Cymru and Beyond: Acclaimed writer to hitch-hike to Pembrokeshire for community fundraising night

Stephen Price

Nation Cymru’s Julie Brominicks has joined the fight to save a community hub and ‘cultural heart’ of a west Wales town, with plans to hitch-hike from north west Wales to Pembroke Dock to put on an enthralling night of words and imagery from her journeys around beautiful Cymru.

Cwtch Coffee is a small Coffee Shop, Art Gallery and Music Venue in the centre of Pembroke Dock which is run by locals, Mike and Keo and their landlord who owns the building which houses a coffee house, live music venue and gallery has recently decided to sell up.

In a night of celebration, and to help raise vital funds to save the community hub from closure, at 7pm on 22 November, Julie Brominicks is set to give a talk titled Cymru and Beyond, offering audiences a chance to see and hear works from the acclaimed author, giving an insight into her travels and the moving works of imagery and words that she creates during her journeys.

And, in true Brominicks style, the off-grid-living writer will be hitching a lift to the venue and no doubt adding more material to her night of ‘travel, tales and pictures’ en-route.

Julie shared: The Cwtch Coffee community have done so much to support not only the local community but also a much wider cohort of artists, that I couldn’t not contribute to this fundraiser in the only currency I have – written words!

“On Saturday 22nd November, I’ll be trusting in the drivers of Cymru, and hitch-hiking down to Doc Penfro to share travel tales and photographs of Cymru and beyond.

“Some stories will be from previously published writing in Nation.Cymru, Countryfile Magazine and The Edge of Cymru, but I’m particularly looking forward to sharing fresh unpublished writing from flight-free travels overland and seas from Donegal to Vladivostok.

“Roll up, and come along to the Cwtch for a night of old-fashioned storytelling.”

Cwtch

Cwtch Coffee is about ‘more than just coffee’, and has found itself growing and adapting over the years to become one of the town’s most important cultural hubs, showcasing work from local artists, providing a venue for up-and-coming and established musicians alike, or simply providing a shelter from the storm for locals and visitors.

The venue is now facing the threat of closure, after its landlords decided to sell up, and buoyed by support from the local community, a fundraiser has launched aiming to purchase the building to enable the business to not only continue, but to grow further.

Mike and Keo shared: “Cwtch is an amalgamated, realised dream of two people from different backgrounds, upbringing, experiences and know how.

“When Cwtch Coffee opened its doors to the public in April 2013 we knew that much more needed to be done in order to refurbish the basement area for the Art Gallery but we took to it with joy in our hearts and hope for the future.

“It was suggested by marketing experts that we should target a specific demographic, but over the years , the shop has evolved into a space enjoyed by both the young and the elderly, including their pets. We aimed to create a safe and welcoming space for all.

Since the pandemic sustaining live music continues to be incredibly challenging, but the two have pulled out all the stops to make the venue a thriving go-to destination, but all that is set to change soon as the building has been put up for sale, and with no chance for the two to buy the building themselves, the community is rallying behind them, and putting their money where their mouths are, with the launch of a fundraising campaign to keep Cwtch Coffee on the high street.

“More than just coffee”

Jamie Barnikel shared: In the heart of Pembroke Dock, nestled among the beautiful landscapes of Pembrokeshire, sits a small independent Coffee Shop that has always been about more than just coffee.

“For years, Cwtch Coffee has been a place where people come together — a warm, welcoming space filled with laughter, conversation, creativity, and connection. It’s a place built with love and care, where every cup served and every smile shared is part of a much bigger story.

“Today, the proprietors are reaching out with heavy, but hopeful hearts because that story is at risk of ending. Without urgent help, they are facing the heartbreaking possibility of closing their doors for good.

“Cwtch is the Welsh word for an affectionate hug/a cosy, safe place and that’s exactly what they have tried to create here — a cosy, safe and comforting corner for everyone who walks through the door.”

“Over the years, Cwtch has become more than a coffee shop. It has hosted countless catch-ups between friends, quiet moments of reflection over a cup of tea, first dates, joyful celebrations even a death café.

“Many a stranger has found warmth and light here out of the rain after missing their bus, train or ferry.

“The walls are always filled with works from local artists and many a traveller has returned to perform at their intimate gigs.

“It truly is a place for people from all walks of life to come together under one roof.

