Celebrations have taken place as a Welsh monthly magazine turns 40.

Contributors to Glo Man gathered at Cwmaman Community Centre on August 1 to celebrate four decades of the publication.

Dafydd Wyn, chairman of Glo Man, and one of its founders recalled how the Welsh paper was launched after the Chaired Poet Alan Llwyd was invited to speak to the Welsh Dining Circle at Ammanford by Elfryn Thomas, the Secretary.

The group were interested when Alan Llwyd talked about a new venture in Welsh literature with the creation of monthly magazines in Cardiganshire and Pembrokeshire back in 1978.

These had encouraged people to write about their own localities in the Welsh language.

After listening to Alan Llwyd's inspiring speech, three members, including Dr John Williams and Hywel Davies and Dafydd Wyn, decided to call at the Wernoleu Hotel for a further discussion.

They talked about how they should go about setting up a Welsh local paper in the Amman Valley and decided to call a public meeting at the 'Ty Coch' in Betws.

A Betws lady suggested that 'Glo Man' would be a suitable title in view of the coal mining background in the Aman Valley.

Glenys Protheroe, the first editor, still recalls the excitement as they prepared for the first edition of Glo Man.

Typist Jane Cousins kindly consented for the materials to be assembled in her parlour.

There the typewriter took centre stage and the printouts were spread out on the carpet.

Extensive use was made of a scissors, tippex and glue before the days of “cut and paste”, and there were papers everywhere.

Then the scripts were taken to our compositor John James, who assembled them in pages prior to photocopying.

Finally, the group had the thrill of holding the first copy of Glo Man in their hands and they gazed at the front-page picture of Garnant Railway Station.

At first they photocopied 150 papers but a hundred were sold in Garnant Club alone and had to print hundreds more.

The early editions were assembled in various houses and Jane Cousins, as typist, was followed by Mair Wyn, Anita Humphries and Megan Bevan.

A spokesperson for the group said: “The continued success of the local paper over the last 40 years has pleased us all.

“We have now moved into a computerised age and are most fortunate in having Edwyn Williams as a Secretary who can assemble and set the e-mailed news items at the end of every month.

“Pam Jones, our treasurer, is also in touch with our publishers and distributors.

“Our representatives are most pleased when we can supply them with interesting news from our communities.”