Written by Meleri Richards from Ceredigion County Council:

"With much of the social aspects of mining culture having been widely forgotten, a new £464,000 community regeneration project has been set up by Ceredigion County Council to provide an opportunity to renew interest in the industrial heritage.

'Ysbryd y Mwynwyr - Spirit of the Miners' sets out to create an identity for Northern Ceredigion using the legacy of metal mining as a theme for regeneration. The project will mainly focus on the human, social and community aspects of mining culture. In short, the very reason why these upland villages exist.

Funding for the project is made up of contributions from European Objective 1 European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF), Welsh Assembly Government's Local Regeneration funds, Countryside Council for Wales and Ceredigion County Council.

'Ysbryd y Mwynwyr - Spirit of the Miners' has created a grant scheme to provide communities with an opportunity to be inspired to develop projects using the theme of mining.

The grant fund will only be available for projects that are associated with the Uplands metal mine heritage and the scope of projects that can potentially be supported is wide, for instance, ideas however traditional, modern or innovative may be initially considered. The fund will aim to help create opportunities for tourism, new jobs, community led projects and new businesses.

The project will run until November 2007 but its long-term aim will be to preserve the memory of mining, whilst creating an image that will become synonymous with the area in the future. Therefore this is now our opportunity to ensure for future generations the heritage that was once ours."

Written by Meleri Richards from Ceredigion County Council in July 2005.