The name Cymdeithas y Dalar means ‘Society of the Headland’ and refers to the ancient practice of allowing local people to cultivate the strip of land left unploughed by oxen teams as they turned at the end of long fields.

The society was established in 2007 (see History) to provide land and the necessary skills to grow food locally in response to an increasing awareness that, for many, both were in short supply at a time when food prices were escalating.

Cymdeithas y Dalar has subsequently taken up a lease with the National Trust on a 4-acre site on their Dinefwr Estate (at Home Farm) and has established 61 allotment plots on the land. The group has held an exhibition to inform local people and to publicise this work. Additionally, groups in neighbouring communities at Dryslwyn and Llansawel have received advice from members of the organisation.

A Wildlife Project Officer has recently been appointed and is working with the local Wildlife Trust to increase biodiversity at Home Farm and to encourage participation of local people, particularly children. Much of our work in the immediate future will involve developing the site at Home Farm so that it can act as a showcase for similar schemes that the National Trust wish to set up nationally.

In the longer-term, there are several projects that we wish to pursue, as outlined below, in furtherance of our Mission Statement. The list below includes some of the practical ways in which we are (or are planning) to achieve this:

·     Publicise our own work via exhibitions and a range of leaflets to raise awareness within the wider community and to offer practical advice.

·     Advise and support community groups in neighbouring villages so that they can set up schemes to obtain land to grow their own food. To act as a hub for a network of autonomous groups and to promote similar schemes to ours within the wider locality.

·     Contact and work with local farmers/landowners with the aim of making land available for food to be grown locally.

·     Work with local schools and similar bodies to establish gardens to increase understanding, biodiversity and availability of good quality, local produce.

·     Working with disabled people to provide horticultural training and contact within the community.

·     Provide information, training and workshops in order to increase awareness and practical skills in the areas of organic horticulture, food preservation and the reintroduction of orchards.

·     Work with local wildlife organisations to increase biodiversity and awareness on site(s) for which we are responsible – particularly to encourage the participation of children in this area.

·     Training for and facilitating seed saving and plant swap events that are open to the community, thereby increasing sustainability and local self-reliance. The ultimate aim being to develop a locally available seedbank, comprising varieties suited to local conditions.

·     To develop a library containing texts useful to the above projects and in general concerning organic horticulture.