Skip to content

Dylan Thomas: Vale of Aeron pub to get £300k for renovation

Google Some of the money will be used to make the pub greenerGoogle
The Vale of Aeron was once a haunt of Dylan Thomas

A pub Dylan Thomas once drank in is to receive a £300,000 grant to pay for renovations.

The tavern was a haunt of the poet and playwright behind Under Milk Wood, when he lived near the Vale of Aeron in the 1940s.

The cash will now be used to make the property in Ystrad Aeron, Ceredigion, available to the whole community.

The project is one of three in Wales to receive a total of £770,057 from the UK government's community ownership fund.

The Menter Tafarn y Vale cooperative raised an initial £300,000 in December 2021 to buy the pub.

Cooperative chairman, Iwan Thomas, told Radio Wales Drive he found out they had been successful in their bid on Friday.

But he had to keep the news secret until Monday.

"It was a bit difficult to keep our mouths shut over the weekend," the 53-year-old said, but said he was absolutely delighted.

Empics Dylan Thomas was said to have drunk in the pub when he lived nearby in the 1940sEmpics
The poet was said to have drunk in the pub when he lived nearby in the 1940s

The money will be spent on making the place more environmentally friendly.

Mr Thomas said: "One of the big things we (were) always aiming to do was make it a greener building.

"As you can imagine, its an old 19th Century building, not very well insulated, single glazed windows rattling away through the winter.

"So we were very keen to bring it into the 21st Century, at least in terms of sustainability and environmental performance."

There are also plans to make it more accessible.

Mr Thomas said: "It's on a variety of levels and challenging for less able people so it's mostly about sustainability, accessibility.

ANDREW CHITTOCK The team behind the Vale of Aeron pubANDREW CHITTOCK
The pub was bought by a cooperative after they raised an initial £300,000 in 2021

"But also we're looking to widen our offer a little bit (and) we recognise there's some work we need to do in the kitchen."

A grant of £187,557 will also go to the Judge's Lodging Museum, in Powys, and the Temperance Hall Printworks, in Haverfordwest, will get £282,500.

Welsh Secretary, David TC Davies, said: "These three latest Welsh recipients of the community ownership fund are all fantastic projects that will make a huge difference to their local areas."

The community ownership fund has now given £4m to 18 projects in Wales.

A total of 195 projects are being supported across the UK.

Levelling Up minister, Jacob Young, said: "Our priority is to support communities and deliver opportunities right across the country."

Watch on iPlayer banner
Watch on iPlayer footer