A MACHYNLLETH man has documented the history of the town’s Scout group, which he himself was a member of.

Richard Williams, who was born and bred in the town, had helped renowned Machynlleth historian David Wyn Davies on a range of books about the history of the town, and took on the work to catalogue the history of the Scout group, which was started in 1909.

Mr Williams, who now lives in Cheltenham, said he was inspired to start working on the book by friends who he had been in the Scouts with.

He said: “Over a period of years I assisted Machynlleth’s acknowledged historian, the late David Wyn Davies, with his books on the history of Machynlleth, gradually taking on more of the research, image restoration, editing and writing duties as his health failed.

“After he passed away in 2014 and I had seen his Machynlleth and the First World War through to completion I felt that there was little remaining to be written about Mach’s history: Dai had done a magnificent job.

“But then some friends who were with me in Machynlleth Scouts 50 years ago mentioned in passing that it would be good to put on record the story of Mach’s highly regarded ex-Scoutmaster, Gordon Mill, who arrived in the town in 1952 and led the Scouts in the town for the next 35 years.

“I did some preliminary research through the Cambrian News, online records on the National Library of Wales website, and soon discovered that in fact Machynlleth Scouts were established in 1909, and to do the job properly the story really ought to cover the group’s entire existence, right through to modern times.

“That was two years ago and the project has been fascinating."

Mr Williams said while only 25 copies have been printed, he is happy for anyone who would like a free PDF copy to contact him at [email protected]

Read the full feature in this week’s papers, available in shops and as a digital edition now