Cadeirydd Kevin Slattery
Nadolig 2021
Taflen Newyddion 28
Croeso cynnes i bawb ohonoch i Daflen Newyddion cyntaf y Grŵp ers Nadolig 2018. Mae llawer wedi digwydd ers hynny ond mae’n braf cael dweud bod Grŵp Hanes Deganwy wedi goroesi ac yn mynd o nerth i nerth.
Rydym wedi parhau i gael sgyrsiau diddorol gan siaradwyr rhagorol yn y cyfnod hwn. Cynhaliwyd ein Diwrnod Agored blynyddol yn 2019, mwynhawyd ein cinio blynyddol yn Paysanne yn 2019 a 2021, aethom ar deithiau cerdded lleol i ymweld â llefydd diddorol, aethom am wibdaith i’r hen Sir Drefaldwyn i deithio ar y rheilffordd o Lanfair Caereinion i’r Trallwng ag i ymweld â Chastell Powys.
Ar wahân i’r cyfarfodydd hyn, mae Kevin ag Arfon a’u tîm yn parhau i ofalu am Ffynnon Santes Fair yn Llanrhos yn ogystal â Llwybr Betty ger y Fardre
Mae’n ddiddorol, wrth i rywun bodio trwy raglenni’r Grŵp, i weld yr amrywiaeth o sgyrsiau a gafwyd ers 2018; Cregyn Gleision Benarth, Gerddi Bodnant, Pontydd Thomas Telford, cysylltiadau Cymru a Rhyfel Cartref America, Band Pres Llandudno, Ffyrdd Rhufeinig Gogledd Cymru, Cloddio am Aur yn Nolgellau, Archif Clwb Camera Conwy, Hen Depo Crosville Cyffordd Llandudno, hanes Madog yn darganfod America, hanes Clement Arnold o Landudno – Arwr o’r Rhyfel Byd 1af a’r cysylltiad gyda Wormhout, Meini Hirion Prydain, gwaith Cenhadon o Gymru yn yr India, darganfod trysorau cuddiedig Deganwy ag yna hanesion am y rhai enwog a gladdwyd yn y Fynwent ar y Gogarth. Yn ogystal â hyn cafwyd Pigion Hanes, sef cyflwyniadau anffurfiol gan aelodau unigol o’r Grŵp am faterion sydd o ddiddordeb arbennig iddynt hwy. Amrywiol yn wir!
Mae wedi bod yn ddiddorol hefyd cynnal nifer o’n cyfarfodyddd trwy Zoom!
Trwy hyn oll mae aelodaeth y Grŵp wedi cynyddu o flwyddyn i flwyddyn gan gyrraedd y nifer mwyaf mewn blwyddyn yn 2021 – sef 85. Mae’n rhaid ein bod yn gwneud rhywbeth yn iawn!
Mae Pwyllgor y Grŵp yn weithgar iawn mewn nifer o agweddau ac mae’r aelodau yn dod a’u harbenigedd penodol hwy i’r gweithgareddau. Yr aelodaeth bresennol o 13 yw Morgan Ditchburn, John Griffiths, Adrian Hughes, Wendy Lonsdale, Vicky Macdonald, Mary Meldrum, Trefor Price, Kevin Slattery, Eric Smith, Lucinda Smith, Arfon Williams, Diane Williams ag Ifor Williams. Ein Cadeirydd yw Kevin, a Diane yw ein Is-Gadeirydd newydd. Ein Hysgrifennydd yw Vicky a’n Trysorydd yw Mary. Trefor sy’n edrych ar ôl gwefan y Grŵp ac mae ef ag Eric yn edrych ar agweddau technegol eraill tra bo Lucinda a Diane yn paratoi adroddiadau am y sgyrsiau ar gyfer y wefan, sy’n cael eu cyfieithu i’r Gymraeg gan Arfon ag Ifor. Mae nifer o aelodau unigol o’r Grŵp yn cynnig help llaw o bryd i’w gilydd ond fe ddylem cyfeirio at rai yn arbennig sef Kaye Macpherson, Peter Mason, Angela Smith a Richard – Rowen. Llawer o ddiolch i bawb.
Os oes gennych unrhyw sylwadau neu yr hoffech gael mwy o wybodaeth am weithgareddau’r Grŵp, bydd unrhyw aelod o’r Pwyllgor yn falch o’ch helpu.
Yn anffodus, oherwydd nifer o ffactorau, bu’n rhaid codi’r tanysgrifiad blynyddol i £13 i bob aelod a’r tâl mynediad i gyfarfodydd i ymwelwyr i £3 yr un – y tro cyntaf i hyn ddigwydd ers 2013!
Wrth gwrs yr anhawster mwyaf a gafwyd i bawb ohonom ers mis Mawrth 2020 yw’r Pandemig Covid-19. Mae wedi achosi gymaint o drallod a bryder i gymaint o bobl ar draws y byd a chawn obeithio daw’r cyfnod argyfyngus hwn i ben yn fuan ac y cawn ddychwelyd i ffordd o fyw mwy naturiol mor fuan ag sy’n bosibl.
Erbyn hyn rydym wedi dychwelyd i Gapel Peniel i gynnal ein cyfarfodydd ac rydym yn ddiolchgar iawn i swyddogion y Capel am eu cydweithrediad. Roeddem yn ddiolchgar iawn hefyd i aelodau Eglwys yr Holl Saint am ganiatáu i ni gynnal cyfarfodydd yna yn 2021.
