Llanwrtyd Wells' new museum to remember spa town visitors
- Published
More than 1,000 old photographs charting the history of Llanwrtyd Wells in Powys that once attracted thousands of Victorians due to its mineral waters will take pride of place in a new museum.
They will be among the memorabilia to go on show after Llanwrtyd and District Heritage and Arts Centre committee received a Welsh government grant of £291,000 to renovate the town’s former Congregational Chapel as a museum. This photo shows resident Glenys Davies, now aged 96, drawing water from Dol-y-Coed sulphur well 65 years ago.
Llanwrtyd started to attract visitors from the 1700s when it was reported that its smelly but "sulphuric spring" was good for people's health.
Visitors were drawn to the town after the local parish vicar, who was suffering from a skin complaint, wrote about his experiences after bathing and drinking the water.
Three-storey buildings were constructed in the town to accommodate the visitors.
Work on the new heritage and arts centre is expected to start soon. It will feature other photographs like this show Llanwrtyd Wells' football team 1909-10.
This photograph, circa 1930, shows three men smartly dressed and sitting on some farm machinery.
Enthusiasts who secured the heritage centre funding are to renovate a building nearby which will be rented to raise funds to maintain the new museum. This undated photo shows a village festival and procession.
In the 1950s and 1960s the town became popular for pony-trekking holidays and will be another feature of the planned new heritage and arts centre.
The tradition of pony-trekking continues today but the town has since become popular for holding a host of more unusual events, including bog snorkelling.
Resident Glenys Davies, [seen in the second photograph] who used to draw the waters at Dol-y-Coed sulphur well and still lives nearby, is seen visiting the renovated site earlier this month. Photos courtesy of Llanwrtyd History Resource Group.