A Pub Saved by People: Inside the Revival of Ty’n Llan

Friday, 28th November marked the official opening of Ty’n Llan, a community pub in Llandwrog near Caernarfon. S4C’s nightly show Heno broadcast live from the event, the red ribbon was cut, and local residents raised a glass to celebrate the culmination of five years of work.

The much-loved local closed its doors in 2017, one of 18 pubs shutting each week across Britain during that period. For several years, the building stood empty – a shell in the heart of the village – until word spread in 2021 that it was to be sold. What began as local concern soon grew into a determined community movement to buy and revive the community hub.

“We were coming to the end of lockdown, and people were more aware than ever of the importance of community and connection,” explains Huw Jones, Treasurer of Menter Ty’n Llan, the community enterprise behind the project. “When we heard Ty’n Llan was going on the market, there was a real sense of urgency – no one wanted to see it turned into a private
house and lost to the community forever.”

A group of local residents came together and rolled up their sleeves. To secure the purchase they would need a business plan and a community shares scheme.

“Right at the beginning, once we’d decided to set up as a Community Benefit Society, we realised that Cwmpas could support us, so we got in touch.” Huw explains. “In no time at all, Cwmpas put us in touch with an expert to look over our business plan and shares scheme, and another Welsh-speaking hospitality expert who could advise whether our calculations were close to the mark.”

Having taken the expert advice on board, the group launched the campaign?, and managed to raise £465,200 in community shares, £65,200 more than the target. The purchase went ahead later in 2021, and by Christmas that year, the pub reopened in its original form while essential refurbishment took place.

Alongside raising community funds, the group were also applying for grants that would enable them to repair, modernise and transform the old building.

“The UK Government’s Community Opportunities Fund (COF) had been launched in the summer of ’21, but we felt it was too soon for us to apply. But Cwmpas had a better idea of what the wider picture was across Wales, and they suspected that not many applications were likely to be ready in time, and obviously wanted to ensure that Wales got its share of this new
UK-wide pot. So quite close to the deadline, seen as we already had our business plan ready, we decided to go for it, and we managed to secure the funding.”

In total, Menter Ty’n Llan managed to secure grant support from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, the UK Government’s Shared Prosperity Fund (SPF), The National Lottery Community Fund and Arfor. Previous support had come from the Welsh Government (CFP), the UK Government’s Community Opportunities Fund and Europe’s Regional Development
Fund.

“We have been extremely lucky with the grants that have been available, and the support from Cwmpas has been invaluable; they were our friends, good friends with useful information and we always felt that they were there to help us succeed.”
The building now boasts five luxury guest rooms, a brand new kitchen, a modern restaurant with views towards the Eifl mountains, and a dedicated community room. In the garden a small kiosk sells essentials such as milk and bread to local residents, and twenty people from the local area are now employed by Menter Ty’n Llan.

“It was fantastic to raise a glass to celebrate at the official opening,” adds Huw. “It’s been hard work, and it takes time, but if you have a strong community that’s willing to work together, you can succeed too.”