Rural reconstruction and the 1951 Festival of Britain: The Dolhendre scheme and hill farm modernisation in Wales

Abstract In this article, I provide the first detailed study of the Dolhendre hill farm scheme on the Glanllyn Estate, which was the only ‘official exhibition’ staged in Wales for the 1951 Festival of Britain. I examine how Dolhendre was envisaged to provide a ‘live’ demonstration of hill farming that would parallel the Festival’s urban ‘live architecture’ exhibition in Poplar, East London. The article shows how the decision to rehabilitate three state-owned farms proved controversial amongst Welsh nationalists, and it examines how the scheme was ‘projected’ across Britain and the world in BBC radio programmes and newspapers. While many critical studies focus on how the Festival celebrated British traditions, achievements, and ways of life, this article examines how discourses of Britishness were distinctly absent in this scheme in rural Wales, supplanted by an emphasis on the Welshness of the area as reflected in its history, culture, language, and community values.