Wales on the Web A flash movie about the towns Maesteg and Llangynwdd in South Wales, including Llynfi Valley, Bridgend, Maesteg Ironworks, The National Anthem, Mari Lwyd, Llangeinor, Llynfi Ironworks, Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau, Land of My Fathers and more, part of the largest collection of movies on any culture anywhere on the Web.
Wales on the Web Maesteg and Llangynwdd - wales flash movie Maesteg meaning “Fair Meadow” and until the 19th century this was probably a good description of this town at the top of the Llynfi Valley, just a few miles north of Bridgend. At that time it was just a small cluster of cottages at the head of a rural Valley, but with the opening of the Maesteg Ironworks in 1827 and the Llynfi Ironworks in 1837 and the subsequent growth of coalmining in the valley it grew rapidly. Company housing was provided in the 1840s by the ironworks and some of this remains in John St. and Cavan Row. Around 1880-1900 the local coal owners provided much of the Victorian/Edwardian housing which still exists in the town. There are still reminders of the iron industry and the engine house of the Llynfi Ironworks has been built into the entrance to the Sports Centre. Nearby are the remains of a large blast furnace and a bridge cast at the works. It was in Maesteg that “Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau” (Land of My Fathers), later to become the Welsh National Anthem, was first sung in public. Maesteg Town has some fine buildings most impressive of which is the town hall and indoor market. About a one and a half miles from Maesteg itself, amongst the hills, is the village of Llangynwyd, or Llan as it is name locally. A tiny village consisting of a few houses and a couple of inns, and its parish church which is the resting place of both Ann Thomas and Will Hopcyn the two lovers in one of Wales most romantic and tragic stories. Will Hopcyn, a poor villager, and a fine 18th century poet is said to have fallen in love with Ann Thomas (known as the Maid of Cefn Ydfa), daughter of a wealthy landowner. Her father wished her to marry a promising lawyer and neighbour Anthony Maddocks of Cwmrisca. On her refusal, Ann was locked away in her room. She is said to have had her maid smuggle letters to Will which are said to have been hidden in a sycamore tree. Others say the letters were written on a sycamore leaf in her own blood. For all that, she was led protesting to the altar.2yrs into the arranged marriage she became ill and suffering from bouts of madness, Ann’s father finally allowed her to see Will once more. When he arrived at her bedside she became quiet and died peacefully in his arms. The Welsh folk song, “Bugeilio’s Gwenith Gwyn” (Watching the Wheat) may have been written by Will Hopcyn. Whatever the truth of the story, Will and Ann’s graves are still to be seen. The lovelorn maid is buried in the chancel of the church, and the poet’s grave is in the churchyard, under the yew tree. The cousin of Ann Thomas was Dr.Richard Price of Llangeinor, preacher, eminent statistician, philosopher, and advisor to the fledgling American republic, he has been called the greatest Welshman that ever lived. Llangynwyd still keeps alive the Welsh Tradition of the Mari Lwyd which can be seen New Years Day along with its accompanying party singing Welsh riddling verses out side the Old house Inn, cavorting and battling against the wits of people inside. Whatever pressures the industrial age of the past two hundred years have brought to bear, this is a place that has preserved romance and revelry intact as a gift to the twenty first century.