Swansea Park Transformed and Now Bustling With Visitors 2026

Key Points

• Uplands’ Cwmdonkin Park in Swansea has been transformed into an active community attraction after several years of renovation and takeover of the tearooms by a community café.
• The regeneration of Cwmdonkin Park is thanks to Swansea City Council, the Friends of Cwmdonkin Park, and the Faye family who refurbished the old tearooms into Dylan’s café in 2021.
• Among the new facilities installed in the park there is a playground for kids, Tennis Wales tennis courts and the formerly bowling green which is currently used for supervised activities without dogs.
• According to regular users, the park is a place where people gather for Tai Chi, football matches, special events, and dog walking. One of them even called it a “social club”.
• Though Cwmdonkin Park has lost its reservoir and bandstand, it still keeps a connection with the literary legacy of Dylan Thomas through the benches and memorials.

Swansea (Wales Times) August 31, 2026 – Cwmdonkin Park, long associated with the Welsh poet Dylan Thomas, has emerged as one of the city’s most active green spaces following a sustained programme of physical improvements and community-led activity centred on the former tearooms, now operating as Dylan’s café. The site, established in 1874, has been modernised over recent years with new play provision, uk/sports/">sports facilities and a reconfigured bowling green, while the café has become a focal point for daily gatherings and organised events.

As reported by WalesOnline, the park’s appearance now differs markedly from the era described by Thomas, with the historic reservoir and bandstand no longer present and the bowling green repurposed as a designated football and recreation area. Despite these changes, the park maintains nods to its literary heritage through benches and memorials dedicated to Thomas, who grew up nearby and referenced the space in his writing and broadcasts.

The physical changes have been accompanied by a shift in how the park is used. Hedley Austin, co-chair of the Friends of Cwmdonkin Park, told WalesOnline that the site has become a “real destination” where people arrange to meet, hold meetings, practise Tai Chi and attend community activities. He added that the park had been underused five years ago but is now sought after by residents looking for outdoor space and a sense of belonging.

How did Dylan’s café help turn Cwmdonkin into a community hub?

The reopening of the park’s café is widely cited by users and volunteers as a catalyst for the recent upturn in footfall and community activity. In 2021, Papi Faye, who lost his job in a homelessness services hub during the pandemic, and his wife Sara took on the lease of the old tearooms after seeing an advert on Facebook, according to WalesOnline. With no hospitality background and limited funds, the couple used redundancy money and savings to launch Dylan’s on a budget, naming it both after Dylan Thomas and their eldest son, Dylan, who now works at the café.

Sara Faye told WalesOnline that the family initially wondered whether another café would succeed in the park, given previous closures and periods of disrepair that had led to anti-social behaviour and late-night gatherings by children. After refurbishing the premises, the business quickly attracted crowds, with locals and visitors regularly gathering outside with dogs and children. The café now serves coffees, matchas, soft drinks, breakfast and lunch options at accessible prices, and the family has indicated plans to expand its programme of events.

Hedley Austin praised the Faye family’s role in creating a community hub, telling WalesOnline: “It has been transformed ever since Papi and Sara took over the coffee shop, because it was empty before, but now it’s a real destination.” He said people now explicitly arrange to “meet in the park” or “meet in the cafe”, underlining the site’s function as a social anchor for Uplands and wider Swansea.

Which new facilities and events are drawing people to Cwmdonkin Park?

Alongside the café, a series of facility upgrades and community events have contributed to the park’s increased usage. According to WalesOnline, the site now includes a children’s play area and tennis courts operated by Tennis Wales, while the former bowling green has been converted into a dog‑free recreation area so children can play in full view of adults. Papi and Sara Faye’s son Dylan also raised funds for two football goals, which were left on the grounds for use by children and adults.

The Friends of Cwmdonkin Park, a not‑for‑profit community organisation, organises a calendar of activities designed to draw residents into the space throughout the year. As reported by WalesOnline, recent events have included an animal petting day, circus skills sessions and organised football, complementing summer and Christmas parties that attract visitors regardless of weather. Sara Faye indicated that the family intends to build a larger programme of events so that “people know there’s something going on”.

