Now and then

Bryn Tyrnol was built towards the end of the 19th century, a grand old Victorian house tucked into the hills just on the south west side of Machynlleth at the bottom of the Wylfa. It's name comes from the Welsh "turn back hill", supposedly because the old road to Aberystwyth (which ran up the hill behind the house) was so steep that many a horse and cart were forced to retreat!

It had already been a shared house for some years when it was bought by a tenant Tony "Rainbow" Corden in the 1990s. Tony continued to live at BT with his dad and many different lodgers for several decades more, founding the El Sueño festival while he was here - and naming our special garden room the "Cuncumen" after a visiting Chilean band. 

The birth of Tir Cyffredin

When Tony decided it was time to leave the valley, he generously offered his tennants at the time (Ailsa, Badger, Gareth, Jojo and Sadie) the chance to set up a coop - reducing the asking price by £30,000 and agreeing to wait enough time for them to raise the money to buy the house. 

Thanks to Tony's gift, the efforts of the original five, and the huge generosity of local community members rallying to the cause, the fundraising effort was successful. On 21 June 2021, the new cooperative Tir Cyffredin became the proud owner of Bryn Tyrnol!

With the house and its five bedrooms secured, phase 2 of the project got underway - an ambitious plan to convert an outbuilding at the bottom of the garden to give us two more bedrooms. Another round of fundraising brought us enough loanstock to achieve the plan (thanks investors!) and local builders Toby and Al carried out the work. 

Todays members are enormously grateful to all who played a part in this amazing project, which resulted in affordable and secure housing for seven people. 

Improvements 

Since celebrating the "inauguration" of the barns, the work hasn't stopped! Our monthly workdays are a chance to come together on shared projects and help us maintain and improve the building. We've dug French drains, repointed a barn, replaced a wall, mended the greenhouse, created a herb garden; cleared veg plots, coppiced trees, pruned the orchard, painted the living room and kitchen, put up a wood store, repaired windows, laid hedges, built a bike shed, made countless trips to the tip, and much more.

We also continue to host musicians at the El Sueño festival!

Next steps...

The first round of loanstock repayments will be made in 2026. We will repay £71,000 to our investors and run concurrently another round of fundraising for £60,000. 

We recently discovered damage to a chimney that urgently needs repairing, as well as some holes in the render at ground level which are leading to water ingress. We aim to carry this out in Spring 2026 as soon as the weather makes it possible. 

Next on the list for redecorating are the hall, stairs and landing. Our kitchen also needs some upgrades: new worksurfaces and retiling. Finally, we hope to raise enough money through events to install a woodburner in our living room so it can be a useable space during the winter.