Cadeirydd/Chairman
Eric Smith
Hydref / Autumn 2015
Taflen Newyddion Rhif 18
Croeso i rifyn diweddaraf Taflen Newyddion y Grŵp Hanes. Gobeithio eich bod yn cael y wybodaeth a chynhwysir yn y Taflenni hyn o ddiddordeb i chi. Os oes gennych unrhyw awgrymiadau ar sut y gallwn wella’r arddull neu o ledaenu’r wybodaeth i chi, byddwn yn falch o glywed gennych
Tymor teithiau cerdded a gweithgareddau allanol yw’r haf i’r Grŵp Hanes a’r cyntaf oedd ym mis Mehefin. Roedd yn noson braf a’r llanw ar ei lefel isaf pan aeth 30 ohonom allan i ymweld â sgerbwd y sgwner y ’Flying Foam’ ar draeth Pen Morfa yn Llandudno. Cyn cychwyn cawsom gyflwyniad byr gan Debbie Wareham o Amgueddfa Forol ‘Ships’ Timbers’ am dranc y llong ar ei thaith olaf o Lerpwl i Plymouth ar 21ain Ionawr 1936 yn cludo ei llwyth arferol o lo. Roedd hyn yn ddilyniant i’r sgwrs a roddodd Debbie i’r Grŵp ym mis Mai. Paratowyd cystadleuaeth fach ar ein cyfer er mwyn i ni geisio darganfod rhai o’r nodweddion oedd yn dal i’w gweld ar sgerbwd y llong.
Yn ffodus, dychwelodd 30 ohonom i’r lan!!
Yn dilyn yr ymweliad aethom i dafarn y Cottage Loaf yn Llandudno i weld model o’r llong yn ogystal â’r prennau a achubwyd ag sydd erbyn hyn yn rhan o adeiladwaith y dafarn.
Unwaith eto roedd yn noson braf o Orffennaf pan aethom efo Jonathan Wilkins ar daith gerdded ddaearegol ar y Fardre. Ac am daith gerdded ryfeddol a gawsom! Gan gychwyn ar lethrau isaf y Fardre, bu’n rhaid i ni ddringo fel geifr mynydd i allu craffu i lawr ar greigiau anarferol mewn llecynnau bychain islaw. Dywedodd nad yw’r Fardre yn llosgfynydd fel mae llawer yn tybio, ond ei fod wedi ei greu o ganlyniad i weithgaredd folcanig pan yr oedd yr holl ardal dan y dŵr. Mae arwyneb y golofn faen agosach at Barc Gannoc yn debyg i’r creigiau a welir ar Sarn y Cawr (Giant’s Causeway) yng Ngogledd Iwerddon ac ar arfordir yr Alban. Fe welir creigiau o’r Fardre yn y waliau o gwmpas Deganwy ac ar dai ym Mharc Gannoc. Ni ddefnyddiwyd y graig yma i adeiladu Castell Conwy na muriau’r dref. Dangoswyd i ni’r tywodfaen ar Dŵr Mansel. Wrth i ni gerdded ymlaen, gwelsom lle bu’r siafftau’r gloddfa Antimoni. Caewyd yr holl siafftau hyn am fod y plant lleol yn chwarae ynddynt ac am fod antimoni yn wenwynig. O’r llwybr, gwelwyd haenau o’r mwyn yn y graig. Defnyddiwyd antimoni i wneud setiau teipio yn y broses o argraffu ac awgrymodd Jonathan mai efallai dyma pam y sefydlwyd yr argraffdy cyntaf yng Nghymru yn yr ardal gerllaw. Yna aethom ymlaen i ymweld â’r chwarel uchel sydd y tu ôl i Eglwys yr Holl Saint. Gwelwyd y llinellau a’r marciau arbennig yn dangos lefelau’r dŵr ar y mwd hynafol. Fe welir ffurfiau amonitau a chregyn yma ac fe archwiliwyd y rhain yn fanwl gan yr aelodau. Trwy wybodaeth eang Jonathan, cawsom noson addysgiadol a chofiadwy.
Geological Walk on Vardre ……
Taith gerdded ddaerddegol ar y Fardre
Hefyd, yn ystod cyfnod yr haf, bu criw Kevin wrthi’n glanhau a chlirio Ffynnon Santes Fair. Rydym yn gobeithio cael gosod Panel Dehongli ar y safle yn fuan. Os hoffech fod yn rhan o’r criw glanhau, gadewch i ni wybod.
Mae’r gwefan yn dal i ddenu ymwelwyr sy’n cadarnhau ei fod yn wirioneddol yn wefan byd eang. Rydym wedi derbyn ymholiadau o UDA am eiddo yn Rhodfa Albert a York Road yn ogystal ag Ysgol Woodlands. Ychwanegwyd yn ddiweddar, adroddiad swmpus gan Fiona Richards dan yr enw ‘The “Deserving Poor” of Eglwys Rhôs’. Rydym yn dra diolchgar i Fiona am ei chyfraniadau amrhisiadwy i’r wefan ac am gyfraniadau gan eraill.
Mae Rhaglen 2016 eisoes wedi cael ei baratoi, ond er eich gwybodaeth, dyma’r rhaglen am weddill 2015:
Medi 17 – Atgofion am y Rhyfel Byd Cyntaf gan Pat Chapman
Hydref 15 – Stemars Trefriw gan Richard Clammer. Mae Richard yn awdur ar y llyfr
‘Passenger Steamers of the River Conwy:
Serving the Famous Trefriw Spa’.
