The Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Llanwrtyd and District Heritage and Arts Centre has retired after 14 years of involvement with the Centre.

Tony Thorpe, who has been a resident in the town for many years and works for Charcroft Electronics and also runs the Riverside B&B with his wife, was part of the original team back in 2009 that obtained funding and developed the Congregational Church into the Heritage Centre of today.

Involved initially in the internal re-design and renovation of the building, Tony then became Treasurer and finally Chairman in 2018.

The departing chairman was presented at the recent Annual General Meeting with retirement gifts including a framed copy of the poster in the Centre advertising Llanwrtyd from the 1920s by Monague Birrell Black, which was recently found to be the original painting.

Tony said he had enjoyed his years working with the various members of the community to get the Centre up and running and thanked the volunteers both past and present for all their hard work and would continue his support of the Centre as a volunteer and steward.

He gave his good wishes to his successor, Anthony Smith, and felt sure the next chapter would be equally successful under his, and the Trustees’ leadership.