Cadeirydd – Mrs Elan Rivers
Gwanwyn 2013
Rhif. 11
Mae’n braf cael dweud bod y gwanwyn wedi cyrraedd o’r diwedd ar ôl gaeaf oer a hir.
Ond er bod y tywydd ar adegau wedi bod yn eithafol, rydym ni fel Grŵp Hanes wedi parhau gyda’n gweithgareddau. Ymhell yn ôl erbyn hyn, cynhaliwyd ein Diwrnod Agored Blynyddol cyn y Nadolig yn Ysgoldy Capel Peniel ac er nad oedd y nifer o ymwelwyr cymaint ag a fu o’r blaen, cafwyd sylwadau cadarnhaol iawn am yr arddangosfa gan y rhai a fu’n bresennol.
Cynhaliwyd ein Trydedd Cyfarfod Blynyddol ar 17eg Ionawr pan gafodd yr holl Bwyllgor ei ail ethol. Penderfynodd Arfon Williams, fodd bynnag, i sefyll i lawr ac fe etholwyd Bob Barnsdale i gymryd ei le. Diolch i ti Arfon am dy gyfraniad ers sefydlu’r Grŵp, a chroeso cynnes i Bob. Bydd Arfon yn parhau yn y swydd o fod yn Llyfrgellydd y Grŵp ac rydym yn hynod o ddiolchgar iddo am hynny.
Ar yr un noson, cafwyd dechreuad arbennig o dda i raglen y flwyddyn gyda sgwrs gan Eric a Meriel Dobinson am eu hatgofion o’r Harbwr Mulberry a adeiladwyd ar y Morfa yng Nghonwy ym 1942 dan oruchwyliaeth Hugh Iorys Hughes o Fangor.
Yna, yn Chwefror, aeth Stephen Lea o Gymdeithas Archwilio’r Gogarth a ni ar daith ddarluniadol ac ar lafar i ymweld â’r mwyngloddiau copr sydd i’w gweld ar y Gogarth.
Yn mis Mawrth, daeth nifer fawr o bobl ynghyd i wrando ar Vicky Macdonald yn rhoi sgwrs ar ddarlunwyr Dyffryn Conwy yn y gorffennol a hanes sefydlu’r Academi Frenhinol Gymreig.
Yn ein cyfarfod diwethaf, daeth tyrfa mawr atom unwaith eto, y tro hwn i wrando ar ddarlith gan Eric Smith am hanes creu’r doc yn Neganwy, ei ddatblygiad diwydiannol yn y 19eg ganrif, sef yr oes pan gafodd ei ddefnyddio i gludo llechi ar draws y byd, hyd at ei ddefnydd ddiweddarach fel man adeiladau cychod. Mae ffrwyth gwaith ymchwil Eric i’w weld ar wefan y Grŵp. Mae’n rhaid dweud ein bod yn hynod o ffodus, ers sefydlu’r Grŵp, o gael siaradwyr mor arbennig o dda i ddod atom i siarad ar destunau mor amrywiol ac eto mor berthnasol i’r Grŵp Hanes.
Rydym ar hyn o bryd yn paratoi ein rhaglen ar gyfer 2014 ac fe fyddem yn hynod o falch i glywed gennych os oes gennych unrhyw enwau neu destunau y gellid ystyried ar gyfer y flwyddyn nesaf. Fel y cyhoeddwyd yn rhifyn diwethaf y Daflen Newyddion fe lwyddwyd i gael grant hael iawn o Gronfa Treftadaeth y Loteri. Rydym eisoes wedi cael offer i’n cynorthwyo gyda’r gwaith i gyd-fynd a nod ein prosiect o greu cofnod gweledol a chlywedol o atgofion pobl am Ddeganwy. Fe hoffem unwaith eto gofyn am eich help yn hyn o beth. Rydym yn awyddus iawn i gofnodi eich atgofion personol chi, naill ai yn hanesion, cardiau post, llythyrau, ffotograffau ayb o Ddeganwy yn y dyddiau a fu.
Bydd y prosiect yn rhedeg tan fis Hydref eleni, ac erbyn hynny rydym yn gobeithio, gyda llawer o help gennych chi, bydd gennym groestoriad eithaf cynhwysfawr o sut le oedd Deganwy ar droad y 19eg ganrif. Os hoffech fod yn rhan o’r gwaith ymchwil hwn, yna cysylltwch ag un o aelodau’r Pwyllgor. Byddem yn hynod o falch o’ch help. Mae gennym lawer o bethau ar y gweill ar eich cyfer ar hyn o bryd.
group at Bodysgallen Hall
Yn gyntaf, bydd ymweliad y Grŵp a Bodysgallen dan arweiniad Elan wedi digwydd. Does dim amheuaeth bydd hon yn achlysur arbennig. Bydd gwibdaith y gwanwyn ar 13eg Mai yn mynd a ni i Domen y Mur yn Nhrawsfynydd ac yna ymlaen i Gastell y Bere ger Abergynolwyn.