“Mike and Keo are proud to be part of this community — to support local suppliers, offer jobs to local people, and reinvest in the town they love.

“Every cake baked, every event hosted, and every coffee poured has been done with passion and purpose.

“But like so many small businesses, they have been hit hard by rising costs and difficult trading conditions. Despite their best efforts and the unwavering support of their customers, the financial challenges that they currently face, are bigger than they can overcome alone.”

“The reality is that without help, Cwtch Coffee may have to close its doors — this fundraiser has been launched because Cwtch Coffee still has so much more to give — but to continue, Mike and Keo urgently need to raise £50,000. This will allow them to secure the property and put the Coffee Shop on a stable footing for the future.

“It will ensure that Cwtch Coffee remains part of the Pembroke Dock community for many more years to come.”

Joy and solace

Author, Julie Brominicks shared: Come in come in, have a seat, have a coffee, have a chat, buy a book, have a look, at the art on the walls. That seat, yes by the window, on the street leading down to the dock, where an Irish Sea wind jangles halyards, tangles hair and brings music; yes that seat, stay a while.

“Cwtch Coffee House and Art Gallery is a tiny venue in which Mike and Keo welcome the world. A tiny café where coffee and good food are whipped up in a whirlwind of cosy chaos, and it is more than that.

“For a start there is magic here. You know it. I knew it, when I bowled in having just missed my bus, late for everything and glad, because what if I hadn’t come in that day with the wind?

“One year later, a reader told me my book had called to her from the Seren spinner in this very café into which she’d tumbled alone and sad from the street, and found solace.”

“There is solace here, but also much joy. This is not only a café offering refuge and cheer by day to the community and travellers alike. One night a month the doors are shut early, the furniture rearranged, Guy the excellent sound technician bundles in with his cables and kit, and the café is transformed into the best little venue in Cymru. Mike hosts music nights here, each one a sell-out, attended by a room full of appreciative locals who really are the best audience; hearty and encouraging with Mike at the back loving every minute.

“Cwtch Coffee is where singer-songwriter Rowan Bartram and I (aka Limbo Landers) performed our music and prose show Cymru Full Circle for the first time. We were nervous as hell, the fiddle-player we’d promised having dropped out, but the gig went down so well they invited us back one year on for a repeat performance. And Mike paid us, though probably not himself. His dream, his raison d’etre is to host cultural nights for the community, not to make a profit. For twelve years now, one night a month, musicians touring between Ireland and mainland Britain have found an enthusiastic audience and stellar welcome here.

“Not only is Cwtch Coffee House and Art Gallery the only beating cultural heart of Doc Penfro, providing quality music to the community (there is no other arts venue) it provides essential and much needed services for touring artists, writers and musicians. Everyone’s skint these days, but Mike has been giving it everything. It would be a travesty to let Cwtch Coffee House and Art Gallery succumb. Don’t let it happen. Give back, if you can. Keep the magic going.”

Local support

Michael told Nation Cymru: “We set up the gofundme to raise the money we need to purchase the building as the landlords want to sell up, and if we don’t acquire the property, we may have to close.

“We have looked into relocating, but there is nothing suitable out there, also, we feel that the business would not work anywhere else, due to the level of support we have from the locals of Pembroke Dock. The ferry terminal is another reason for staying in town. Ferry passengers keep us busy all year round.”

“We also get to meet a very varied cross section of society as they pass to and from Ireland. We met the principal Cellist for the RTÉ Symphony Orchestra 3 years ago, Annette Cleary, from that chance meeting we organised a series of concerts over the last 2 years. Looking to our third year in ’26.

“By owning the building, we can happily invest further into repairing the basement, where our Art gallery was. We feel we have a lot more to offer the public in regards to arts and culture.

“We have and continue to host musicians from the US, Canada, Europe, Ireland, England, Scotland and Wales. Our walls constantly rotate the works of local Artists, we host charity events, poetry readings, book launches and Exhibition opening nights. We serve healthy, fresh, local produce in the form of sandwiches, soups, stews and salads.

“In regards to immediate changes, we would ensure the building is watertight, as it currently is not. This involves fixing the roof and re rendering the front façade.”

Find out more and support the fundraiser here.

Cymru and Beyond takes place at Cwtch Coffee, Pembroke Dock at 7pm on 22 November. Call 07753804863 or email [email protected] to secure a seat.