A community has launched a campaign to ensure one of its most important community assets, a much-loved pub and restaurant, is kept alive.
The Glan Yr Afon/Riverside in Pennal, Machynlleth, has been a staple in the village for many years and boasts a great reputation for good food with punters from nearby villages often visiting. Its current owners, who took over in 2010, are looking to sell the pub after over thirty years in the hospitality industry and rather than passing the baton to an outsider, whose ties to the community may not be as strong as those living there, the people of Pennal are pooling their resources to "bring it into the ownership of the community and re-develop it so it meets our current and future needs," says sheep farmer Meirion Roberts, chairman of Pennal Community Council.
The campaign, Menter Y Glan, started six weeks ago after the council was approached by members of the public who said: "What can we do the save the pub?", and Hollywood star Matthew Rhys has already offered his support as his father grew up in the community. You can get more local Welsh news and other story updates straight to your inbox by subscribing to our newsletters here.
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The plan is to "develop a genuine community services hub offering a range of facilities for the benefit of the local community and the disparate farming families". The campaign hopes to raise a minimum of £250,000 through share offers and donations, to help the community buy the pub and turn it into the village's beating heart, once again - complete with a shop offering local produce from suppliers in the community, a cafe within the inn's grounds and, hopefully in the future, accommodation.
Speaking of these plans, Meirion said: "It's not just a pub project, it's a village project," adding: "We've lost a shop [over the years] and during Covid, people have been lonely. They haven't had the place to come and chat to friends and have a coffee.
"With Pennal being on the coastal path, people walk through the village always asking: 'where's the shop?', 'where's the cafe?'. Not everybody goes to the pub, we admit, it's a lifestyle choice, but the community needs a shop and cafe. And because of the business model we have, which is community benefits society, there's an asset lock in there that all the money raised has to go back to the community. It's a vehicle to move on to do more community things."
With a "lovely space" and outbuilding at the back of the pub, making the perfect location for its shop and cafe, Meirion said it would give the community a chance to offer support to local suppliers, who could provide eggs, honey, fresh vegetables, meat, flowers and more - "The list goes on and on".
Alongside these establishments, Meirion said there was one important and powerful initiative that was hoped to be adopted once the pub became a community hub.
"Mental health is becoming more of an issue, so our local GP doctor - Dr Tom Windsor Lewis (pictured) - is telling us. And he wants to use the pub as a hub to try and get [people who are] worried or have issues to a relaxed atmosphere to talk to them. And in the farming community, there's [a lot of] mental health issues, he's telling us. He's talking to the Mental Health Foundation and as part of our business plan, he has incorporated what he wants to do - to support community health in a rural area."
Meirion added: "A farmer won't go and see a doctor. No chance he'll go and see a doctor. But he just might come to the pub, have a drink and maybe talk quietly to somebody that could help him."
And it seems that this initiative not only has support from people in Wales but across the pond, too. One person in particular, whose support has been met with awe and excitement, is that of Hollywood Emmy award-winner, Golden Globe nominee and proud Welsh actor Matthew Rhys.
The 47-year-old actor, who now lives in America, has paternal ties to the small Gwynedd village - his father was "born and raised in our community," so Meirion, whose idea it was to reach out to the star, said.
Of supporting the project, Matthew has said: "I have strong personal ties with the Pennal area and believe that this venture is hugely important in helping to safeguard the community’s future. It is wonderful to see people taking responsibility and ownership for their communities in these challenging times and I wish them well in their endeavours."
And it's not just community spirit that Pennal has in abundance. While the village of Pennal is small, with only around 150 households - or thereabouts - its part in Welsh history is grand. Anyone who has visited, lived or grown up in Wales has, at one stage or another, heard of the famous 15th Century Welsh rebel - who back then was Prince of Wales - Owain Glyndŵr.
And Pennal's connections to Owain Glyndwr run deep. Over six centuries ago, the rebel sent out the famous 'Pennal Letter' to the King of France at the time, Charles the 6th, asking for military assistance to save his beloved Wales, the language and culture from English oppression. While unsuccessful in this mission, his legend lives on. This letter, according to The National Library of Wales, was composed during a synod of the Welsh Church at Pennal in 1406.
Now, this villlage in Machynlleth is aiming to channel Owain Glyndwr's spirit which, according to the community's Go Fund Me page, "has given this small community the strength to reach out with its own cry for help in saving the thriving hub of this historical village". They have been inspired to create their very own Pennal Letter and ask for help with fundraising.
Their hope is that it'll reach anyone with Welsh ancestry across the world and ignite their sense of Welsh spirit and help them save their beloved Glan Yr Afon.
Matthew added: "If you can support please do so, and the spirit of Owain Glyndwr will continue to be felt in the area."
Donations or purchases in shares of the Glan Yr Afon can be done via their Go Fund Me page or via their Share Offer. You can also find out how to lend your support, by visiting the campaign's website.
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