Down Llyn's Memory Lane

Tan yr Ardd, Rhiw.  As it looked when it was my home in the early 1980s.

Heaven lies tucked down a grassy lane on the eastern slopes Mynydd Rhiw on the Llŷn peninsula.

Well, that's what I think anyway.  But then I'm biased. 

This was my home in the early 1980s, when I was in the brave summer of my youth.  Then, the rising moon’s silvery path led over the bay to my doorstep and at other times, the roar of the surf on Hell’s Mouth beach after a storm would keep me awake at night. 

I’ll recount the tale of my arrival here some other time, but suffice to say that I was offered the tiny cottage of Tan yr Ardd as my first independent home, and that the four formative years I lived here – and the fond memories of my farming neighbours – have become a big part of what I now am.

So it was an absolute delight to have the honour the other day – as the last long-standing occupant of the cottage – to rekindle a fire in the grate to celebrate the completion of its restoration, and that of its nearby twin, Fron Deg.

This pair of crog-loft cottages – or tydynnod in the parlance of the Llŷn folk – has stood empty and apparently unloved for over a quarter of a century; their chimneys missing the “hances o fwg” (handkerchief of smoke) that used to indicate the presence of a community. 

Well, all that’s about to change as the Trust and its partners get to grips with one of the most exciting parts of the HLF-funded Llŷn Landscape Partnership project.  

The ‘Mab y Bwthyn’ (Son of the Cottage) plan will see Fron Deg being developed as a destination for guided educational walks that will provide an insight into the crucial part the tyddynnwyr played in the making of Llŷn’s landscape.  My former home Tan yr Ardd will be reunited with its land – a dozen acres of heathy pasture – and let as a modern smallholding, giving a lucky new tenant an opportunity to combine working the land with caring for the neighbouring cottage.

“Would you be interested in coming back?”  More than one person asked me.

“No, never go back” came the melancholic answer.

I hope you enjoy some photos of the occasion....

Tan yr Ardd - newly restored, thanks to the Llyn Landscape Partnership

Fron Deg - the best-preserved tyddyn in Llyn?

NT General Manager, Trystan Edwards, invites the project partners to take a preview of Tan yr Ardd
(a public open day is being organised for the spring).

 

Trystan and Operations Manager Andy Godber are interviewed for a film about the project - soon to be available online.

Colleagues and partners come to admire the builders' handiwork at Fron Deg

Surfs up at Stackpole

The beach clean team.
Photo: Mike May

The Surf Ambassador Scheme launches at Stackpole in Pembrokeshire.

The National Trust at Stackpole is one of the partners that look after one of the most stunning parts of the Pembrokeshire coastline; Freshwater West. This beautiful wind swept beach attracts a huge number of visitors all year round, but it is also known as one of the most consistent surf destinations in Wales, providing ideal conditions for the sport. The Welsh Surfing Championships have been held here, the latest in 2012, and the Pembrokeshire Surf Ryders held their recent Surf Ryder cup at the beach earlier this month.

So, Freshwater West was the natural focus for the Stackpole team and National Trust Surf Ambassador, Raife Gaskell a local to the area, to launch their first event working together.

A pre-release screening of the British surf movie 'The Endless Winter' was shown at the Stackpole Centre followed by a beach clean at Freshwater West the following day.

Tickets to watch the film were sold out whilst over 80 people turned up the following day to help collect as much litter as possible off the beach totalling a fantastic 117 bags.

The Surf Ambassador scheme was originally formed to support and promote the conservation work carried out in the surfers' playgrounds along the Devon and Cornwall coast and now the scheme will be involved in the Trust's work along the Pembrokeshire coast.

Rebecca Stock, operations manager at Stackpole said "the Surf Ambassador Scheme will help us at Stackpole to build relations both locally and regionally and give us the opportunity to engage with a much wider audience. We were absolutely delighted with the turn out to both events this weekend which was purely down to Raife and his influence within the surfing community. I'm really looking forward to working with Raife, who is passionate about the work we do, to organise more events and further raise the profile of the work we do in preserving the beautiful coastline here in Pembrokeshire"