Accessible and Inclusive Tourism Award
WINNER
Penderyn Swansea Copperworks Distillery
Tours Swansea Copperworks – Penderyn
Penderyn produce award-winning single malt whiskies and spirits at their distillery on the foothills of the Brecon Beacons (Bannau Brycheiniog) National Park, Wales, UK. They opened two other distilleries in Llandudno (2021) and Swansea (2023).
Distilling in Wales was a lost art, but in the late 1990s, in a Hirwaun pub in the Welsh valleys, a group of friends chatted about establishing the first whisky distillery in Wales in over a century. They dreamt of creating a whisky as pure and precious as Welsh gold, represented today by Penderyn’s ‘gold seam’.
The village of Penderyn was chosen because of the site’s own supply of fresh natural spring water.
A unique copper single-pot still designed by Dr David Faraday, a relative of the great 19th-century scientist Michael Faraday, was installed in 2000, which produces a spirit at an industry high draw of 92%, meaning Penderyn’s whiskies are light, fruity and flavoursome.
Highly Commended
Calon Lan Centre
The Calon Lân Project originated as an idea from a renewed interest in Mynyddbach Chapel and its rich heritage. In 2011 the chapel was on the point of dereliction but through the combined efforts of Reverend Grenville Fisher, Roy Church and the support of Treboeth Historical Association the building was saved. A project was set up to encourage and maintain an understanding of local heritage and to establish collaboration with other local organisations.
Mynyddbach has a rich cultural heritage and is the burial place of Daniel James who had the Bardic name of Gwyrosydd. Daniel wrote the words of the famous Welsh Hymn Calon Lân.
The Trustees, members and friends of the chapel are in the process of establishing the Calon Lân Heritage Centre. Through the work of the project the buildings and grounds at Mynyddbach will be preserved for future generations. The project aims is to give communities a sense of belonging and identity by using the history of the local area and the story of Calon Lân. The people of Swansea and beyond will have a better understanding of their cultural heritage and the many historical links to the past.
