifestyle as well as their craft. We are lucky to be located in the beautiful Dyfi forest of Eryri (Snowdonia) National park, and our team regularly enjoy after work adventures as well as social sauna sessions. In spring this year, we captured an evening mountain bike ride down to the riverside sauna with some of our workshop team.

 
The Heartwood Saunas workshop team stand with their mountain bikes looking out across the landscape in the evening sun.

Members of the Heartwood Saunas team look out across the landscape that surrounds the workshop.

Common Ground

Living and working on the southern edge of Snowdonia, it is impossible not to engage with the landscape. The rugged slate mountain ridges, waterfalls, forests, expansive estuaries and sandy beaches are integral to the local community and identity. Many of the Heartwood Saunas team get active outdoors in the mornings and evenings, and their hobbies are quite diverse - from running, climbing and hiking to rowing, surfing and cycling.

Fitting an outdoor lifestyle around working for Heartwood Saunas comes naturally, as the workshop is positioned half way up a small mountain, in the dense mixed woodland of the Dyfi forest.

“My main hobby is mountain biking, and our workshop is at the centre of some of the best trails in the UK so fitting in rides around work is really easy.” Isaac, carpenter

Our workshop team arrive early in the morning, and it’s a beautiful time to take in the surrounding landscape, just as the sun hits the hills and begins to burn-off the mist that gathers in the trees.

“I try to use active travel to get to work - If I can go for a nice walk through the woods or a bike ride over the mountain ridge on my way then it puts me in a great state of mind for a day in the workshop.” Robin, workshop manager

 

(Left to right) Olly, Isaac and Robin ride up the Tarran y Gesail ridge.

Robin May, Heartwood Saunas workshop manager sits on his bike at the top of the mountain.
 
 

Origins

For Olly, Heartwood Saunas’ founder, it was enjoying an outdoor lifestyle in this landscape that fuelled an enthusiasm for saunas.

“Where we live it’s often really wet and cold, and a big part of my life is spending time outdoors - I’m often outside all day and really cold to the bone, so being able to come back, take off wet and muddy kit and step inside a hot sauna is just the perfect antidote to really drive out that cold.” Olly, founder.

With its unpredictable weather and a mixed terrain ideal for outdoor pursuits, Mid-Wales does seem like the right place to inspire and grow a sauna culture in the UK, and the Heartwood Saunas team are wholly behind the heat.

“Having a sauna straight after a ride gives your body time to recover. The combination of a ride, then a sauna and a cold plunge has got to be hard to beat.” Isaac, carpenter

 
Heartwood Saunas team look back towards the workshop as they set off up the mountain on their bikes

Heading Out as a Team

As we are moving into summer, the team have been taking more opportunities to get outdoors together, and earlier in the season, some of our workshop team headed out after work for a ridgeway mountain bike trail and cycle down to our riverside Aire+ sauna. 

While some of the team are keen mountain bikers, it was a new experience for others - and there were a handful of slightly scary moments as well as plenty of laughter.

“It was great to go out with everyone, it’s quite a mixed ability group when it comes to mountain biking so we took a straightforward route up the mountain to enjoy some views over the forest then we had different options on the way down.” Robin, workshop manager

 
The Heartwood Saunas workshop team ride together as they approach the riverside Aire+ outdoor sauna they handmade in the Dyfi forest

The team approach the riverside sauna after a challenging ride

Post-Ride Sauna

For the Heartwood team, it was especially rewarding to end the ride with a riverside sauna session; an ideal way to encourage recovery and relaxation after strenuous exercise. The heat generated in the sauna helps to relieve tension by improving blood flow to oxygen depleted muscles. This speeds up muscle recovery time, preserves muscle mass and guards against inflammation.

Having a sauna together also gives the team an opportunity to catch up after the ride.

“Once we were in the sauna, everyone sat and talked about what happened on the trail - there were some really funny moments and it was great to sit and remember these together.” Olly, founder

Although the role of saunas varies between cultures and has changed considerably over thousands of years, the tradition of communal sauna bathing to cultivate social connection, camaraderie and friendship persists. For the heartwood team, having a sauna together provides an opportunity to socialise and get to know one another outside of the workshop environment. But more than that, they get to enjoy the culmination of their hard work crafting exceptional outdoor saunas.

 
The Heartwood Saunas team relax in an Aire+ outdoor sauna together after work.
 
<