Places that appear in the book

Here are some images of locations mentioned in the book

Brynaerau 2013

Ymwelais â Brynaerau ym mis Mehefin 2013. Ges i groeso cynnes oddi wrth Nia Puw a phlant yr ysgol.  Roedd hi’n brofiad calonogol i weld y ffordd mae’r polisïau iaith yr ysgol yn gweithio nawr. Roedd awyrgylch hollol Cymraeg er y nifer sylweddol o deuluoedd di-gymraeg sy wedi dod i’r pentref ers y pum degau. Mae hi’n amlwg yn ysgol hapus a llwyddiannus. Brynaerau yw’r sail yr ysgol ffug ‘Bryngwyn’ yn y llyfr. 

I visited Brynaerau in June 2013 and received a warm welcome from Nia Puw and the children of the school. It was a heartening experience to see the way the school’s language policies are working today. There was a totally Welsh atmosphere despite the significant numbers of non-Welsh families who have moved into the village since the 50s. It is obviously a happy and successful school. Bynaerau is the basis for the fictional school ‘Bryngwyn’ in the book

Brynaerau 1958
Miss Jones and Mr Victor Thomas 

Plas y Bryn 2013

Adeiladwyd Plas y Bryn gan Arthur Acland, Aelod Seneddol Rhyddfrydol Rotherham yn y 1890au fel ei bwythyn bach yng Nghymru!  Roedd stad fawr ganddo fe yn Nyfnant hefyd. Ond daeth Arthur Acland yn aelod pwysig o’r tirlun gwleidyddol Cymru.  Rhodd cefnogaeth i T.E. Ellis ifanc a death Plas y Bryn yn fan cyfarfod i lawer o wleidyddion radical y cyfnod, yn gynnwys David Lloyd George.   Yn sicr byddai Dafydd a kitty Williams yn ymwybodol o hanes yr hen dŷ pan brynon nhw'r Plas fel cartref i’w deulu a man cynllwynio i genhedlaeth newydd o wleidyddion. Diolch i Hywel ac Olwen Griffiths, Y perchenogion presennol, am eu caniatâd i dynnu lluniau.

Plas y Bryn was built by Arthur Acland, the Liberal MP for Rotherham in the 1890s as his little cottage in Wales!  He also owned a large estate in Devon. But Arthur Acland became an important part of the Welsh political landscape. He gave strong support to the young T.E.Ellis and Plas y Bryn became a meeting place for radical politicians of the time, including David Lloyd George. Certainly David and Kitty Williams would have been aware of the history of the old house when they bought it as a family home and place of political assignation for a new generation of politicians. Thanks to Hywel and Olwen Griffiths, the present proud owners, for allowing me to take photos.  

Plas y Bryn 2013

Mynydd Cilgwyn 2013

Mynydd Cilgwyn by Rob Piercy

Conference Chamber, Temple of Peace, Cardiff 
Siambr Cynadleddau,  Y Deml Heddwch, Caerdydd

Ym 1949 perswadiwyd y Prif Weinidog, Clement Attlee – fel modd i gymodi gofynion  cenedlaetholwyr – i sefydlu Cyngor Cymru a Mynwy.  Cyfarfu mewn sawl lleoliad ledled Cymru ond yn siambr Cyngor y Deml Heddwch, Caerdydd gan fwyaf. Lluniwyd ei enw mawreddog i guddio aneffeithioldeb sylfaenol y Cyngor. Doedd dim pwerau ganddo. Ei unig rôl oedd rhoi cyngor i’r Gweinidog Materion Cymreig. Doedd dim hawl cyhoeddi ei chofnodion na’i drafodaethau ac felly ni chafwyd unrhyw ddadlau cyhoeddus. Er gwaethaf hyn, dan gadeiryddiaeth bwerus Huw T Edwards, llwyddodd y Cyngor i dorri rhydd o’i gyfyngiadau a chyfannu’n sylweddol at wella amodau yng Nghymru.  Ymchwiliodd yn drylwyr a hybu atebion economaidd a chymdeithasol i lawer o’r problemau enbyd a oedd yn wynebu Cymru yn dilyn  yr Ail Ryfel Byd. Ym 1957 awgrymodd benodi Ysgrifennydd Gwladol i Gymru. Cafodd y syniad ei wrthod yn llwyr gan lywodraeth Macmillan ond ei wireddu gan ei holynydd Llafur ym 1964.  

Mae rheswm da dros olrhain dechreuadau datganoli yng Nghymru, yn dilyn y rhyfel, i’r cyfarfodydd hyn yn siambr y Cyngor yn y Deml Heddwch a gynhaliwyd rhwng sefydlu’r Cyngor ym 1949 a’i ddiddymu ym 1965.

In 1949, Prime Minister Clement Attlee, in order to appease nationalist demands, established The Council for Wales and Monmouthshire. It met in several locations across Wales but chiefly in the Council Chamber of the Temple of Peace in Cardiff.  Its grandiose title was designed to hide its fundamental ineffectiveness. It had no powers. Its only role was to advise the Minister for Welsh Affairs. Its reports, discussions and minutes were not to be made public and could excite no public debate. Despite this, under the pugnacious chairmanship of Huw T Edwards, the Council succeeded in breaking its restrictive bindings to become a real force for good.  It researched and promoted  economic and social solutions to many of the severe problems facing post-war Wales. In 1957 it proposed the appointment of a Secretary of State for Wales. This was dismissed out-of-hand by the Macmillan government but enacted by their Labour successors in 1964.   There is good reason to trace the origins of post-war constitutional devolution in Wales to these meetings in the Council Chamber of the Temple of Peace held between the Council’s inception in 1949 and its eventual dissolution in 1965.