Just One Local Left In Seaside Village So Stunning Nearly All Houses Are Millionaires' Second Homes

Jun 08, 2021 by apost team

The stunning seaside village of Cwm-yr-Eglwys is located on the Pembrokeshire coast of Wales in the United Kingdom and boasts sandy beaches so lovely you would think you were near the mediterranean sea. This is why it has become a second home to many millionaires, causing prices to skyrocket for the few year-long residents that are left. Norman Thomas, age 88, is the last remaining local to reside in the village in 2021.

Back when Thomas first moved to Cwm-yr-Eglwys 55 years prior, the little village was bustling year-round. There were plenty of jobs and affordable homes for anyone who needed it. Now, because so many of the houses have been snatched up by the super-wealthy, the cost of living has gone up exponentially, and there is no longer any work to be found.

Once the good summer weather has passed, the village transforms into a ghost town with only a handful of permanent residents. This makes for a dark and lonely existence for the majority of the year. Thomas claims he is the last remaining Welshman in Cwm-yr-Eglwys. He said that for most of the year, you could drive with your eyes closed because there is no one else on the road.

There are around 50 total homes in the area, and a third are estimated to have sold for more than a million pounds, which is seven times the national average. One property was recently sold for a reported 1.3 million pounds. Thomas initially moved to the picturesque village to live in his late wife, Alexandra’s, family home located on the beautiful waterfront. 

According to The London Economic, the drastic change the village experienced, from busy to eerily silent, was relatively recent. “Ten years ago it started going rough – there were no lights at night in the houses,” Thomas said. 

The local man continued:

“It’s so dark and cold in the winter, or at least it looks cold because there’s not many people. You don’t see anybody, you don’t meet anybody, It’s been going on for some time. It’s reached the climax now. There are three houses occupied and I’m the only ‘local, local.’” 

Thomas still remembers the way it was before tourists and vacationers took over the town. “There’s no work here – no work at all here – but there used to be when I was younger. We had 62 farms sprawled out in the parish, and now there’s not a single milk producer. They’ve all given up because they couldn’t make pay,” he said according to The London Economic. 

Thomas went on:

“A lot of the smaller farms have closed and they’ve all joined to make bigger units. There used to be four or five grocers in the village – there’s two now. There was an ironmonger here, that’s gone. There were five pubs here and now there are only two.”

It must be challenging to see the town you love decline around you without being able to help it. 

Most of the remaining full-time residents are retired, but those who work need to travel outside the village. “I’ve got a friend who has to travel about 40 miles a day to find work. In the winter they’re really suffering,” Thomas explained. 

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There are many cultural changes that are affected by this situation, such as language and community traditions that are no longer practiced due to the population change. “It’s affecting the language as well. It’s damaging the image of the language I think. You don’t hear a word of it spoken down here now. I speak Welsh to everybody I can,” Thomas shared.

Despite the negative changes, Thomas said that he does not resent the new residents. “They’re not doing any damage – in fact, they spend a lot of money here building better houses. We know everybody who comes here. They’re all nice people,” he told The London Economic. 

However, Thomas does not think this situation should continue unchecked. “I think the government should step in, especially the Welsh government, but there isn’t a population you see. I think they should reduce the council tax. I’m paying hell of a lot of council tax,” he shared.

The London Economic reported that a Welsh Government spokesperson stated: “Wales is the only nation in the United Kingdom to give local authorities powers to raise higher levels of council tax on long-term empty properties and second homes.” The government says they are looking for “further interventions” to prevent the same thing from happening in other villages. 

Thomas is frequently hounded by property developers trying to convince him to sell his home. He explained, “They ask all the time and they always get the same answer; ‘no.’” According to The London Economic, the home Thomas lives in now has been in his late wife’s family since 1919. It is the home he raised his four children in, and he is not interested in letting it go.

What do you think of the story of this last remaining local? Would you like to visit this scenic seaside village? Let us know your thoughts, and be sure to share this with your loved ones.