As essential services are threatened[8], the church plays a vital role in sustaining the sense of belonging [9] -a determination that has led to a co-operative being set up to run the village shop[10].In Spring 2007 the villagers' efforts were featured in an article in the Daily Telegraph Magazine[11].
During the 1930s Great Depression, unemployed men were set to work on the Forestry Commission land, breaking ground, building tracks, and undertaking other heavy labour. The men lived in a work camp in Brechfa, which was one of a number of so-called Instructional Centres run by the Ministry of Labour in order to 'harden' young men who had been out of work for some time. By 1938, the Ministry was operating 35 Instructional Centres across Britain, with a total capacity of over 6,000 places. By 1939, unemployment was declining in the face of impending World War II, and the Ministry closed down its work camps.
