Pen Ll欧n Ecomuseum (Ecoamgueddfa) at the Eisteddfod in Boduan
The School of History, Law and Social Sciences is the home of the Ecomuseum within 天天吃瓜 where Dr Einir Young and Gwenan Griffith work closely with Dr Kate Waddington, Dr Leona Huey, Dr Gary Robinson, Dr Karen Pollock and Professor Peter Shapely. The LIVE project received funding from the European Regional Development Fund through the Ireland Wales Cooperation Programme.
Aled Hughes was interviewed by Gwyn Jones, the Head of Oriel Plas Glyn y Weddw Gallery. As the three-year period of the LIVE project, which has funded the work of the Ll欧n Ecomuseum over the past three years, has come to an end, it was great to be able to share the successes and the products of the project with the people of the area and with everyone who came to enjoy the buzz of the Ecomuseum stand. The aim of the Ecomuseum is to ensure that Pen Ll欧n is respected as a home as well as a destination. You can find out more about the Ecomuseum on their websites: and .
There was an extremely full schedule with 21 events in total, but there is no space to mention all of them here. One of the highlights was being able to host two of the county's schools every morning to display the backdrops that were created for the 'Gair Mewn Gwl芒n' (鈥榃ord in Wool鈥) project.
Many of the products of the Ecomuseum were shared 鈥 the leaflets for learning Welsh, Welsh in the Eisteddfod, six leaflets from the Wildlife Safaris, and there was a session by Rhys Mwyn and Dr Kate Waddington discussing the relics from Meillionnydd near Rhiw which were displayed throughout the week, and they also launched a Tre'r Ceiri virtual tour () 鈥 a resource available as a permanent exhibition at Porth y Swnt.
Many launches!
Three books and a series of vlogs were launched during the week at the Eisteddfod:
颁颈辫尝欧苍 鈥 a book which is the peak of the LIVE project
颁颈辫尝欧苍 is a volume that achieves two goals, namely presenting the Ll欧n Ecomuseum to the nation and giving 14 鈥榞irls鈥 (鈥榤erchaid鈥) from Ll欧n the opportunity to share their experiences and feelings about their own square mile through words and pictures. It contains a record of their feelings towards the place of their birth, towards the community and about their desires and concerns about the future, giving us a glimpse of their life from day to day. The response to the book has been very enthusiastic locally and from beyond Wales.
This is what Dr Jamie Davies from AHRC press had to say:
Gair mewn Gwl芒n / Word in Wool
'Project' is too vague a word to convey the true power of the work which was led by Chiefpoet Esyllt Maelor and which was recorded in this book through the funding of the Ecomuseum LIVE. 37 Gwynedd primary schools were able to put words and names on backdrops of squares that were knitted by people from around the world, but mainly from Gwynedd.
Esyllt comments: 鈥淭here are the names of gates and pools, caves and rocks, farms and wells, fields, rivers, heaps and quarry points. Pupils from the project's schools chose the names and then proceeded with the help of school friends to embroider, sew and place them on the backdrops. There are hours of labour of love here. And I haven't mentioned the poems yet! They are here between the pages waiting for you to turn to them.鈥
Dwdls Cymraeg 鈥 a book by Prof Oliver Turnbull.
This is a lovely little book recording Prof Oliver Turnbull's journey as he learns Welsh. Dr Einir Young was fascinated with the doodles at an event on St David's Day this year and offered to finance the publication of the book for three reasons:
i) that they are such a great way to show that there is no 'correct' way of learning Welsh and that there is freedom for all speakers just found unique ways to remember words and constructions;
ii) that promoting the Welsh language is one of the main aims of the Ecomuseum;
iii) and finally, that Nant Gwrtheyrn is one of the partners, where anyone can come and learn Welsh. It might be possible to learn Welsh anywhere in the world but in Pen Ll欧n you can use Welsh naturally all day every day if you want.
Launching the Coastal Path and the Sailors鈥 Path vlogs
Over the past few months, Aled Hughes, one of the BBC Radio Cymru presenters, walked 110 miles/180km along the Ll欧n Coastal Path from Trevor to Porthmadog, and the Sailors' Path from Abersoch to Nefyn. Aled came shared his experiences at the Ecomuseum stand and showed clips from some of his vlogs (there are 15 in all, about 9 minutes long and in Welsh with English subtitles. In them he shares interesting stories, together with interesting facts about the area).
The vlogs were produced in partnership between Aled Hughes, the Wales Coast Path and the Ecomuseum with LIVE funding.