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Rural living and painfully slow internet speed often go hand in hand.

And that was definitely the reality for tiny village Michaelston y Fedw, which sits between boundary of Newport and Cardiff.

Despite being just minutes by car from the boundaries of the Welsh capital you would not know it. Narrow, single-file country roads lead to the village with intermittent passing places for cars. The drive is worth it as the village feels a world away from the city just down the road.

It's leafy, quiet and peaceful.

Unfortunately for the residents of the village, despite being just two or so miles from the outskirts of Wales’ first and third biggest cities, they had internet speeds more commonly seen on upland farms of Snowdonia.

The 300 people were so frustrated at their internet speeds they decided to take matters into their own hands.

It was a real problem for the businesses in the village but thanks to a proper community effort, it has been rectified.

Ben Longman and Caroline Hill run the Cefn Mably Arms pub.

(Image: Mark Lewis)

"The speed was 1.2-1.4Mbps depending on time."

They said online banking was impossible, the till systems were slow.

"If we wanted to change a menu item it would take hours."

Internet speeds are measured in megabytes per second and a typical speed would be 8Mbps.

Incredibly, with their new cables the village is getting speeds of almost 1,000Mbps (or 1 gigabyte) and it's the fastest in Wales.

(Image: Mark Lewis)

It was in July 2017 that they decided enough was enough.

“We were in the pub and we were all moaning about how bad the wifi was,” said Ben.

“I had just paid for high speed broadband and realised it would not work.

“David Schofield lives in the village and works from home. He couldn’t get a good signal and so he looked into how you can install your own.”

Fast forward two years, over seven miles of trenches, dozens of kilometers of fibre cables and thousands of hours of volunteering and the village now has the fastest internet in Wales.

Through a combination of government grants, fundraising loans and volunteering they have made their tiny village the envy of every rural community who have struggled for connectivity.

(Image: Mark Lewis)

Brinley Richards, 79, has lived in the village for 25 years.

“It is a remarkable success story,” he said. “I am so proud of the community. The village deserves recognition. Some of the people will work more than 12 hours a day.

“I have no doubt that other parts of Wales will asking us for advice.”

Beyond just installing high speed broadband, the project has done something even more important. It has brought a community together.

“It is without a shadow of a doubt one of the best things ever,” said Brinley.

“I have got to know more people in the last four months than I did in the previous 25 years.”

(Image: Mark Lewis) (Image: Mark Lewis)

Jim Dunk, 71, agrees. He said: “I have been retired for 11 years.

“Brin and I converted the container into the hub.

“I have been in the marine industry all my life - I spent 23 years at sea but was born in the village of Marshfield and bought a house nearby.

“Bearing in mind I have had the house here for 41 years I never got to know many people so getting involved with this is magnificent.

“The number of people from different walks of life I have met has been incredible.”

(Image: Mark Lewis)

Some pictures of the volunteers

(Image: Mark Lewis)

(Image: Mark Lewis) (Image: Mark Lewis)

(Image: Mark Lewis)

(Image: Mark Lewis)

(Image: Mark Lewis)

All the houses who want the broadband are now hooked up. Though those at the end of the village had to wait while trenches were built.

One of these is Richard Raybould, 59. He said: "It is amazing what skills people in the community have. They're experts at it and farmers who dig trenches. I have met at least 30 people who I had never spoken to before.

"We all know it is not viable for a commercial organisation to install it all."

(Image: Mark Lewis)

There are now over 200 houses hooked to the superfast broadband in the village and word of their great work has spread far and wide.

One of the leaders of the project Dave Schofield said: "We have been contacted from around the UK, it's gone viral.

"We have been contacted by people from the USA and India wanting to know how we did it.

"They want to do similar projects. Crai in Powys, for instance, have now got 20mps."

Carina Dunk, 61, who has had a key role in the project, explains how many skills she's learnt since starting the project.

She said: "I knew none of this before we started.

"Will I be sad when it is done? No, I will get to play more golf!"

"It used to take a few days to download a film, now it takes less than a minute.

"Communities have tended to be more distant and detached but not here anymore.

"Sometimes we have to take a step back and pinch ourselves at what we have done.

"Anyone can do it, it is not rocket science."