Rural village hall reopens after £200,000 refit

The newly refurbished space is light and airy after the £200,000 refit

The community of Mynydd Llandygai near Bangor in Gwynedd are celebrating the reopening of their community hall after a £200,000 refit.

Mynydd Llandygai Memorial Hall had fallen into disrepair, with part of it closed off because it was unsafe.

A committee spent five years applying for grants, mostly unsuccessfully, before they got the essential funding.

The hall was originally funded and built by quarry workers from the village, and opened in 1933.

Fundraiser and project manager Chas Sewell said the hall had recently fallen into disrepair.

"Part of it, which used to be the snooker hall, had to be closed three years ago because it was totally unsafe," he said.

A before-and-after picture shows the amount of work done

"The scariest bit for me, I think, was when the suspended ceiling came down in there, because I had no idea what we would find."

Instead of disaster however, a wooden ceiling was discovered, although a lot of it was rotten.

After eight months of hard work, that room, along with the rest of the hall, has been converted into a light, airy, energy-efficient space.

"We are going to reinstate one of the snooker tables in here, and it will be the first time ever this room has had any power points, it only ever had one light, and I don't think it was ever heated," he said.

The rest of the hall too used to be "cold and damp".

There is no shop, we've got nothing, and although the church has helped us, this is much more central for everyone to meet Theta Owen, local resident

Despite this it took five years to get the essential funding in place.

"We thought of giving up. I'm not a bureaucrat used to filling grant applications... but my wife made me do it," he said.

Then with the funding in place Mr Sewell took on the role of project manager, which he described as "common sense".

"It is now energy efficient and also has a real quality finish - I can't do shoddy," he said.

In the main area the original stage has been refurbished - with under-stage storage where there used to be just damp earth.

"We've had a mile of new electrical wiring put in," Mr Sewell added.

"And the loos, which used to be awful, disgusting, have been completely refitted, and there's full disabled access," he said.

There has been one fly in the ointment however.

One of two solar panels installed on the roof has been deliberately damaged and the hall committee has to find £4,000 to replace it.

"At the time I wanted to give up, but that would have meant this type of behaviour would have been rewarded," he said.

Theta Owen, who has lived in the village for over 50 years, said the hall was essential for the community.

"It's absolutely fantastic, they've worked so hard on it," she said.

She added that her children used the hall when they were young, and there were a lot of local societies and groups who would benefit from the new facilities.

"There is no shop, we've got nothing, and although the church has helped us, this is much more central for everyone to meet," she added.