Mae’r Tîm sy’n gyfrifol am baratoi rhaglen y Grŵp wedi bod wrthi unwaith eto ac mae rhaglen amrywiol, llawn a ddiddorol yn barod ar eich cyfer yn 2022. Gobeithio bydd y rhaglen yn eich denu i ymuno yng ngwaith y Grŵp. Os oes gennych unrhyw syniadau am siaradwyr yr hoffech i ni wahodd i’n cyfarfodydd, byddem yn falch i glywed gennych.
BARGEN! Ar hyn o bryd mae llyfr Betty Mills ‘Flowers on a Path’ ar werth am bris gostyngedig o £3.50 am un copi, £4 am 2 copi neu £5 am 3 copi hyd at ddiwedd mis Ionawr yn unig, felly manteisiwch ar y fargen yma, anrheg wych i’ch cyfeillion a’ch teulu. Bydd yr holl incwm yn mynd i goffrau’r Grŵp Hanes.
Wrth derfynu, anfonwn ein dymuniadau gorau atoch oll am Nadolig Llawen a Blwyddyn Newydd Dda.
Nadolig Llawen
Nadolig 2021
Chairman Kevin Slattery
Christmas 2021
Newsletter 28
A warm welcome to you all to the Group’s first Newsletter since Christmas 2018. Many things have happened since then and it’s good to report that the History of Deganwy Group has survived and is going from strength to strength.
We have continued to have interesting talks from excellent speakers during this period. We held our annual Open Day in 2019, we enjoyed our annual lunch at Paysanne in 2019 and 2021, we went on walks to visit local places of interest, we went on an outing to the old County of Montgomeryshire to travel on the railway from Llanfair Caereinion to Welshpool and to visit Powys Castle.
Apart from these meetings, Kevin and Arfon and the team continue to look after St Mary’s Well at Llanrhos as well as Betty’s Path near the Vardre.
It’s interesting, as you thumb through the Group’s programmes, to see the variety of talks we have enjoyed since 2018; the Benarth Mussel Tanks, Bodnant Garden, the Thomas Telford Bridges, Welsh connections with the American Civil War, Llandudno Town Band, Roman Roads of North Wales, Gold Mining in Dolgellau, Conwy Camera Club Archive, the old Crosville Depot, Llandudno Junction, the story of Madog discovering America, the story of 1st World war hero Clement Arnold of Llandudno and the Wormhout connection, Standing Stones of Britain, the work of Welsh Missionaries in India, finding hidden treasures of Deganwy and then the stories of notable people who are buried in the Cemetery on the Great Orme. In addition to these we had Snippets of History, namely informal presentations by individual Group members on subjects of particular interest to them. Varied indeed!
It’s also been very interesting holding a number of our meetings through Zoom!
Through all this, the Group’s membership has increased year by year and reached the highest number yet in a single year in 2021 – namely 85. We must be doing something right!
The Group’s Committee is very active in a number of aspects and the members bring with them their own individual specialist expertise to the activities. The present membership of 13 is Morgan Ditchburn, John Griffiths, Adrian Hughes, Wendy Lonsdale, Vicky Macdonald, Mary Meldrum, Trefor Price, Kevin Slattery, Eric Smith, Lucinda Smith, Arfon Williams, Diane Williams and Ifor Williams. Kevin is our Chairman and Diane is our new Vice-Chairman. Our Secretary is Vicky and our Treasurer is Mary. Trefor looks after the Group’s website and he and Eric look after other technical details while Lucinda and Diane write up the reports of the meetings for the webiste which are subsequently translated into Welsh by Arfon and Ifor. Many individual members of the Group add a lending hand from time to time but we should mention particular helpers- Kaye Macpherson, Peter Mason, Angela Smith and Richard – Rowen . Many thanks to one and all.
If you have any observation or would like more information about the Group’s activities, then any member of the Committee will be glad to help you.
Unfortunately, for a number of reasons, it has been necessary to raise the annual subscription to £13 per member and the admission to meetings for visitors to £3 per person – the first time this has happened since 2013!
Of course, the greatest difficulty we have all experienced since March 2020 has been the Covid-19 Pandemic. It has caused so much distress and anxiety to so many people all over the world and we can only hope that this critical period will soon come to an end and that we can return to a more normal way of life as soon as possible.
By now, we have returned to Capel Peniel to hold our meetings and we are very grateful to the Chapel officers for their co-operation. We are also very grateful to the members of All Saints Church for allowing us to hold a meeting there in 2021.
The Team responsible for preparing the Programme has been at it once again and have an interesting, full and varied programme ready for you in 2022. We hope that the programme will entice you to take part in the Group’s activities. If you have any suggestions for guest speakers we could invite to our meetings, we’d be glad to hear from you.
BARGAIN! We have a special offer at the moment with Betty Mills’ book ‘Flowers on a Path’, on sale from now until the end of January only, at a reduced price of £3.50 for one copy, 2 copies for £4 or 3 copies for £5 so take advantage of this bargain, an ideal gift for your friends and family. All proceeds from the sale of the book go to the History Group funds
In conclusion, we extend to you all, our best wishes for a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Merry Christmas
Christmas 2021