The combination of improved infrastructure and regular programming has helped establish routine patterns of use. A group of regulars – Susan Fromhold, Catherine Davies, Angela Leech and Stuart Marks, along with their dogs Wilson, Snowy and Daisy – told WalesOnline they meet at Dylan’s so frequently that they joke they would need a “sick note” if they missed a day. One member described the gathering as “almost like a social club for both owners and dogs”, highlighting the park’s role in fostering informal social networks.

What role have Swansea Council and volunteers played in the park’s revival?

The revival of Cwmdonkin Park is attributed to a partnership between statutory and voluntary actors. Swansea Council, which owns and manages the park, has overseen longer-term modernisation, including the reconfiguration of sports areas and the introduction of new play and recreation facilities. The Friends of Cwmdonkin Park volunteer group has provided the community programming and stewardship that sustain daily activity, while the Faye family’s operation of Dylan’s has supplied a permanent refreshment and meeting point.

Hedley Austin, speaking to WalesOnline, emphasised the value of the local offer, noting that during the pandemic residents realised they had “a lovely park on our doorstep” and no longer needed to travel elsewhere for quality green space. He linked the park’s renewed popularity to a broader public desire for outdoor opportunities and community connection, saying:

“People want to find opportunities to be outside, I think they are hankering after community and just feeling like they belong somewhere.”

ITV News has also highlighted the work of volunteers preserving Cwmdonkin’s literary and historical legacy, underscoring the dual focus on heritage and contemporary community use. This alignment between heritage stewardship and everyday recreation helps explain why the park now functions both as a cultural landmark linked to Dylan Thomas and as a practical, heavily used neighbourhood asset.

Background: How did Cwmdonkin Park develop from Dylan Thomas’s era to today?

Cwmdonkin Park was established in 1874 and has served Swansea residents for more than 150 years, evolving from a Victorian-era leisure ground to a modern multi-use public space. Dylan Thomas, who grew up in the Uplands area, frequently visited the park and later described it in vivid terms in his radio broadcast Reminiscences of Childhood, recalling its “rockery, gravel-path, playbank, bowling green, bandstand reservoir, chrysanthemum garden” as the setting for early experiences of love, poetry and adolescence. He also referenced the park in his poem Should Lanterns Shine, cementing its place in Welsh literary culture.

Over subsequent decades, the park’s physical fabric changed. The reservoir and bandstand were removed, and the bowling green was repurposed, while benches and memorials were installed to maintain the Thomas connection. In the 2010s and early 2020s, periods of café closure and underuse were associated with anti-social behaviour and reduced community programming, according to local accounts cited by WalesOnline. The 2021 reopening of the tearooms as Dylan’s, combined with council-led facility upgrades and volunteer-led events, marks the latest phase in the park’s long development, shifting it towards a model of sustained, family-friendly, community-centred use.

Prediction: How could Cwmdonkin’s transformation affect Swansea residents and visitors?

If current patterns continue, Cwmdonkin Park is likely to deepen its role as a daily social infrastructure for Uplands and surrounding neighbourhoods, with implications for public health, community cohesion and local footfall. The presence of a reliable café operator, regular events and clearly defined play and sports zones creates conditions for routine visits by families, dog walkers and informal groups, which public health research commonly associates with increased physical activity and reduced social isolation.

For Swansea residents, the park’s trajectory suggests more accessible, low-cost opportunities for recreation and social contact close to home, potentially reducing reliance on distant leisure destinations. For visitors, including literary tourists drawn by the Dylan Thomas connection, the improved amenities and active atmosphere may extend dwell time and encourage repeat visits, supporting nearby businesses. The main risk, as noted in earlier local concerns, is managing capacity and behaviour as popularity grows; continued coordination between Swansea Council, the Friends group and the café operators will be central to maintaining a safe, inclusive environment as demand rises.