IT is only a very small corner of Europe. Indeed it is a just a fragment of Gower, but it is somewhere where the locals like to think outside the box.

In the window of Our Shop, a social centre of Llanmadoc which doubles as a post office, coffee shop, general store and mini- tourist information centre, is a sign offering euros with zero per cent commission.

It illustrates the strength and versatility of the local co-operative run for the last two and a half years by its 168 shareholders.

Its success was just one reason why the 250 residents there are celebrating the 2009 Calor Village of the Year for South Wales title. It also picked up one of the four across-Wales category awards, "Community — a better place to live".

There are not many dissenters among the locals about that sentiment.

Deb Thomas moved there a year ago with her husband, and their two dogs. She was brought up in Swansea, but returned to the area after four years away. She is glad she chose Llanmadoc.

"I absolutely love it here, and we have been made so welcome by everyone," she says.

"We have made loads of friends in that short time.

"We attend any function at the village hall because it's such good fun. There are great walks for my dogs, and I do a weekly shift in the shop.

" We were looking in Gower and we looked at a few properties here. And we just had that feeling when we came into the village, such a lovely feeling, such a pretty place. I can't believe how lucky I am that we chose a house here to live in.

"It is just a joy. I wake up every morning thinking how lucky I am to be here."

The judges praised Llanmadoc for its community spirit and a can-do attitude.

Everyone seems to do something. Sian Griffiths accompanies Trinity Choir, Llanmadoc, on the piano.

"It started up a year ago and it is really fun," she says.

"Everybody is so enthusiastic. We have got more men than women, which is unusual. When we started, it was meant to be an hour long. Now it goes to an hour and a half or longer. We have started singing in Trinity Chapel events and at others in the area."

Sian has lived with her husband in Llanmadoc for 15 years, so their 13-year-old son has grown up in the village.

"There is a good mix of youngsters, so a lot of children are about the same age," she adds.

"We used to do a lot of things in the village hall when they were younger, because you could take the children and it was a good social life.

"It still is, but in a different way because he has grown up and is doing his own thing. People are always keen and happy to take part in things.

"I don't think you would get this anywhere else. People look out for each other. You can always rely on someone. You can walk through the village and you can chat to people on your way. Everyone is so friendly."

Mike Bristow only planned to hang around for four or five years when he and his wife relocated from Nottinghamshire. That was 30 years ago.

"We came here after I was made redundant," he said. "Before that I started my career in Pembrokshire, which is so like Gower, a wonderful part of Wales.

"We found this place in Llanmadoc and my wife did bed and breakfasting. Right from the start, we got the feel that this was a community. We had probably no intention of staying here or more than four or five years, but we have been here 30 years, so that speaks for itself."

One of Mike's contributions is to the village dramatic society, which generally puts on light comedies.

"They bring in people," he says.

"It is not just the business of putting on a performance. Others build the set, so that is another opportunity to get together.

"I usually have a part in the play, but I also get involved with set design. We did Alan Ayckbourn's Bedside Manners, when we had to fit three bedrooms into the village hall. It involved enormous piece work on behalf of the stage crew, who were building the set.

"We are now doing Night on the Tiles by Frank Vickery. It is great fun. We have a final dress rehearsal, which we regard as a proper night and three nights. The village hall is always packed."

It is also the venue for discos, a bar and the village show. Lottery funding rejection meant villagers had to plough their own furrow to improve the facilities there.

"We have had to raise the money to put in great facilities, tens of thousands of pounds through events," adds Mike. "They are always so well supported and so many people get involved in putting them on. We have got enormous talent here, and it reflects the fact that we do work very hard together."

Ivor Williams is a buyer for "Our Shop" and also puts in a stint there.

"All the community is supportive of the business," he says.

"They own the business, they run the business and the profits are ploughed back into the community. We are so successful with the post office element that we are now up to a point where we do euros on demand."

There are also foreign and domestic trips for the pensioners' group, along with the village show, the fete, the arts group and the open gardens scheme.

"We think it is quite important to bring children into these events as well," says Ivor.

"For the open gardens event, we have 12 gardens open on the first Sunday in July.

"Last year, it raised £7,342 for charity."

The shop was full of hustle and bustle as Ivor talked. Gorgeous- smelling pizzas had just been produced, and two baskets of apples and rhubarb had been delivered an hour before.

"That is a typical example of someone having excess produce in their garden," he says.

"The apples had fallen off his tree. They were spare, so he brought them in and said sell them off.

"Then there are the fresh pasties on a Friday — they sell out in an hour and half."

It has been a good year for this Gower outpost. Swansea Council recognised the shop with a community business award, as did the Wales Council for Voluntary Action. Then there were the Calor awards, which means £2,500 for community projects.

"The award is the icing on the cake but the cake is still here," adds Ivor. "We do what we do because we enjoy it. The award is perhaps recognition of what we do. We are fairly isolated as a community, so we have to be self-help if you like. As somebody who visits us every year said to me the other day when I said we are a can-do society, and she said 'not only are you a can-do, but you are a do-do society'."