I'm sure all of us were dragging out of bed Thursday morning as we had
intended to eat at 8:30, but ended up ready at 9:00. Carys likes to stop
breakfast then as I'm sure she would prefer starting her day before it is
over!
This typical English meal was cereal, bacon (more like American ham),
sausage, egg(s), warm tomato halves, mushrooms sauteed heavily in oil (not
exactly fried, but close), toast, more toast, coffee or tea, orange
juice...and MORE toast! After eating a similar mean in Ireland for the
last 10 days, I chose cereal, toast and tomato (extra tomato), juice and
tea with the others on occasion. Roland and Unc were brave souls, and I'm
certain their cardiologist is out car shopping as I write! Did I mention,
drinking whole milk with the cream was frightening! My doctors may start
shopping, as well. (Boy, can I suggest what car NOT to buy in cars! <G>)
As soon as we finished, Dewi gave the grand tour of the farm, telling
everyone about sheep shearing, the buildings, etc. I don't recall all the
details as I had the tour last year. I do know that the sheep shearers are
paid 50p (pence) for each sheep and the wool is sold for 40p as the economy
is down and has been for three years or so. I believe he said that two men
would shear all his sheep (about 1800 now) in two or three days, and a man
could shear about 400 a day. When the economy was good, he had about 2200
or 2400 sheep. (Correct me if I'm wrong...I obviously didn't write that
down.) Dewi told me later he was making about 1/3 than he used to make.
We viewed the older buildings which were constructed from un quarried
rock...just large, round stones placed upon each other and smaller ones to
fill the holes. The more recent buildings revealed stones that were
squared off and which showed the scars of metal rods being driven into them
to split the unwanted parts away from the finished block....thus a
rectangle cube much easier for building. The steps to the second floor of
some buildings were only thin slate pieces piled upon each other. There
seemed to be nothing but their weight and being wedged together to hold
them in place.
Part of one building had narrow slits like those found in castles and which
were used as windows for archers. The outside of the window was narrow and
wider in the inside. This would allow an archer to lay his arrow along the
wall and reach a wider range; yet, with the smaller outer opening, the
enemy's arrow had difficulty entering the room. To picture this, imagine a
bird's eye view of this cross-section. The smaller opening is the outside
of the building.
__________ _________
wall / \ wall
_________/ \________
X
Archer stands here (X) and lays arrow shaft along the diagonal side of the
walls.
One could only imagine when this building was erected and if these windows
were used to fight an enemy. This building may have been the oldest there
as no scars from tools were found on the stone and as it faced the old
road. It is apparent that this building was expanded in later years as
quarried stone was used for the addition. Could this have been the
original home?
Dewi walked all of us up the old road which runs by the east side of the
current house. At a point where we had several choices, he left us to
decide. To the far right (approximately east) we could see Coel-y-foel
isaf, the current home of descendants of Edward Foulke. To the left was a
road that became an old path going to Ciltalgarth (now called Old
Ciltalgarth), the old home of Hugh Roberts who came to Pennsylvania. Dewi
told us that if you kept going west, you could go to Ysbyty Ifan and at one
time that was the route....now an overgrown path. To the northwest we
could climb to the highest part of the farm and get a wonderful view of the
surrounding land. It was a long and somewhat steep climb, so we
collectively chose to head more north (less of a climb, but still uphill)
towards the ruin of an old house that was thought to have been used by
workers who tended the cattle.
After tramping through the fields, Roland and I climbed over a wire fence,
trying to avoid a swampy area, to reach the inside of the building. We
were promptly introduced to nettles! Unc and Priscilla were smart enough
not to follow us over the fence and didn't have to scratch for hours! <G>
We did manage a few photos, found a couple of rusty nails from a
blacksmith's handiwork and some very old beams which, no doubt, once held
the thatched roof. A couple of sheep had found their final resting place
in the corner. -- perhaps casualties of last winter as the fur and skulls
were easily distinguished.
After our hike, Priscilla and I went to Bala's tourist information center
to purchase any booklets of interest. While there I called Robin to see if
he had returned from the Welsh Agricultural Show and to schedule a time
when he wished to see all of us. He couldn't meet us on Monday as he was
to be in court all day, and so suggested other possibilities, but needed to
check with Diane, his wife. He asked me to call him later this evening at
Fron Goch. We ate at the Red Poppy (recommended by Gary and Sandy) and
made a few purchases (film, etc.)
As it was already afternoon, we headed for Llanfor Church, only a mile from
Bala. I was there tramping around last year, but Priscilla hadn't seen it.
We met Roland and Unc just leaving. They told us that a gentleman had
given them a tour of the inside, and we could catch him, just down the
road, walking. Well, by now, I could maneuver that Monster and in a flash
we found a couple of women talking over a fence and a man just beyond them.
