This local shop in a small corner of Carmarthenshire was saved from closure because the people who use it refused to give up. Now, a new shop is being built, complete with a cafe, which will benefit the community for generations to come
In April 2008 the UK Government announced that more than 2,000 Post Office branches across the country would close. It was a move, we were told, that would “modernize and restructure services”.
In reality its main achievement was to hurtle parts of Wales, particularly rural areas, into a modern age where community spirit is becoming harder to maintain, where neighbours are strangers, where half-an-hour drives to the nearest town offer the best opportunity of communication, companionship even.
The loss of a village shop and post office can decimate communities. Jobs are lost, social hubs wiped out. Property values go down, isolation goes up. Stay informed on Carms news by signing up to our newsletter here.
Whether it’s a pub, a shop, a post office, a village hall, communities need something, otherwise a village is essentially just a road you travel through on your way to somewhere else.
As part of the nationwide changes made in 2008, Dryslwyn Community Shop and Post Office, serving the hamlet of Dryslwyn and the village of Cwrt Henri in Carmarthenshire, faced up to the reality of a new way of life.
Set in the gorgeous Towy Valley between Carmarthen and Llandeilo, this community, bound together by a post office that had served its people since the mid 1800s, was to lose its focal point. It was in no way financially viable to keep the post office open, and it closed on March 28, 2009.
But thanks to dozens of volunteers, various donations, and plenty of community spirit, the shop reopened, less than a week later, on April 3, 2009, only this time as a not-for-profit, volunteer-led project which proved that if there is a will, there is always a way.
That was almost 17 years ago, and the shop is still thriving. In 2021, it won The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service – the highest honour awarded to a voluntary group. It was one of the last awards signed and sealed by Queen Elizabeth II before she died the following year.
“When they said in 2008 that the post office and shop would have to close, a lot of the people around here just said ‘no’ and didn’t accept it, so everyone clubbed together, volunteers came forward and we worked with the owner of the land and the shop was saved,” said Michele Powell, a director at the shop and one of the army of volunteers who keep it running.
“It’s been a big success since then, we didn’t even close during Covid-19. We have two part-time staff but everybody else who works here is a volunteer – there’s around 40 of us, all from the local area.
“We’re a not-for-profit organisation so everything we make just goes back into the shop, and we also provide grants to other local organisations.”
While the shop continues to thrive, it is about to embark on a new chapter which will safeguard its future for generations. The existing building will return to its owner, and the community shop will be relocated to an adjacent piece of land in a new 2,000 sq ft building which will boast not just a shop and post office but also a cafe.
The idea was first discussed as something of a dream years ago and now, with construction under way following the gifting of a piece of land by local man Tom Lloyd, that dream will become a reality this autumn when the new shop is set to have its grand opening.
“We had been thinking about a move for a while,” said Michele. “I mean, this place is lovely, but it can be a bit cold and there’s no toilet! The owners have been very supportive, but a change in their plans gave us that bit of a kick to get on with our plans.”
Michele added: “Without a local shop, people wouldn’t know each other. We support people. We know what they want, they ring us up, we put things aside for them. We know we’re not going to get people doing their weekly shop here but it’s a vital part of the community.
“The new building will expand on that; there will be more space for people to meet up, there will be more parking, and a cafe.
“It’s very exciting. I was in a pub up the road the other day and people kept asking about the new shop, so there’s definitely a buzz about it. It’s just brilliant for Dryslywn and Cwrt Henri and for the future of the wider community.
“We’ve evolved as a shop because we’ve had to. We’re small but we can react in ways that a big supermarket can’t because we know our customers and they tell us what they want.
“There will always be a call for a local shop, for people who don’t want to drive miles and miles to the nearest big shop in a town. And of course, people love coming in for a chat!”
Strolling around the Dryslwyn Community Shop and Post Office is like taking a warm and reassuring walk back in time; it has a nostalgic sheen to it which reminds you of what every village once had but many have since lost.
Pens, Sellotape, glue, newspapers, Welsh tea towels, magazines, a book swap service, ring binders, wellies, milk, groceries, fresh (and very nice!) chicken salad rolls……there’s also a side room you can use as an internet cafe with printing facilities. They think of everything here.
Another volunteer who helps make the local shop tick is Nigel Jones. He always had something of a calling to one day work in a post office.
“My wife started volunteering here because it’s up the road from us, and then a couple of years later I started too,” said Nigel, who is chair of the new build project, SiopNEWydd Dryslwyn.
“My father ran a post office in Llanybydder for years so it felt a bit like going back to my roots; as a kid I was used to post office life!
“The project for the new shop really got off the ground during Covid, when we had a lot of meetings online, and then we had meetings where the community just told us what they wanted. The message was clear: they wanted to keep the shop and the post office, and also add a cafe, if it could be done.
“We’re very fortunate that the land owner gifted us half an acre of land to build the new shop on, while the existing tenant using the land kindly agreed to end his tenancy early.”
Volunteers have worked tirelessly behind the scenes to secure grant funding from the UK Government, the Welsh Government, the National Lottery, and various charitable organisations.
“We have a local volunteer called Dr Rosie Plummer who has put all the grant applications together and it’s been a remarkable success,” said Nigel.
In total the project is expected to cost more than £1m and promises to be “light in its environmental impact, big in its social impact”.
The community may need to source even more volunteers for the new venture if how busy business already seems to be is anything to go by.
