GARDD GOFFA ARWYR GLYNDŴR.

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On the 19th June this year (2010) during the annual 'Gŵyl Dathlu Coroni Glyndŵr' which took place at Machynlleth during that weekend, we launched our first Antur Glyndŵr Initiative with the opening of 'Gardd Arwyr Glyndŵr' (The Glyndŵr Heroes Memorial Garden) at Cefn Caer, Pennal. Initially, we had hoped that this initiative would have been adopted by another group or society to develop and we offered it (as far back as the year 2000) to two bodies in the Machynlleth area. It was outwardly declined by one and ignored by the other. But, at long last, Cefn Caer has come to the rescue with the offer of their no longer used orchard as a site for the Memorial Garden - and, it's as if it was meant to be that way! The site is well kept and and has a feel of peacefulness and tranquility about it (See following pics) Also, of course, being an orchard with a still very productive aged apple tree as its centrepiece, it has esoteric connotations. Ynys Afallon (Avalon) means ‘The Isle of Apples’, a magical kingdom where heroes go when they die. The druids would make their wands from the wood of the apple tree which they considered to have magical powers so, yes, the site at Cefn Caer for this Glyndwr Heroes Memorial Garden is befitting of those remembered within it.

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This Memorial Garden for Owain Glyndŵr's heroes (that is, the ones that we know of that fought or played a part in the Great War of Independence in any way, and/or or were captured, tortured and executed during the period of the war) will provide an opportunity for every community in Wales that has a Glyndŵr hero, to donate a plaque to place in the garden in memory of their local Glyndŵr hero.

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Elfyn Rowlands, the owner, manager of Cefn Caer, has himself sponsored a nicely decorated slate plaque which has been placed on the wall alongside the entrance to the garden (See pic 1 above) This plaque explains in brief what the garden is about.

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It was a wonderfully sunny afternoon for the opening. the band Gwerin 'Y Mari Lwyd' and Hefin Jones provided lively folk music on the sunny lawn outside the old 'wash house' to wait for the participants to arrive whilst Hefin's baby did his best to provide the dancing from a position on his back on the lawn where he was laid on his shawl in the company of his attentive young mother.

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Mr Elfyn Rowlands delivered a welcome address and introduced Machynlleth's departing Mayor, Mrs Sylvia Rowlands who unveiled the plaque at the entrance to the garden and officially opened the garden.

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I then read out a Roll Call of a large number of Glyndŵr heroes, from throughout Wales, deemed worthy of rememberance in the Memorial Garden for their part in the Great War of Independence led by Prince Owain
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At the end of the Roll Call, those present stepped in to the Memorial Garden and talks were delivered on the few Glyndŵr heroes that already have plaques in the garden, by the Author Terry Breverton and the Remembrancer Gethin ap Gruffydd.

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Pic ll: Is of the slate plaques donated by communities are to be A4 in size and will have a message similar to the one in the pic for the hero of each community. We have decided that the plaques in the garden will be in 'Cymraeg' only as everyone (from wherever they may come) can make the effort to learn the few words that will be on the plaques and should they need assistance to read them, then Elfyn Rowlands, present owner of Cefn Caer will be happy to assist.

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Each plaque will, eventually, be erected onto a ‘memorial Wall that is to be built in the garden In the near future, it is also hoped to launch a competition to have a sculture memorial produced. The memorial will be based on the concept of hands holding up the ‘Glyndŵr Crown’.

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Below follows a list of names of local Glyndŵr heroes that have already had plaques sponsored and paid for, and which had already been placed in the garden in time for the ‘Opening Ceremony’.

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Rhys Ddu ap Gruffydd of Ceredigion: Sponsored by the People of Ceredigion.

Philip Scudamore of Troy, Gwent: Sponsored by the People of Gwent.

Bishop John Trefor of Llanelwy: Sponsored by the People of Dinbych.

Y Gwerin Owain: Sponsored by brothers Gethin and Owain ap Gruffydd.

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The above plaques were made by a company in South Wales and, unfortunately, although they were well produced to be exactly as we wanted them, we did encounter problems in transporting them to Cefn Caer. i.e. The large one for the entrance was damaged in transit and it was ‘touch and go’ whether a replacement could be produced in time for the opening ceremony. Also, we were in a situation where we were having to pay the courier fees from our own pocket – as we hadn’t included this into the costing of the individual plaque. My fault, I’m only human! For this reason, we have decided that it would be safer and more practical to have the plaques produced locally to Cefn Caer and have found a local reputable long established business to do the work from now on. This will mean that future plaques will be slightly more expensive than the first batch but it will also mean that I will not have to include courier fees into the price so, it just about balances out.

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Two more plaques have been paid for and are in the process of being produced by the new company as I type. They are for Cadwgan of Treorci : Sponsored by the people of Treorci and for Catrin Glyndŵr and her children: Sponsored by the Community of Tremadog and I have just received a phone call from a patriot from Porth Tywyn who told me that he’s in the process of collecting donations from patriots in his area for a plaque for Henri Dwn. I also have £50 in hand for a plaque for one of the Tudur brothers of Ynys Môn. So, if you are aware of who your local Glyndŵr hero is and would like to raise the necessary £130 from local patriots to sponsor a plaque for him/her to be placed alongside the others in the Cefn Caer Glyndŵr Heroes Memorial Garden, please get in touch via telephone:01792 533806. m: 07772321511 or e-mail: s.ifan@ntlworld.com for further details as to where to send the collected £130 for your plaque.

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I should point out that a number of people have paid for the plaques themselves rather than collect, in such cases, it will still be noted on the plaque that it was donated by the community of the particular local glyndŵr hero but, a list of the individual donators will be kept on record and, in due course, will be available to see at Cefn Caer and at the end of the initiative, a copy will be deposited with the National Library of Wales.

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For a report and pics of the opening of the 'Gŵyl Dathlu Coroni Glyndŵr, Machynlleth 2010, go to our new blog 'Coffâd Glyndŵr' at http://coffadglyndwr.blogspot.com/.
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I will be publishing a report with pics on the Unveiling Ceremony of Cefn Caer's copy of the Pennal Letter tommorrow so go and visit http://cenedl.blogspot.com/ then.
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Regards Cefn Caer: Cadw and the Welsh Assembly Government has commissioned an 'Owain Glyndŵr Interpretative Plan for tourism that is blatantly bias and very disparaging in regards to Cefn Caer's claim to its Owain Glyndŵr association and as soon as I've composed the report on the Unveiling Ceremony of the Cefn Caer copy of the Pennal Letter for the Cenedl Glyndŵr blog tommorrow, I will be dealing with the aforementioned Interpretative Plan in full as it is also littered with many other inaccuracies.

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Siân

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