THE latest community news from Blaenau Ffestiniog

Y Gymdeithas Hanes

AR y diwrnod y gwnaeth y mwyafrif o aelodau’r cymdeithas dderbyn eu biliau treth am eleni, yr oedd yn amserol mai y gwr gwadd yng nghyfarfod mis Mawrth oedd David Elis-Williams, sef cyn bennaeth cyllid Cyngor Môn.

Yr oedd ei sgwrs yn dilyn hanesyn am un o’i hynafiaid, Angharad James o Gwm Penamnen, a’i thrafferthion i dalu’r dreth, rhyw ddwy ganrif yn ôl.

Ganwyd Angharad James yn Nyffryn Nantlle yn 1677 a phriododd William Pritchard a mynd i fyw i Gwm Penamnen yn 1701.

Fe’i cydnabyddir heddiw fel bardd benywaidd cynnar pwysig ac yn mae nifer o bregethwyr anghydffurfiol enwog ymysg ei disgynyddion.

Y mae nifer o adroddiadau amdani wedi eu cyhoeddi dros y canrifoedd ac y maent yn sôn am ei barddoniaeth, am ei gallu gyda’r delyn a dawnsio ac am ei ysgolheictod gyda’i meistrolaeth o Ladin a’i statws fel prif ynad y cwmwd. Ond un hanesyn y mae pob adroddiad am ei bywyd yn cyfeirio ato yw ei hymateb pan dderbyniodd fil treth a oedd wedi dwblu – o £1 i £2, ac iddi benderfynu ei bod am roi’r gorau i’w chartref.

Ond pan ar ei siwrne i Blas Gwydir i’w hysbysu am ei phenderfyniad, trodd yn ei hôl i edrych ar Gwm Penamnen, toddodd ei chalon, a dywedodd “mi geisiaf gasglu un buntan eto am dy hen lechweddau gleision” ac yno yr arhosodd weddill ei hoes.

Fel un a dreuliodd ei fywyd yn ymwneud â materion trethiannol yr oedd hyn wedi ysgogi David i fynd i wraidd yr hanes. A oedd gwirionedd yn y stori? A allai ddarganfod cofnod o ddwblu y trethi? Yr oedd nifer o anghysonderau yn yr adroddiadau- cyfeiriai rhai at y dreth, eraill at y rhent, ond yr oedd pob un yn sôn am y dwblu o £1 i £2.

Clywsom am yr ymchwil a wnaeth David i’r hanes; yr oedd yn amlwg nad oedd rhenti wedi codi yn y cyfnod ond yr oedd wedi bod yn anoddach dilyn beth oedd wedi digwydd gyda’r trethi.

Dangosai ei ymchwil nad oedd newidiadau yn y dreth a delid i’r eglwys/plwyf na’r un a delid i’r sir yn cyfateb i’r cynnydd, ond yr oedd treth arall yn bodoli ar y pryd – treth ar dir, ac yr oedd David yn dangos bod honno yn wir wedi dwblu (o tua £1) yn 1740 ac felly yr oedd tystiolaeth ddogfennol i gefnogi’r traddodiad llafar.

Gorffennodd David drwy ddamcaniaethu rhywfaint am y rheswm dros hirhoedledd y stori. Awgrymai mai Angharad James oedd yn gyfrifol am gasglu y trethi yn yr ardal, ac wrth fynd o gwmpas, yr oedd yn adrodd ei hanes hi’n bersonol yn cael trafferth i’w thalu, ac felly fe ledaenodd y stori.

Services

BETHEL Ffestiniog: Communion, Good Friday morning and Sunday, Rev Anita Ephraim.

Bethesda: Good Friday service with Rhian Williams at 9am.

Bowydd: United Churches Preaching Festival with Rev B Wright.

Manod Orthodox: Third and Sixth Canonical Hours at 10am followed by Divine Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom.

