Cost of living: The 130-year-old workingmen's club facing closure

A 130-year-old workingmen's club in a former mining village may be forced to close due to the cost of living crisis.

Since 1893, residents in Tumble, near Cross Hands, Carmarthenshire have used The Great Mountain Workingmen's Club.

It proved a haven through the Great Depression, two world wars and a miners' strike, but may not survive today's soaring energy prices.

Chairwoman Helen Lloyd said: "I don't know what we'd do if the club closed. It's terrible, really terrible."

"There's a lot that goes on in the club, the football plays out of here, the darts, the rugby, all the way down to the little ones.

"It's very emotional. These energy companies don't know what they're doing to little villages like ours."

The club has seen its energy bill quadruple rising from £500 a month to £2,500.

It has been cut off by its energy supplier due to outstanding debt and now runs off a diesel generator so there is only enough power to use a few rooms at a time.

The lights above the snooker table are no longer switched on and a planned gig night - a potential vital money-spinner - has had to be cancelled.

"We can't get the electric on because the generator isn't big enough to run the big room," said Mrs Lloyd.

"We could be doing a lot of money. We've lost a lot of money because we've had to cancel the concert and we've had to give people their ticket money back."

Situated directly opposite the Great Mountain Colliery, the club was founded to provide a range of activities, both educational and recreational, for workers and their families. It even provided showers for the miners to wash after their shift.

With about 600 members it remains the "hub of the community" and is home to both the village's rugby and football clubs.

The rugby club recently celebrated its 125th anniversary.

Angharad Williams who plays for the women's team Y Piod Pinc cannot imagine life elsewhere.

"We use this space for things like social events, we use it to catch up with our friends, we use it for training sessions, we use this facility a lot for such a small club," she said.

But with costs soaring members who have owned the building since 2000 are worried.

They have brought forward membership renewal from June to February and have doubled the cost from £10 to £20 a year.

They are also reviewing opening hours and are deciding whether to increase bar prices.

Despite the challenges, Ms Williams believes the effort has "pulled the community together" even more than ever.

"Last week this room was full of people in a meeting ready to take action, ready to put down to paper what they were going to do personally," she said.

"They were ready to put their time and effort into the club to get it back to where it was and that speaks for itself."