We might be still waiting for the Lease, but another part of Natural Resources Wales (NRW) has really come up trumps and has helped us to be ready to go on Day One by supplying us with kitchen utensils, a cooker, sleeping mats, nature books, binoculars and these magnificent tables and benches.

Lovingly crafted from donated valley Ash timber by Mick Petts, these two tables and four benches will be more than sufficient to accommodate future users. The Ash is courtesy of the nasty Ash Die-back disease, so some good has come from the loss of these lovely trees.

It was a bit of a monster job for Mick to turn out both these and some further pieces for kitchen shelving and work-tops in little over a month from the raw-material being obtained. First Simon Thomas transported the trunks to Ian Mitchell’s for them to be roughly cut into planks by Martin Fraser’s mobile sawmill, then allowed to dry just enough for Mick to be able to work the planks without them twisting as they dry out completely.

So wonderful that timber from the valley can be used to equip Pen y Cae, just like they would have in the original days of the building. Well done, Mick, and “Thanks” to Sarah Tindal at NRW for having the vision to fund it all.