Gwynedd and Anglesey projects among 24 in Wales to share £193k to celebrate local heritage

The ’15-Minute Heritage Fund’ from Cadw – the Welsh Government’s historic environment service and The National Lottery Heritage Fund is for projects that connect communities with the heritage around them.

It is based on an idea called the 15 minute city where ‘most daily necessities can be accomplished by either walking or cycling from residents' homes.

Launched in 2020 after the first lockdown, the grant programme helped people across Wales to strengthen the connections they have with their surrounding community through ideas such as creating new walking trails and sharing stories about the place they called home.

TeliMôn Cyf’s ‘Viva Pencraig’ project receives £9,277 which will capture the essence of the Pencraig estate in Llangefni – its rich heritage, culture, history, proud roots and multi-culturalism and cosmopolitanism, in a 60-minute film.

The close-knit and proud community has shown great resilience to the many adversities it has encountered – including deprivation, substance abuse, unemployment and child poverty, and its heritage deserves to be recorded, but has yet to be recognised and appreciated. ’Viva Pencraig’ will work with the local primary school to interview and film members of the local community and combine this with more formal research that explores and records the estate's history, culture and heritage.

The 83-mile Snowdonia Slate Trail project designed to bring our unique slate culture and heritage to a wider audience receives £3,000. This project will see bespoke artisan-made benches at the start in Porth Penrhyn and end of the trail in Bethesda near Neuadd Ogwen created by a local artist and metalworker using designs based on work carried out previously by local schoolchildren, incorporating slate-related scenes, Snowdonia Slate Trail Trust’s name and logo.

The benches will form a heritage feature and depict the slate industry which roofed the world and became worthy of World Heritage Site status.

Mosaig Glynllifon, Gwynedd Council, will receive £10,000 to fund a buried 20 square meter mosaic of an eagle by the amphitheatre at Parc Glynllifon uncovered and restored.

The mosaic was originally created for the Wynn family of the Newborough estate in the grounds of the Glynllifon manor house as GG Wynn had an interest in eagles and kept a pair in the eagle house.

The mosaic was covered about 20 years ago for protection as some of the stones had begun to be removed. The project will engage people with learning disabilities and special educational needs, primary school children and their families with the uncovering and restoration of the historical feature and its history.

£5,000 will go to the Bangor Garth Pier Exhibition Project.

This research and exhibition project by Bangor City Council and the Friends of Garth Pier Bangor will run from January 1 2022 to August 31 2022.

The three month exhibition will take place at the Storiel museum and art gallery Bangor looking at the history and heritage of Bangor Pier.

They will research and co-create the exhibition by working with volunteers from the diverse and multi-cultural community of the city of Bangor. They will also hold six art workshops for local schoolchildren from nearby economically deprived areas of Bangor and this work will be showcased at the exhibition.

Richard Wilson’s Painting on the shores of Llyn Nantlle, project, Dyffryn Nantlle 2020, receives £4,290

The ‘Llun Richard Wilson ger Llyn Nantlle/Richard Wilson’s painting on the shores of Llyn Nantlle’ project is aiming to raise local awareness of Richard Wilson's famous painting of Snowdon from Llyn Nantlle (1765).

A copy of the painting will be installed near Llyn Nantlle with an interpretation board to explain the significance of the painting - described as ‘The painting that started British landscape painting', of the artist's fame and how this changed travellers’ perceptions of Wales.

There will also be artist workshops held at local schools which will use the painting as inspiration to raise the confidence of children and young people by giving them a sense of pride in their area.

Discovering Tŷ Mawr’s Voices, The National Trust, Betws-y-Coed receives £9,222

'Discovering Tŷ Mawr's Voices' will bring to life the story of Bishop William Morgan and his ground-breaking translation of the 1588 Bible into Welsh which enabled worship, reading and writing in Welsh among the masses, ensuing the survival of the language.

The story will be told in a series of bilingual podcasts.

There will be community engagement sessions with expert contributors and storytellers, from members of the local community and past custodians to clergy, authors and linguists to create a series of bilingual podcast episodes focusing on a different aspect of the story.

The community of Wybrnant's sense of pride and ownership of this culturally significant location is at the heart of the project.

“This funding will allow us to share the stories of Tŷ Mawr Wybrnant through different voices as a series of mini-podcasts, with the aim of making the history of this significant place accessible to a broad range of audiences in Wales and beyond," said Trystan Edwards, General Manager, National Trust and part of ‘Discovering Tŷ Mawr’s voices’ project.

