Next Monday (31 March 2025) is the deadline for a fund-raising appeal to save the Y Ring/ Brondanw Arms pub in Garreg, the older part of Llanfrothen village. A Community Benefit Society Menter y Ring Cyfyngedig has launched a website in Welsh and English) to raise money from investors who wish to buy shares at £1 each.
The minimum investment is £100 (100 shares) and the maximum is £20,000.
There has been a pub on the site since the 17th century, according to a news report in the Daily Post/ North Wales Live by Owen Hughes (no relation). Before the Cob embankment blocked off the sea, boats could come right up to the Llanfrothen village. According to local stories, the name Y Ring refers to the rings at the pub to tied the boats to.
Local Welsh author Richard Hughes had many happy memories of the pub. So did the following generation: Robert, Penny, Katie, Lleky and Owain and their families.
The Community Benefit Society is run by a management committee of local volunteers. It is registered with the Financial Conduct Authority (number 9429). According to the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) section of the website under Documents: “Our purpose is to buy the leasehold of the Ring and run it for the benefit of the community.”
The target is to raise £200,000 through selling the shares. “This will cover the cost of the lease (56 years), transaction fees and initial renovation costs.”
Before it closed the pub was operated by Robinsons Brewery, which closed it and put it onto the market through Fleurets estate agent at £110,000 + VAT. The leasehold is from the Brondanw/Portmeirion Properties estate, controlled by the family of Clough Williams-Ellis. According to the report, the 99-year lease runs from 1981 on a fixed rental of £1 per annum. The community group won’t say currently what price they have negotiated for the leasehold but they are confident that if they meet the target by next Monday, they will save the pub. Fundraising has been underway since September and significant sums had been pledged already last year.
Apparently this model of community ownership has worked for other pubs in communities in Gwynedd and further afield. It opens up the possibility to get funding from sources such as grants. that would not be not available for a privately-owned pub.
The news report quotes estate agent Tim Martin of Fleurets explaining the pub has good catering facilities, a three bed flat and camping pitches as part of the pub. It has a good year round trade as a popular centre for local residents, as well as additional trade from visitors.
Individuals can apply for the shares and an adult can apply for shares to be held in the name of someone under 16 years. For terms of the shares, including whether they may pay interest if there are funds after three years and the potential to sell them back to the Society after five years at the purchase price (also if there are funds), please have a look at the FAQ on the website.
Author Richard Hughes and family enjoyed many years of happy holidays at historic house Parc, further up the beautiful Croesor valley, on the mountains and in the woods and waterfalls nearby. He wrote there, including children’s stories, enjoying the peace and beauty of Llanfrothen and Croesor. During World War II he lived at Parc for a bit with his wife Frances and their three eldest children, and also hosted six child evacuees, from 800 children from Birkenhead evacuated in September 1939 to Penrhyndeudraeth to escape the dangers of bombing in World War II , with 107 children dropped off by bus at Llanfrothen.
Katie recalls that she and younger sister Lleky once stayed at Y Ring/Brondanw Arms and the landlord would not let them pay. Richard Hughes, he said, had once taught him to swim, and that had saved his life during World War II.
Several members of Richard Hughes family are supporting the effort to save the pub by buying shares. We have had generations of fun and happy memories there and would love to enjoy it again and pass it on to future generations.
For more details and how to invest go to https://menteryringllanfrothen.com/en/invest/ in English or https://menteryringllanfrothen.com/buddsoddi/ in Welsh. You can fill in a form and then you receive an email informing you how to transfer the funds via bank transfer.
(Photo: Thanks to Peter Trimming on the Geograph Project under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 license.). The Parc details are from “Richard Hughes: A Biography“, by Richard Perceval Graves.
