History

Dyfi Donkeys began in Easter 2006 with just two donkeys; Mosses and Delaney (Del-Boy). Their popularity was such that two more donkeys joined the herd in May 2006; Muffin and Twister, and again in 2007; Spot and Joey . Our latest two arrivals Poppy and Daisy Mai came in December 2012.

We began running beach donkey rides at Aberdyfi beach in Gwynedd but soon found we were in demand at local shows and events and for birthday parties.

2007 saw the first ever “Dyfi Donkey Dawdle” take place, a sponsored beach walk/ride raising money for The Brooke ( www.thebrooke.org   ) – a welfare charity for working donkeys and horses in developing countries. We ran this event for three years raising £750 in 2009.

2007 was also the first year that Dyfi Donkeys took part in the Best Beach Donkey competition run by The Donkey Sanctuary. In the years the competition was running we won something every year. 
2007 Best Group of Beach Donkeys in Mid and North Wales 

2008 Del Boy was officially declared the Best Individual Beach Donkey in the whole of Britain!  

Britain's Best Beach Donkey 2008

2009 Del Boy was Best Individual Donkey in Mid and North Wales and all the boys were awarded Best Group of Beach Donkeys in Mid and North Wales.

2009 started with a new challenge as Del Boy and Spot tried their hooves at acting. With a little edible encouragement they did very well and are now permanent members of the cast of “Cei Bach” a children’s programme on S4C. It is a Welsh language version of Balamory. The series has been a roaring success picking up a Bafta nomination in 2010. Del-Boy and Spot are now known to a generation of Welsh speakers as Tudno and Tesni.

2010 saw another first, with Del Boy branching out into wedding work, taking the bride and groom from Chapel to Reception in his cart. As usual he basked in the attention, to everyone’s delight.

2010 Dyfi Donkeys were awarded the new Donkey Sanctuary’s Beach Donkey Welfare Award.


2011 was the year that the donkeys met with Royal approval; during HRH Prince Charles visit to Aberdyfi the donkeys were presented to him and they all welcomed him with a full volume 4 donkey salute to the delight of the Royal party and the crowd!

Spot telling HRH Prince Charles a tale!

2011 also saw us retire Spot from active donkey ride duty after he started to show discomfort in his back. To help pay for his retirement we launched the Sponsor Spot Scheme - see seperate page.