"We look forward to working with the local community to develop this content and share our collective sense of pride of the story of Tŷ Mawr Wybrnant. At National Trust Cymru, we have the privilege of caring for this significant place of primary importance to Welsh literature, language and religion and we are committed to celebrating its special story for generations to come.”

Make Beddgelert History project is awarded £10,000.

The project will see interpretation boards and display cabinets installed as part of a community hub at the National Trust-owned Grade II listed Tŷ Isaf.

This will be a hub for local people and visitors will include a traditional Victorian Welsh Lady's outfit, which originates from the village, a Welsh harp Documents, photographs and memorabilia illustrating the village’ history including its link to Rupert Bear; the carnival which began in 1969; the Royal investiture in Caernarfon; the Craig Llan and Moel Hebog races and the Beddgelert in Bloom competitions which saw Beddgelert win the Britain in Bloom title in 1993.

Deputy Welsh Government Minister for Arts and Sport Dawn Bowden said: “In Wales we are surrounded by heritage, not just in our museums, castles and historic structures, but in anything that inspires a sense of belonging.

“I’m so very pleased that Cadw is once again collaborating with The National Lottery Heritage Fund to help communities explore, celebrate and share their local heritage stories – which will hopefully strengthen their sense of community and belonging."

Andrew White, Director of The National Lottery Heritage Fund in Wales, said: “Heritage is for everyone and local heritage - whether that’s a building, a landmark, a nature reserve or even our local shop, helps to create and shape our communities.

“It’s been a pleasure to work again this year with Cadw on the ‘15-Minute Heritage Fund’ and support even more communities across Wales to get in touch with their local heritage. It’s a very popular programme and in all, we have funded more than 120 projects the length and breadth of the country over the last two years through the ‘15-Minute Heritage’ programme and provided over £600,000 in grants.”

Full list of 15-Minute Heritage Fund grantees awarded in 2021:

North Wales

• Snowdonia Slate Trail Trust’s ‘Snowdonia Slate Trail End Features’project: £3,000;

• Gwynedd Council’s ‘Mosaig Glynllifon’ project: £10,000;

• Bangor City Council’s ‘Bangor Garth Pier Exhibition’ project: £5,000;

• Dyffryn Nantlle 2020s ‘Richard Wilson’s painting on the shores of Llyn Nantlle’ project: £4,290;

• TeliMôn Cyf’s ‘Viva Pencraig’ project: £9,277;

• The National Trust’s ‘Darganfod Lleisiau Tŷ Mawr – Discovering Tŷ Mawr’s Voice’ project in Penmachno: £9,222;

• Hafod Ceiri’s ‘Taith Tre’r Ceiri’ project in Llithfaen: £4,455;

• Rhosddu Community Council’s ‘Wats Dyke, Rhosddu Wrexham’ project: £3,965;

• The Ruthin and District Civic Association’s ‘The Railway in Ruthin

Powys

• Carreghofa County Primary School/Ysgol Carreghofa C.P School’s ‘A Celebration of Carreghofa’ project in Llanymynech: £5,000;

• Llansilin Parish Church’s ‘Local Interpretation Boards’ project: £8,250;

• Brecon Heritage and Cultural Network’s ‘Walk : The Brecon Story’: £9,890;

Ceredigion

• Cymdeithas Plant y Bryn’s ‘Ffrwyth y Coed’ project in Coedybryn: £8,660;

Pembrokeshire

• Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Trust’s ‘National Park Digital Archaeology Interpretation’ project: £10,000;

• Bwlchygroes Community Hall Committee’s ‘Bwlchygroes -Ein Hanes Ni’ project: £9,640;

Carmarthenshire

• The Tywi Gateway Trust’s ‘Parc yr Esgob Hanes a Chôf: Capturing, Digitising and Sharing our Stories’: £7,590;

Swansea and the Gower

• The Parish of South West Gower’s ‘Parish of South West Gower - Connecting People with their Heritage’ project: £9,880;

• Circus Eruption’s ‘Sharing our Heritage/Shaping our Future: the former St Luke’s and Circus Eruption’ project: £9,958;

Neath Port Talbot

• Friends of Jersey Park’s ‘Sheltering Jersey Park for the Community’ project in Britton Ferry: £10,000;

Rhondda Cynon Taff:

• Pontypridd Town Council’s ‘WW2 Pillbox’ project: £7,100;

• The Parish of Aberdare’s ‘Thomas & Williams – An Inspiration’ project: £10,000;

Cardiff

• SpokesPerson CIC’s ‘LGBTQIA+ Cardiff Bike Tour’ project: £10,000;

• Awen@theLibrary’s ‘Walking Whitchurch Heritage – Cerdded Treftadaeth yr Eglwys Newydd’ project: £8,505;