A community is coming closer to buying and running its closed-down pub, with the hope that it will be open again this summer.

Crymych Football Club is coordinating the community purchase of the historic Crymych Arms, a pub in the heart of the village which has been closed since the pandemic.

The pub closed in September 2021 when the current owners retired and put the pub up for sale.

Once purchased it is hoped the pub will become a community hub for promoting community activities for the village and encouraging new activities.

If all goes well, the Crymych Arms could reopen this August.

The club would then reopen it as a traditional food and drink pub while also being a new base for the football club.

The share offer was launched in April and an astounding £58,400 worth of shares were sold on the first day.

Since then, the campaign has raised more than £200,000 in community shares.

Recent research into the pub’s long history suggests that it offered refuge to the Emperor of Ethiopia and the messiah of the Rastafarian movement, Haile Selassie after he was forced to flee his country in 1936.

A meeting to update on the community purchase will take place on Wednesday June 14, at 7pm at Crymych Market Hall.

Funds raised to buy the pub currently stand at £201,200.

“It is fantastic news that the community share offer has very recently crossed £200,000,” said Cris Tomos who is helping with the community purchase.

At the meeting details will also be given of the grants submitted to enable the project to reach the goal of purchasing the pub by August and to reopen it as a traditional rural pub that will also be the clubhouse for Crymych Football Club.

"We hope to hear about the grant applications by the end of June and the initial target of raising £175,000 in community shares as match funding has been well surpassed," said Cris.

The community project will continue to accept new shareholders until the result of the grant application is known at the end of June.

Full information is available on the website www.cpdcrymych.cymru .

"The community has rallied round the project," said Cris. "It will be great to see the pub reopened as a community asset."