I stopped one woman and asked if she knew whether the man ahead had the
keys to the church. She was ready to bite off my head! It seems that the
gentleman, Mr. Jones, had spent about three hours with Roland and Unc on
their tour and as she was his wife, may have needed him at home! He was in
BIG TROUBLE! Well, I quickly caught up to him and asked if another day he
would be willing to give us a tour. He didn't hesitate to offer tomorrow
at 3pm. We thanked him greatly.
On the way back to Fron Goch, we stopped at Bala to get flowers for Keith's
wife and for Mr. Owen's wife. (Although I had written Keith a few times
about inviting their wives to our dinner, Keith didn't tell me that Mr.
Owen's wife had died 10 years prior, but I found that out at the dinner.
Oops!
It was getting late, and by now the Beast (AKA Monster) knew it's own way
back to Fron Goch. Robin had left a message to call him as I did. That
Tuesday would be fine for us to meet, but on Saturday (29 Jul), he called
Carys to speak with me and asked that we come Monday for drinks at 5pm as
his wife wouldn't be around on Tuesday. I wrapped some Oregon gifts for
Keith and Mr. Owen and dressed for dinner. It was our big night! With
Roland finding Keith and with Keith locating Mr. Owen, we were given a rare
and exciting opportunity to meet this most distinguished
gentleman--teacher, historian, poet, writer, artist, etc.
Last year Dewi had told me to get in contact with Mr. Owen as he was the
local expert on the Quaker movement in this area. Since then, I have
discovered that Mr. Owen spoke at the National Eisteddfod in 1996 which was
held on the Rhiwlas Estate. ...wish we had known about that in 1995! <G>
Off to Plas yn Dre...., but first a little history of it:
Plas yn Dre was once the home of the noble Lloyd family, descendants of
Rhiwaedog, Rhosygwalia. Congregationalists held meetings in "the
storehouse at the back of Plas yn Dre from 1769 to 1774, and it later
became a sanctuary for the Congregationalists in the 1800s. By the
beginning of the 19th century, it was the home of Rev. Simon Lloyd, a
Methodist pastor. Until recently the house was a clinic and surgery was
performed here until a new health center was open. At that time the
property was left empty and has since been renovated and has become a
restaurant.
Although Roland and Unc left before Priscilla and I, they arrived after
7:30. I never found out how many demerits that was! Roland claimed that
parking was a problem, so we let him in on the secret (A large parking lot
in the back!). Finally, we were all present -- Keith and his wife, Mr.
Owen, Gary, Sandy, Priscilla, Unc, Roland, and I. As you normally order in
the bar before going to the table, we had a drink while we waited...most of
us did, that is. We were a large group so Keith had made arrangements to
dine upstairs in a private room where his Rotary meetings were held.
It was a very warm evening and the waitress made many, many trips up and
down the stairs. Being young and spry does help! Dinner was grand and the
room was buzzing constantly. As I had found a copy of Mr. Owen's book at
the Tourist Information Center earlier that day, I asked him to autograph
it for me. Never mind that it is in Welsh, and that I could barely
pronounce the names of some of the towns correctly, it was of value to me!
Maybe, someday, I'll find a way to translate it! <G>
Mr. Owen showed me the pictures in his book that he drew. One is a
drawing of Ucheldre. Our Evan was from Ucheldre! I was told that was a
neighborhood, but here it appears to be a home. Another mystery for to be
solved! Another drawing is of Llanuwchllyn, a town at the southern end of
Lake Bala (Llyn Tegid) and another of Ciltalgarth, home of Hugh Roberts.
Carys later told me that the book is full of information of the
area...little vignettes. I can understand enough of it to know that it
mentions Fron Goch and the connection between Sarah Evans, daughter of
Cadwalader, and Abraham Lincoln. It also mentions that the old Whiskey
Factory was the prison for Michael Collins in 1916 Easter Rebellion and
that Rhiwlas had a brick and slate factory on it's land.
After every one had finished eating, Mr. Owen asked me when he should start
his presentation, and we began. (At 85, he looks closer to 70-75! Gee,
the Welsh much have great genes!) What a delight he is, and his knowledge
of Penllyn was wonderful. He personalized his presentation by telling us
our lineage back to Rhodri and showing us photos of many of the houses in
the area and those in Pennsylvania...the similarities were amazing! He had
made a map of all the places from which Quakers left this area of Wales for
Pennsylvania. At the end we were invited to view his photos and map of
Penllyn. All the time, Roland was recording our event on video...often
taking pictures of us taking pictures! <G> What an enjoyable evening! We
actually closed the place down....the crew was waiting for us to leave, so
we left a healthy tip to be sure of a welcomed return! The manager/owner
(?) and staff were wonderful to us...very friendly and very understanding.
We truly experienced what may never happen again...
To be continued.......
Emily