Why Here? Unease as Far-Right Figure Builds Settlement Near Welsh Village

During the middle ages, monks would travel to the village of Llanafan Fawr in mid-Wales to visit the church and relics of St Afan, a son of the king of Gwynedd, martyred by foreign pirates centuries before.

- Bethan McKernan

Today, a different sort of pilgrim can be found there. Two hilly, wooded parcels of land in Llanafan Fawr have been bought by the Woodlander Initiative (TWI), a land-buying scheme led by Simon Birkett, a far-right figure with links to Patriotic Alternative, the UK's largest fascist group.

Critics say the Wiltshire-based Birkett's aim is to create a racially exclusive settlement; he has cited Orania, a whites-only town in South Africa, as an inspiration for the project.

TWI bought the two small plots totalling a few acres from a local farmer late last year, after attempts in Cumbria and East Sussex fell through. Since launching in 2023, the group has raised £165,000 of a goal of £1m - money Birkett plans to use to buy land or property in every county in Britain.

"We need to start building that alternative, our own businesses, our own institutions," Birkett said during an address at Patriotic Alternative's annual conference last October. "We need our own schools, with our own rules."

He added: "We need our own areas, we need our own land, we need our own buildings, we need our own conference centres. We need our own communities for our own culture. And it is down to us to start building it."

Birkett is now making this dream a reality. No one was around during the Guardian's visit last week, but the larger plot - previously an open field - is now a campsite. It hosted several tents, along with camping gear, solar panels, a wood store and a toilet block. Some of the fencing was clearly new and, at the second hilly, wooded site, a small gazebo was perched among the oak trees.