Serving the Famous Trefriw Spa by Richard Clammer (ISBN: 9780750959025) from Amazon’s Book Store.
Hydref 25 – Cinio Blynyddol. Y gŵr gwadd – Trystan Lewis B.A., M.Mus.
Tachwedd 19 – Cyfarfod Blynyddol + Terfysg yng Ngwersyll Cinmel ar ddiwedd y Rhyfel Byd 1af gan Brian Bertola.
Rhagfyr 12 – Diwrnod Agored – Adolygiad o Weithgareddau’r Grŵp dros y Flwyddyn. Rydym yn gwahodd pob aelod i ddod ag unrhyw hanesion yr hoffent rannu gyda ni am hanes y pentref. Unwaith eto gofynnir am wirfoddolwyr i stiwardio ar yr achlysur hwn.
Yn ystod misoedd y gaeaf, rydym yn gobeithio cael cyfranogiad gennych chi, yr aelodau, i geisio darganfod tarddiad enwau tai ag enwau strydoedd yn ardal Deganwy. Gwyliwch y gofod!!
Cewch mwy o wybodaeth am ddigwyddiadau’r Grŵp ar ein gwefan www.deganwyhistory.co.uk neu thrwy gysylltu â’r Ysgrifennydd ar 01492 582012 neu e-bost ifor65@hotmail.co.uk.
Hydref 2015
Cadeirydd/Chairman
Eric Smith
Hydref / Autumn 2015
Newsletter No. 18
Welcome to the History Group’s latest Newsletter. We do hope that you find the information contained in these Newsletters is of interest to you. If you have any suggestions as to how we can improve the format or the dissemination of information to you, please let us know.
Summer is the History Group’s season for walks and outside activities and the first of these was in June. It was a warm evening and the tide at its lowest level when 30 of us set off to visit the wreck of the schooner ’Flying Foam’ which is beached on West Shore, Llandudno. Before setting off, we were given a short presentation by Debbie Wareham from the ‘Ships’ Timbers’ Maritime Museum about the fate of the ship on its last journey from Liverpool to Plymouth on 21st January 1936, carrying its usual cargo of coal. This was a follow up of the talk given by Debbie to the Group in May. A competition had been organised for us to try to identify some of the features that were still visible on the ship’s hulk. Fortunately 30 of us returned to the shore!!
Flying Foam visit June 2015
Following this we adjourned to the Cottage Loaf Public House in Llandudno to see a scale model of the ship as well as the ship’s timbers which had been salvaged from the vessel and which now form part of the structure of the Pub.
Once again it was a pleasant July evening when we set off on a geological walk on the Vardre with Jonathan Wilkins. And what a walk we had! Starting on the lower slopes of the Vardre, we had to climb like mountain goats to reach vantage points to view all the different rock formations making up the Vardre. The Vardre, contrary to popular belief is not a volcano but is the result of volcanic action when the whole area was underwater. The pillared rock face closest to Gannock Park is similar to rocks found at the Giant’s Causeway and on the Scottish coast.
a recent geological walk on the Vardre led by Jonathan Wilkins
Rocks from the Vardre can be seen in the walls around Deganwy and around the houses in Gannock Park. This rock was not used to build Conwy Castle and the walls. We saw sandstone rock on Mansell’s Tower. Walking on, we came across the Antimony mine shafts. All the shafts had been filled in as, in recent times, local youngsters used to play in them and Antimony is poisonous. From the path you can see seams of the mineral in the rock. Antimony had been used in the making of type sets in the printing process and Jonathan suggested that this may be why the first printing press in Wales was established in the nearby area. We then proceeded to visit the spectacularly high quarry behind All Saint’s Church. Its special lines and markings show where water levels were on the ancient mud. Ammonites and shell formations can be seen here and members went up close to see them. We had a memorable evening and Jonathan’s extensive knowledge made it enlightening, invigorating, educational and fun.
During the summer term, Kevin’s team has also been busy cleaning and clearing St Mary’s Well in Llanrhos. We hope to have the Interpretation Panel erected on the site within the next few weeks. If you would like to be part of Kevin’s cleaning crew, please let us know.
The website continues to attract visitors from all over the world thus truly confirming its status as a world wide web site. We have received enquiries from USA about properties in Albert Drive and York Road as well as Woodlands School. We have recently added a comprehensive report by Fiona Richards entitled ‘The “Deserving Poor” of Eglwys Rhôs’. We are extremely grateful to Fiona for her invaluable contributions to the webiste as well as contributions from others.
Our 2016 has already been prepared, but for your information, here is the programme for the remainder of this year:
September17 – Recollections of the 1st World War with Pat Chapman.
October 15 – Trefriw Steamers, with Richard Clammer. Richard is the author
of the book entitled ‘Passenger Steamers of the River Conwy: Serving the Famous Trefriw Spa’.
October 25 – Annual Dinner with Guest Speker Trystan Lewis B.A., M.Mus 
November 19 – AGM + Kinmel Camp Riots at the end of 1st World War with Brian Bertola
December 12 – Open Day – A review of the group’s activities over the past 12 months. We would invite all members to bring with them any story they would like to share with us about the history of the village. Once again we would ask for volunteer stewards for this event.
We also hope to arrange a member participation exercsie over the winter months, where we will seek your help in discovering the origins of house names and street names in the Deganwy area. Watch this space!!
More information about the Group’s activities can be found on our website www.deganwyhistory.co.uk or by contacting the Secretary on 01492 582012-e-mail ifor65@hotmail.co.uk
Autumn 2015