Talking to Nigel on a typical Tuesday morning is difficult because he keeps being called back to fulfil his till duties as customers bustle in and out of the shop.
“It was a bit of a dream previously and I think some people thought it might never happen, but it’s very exciting because you can see it happening now, you can see it being built,” said Nigel.
“Having a bigger premises with a cafe will be a big change. Some people don’t want to have a cup of tea when they come here in case they need to use the toilet and we don’t have one!
“So the new building will be totally different. It will bring new challenges and that’s what it’s all about.”
The importance of securing the shop’s future is not lost on anyone connected to it.
“It’s so important for everyone because it means they can get out and about without having to travel into towns all the time just to get basic goods,” said Nigel.
“The cafe will only add to that. We haven’t got the room here for people to have a sit down and a chat, so the new building will give people that opportunity.
“It’s been a long and winding road but we’ve always been heading in the right direction! Planning permission came through in 2023 but getting to that point was the easy bit. There’s more work to be done but we can see the light at the end of the tunnel now.
“Without the volunteers there would be no shop at all, it’s as simple as that. It’s about people giving something back, and it says a lot about a local community that there are so many people willing to give up their time.”
With the hard work, dedication and commitment shown by a small group of people, this shop, which in reality is so much more than that, has thrived since disaster almost struck 17 years ago.
And with a new building on the way which guarantees its future, this community hub will continue to bring people together, just as it did two centuries ago.
![Heathrow has said passenger numbers were 60% lower in November than before the coronavirus pandemic and there were “high cancellations” among business travellers concerned about being trapped overseas for Christmas as Omicron spreads. The UK’s largest airport said the government’s travel restrictions had dealt a fresh blow to travel confidence and predicted it was likely to take several years for passenger numbers to return to pre-pandemic levels. This week ministers said passengers arriving in the UK would have to take a pre-departure Covid test, as well as a post-flight test, because of fears about the spread of the new variant. “[The] high level of cancellations by business travellers concerned about being trapped overseas because of pre-departure testing shows the potential harm to the economy of travel restrictions,” the airport said in an update. Heathrow said the drop in traveller confidence owing to the new travel restrictions had negated the benefit of reopening the all-important corridor to North America for business and holiday travel last month. Eleven African countries have been added to the government’s red list, requiring travellers to quarantine before reuniting with families. “By allowing Brits to isolate at home, ministers can make sure they are reunited with their loved ones this Christmas,” said John Holland-Kaye, the chief executive of Heathrow. “It would send a strong signal that restrictions on travel will be removed as soon as safely possible to give passengers the confidence to book for 2022, opening up thousands of new jobs for local people at Heathrow. Let’s reunite families for Christmas.” Heathrow said that if the government could safely signal that restrictions would be lifted soon, then employers at Heathrow would have the confidence to hire thousands of staff in anticipation of a boost in business next summer. The airport is expecting a slow start to 2022, finishing next year with about 45 million passengers – just over half of pre-pandemic levels. This week Tui, Europe’s largest package holiday operator, said it expected bookings for next summer to bounce back to 2019 levels. However, Heathrow said on Friday not to expect the aviation industry to recover for several years. “We do not expect that international travel will recover to 2019 levels until at least all travel restrictions (including testing) are removed from all the markets that we serve, at both ends of the route, and there is no risk of new restrictions, such as quarantine, being imposed,” the airport said.](https://wordupnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/shutterstock_1100012546-scaled-400x240.jpg)
![Heathrow has said passenger numbers were 60% lower in November than before the coronavirus pandemic and there were “high cancellations” among business travellers concerned about being trapped overseas for Christmas as Omicron spreads. The UK’s largest airport said the government’s travel restrictions had dealt a fresh blow to travel confidence and predicted it was likely to take several years for passenger numbers to return to pre-pandemic levels. This week ministers said passengers arriving in the UK would have to take a pre-departure Covid test, as well as a post-flight test, because of fears about the spread of the new variant. “[The] high level of cancellations by business travellers concerned about being trapped overseas because of pre-departure testing shows the potential harm to the economy of travel restrictions,” the airport said in an update. Heathrow said the drop in traveller confidence owing to the new travel restrictions had negated the benefit of reopening the all-important corridor to North America for business and holiday travel last month. Eleven African countries have been added to the government’s red list, requiring travellers to quarantine before reuniting with families. “By allowing Brits to isolate at home, ministers can make sure they are reunited with their loved ones this Christmas,” said John Holland-Kaye, the chief executive of Heathrow. “It would send a strong signal that restrictions on travel will be removed as soon as safely possible to give passengers the confidence to book for 2022, opening up thousands of new jobs for local people at Heathrow. Let’s reunite families for Christmas.” Heathrow said that if the government could safely signal that restrictions would be lifted soon, then employers at Heathrow would have the confidence to hire thousands of staff in anticipation of a boost in business next summer. The airport is expecting a slow start to 2022, finishing next year with about 45 million passengers – just over half of pre-pandemic levels. This week Tui, Europe’s largest package holiday operator, said it expected bookings for next summer to bounce back to 2019 levels. However, Heathrow said on Friday not to expect the aviation industry to recover for several years. “We do not expect that international travel will recover to 2019 levels until at least all travel restrictions (including testing) are removed from all the markets that we serve, at both ends of the route, and there is no risk of new restrictions, such as quarantine, being imposed,” the airport said.](https://wordupnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/shutterstock_1100012546-scaled-80x80.jpg)
