Llandwrog villagers buy and reopen Ty'n Llan pub

Villagers are celebrating reopening their pub in time for Christmas.

The community of Llandwrog in Gwynedd raised more than £460,000 to buy the Ty'n Llan pub, which closed in 2017.

Villagers set up a group selling £100 shares to allow them to buy the 200-year-old pub, and about 1,000 people invested - some from as far afield as New Zealand.

"We've been able to open our community pub at last," said Wyn Roberts, a member of the pub committee.

The pub reopened on Friday, about six months after villagers managed to buy it.

They started their campaign to raise the funds at the start of 2021 and, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, they had to meet on a Zoom video call to discuss their plans.

"By June we'd raised enough money to buy the pub, and since then we've been renovating, painting, cleaning, getting the place ready so that we have a pub back in the village," said Mr Roberts.

"The intention over the next few months is to gather more money through grants so that we can build an extension at the back and open a restaurant, and there will be rooms upstairs so that people can stay here as well," he said.

Meanwhile, people in the Aeron Valley in Ceredigion have raised in excess of £300,000 to buy the Vale pub.

Treasurer Keith Henson said he was "delighted" the money had been raised and hoped it could reopen early next year.

"We're still waiting for money to come in but we have hit the target in terms of getting enough money to buy the place," he said.

"We're hoping to open during the next few months."

The Welsh Beer and Pub Association said: "Pubs are the heart of our communities, so it is great to see people coming together to support them."