Thatcher Alan Jones stands on the scaffolding to scan the roof just as an artist would stand back to cast a highly critical eye over his painting.   Here is a man who, for the past 40 years, has accepted nothing less than perfection in the intricate art of thatching.

"At the moment, we're repairing the base coat," he says as he climbs one of the many ladders secured onto the roof.  "Once that's complete, we'll start putting on the weathering coat, which is the new straw thatch.  The roof is in a pretty sorry state at the moment, but I'm hopeful that in three months it'll be fully restored."

Alan began working on the massive restoration of Aberdaunant, a sixteenth century farmhouse in Taliaris near Llandeilo, five weeks ago. Although the property is owned by the National Trust, it's the home of tenant farmers Huw and Bethan Williams who have farmed the 150 acre site since 1998.

Originally a one-storey longhouse, the property formed part of the Llwyncelyn Estate in Llanwrda until it was sold in 1922 to the Thomas family.  The Thomases remained at  Aerdaunant until 1997, when a chimney fire prompted the National Trust to step in.

"The last Thomas to live here was Mr Gwilym Thomas, but he only lived in a small section of the house.  Whenever his family came to visit he'd light the 'simne fawr' (inglenook fireplace) in the sitting room but on this particular day the chimney caught fire.  When the fire brigade arrived they could see that the fire had spread into the thatch and the officers were understandably quite concerned at what had happened."

They informed the National Trust and together with Heritage Lottery funding, the Trust was able to purchase the farm.  It's only now, however, that proper restoration work has begun.

Originally a single storey longhouse built with a cruck frame and colm, at some stage Aberdausant was made smaller to accommodate a stable block.  And like a lot of traditional houses, the thatch was at some point covered by a tin roof.

"Two hundred years ago, most houses in Wales would have been thatched.  You'd help the farmer with his crop, you'd thresh the grain, you've still have plenty of straw left so what would you do?  You'd use it. Then you'd go to the coppice to get heather, bracken and gorse which you'd fix onto the timber as your base coat which would stay there for ever.  You'd cover it with straw thatch and there you'd have your roof for free.  But then came the first World War.

"A lot of thatchers were lost to it and suddenly there was a great deal of tin around because much had been produced for the trenches and the railways.  Once the war was over there was a surplus, so people used it to cover their thatch." 

Eventually, the tin rooves was replaced by slate.

"This was a big social statement because if you had slate over your head, you had money.  But God knows, your heating bill would have gone up. "Fortunately the thatch here at Aberdaunant remained covered by tin and then a scaffolding roof erected by the National Trust and this has helped to preserve it to a certain extent but it's still as bad as it gets.  But fortunately the Trust realises how unique and special a property it is, and they want to restore it to a traditional Welsh farmhouse that they can be proud of."

A carpenter by trade, Alan was introduced to thatching out of necessity when he helped construct the Castell Henllys iron age fort in north Pembrokeshire back in 1982.  He obviously got a taste for the craft and went to Holland to learn the techniques with a professional master thatcher.  Today Alan is one of only two master thatchers based in Wales.  His reputation has won him contracts in East Germany, southern Italy, France, Holland and virtually every county in England, he's worked on numerous film sets including 'Robin Hood' which was shot in Freshwater East and, last but not least, is on excellent social terms with certain members of the Royal household having thatched their properties for many years.

But like all highly skilled craftsmen, it's obvious that Alan remains a purist when it comes to the intricacies of his trade.

"We're hearing a lot about water reed thatching at the moment which is the new kid on the block and makes up around 80 per cent of thatching that's now being done in the UK.  But most of the reeds comes from China so when you talk about thatching being traditional and sustainable, you're having a bit of a laugh."

Fortunately listed buildings insist on straw thatch as opposed to water reeds.

"This is why I use straw and the special heritage varieties which need processing in a special way. You can't cut it with a combine harvester but it has to be threshed and combed which is very time consuming and this is why thatching is so expensive.  It's currently £1,200 a tonne; we've currently got six tonnes stored in the barn at Aberdaunant waiting to be used and the chances are we'll need more.

"But when you've got a Welsh property as magnificant as this one, there's no other option.  It deserves the best.  And the fulfilment I get from seeing the end result is quite something."