Beorn
08-06-2009, 07:38 PM
DECADES of bitterness towards the flooding of a Welsh valley to provide water for the citizens of Liverpool may be disappearing, according to visitors to the National Eisteddfod Maes yesterday.
Tryweryn, near Bala, was flooded in 1965 to create a reservoir to provide water for the city, displacing the Welsh-speaking community of Capel Celyn and causing bitter political controversy.
But young people on the Maes at Bala yesterday appeared to have consigned the subject to history.
Meanwhile, the gable end of a derelict roadside cottage could become one of the strangest National Trust properties in Britain.
The wall, alongside the main A487 coast road between Llanrhystud and Aberystwyth, was daubed with graffiti in the early 1960s after the failure of a campaign to prevent the flooding.
The Welsh Assembly Government has provided £30,000 to kickstart a bid to raise £80,000 to preserve what has become a popular monument and landmark.
Once the fund is established, the National Trust has agreed to take on ownership in perpetuity.
“This wall was inscribed by the people of Wales reacting to actions they felt unjust, and it is therefore appropriate that the wall is owned by the people of Wales,” said local councillor Rowland Rees-Evans, who helped Llanrhystud Community Council launch the fundraising campaign on the Eisteddfod Maes.
The graffiti “Cofiwch Dryweryn” (Remember Tryweryn) was painted by the writer and critic Dr Meic Stephens in 1963 or 1964.
He said: “I cannot be sure of the date because I did not keep a record in my diary, for obvious reasons.
“But I clearly remember the night.
“I also remember who was with me in the early hours on that dark night, but I am not willing to name names.”
Dr Stephens said he painted the slogan for two reasons: “We wanted to remind the people of Wales of the treachery and suffering, the anger, the agony and the disruption that took place when Liverpool Corporation were given the go- ahead – against public opinion in Wales – to drown Tryweryn, without paying a penny for it.
“We wanted to warn our fellow Welshmen to be vigilant and make sure that this would never happen again.”
The slogan has been renewed and refreshed but the wall is crumbling and the structure is increasingly unstable.
“Cofiwch Dryweryn” became a rallying call for generations of nationalists and when the National Eisteddfod visited Bala in 1967 and 1997 – shortly before the devolution referendum – Tryweryn was a major talking point.
But there’s been hardly a mention this year. One exhibit in the Arts and Crafts pavilion referred to reservoirs in Mid and South Wales and Turkey, but not explicitly to Tryweryn.
One observer said the campaign to preserve the graffiti reflected the changing significance of Tryweryn.
“Tryweryn is relevant today, but it’s moved into the area of conservation now,” said Aled Elwyn Jones of Cymru Yfory, which campaigns for the National Assembly to have primary law-making powers.
Similarly, while Tryweryn inspired many 1960s students to protest, students on this year’s Maes felt it was time to move on.
“It was so long ago and we’ve had half an Assembly since then,” said Lois Adams, 22, who has just graduated from university in London.
“We can’t keep singing that song. There are new songs for young people. We need to move on. We need to take responsibility for things ourselves, rather than complaining about the English.”
Younger sister Lydia Adams, 20, said her knowledge of Tryweryn came mainly from studying GCSE history. “People who didn’t study history wouldn’t know about it,” she said.
Welsh Secretary Peter Hain, visiting the Maes, said there could never be another Tryweryn. He described Tryweryn as “a diabolical wound on North Wales and its history and culture”.
He said Westminster could not impose a nuclear power station or a scheme such as the Severn Barrage on Wales against the wishes of the Welsh people.
Western Mail columnist and seasoned Eisteddfodwr Hafina Clwyd, whose ancestors lived on a farm at Capel Celyn that is now under water, said: “I wouldn’t be surprised if the bitterness is slowly disappearing.
“Today’s students have other things to fight for, like law-making powers for the Assembly,” she added.
Source (http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/uk-news/2009/08/06/wave-of-tryweryn-bitterness-starts-to-slowly-flow-away-91466-24328620/)
Tryweryn, near Bala, was flooded in 1965 to create a reservoir to provide water for the city, displacing the Welsh-speaking community of Capel Celyn and causing bitter political controversy.
But young people on the Maes at Bala yesterday appeared to have consigned the subject to history.
Meanwhile, the gable end of a derelict roadside cottage could become one of the strangest National Trust properties in Britain.
The wall, alongside the main A487 coast road between Llanrhystud and Aberystwyth, was daubed with graffiti in the early 1960s after the failure of a campaign to prevent the flooding.
The Welsh Assembly Government has provided £30,000 to kickstart a bid to raise £80,000 to preserve what has become a popular monument and landmark.
Once the fund is established, the National Trust has agreed to take on ownership in perpetuity.
“This wall was inscribed by the people of Wales reacting to actions they felt unjust, and it is therefore appropriate that the wall is owned by the people of Wales,” said local councillor Rowland Rees-Evans, who helped Llanrhystud Community Council launch the fundraising campaign on the Eisteddfod Maes.
The graffiti “Cofiwch Dryweryn” (Remember Tryweryn) was painted by the writer and critic Dr Meic Stephens in 1963 or 1964.
He said: “I cannot be sure of the date because I did not keep a record in my diary, for obvious reasons.
“But I clearly remember the night.
“I also remember who was with me in the early hours on that dark night, but I am not willing to name names.”
Dr Stephens said he painted the slogan for two reasons: “We wanted to remind the people of Wales of the treachery and suffering, the anger, the agony and the disruption that took place when Liverpool Corporation were given the go- ahead – against public opinion in Wales – to drown Tryweryn, without paying a penny for it.
“We wanted to warn our fellow Welshmen to be vigilant and make sure that this would never happen again.”
The slogan has been renewed and refreshed but the wall is crumbling and the structure is increasingly unstable.
“Cofiwch Dryweryn” became a rallying call for generations of nationalists and when the National Eisteddfod visited Bala in 1967 and 1997 – shortly before the devolution referendum – Tryweryn was a major talking point.
But there’s been hardly a mention this year. One exhibit in the Arts and Crafts pavilion referred to reservoirs in Mid and South Wales and Turkey, but not explicitly to Tryweryn.
One observer said the campaign to preserve the graffiti reflected the changing significance of Tryweryn.
“Tryweryn is relevant today, but it’s moved into the area of conservation now,” said Aled Elwyn Jones of Cymru Yfory, which campaigns for the National Assembly to have primary law-making powers.
Similarly, while Tryweryn inspired many 1960s students to protest, students on this year’s Maes felt it was time to move on.
“It was so long ago and we’ve had half an Assembly since then,” said Lois Adams, 22, who has just graduated from university in London.
“We can’t keep singing that song. There are new songs for young people. We need to move on. We need to take responsibility for things ourselves, rather than complaining about the English.”
Younger sister Lydia Adams, 20, said her knowledge of Tryweryn came mainly from studying GCSE history. “People who didn’t study history wouldn’t know about it,” she said.
Welsh Secretary Peter Hain, visiting the Maes, said there could never be another Tryweryn. He described Tryweryn as “a diabolical wound on North Wales and its history and culture”.
He said Westminster could not impose a nuclear power station or a scheme such as the Severn Barrage on Wales against the wishes of the Welsh people.
Western Mail columnist and seasoned Eisteddfodwr Hafina Clwyd, whose ancestors lived on a farm at Capel Celyn that is now under water, said: “I wouldn’t be surprised if the bitterness is slowly disappearing.
“Today’s students have other things to fight for, like law-making powers for the Assembly,” she added.
Source (http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/uk-news/2009/08/06/wave-of-tryweryn-bitterness-starts-to-slowly-flow-away-91466-24328620/)