Group at Castell y Bere
Y digwyddiad arall o bwys yw’r Cinio Blynyddol ar 26ain Mai. Yn anffodus, oherwydd y diffyg ymateb i’r digwyddiad pwysig hwn ac er ymdrechion diflino Vicky, mae’n debyg bydd yn rhaid gwneud trefniadau eraill.
Mae Gwyn wedi symud ymlaen efo’i drefniadau ar gyfer y gofeb i’r 5 o’r llu awyr a laddwyd yn Chwefror 1944 ac mae’r Cynghorydd Mike Priestley wedi cwblhau ei naid noddedig ar y wifren sip i godi arian tuag at y gofeb ac fe obeithir ei ddadorchuddio yn ystod yr haf.
Rydym hefyd, trwy garedigrwydd Mr Gareth Williams o Gwmni David Williams, Llandudno, wedi gallu atgyweirio’r gofeb i fechgyn Ysgol Woodlands a laddwyd yn y Rhyfel Byd Cyntaf.
Woodlands school plaque
Cofiwch i alw heibio i’n stondin ar Ddiwrnod y Prom yn Neganwy. Wrth anfon ein dymuniadau gorau i bob aelod o’r Grŵp am haf hapus a phleserus, fe hoffem eich annog unwaith eto i ymuno a ni yn ein gweithgareddau. Mae Gwyn, ein gwefeistr yn diweddaru ein gwefan yn gyson ac fe ellir dilyn ein hynt a’n helynt ar y wefan ac ar Facebook.
Gwanwyn 2013
Chair – Mrs Elan Rivers
Spring 2013
No. 11
At last the spring seems to have arrived after the long cold winter. In spite of the fact that the weather has been extremely unfavourable at times, we as the History Group have continued with our activities
It seems a long time ago by now, but just before Christmas we held our Annual Open Day at Peniel Chapel Schoolroom. Despite the low attendance on this occasion, we had very positive comments about the quality of the Exhibition from those who were present.
Our Third Annual Meeting was held on 17th January when the whole Committee was re-elected. Arfon Williams however decided to step down and Bob Barnsdale was elected to take his place. Thanks Arfon for your contribution to the Group since its inception and a warm welcome to Bob. Arfon will continue as the Group Librarian and we are extremely grateful to him, for this.
On the same evening, we had a splendid start to the year’s programme with a talk by Eric and Meriel Dobinson about their memories of the Mulberry Harbour being built at Conwy Morfa in 1942 under the supervision of Hugh Iorys Hughes of Bangor.
Then in February, Stephen Lea of the Great Orme Exploration Society took us on an illustrative, oral expedition into the copper mines that can be found on the Great Orme.
In March, a large number of people joined us to hear Vicky Macdonald’s talk about the artists of The Conwy Valley in the past and the story about the creation of the Royal Cambrian Academy.
At our last meeting, we had yet another terrific turnout, this time to hear Eric Smith’s lecture about the creation of the Deganwy Dock, its industrial development in the 19th century, which was the age when it was used for the transportation of slate overseas, to the more recent use of the site for building boats. The outcome of Eric’s research work can be found by visiting the Group’s website.
dock scene 1930’s
It has to be said that we have been extremely fortunate, since the Group was formed, to have had such excellent speakers on such a variety of subjects and still so relevant to the History Group. We are currently preparing the 2014 programme, and we would be very glad to hear from you if you have any speakers or any topics you feel could be considered for next year.
As announced in the last edition of the Newsletter, we have succeeded in obtaining a very generous grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund. We have already aquired equipment which will help us achieve the stated aims of our project of creating a visual and audio record of people’s memories of Deganwy. We would once again ask for your help with the project. We are most anxious to record your own personal memories, be they anecdotes, photographs, postcards, letters, etc. of Deganwy in order to have a record of Deganwy in bygone days. The project will run until October this year, by which time we hope, with a lot of help from you, to have a fairly comprehensive cross section view of how Deganwy was at the turn of the 19th century. If you wish to be part of this research work, then please contact a member of the Committee. We would be extremely grateful for your help.
We have many things on the go for your benefit at the moment. Firstly, the Group will already have visited Bodysgallen Hall with Elan. There’s no doubt that this will be a special occasion.
Our spring field trip on 13th May will take us to visit Tomen y Mur near Trawsfynydd and onwards to Castell y Bere near Abergynolwyn.
The other important event is the Group’s Annual Lunch on the 26th May. Unfortunately, because of the lack of response to this important event and despite Vicky’s tireless efforts, it is likely that we will have to make alternative arrangements.
Gwyn is currently progressing with his arrangements for the memorial to the 5 airmen who died in 1944 and Councillor Mike Priestley has completed his sponsored zip wire ride to raise money for the memorial. It is hoped that the memorial will be officially unveiled in the summer.
We have also, through the generosity of Mr Gareth Williams of David Williams (Llandudno) Ltd, been able to repair the memorial plaque to the boys from Woodlands School who died in the First World War
Remember to visit our stand at Deganwy Prom Day.
In sending our best wishes to every member of the History Group for a happy and pleasurable summer, we would once more encourage you to join with us in our activities. Gwyn, our webmaster is constantly updating our website and you can follow what we are doing by visiting our website and on Facebook.
Spring 2013