St David’s and St Michael’s: On Good Friday meet at St Mary Magdalene Church at 10am and then to St David’s for 11am with a service led by Rev Hillary Savage who will also take the Communion service at 11am at St David’s on Easter Sunday.

Holy Cross: Mass at 6pm on Saturday and 11am on Sunday with Shaji Punnati.

Hyfrydfa: Christening service with Rev Dewi Morris at 3.30pm.

Christmas committee

THOUGH it is just about springtime, the town council’s Christmas committee has decided to concentrate on securing a skating rink and on purchasing something that would be suitable to be used as wooden stalls for the town’s Christmas Week.

Rivers Trust meeting

AT a recent Rivers Trust meeting, Gwydion ap Wynn, spoke about the work of Dref Werdd, for which he is the project manager, on local rivers.

Environmental officer Daniel Gwyn Griffith also presented some of their work which included clearing up rhododendrons and Japanese Knotweed from the Cwmbowydd, Bowydd and Du rivers thus safeguarding habitats.

Work on clearing the Barlwyd river will be taking place over the next year or so.

Dref Werdd are thinking positively about a new project which could aid them as contractors (by funding rope access, training etc) and they are working with numerous partners to control invasive species.

Dafydd Roberts outlined some of the main activities of the Eryri National Park, explaining the plans for a new project of getting rid of pylons in specific areas by rewiring pylons in underground tunnels. These plans are still being discussed.

He also described the project that protects woodlands in Dyffryn Maentwrog and Dyff­ryn Ffestiniog by controlling rhododendron and Japanese knotweed and he presented images of their successful work.

Darts

THE Blaenau men’s darts team had a convincing 7-1 win at Penygroes in their recent Gwynedd Super League encounter.

Clwb cerdded

BYDD taith yn ardal Tremadog gan aelodau Clwb Cerdded Stiniog ddydd Sul a gofynnir i’r aelaodau fod ger Ty Gorsaf am 9yb.

Mae esgidiau cryf, dillad addas a phecyn o fwyd yn hanfodol i’r daith.

History society

MAUREEN Jones introduced the speaker for the March meeting, Clive Hudson, who was aided by his wife Shan and their daughter, Cerys.

The talk was entitled Otzi the 5,000-year-old Frozen Iceman – A indow on our Prehistory.

Clive explained how a Christmas Day walk to Garreg Hylldrem initiated the Glaslyn Prehistory Project. Various ancient finds at the site were of a similar age as Otzi, the frozen mummy found at the Austrian/Italian border.

Clive described the trip as follows: “A journey back 5,000 years to the Stone Age. The story of how local prehistoric finds inspired a father and son‘s journey to 11,000 feet in the Alps to find the site of Otzi, the well-preserved frozen mummy, and the most amazing archaeological discovery of the 20th century.”

Clive has reconstructed many of the weapons and other items found with Otzi to give an idea of how people lived then, and has visited the original artefacts in the museum in Bolzano in Italy.

Clive and his son Glyn walked up the mountain pass to Otzi’s final resting place, an area where sheep are still herded. This area had been popular with walkers long before the discovery of Otzi’s body in the glacier as it moved down the valley.

A short film of Clive and Glyn’s expedition was set to music (Car Bach Fi) by Blaenau group Gwibdaith Hen Fran.

Peter Sidebotham gave the vote of thanks.

The next meeting will be the AGM on Thursday, 12 April, and will start at 7pm, with a talk on Hedd Wyn by Naomi Jones to follow at 7.30pm.

The society meets as usual at the Ganolfan, Wynne Road, and visitors are welcome.

Their next event will be the last until the autumn. On Thursday, 10 May, they will visit Y Lasynys Fawr, near Harlech, and then have a meal at Caffi Bach Bistro, Talsarnau.

Full details will be available at the next meeting. If you miss the meeting, contact Iris as accurate numbers are needed.

If you’re a member of a club, society or group, send your news to [email protected]