There were smiles at Bow Street’s Neuadd Rhydypennau when officers from the National Lottery came to inspect the facilities and improvements they have supported at the hall.

Changes at the hall, which is used by the community, include upgrading the front of the hall with access improvements and automatic doors, new accessible toilets, a private multi-purpose room to be used for meetings, counselling sessions and treatments, and enhancements to the hall itself. These include a total refresh by painting both inside and outside, and other changes including extra storage areas.

Neuadd Rhydypennau hall secured £234,000 in funding from the National Lottery.

Vaughan Griffiths, Chairman of the Hall Committee, said: “The work commenced in June of this year, and we have been pleased by the progress undertaken by our contractor Owen Evans Construction, along with Rhys Lewis Architectural Design Services who have liaised with the subcommittee at all times and together through careful planning we have been able to hire out the hall safely whilst the work has been in progress.

“A special thanks to our sub-committee members Dave Reed and Arwel George for liaising throughout with the National Lottery.”

Rhydypennau Hall’s long history starts in 1920 with a wooden YMCA (Young Men’s Christian Association) building.

This First World War cabin in Pembroke Dock was dismantled and transported by rail and horse and cart by Tom Hughes Nantyfallen and his workers, and re-assembled in Rhydypennau. It soon became a Mecca for activities such as dramas, eisteddfodau, whist drives and all sorts of activities, not only for young men, but for everybody in the Bow Street area.

By 1952 there was demand to make a larger, less rickety building. Substantial sums of money were raised locally and the building work was done mainly by volunteers. Since then regular repairs and improvements have been done.