Cadeirydd – Mrs Elan Rivers

Nadolig 2013

Rhif. 13

Unwaith eto mae’n bleser cael cofnodi holl weithgareddau’r Grŵp ers y Daflen Newyddion diwethaf.

Ym mis Medi, daeth Marion Turner o Gellilydan atom, nid yn unig  i ddangos ei chasgliad arbennig o gardiau post, ond hefyd i son am hanes eu datblygiad fel dull o gyfathrebu. Er mor ddiddorol oedd gweld y lluniau, ar flaen yr hen gardiau yn arbennig, gall y negeseuon ar y tu cefn iddynt fod llawn mor ddiddorol. Cawsom sgwrs ddiddanus, a doniol ar adegau wrth iddi ddangos y lluniau ar rai o’r cardiau lan y môr!

Yna ym mis Hydref roedd y tŷ yn  llawn ar achlysur sgwrs Michael Senior oedd yn seiliedig ar ei lyfr ‘Crossing the Conwy’. Hefyd ym mis Hydref aeth Vicky Macdonald a chriw ohonom ar ymweliad i Phlasty Gloddaeth (Coleg Dewi Sant).

group outside Gloddaeth Hall

Cawsom sgwrs arbennig o ddiddorol yn ein cyfarfod ym mis Tachwedd gan Bob Barnsdale, am hanes datblygiad y rheilffordd o Gonwy i Gyffordd Llandudno ac yna ymlaen i Landudno trwy Ddeganwy. Dangosodd nifer fawr o ddogfennau hanesyddol yn ogystal â lluniau hynod o brin, a chawsom esboniad trylwyr am bob un ohonynt gan Bob.

guests include M.P and Mayor of Conwy Town Council

Fel y gwyddoch, fe ddyfarnwyd i’r Grŵp Hanes grant o £7,100 gan Gronfa Dreftadaeth y Loteri i helpu gyda’r gwaith o gofnodi bywyd ag amseroedd y pentref fel rhan o raglen ‘Ein Holl Straeon’. Cynhaliwyd arddangosfa yng Ngwesty’r Cei i ddathlu diwedd y rhaglen gyda’r aelodau hynny a fu’n gysylltiedig â’r prosiect yn bresennol ynghyd a nifer o westeion amlwg.

Dywedodd Jennifer Stewart, Pennaeth  Gronfa Dreftadaeth y Loteri yng Nghymru: “Mae’n amlwg bod llwyddiant Ein Holl Straeon wedi atgyfnerthu’r ffaith ein bod yn genedl sy’n hoffi dweud straeon a’n bod ni eisiau archwilio ac edrych yn ddyfnach i’n cefndir a darganfod mwy am yr hyn sy’n wirioneddol o bwys i ni. Dyna’r union beth mae’r grant wedi gwneud i Grŵp Hanes Deganwy wrth iddynt gychwyn ar y daith.”

Braf iawn oedd derbyn y sylwadau canmoliaethus gan y rhai oedd yn bresennol yn yr arddangosfa am yr hyn a wnaed gan y Grŵp gyda help y grant.

Yn ein Diwrnod Agored yn Rhagfyr cawn y cyfle i ddefnyddio’r offer a gafwyd gyda’r grant i gofnodi atgofion pobl am hen Ddeganwy, naill ai ar lafar neu drwy ychwanegu at ein casgliad presennol o gardiau post, ffotograffau, dogfennau ayb. Mae ein harchif yn tyfu ac mi fyddai’n braf cael cynnwys gymaint o hanesion pobl lleol ynddo.

Mae gennym raglen lawn a ddiddorol wedi’i drefnu ar eich cyfer yn 2014 a gobeithiwn y byddwch yn parhau i’w cefnogi.

Yn Ionawr, yn dilyn ein Cyfarfod Blynyddol, rydym yn disgwyl Llew Groom i ddod atom  i roi sgwrs am – ‘Plas Mawr – Plasty Parchus a Thoreithiog’.

Yna ar fore Sadwrn 15fed Chwefror byddwn yn cynnal Gwasanaeth Cofio i Ddadorchuddio Plac Cofeb i’r 5 o’r llu awyr a laddwyd ar Gae Erw ger Coedwig Marl ar 15fed Chwefror 1944, union 70 mlynedd yn ôl. Cynhelir y gwasanaeth yn Eglwys St Michael, Cyffordd Llandudno  am 10.30am. Estynnwn groeso i bawb i’r gwasanaeth hwn ar achlysur a fydd mor deimladwy i’r teuluoedd a’r rhai sy’n cofio’r digwyddiad.

Daw hwn fel uchafbwynt i’r gwaith ymchwil trylwyr a wnaed gan  Gwyn Hughes i’r ddamwain. Bu Gwyn mewn cysylltiad â theuluoedd y rhai a  fu farw a gobeithir bydd rhai o aelodau’r teuluoedd yn ymuno a ni yn y gwasanaeth.    

