Village initiatives

Returning to the village of Llithfaen, you should be aware that the village, despite being small, is home to four community enterprises - Menter yr Eifl, the owners of the building housing Siop Pen-y-groes, Tafarn y Fic, Siop Pen y Groes a Hafod Ceiri. These enterprises reflect the community spirit that has long been here for a century or more.

We first see this enterprising spirit manifesting itself in the latter part of the nineteenth century. In the 1870s, a group of quarrymen from Gwaith Mawr Llan’huar establishing the Eifl Workers Co-operative Society and opening a shop to meet all the needs of the community. This was the second Co-op to be established in Great Britain. Goods would come directly from the empty ships that would eventually collect stones from the quarry. The Stôr, would open in the evenings, as the men worked in the quarry during the day. The Stôr closed its doors for the last time in October 1969.

Menter yr Eifl owns the building housing Siop Pen-y-groes. By 1996, Siop Pen-y-groes was in dire straits, and the owner wished to sell. Following huge support from the villagers, nine in ten households agreed to back a community enterprise to buy the building. At the outset, the committee ran the shop, but very soon a tenant was found to run it. Following the announcement of the Post Office to close its Llithfaen Branch on 14 February 2009. There was no option but to sell the building.

Cwmni Siop Pen-y-groes is a tenant of Menter yr Eifl and operates the shop. There was a feeling of utter helplessness at the thought of the village's last shop closing. An informal meeting was held, and it was decided that the building could not be let go without another community effort. Positive answers came to a questionnaire that had gone to every house in the village. A formal meeting was held on 30 July 2009 and the shop was opened on 13 August. Tafarn y Fic - During the 1980s the pub came under the threat. The brewery envisaged no future for the pub. The villagers stepped in again to keep it open. Instead of being a tenant pub, the enterprise is now controlled by the directors, with all profits being rolled back into the community.

Hafod Ceiri is a company set up to develop Capel Isaf, Llithfaen into a multi-purpose Centre for the area. They aim to create a sustainable resource to serve our community, the top floor open retaining all the unique features of the gallery and choir. On the lower floor of the main building, we will develop a heritage centre, a small cinema and café facing the magnificent view to the south.