Small Welsh town to get Hollywood makeover
ASMALL Welsh town is to get a huge Hollywood-style sign that could become a national landmark.
The sign is to celebrate the links the town and surrounding area have with major films like The Dark Knight Rises and Jurassic World 2, which is being shot in the nearby Brecon Beacons.
The project is funded by EU money and could turn out to be the last EUfunded project in Wales. Prime Minister Theresa May triggered Article 50 this week, formally triggering the UK’s withdrawal from the union.
The white capital letters are each around six metres tall, around half the height of the letters of the original Hollywood sign. They will be placed on the Varteg mountain, that rises up beside Ystradgynlais.
The sign, which will cost around £20,000, came about as part of a drive to raise the profile of the area, which falls into the west Wales and the Valleys region in terms of funding.
West Wales and the Valleys is a “less developed region”, considered Europe’s poorest regions with GDP at less than 75% of EU average.
It is hoped the landmark will promote tourism in the town, which has the Brecon Beacons on its doorstep as well as the National Showcaves Centre for Wales and the waterfalls of Ystradfellte.
It also aims to celebrate the area’s links with major films. The Dark Knight Rises, starring Christian Bale, used Henrhyd Falls as the Bat Cave and Jurassic World 2 is filming in the Brecon Beacons. Michael Sheen has also recently shot a documentary in the town.
The sign will be in place by April 1, 2018. It has been warmly welcomed in the town.
David Pickering, proprietor of the Riverside Gallery in Ystradgynlais, said: “I knew when my family and I bought the former Welsh medium school in Ystradgynlais there was something special about the upper Swansea valley, but nothing could prepare me for the rich culture there in fact is.
“This monument will bring tremendous notoriety... it will be a wonderful spectacle.”
Amarjit Kingra, of the town’s Old Temp Fish Bar, said: “We could see the potential in Ystradgynlais and always knew that one day it would be up there on top of the hills amongst the stars.”
Cynthia Davies, who runs the Cofion Cynnes shop, said: “At last! One thing is for sure – there are more stars in Ystradgynlais than Hollywood!”
But Nigel Ebrill, of anti-EU group Project Brexit, said the sign summed up why it was right that Britain was leaving the EU.
He said: “Spending twenty grand for a sign on a hill in the middle of nowhere is exactly the reason why people are sick of the EU.
“Does this create jobs or have any impact other than ruining a perfectly good hill?”