Ein siaradwyr gwadd hyd at  y gwanwyn fydd fel a ganlyn:
Chwefror 20 – Matt Jones  – Gwaith archeolegol a hanesyddol ar Westy Castell Deganwy
Mawrth 20 – Nigel Bannerman – Ailymweld a Llys Helyg
Ebrill 17 – Eric Dobinson – Trychineb HMS Thetis.
Ym mis Mai rydym am drefnu gwibdaith i ardal Llangollen fydd yn cynnwys taith ar y trên stem, taith cwch ar y gamlas dros Pontcysyllte a phryd ysblennydd ar y ffordd adref – rhaid bwcio’n gynnar i wneud yn siŵr o’ch lle ar hwn.

Gobeithio bydd y fwydlen uchod yn ddigon blasus i’ch denu i ymuno a’r Grŵp ac i ddod i’n cyfarfodydd.  

Mae gennym cynnig arbennig ar hyn o bryd gyda llyfr Betty Mills ‘Flowers on a Path’ ar werth am bris gostyngedig o £2.50 hyd at ddiwedd mis Ionawr yn unig, felly manteiswch ar y bargen yma.  

Wrth derfynu, rydym fel Pwyllgor y Grŵp Hanes yn anfon ein dymuniadau gorau atoch am Nadolig Hapus a Blwyddyn Newydd Dda.

Nadolig 2013

Chair – Mrs Elan Rivers

Christmas 2013

No. 13

Once again it is a pleasure to record all of the Group’s activities since our last Newsletter,.

In September, Marion Turner from Gellilydan came, not only to show us her wonderful collection of postcards, but also to talk about the development of postcards as a means of communication. Although seeing the pictures on the front of old postcards is particularly interesting, the messages on the backs of some of them can be just as interesting. The talk was entertaining and humorous at times, when she showed us some of her saucy seaside postcards!

Then in October, we had a full house on the occasion of Michael Senior’s talk based on his book ‘Crossing the Conwy’. Also in October, Vicky Macdonald escorted a group of us on a guided tour of Gloddaeth Hall (Saint David’s College). 

Vicky Macdonald with group

We had a particularly interesting talk at our November meeting, when Bob Barnsdale gave us the history of the development of the railway from Conwy to Llandudno Junction and then onwards through Deganwy  to Llandudno. He exhibited a large number of historic documents as well as some exceedingly rare photographs and pictures, and Bob gave us a detailed explanation of each of them.

As you will be aware, the History Group has been awarded a grant of £7,100 from the National Heritage Lottery to help with the work of recording the life and times of the village as part of their ‘All Our Stories’ programme. An exhibition was held at the Quay Hotel to mark the end of the programme, with those members who were involved with the project being present together with a number of notable guests. 

Quay Exhibition

Jennifer Stewart, Head of the Heritage Lottery Fund Wales, said: “Clearly the success of All Our Stories has reinforced the fact that we are indeed a nation of story-tellers and that we want to explore and dig deeper into our past and discover more about what really matters to us. This is exactly what the grant has done for the History of Deganwy Group as they have embarked on a real journey of discovery.”

It was very pleasant to receive such complimentary praise from those who were present at the exhibition about what the Group had achieved with the benefit of the grant

At our Open Day in December we hope to have the opportunity to put to good use, the equipment we have acquired with the grant, in order to record people’s memories of old Deganwy, either orally or by adding to our current collection of postcards, photographs, documents etc. Our archive is growing and it would be good to be able to include as many memories of local people as possible.

We have a full and varied programme arranged for you in 2014 which we hope you will continue to support.    

In January, following our Annual General Meeting, we are expecting Llew Groom to give us a talk entitled ‘Plas Mawr – A Worthy and Plentiful House.

Then on Saturday morning the 15th February at 10.30 am, we will be holding a Memorial Service to Unveil the Remembrance Plaque for the 5 airmen who died at Cae Erw, close to Marl Woods on 15th February 1944, exactly 70 years ago. The service will be held at St Michael’s Church, Llandudno Junction. We extend a warm welcome to everybody to the service, which we feel will be a very emotional experience to the families and to those who may remember the event.  

This is the climax to the extensive research work into the accident undertaken by Gwyn Hughes. Gwyn has been in touch with the families of those who died and it is hoped that some members of the families will join with us at the service

Our guest speakers from now until the spring are as follows:
February 20th – Matt Jones – Archaeological and historical works  at Deganwy Castle Hotel
March 20th – Nigel Bannerman –Llys  Helyg Revisited.
April 17th – Eric Dobinson – HMS Thetis Disaster.

In May we will be arranging a field trip to the Llangollen area which will include a steam train journey, canal barge trip over Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and a sumptous meal on the way home – you need to book early for this.

We hope that the above menu is tasty enough to entice you to join the Group and to attend our meetings.

We have a special offer on at the moment with Betty Mills’ book ‘Flowers on a Path’, on sale at the reduced price of £2.50 until the end of January only, so take advantage of this bargain.

In conclusion, we as the Committee of the History Group extend our best wishes to you for a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Christmas 2013