4 July 2008
Children turn back clock 1,000 years to bring Mabinogion alive in woods
Children will re-enact medieval tales of the Mabinogion in a wood where one of the most famous stories took place – Coed Felinrhyd, Maentwrog.
The Mabinogion is a collection of prose stories from ancient Welsh manuscripts drawing on pre-Christian Celtic mythology and early medieval historical traditions – meaning Coed Felinrhyd is as old as the tales themselves.
The specially written production is to celebrate completion of the Meirionnydd Oakwoods Project, which has received £2.2 million over three years to protect and expand ancient woods in the county.
On Friday 11 July, children from Ysgol Maenofferen, Blaenau Ffestiniog will be joined by members of a drama group from Ysgol y Moelwyn to entertain local people with a series of mini-plays in the woods.
“The Oakwoods Project has focused on re-creating the woods as they would have been at the time the Mabinogion were written,” said Rhydian Roberts of Coed Cadw. So it seemed the natural choice to tell the stories in the same woods to celebrate the end of the project, bringing alive the history of the area.”
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“We hope that by helping people in Meirionnydd to understand our history, they begin to understand the importance of ancient woodlands in our future,” he added.
The special day out for the children is being organised by Coed Cadw (the Woodland Trust), the UK’s leading woodland conservation charity, as part of the Meirionnydd Oakwood Project, a partnership project conserving oakwoods for future generations
Sara Rhiannon Ashton who has created the production, said: “Coed Felinrhyd is a very special place, referred to by name in the Mabinogion as the place where the two great leaders Gwydion and Pryderi had their legendary battle,” she said.
According to the story, the two great leaders decided to save the lives of their men by having a one-to-one fight. Pryderi was killed and is buried in the wood in an unmarked grave that has never been found.
“It’s a place full of atmosphere so the childrens’ re-creation of the stories of our most famous book will be very evocative. There will be a series of sketches through the wood,” said Sara.
Minibuses will be leaving Blaenau Ffestiniog between 5 and 7pm on Friday 11 July to take people to the production. The first bus will leave Diffwys Square Blaenau at 6.00. There will be one at 7.00 and one at 7.30. Buses are free but people need to book with Rory Francis (Publicity and Public Affairs Officer for Wales) on 01766 832563 or 07760 171174 The whole experience will take about 2.5 hours.
The Meirionnydd Oakwoods Habitat Management Project is a partnership between eight organisations, representing public, private and voluntary sectors, and includes over 50 woods across a thousand hectares of Meirionnydd. It is a successful project to protect, restore and expand the small pockets of surviving ancient woodland.
Work at Coed Felinrhyd has included careful thinning of conifers to give the old oak trees – the descendants of the very trees which watched over the fight between Gwydion and Pryderi 1,000 years ago – a better chance to grow.
Coed Felinrhyd is one of 15 sites which Coed Cadw is due to carry out £700,000 of work as one of the final tasks in the Meirionnydd Oakwood Habitat Management Project. Half of this funding comes from the European Union’s Objective 1, European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF) directed through the Welsh Assembly Government.
The other half is being raised by Coed Cadw itself, representing a major investment in the natural beauty and wildlife of the Snowdonia National Park. The work has included:
• Footpath improvements to improve public access at a number of sites, particularly Coed Llechwedd, Harlech and Coed Cymerau Isaf, Ffestiniog
• Repair of dry stone wall boundaries at Coed Oerddwr, Coed Felinrhyd and Coed Cymerau Isaf, to protect the woods from encroachment by sheep, whilst enhancing their unique atmosphere and beauty.
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For media enquiries contact:
Rory Francis (Publicity and Public Affairs Officer for Wales) on 01766 832563 or 07760 171174
Afallon, Tanygrisiau, Blaenau Ffestiniog, Gwynedd LL41 3RH
Email roryfrancis@woodland-trust.org.uk
Andy Wills of the Meirionnydd Oakwoods Habitat Management Project on 0845 604 0845
The Woodland Trust Press Office on 01476 581121, e-mail media@woodland-trust.org.uk
Editor's notes
1. The wood is referred to in the Mabinogion as “Felen rhyd”, meaning “yellow ford”. By 1991, when Coed Cadw acquired the wood, the deeds used the name “Felinrhyd”, meaning “mill ford”. To complicate matters further, local people refer to the wood as ‘Lenthryd. Coed Cadw has considered changing the spelling of the wood back to the original “Felenrhyd” but decided not to do so when the Community Council made clear they opposed such a move.
The Meirionnydd Oakwoods Habitat Management Project
The project is set up to care for the oak woodlands of Meirionnydd, promoting their importance to the local community, their visitors, the economy and the environment
The Meirionnydd Oakwoods Habitat Management Project is the result of several years’ work by a local partnership of government, non-government and private conservation and forestry organisations working closely with the European Union.The partner organisations include Forestry Commission Wales, the Countryside Council for Wales, Tilhill Forestry Ltd, Flintshire Woodlands, the Woodland Trust, Ffestiniog Railway, the National Trust and Snowdonia National Park Authority.The project is supported by a 50% grant worth £1,111,673.00 from the European Union’s, Objective 1, European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF) directed through the Welsh Assembly Government. The other 50% comes from the partner organisations and private landowners. This gives a total of £2,223,346.00 to be spent in the area over 4 years. There are 58 woodlands and a railway line included in the project area, covering 1710 hectares. The project ends in September 2008.
Objective 1 funding is designed to “narrow the gap between the development levels of the various regions”. Regions that are lagging behind usually have a per capita gross domestic product (GDP) below 75% of the Community average and typically have:
• a low level of investment;
• a higher than average unemployment rate;
• lack of services for businesses and individuals;
• poor basic infrastructure.
The European Agriculture Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF) is designed to:
• Help preserve the link between diversified farming and the land.
• Improve and support the competitiveness of agriculture as a key activity in rural areas.
• Ensure the diversification of the economy in rural areas.
• Help to keep thriving communities in rural areas.
• Preserve and improve the environment, the landscape and the rural heritage.
The Meirionnydd Oak Woodlands are important because they are made up of natural woodlands and ancient woodland sites that have been damaged and are now being managed to bring them back to a natural condition.
The natural woodlands are considered to be some of the best areas of Atlantic Oak Woodland in Europe and so have been designated as candidate Special Areas of Conservation (cSAC).
Sites designated as cSAC’s form a part of “Natura 2000”, a network of conservation sites across the European Union, aimed at protecting species and habitats that are rare, endangered or vulnerable.
Atlantic Oakwoods are found on the Atlantic fringe of Europe from Northern Scotland right the way round to Portugal. This coastal fringe is heavily influenced by the Gulf Stream, which keeps the area warm but wet. The Atlantic coastal climate creates damp humid conditions that support unique communities of ferns, mosses and liverworts, lichen and fungi. Some of the species found in these oakwoods cannot be found anywhere else in the world.
Welsh European Funding Office Editor’s Notes
Together with public and private sector match funding, some £2.75bn has now been invested in Wales over the past 5 years through the European Structural Funds Programmes managed by the Welsh European Funding Office.
This level of investment has created or safeguarded over 87,000 jobs in Wales, improving prosperity, increasing opportunity and transforming communities once considered economic black spots.The primary objective of the Welsh European Funding Office is to ensure that Wales derives the maximum possible benefit from the European Structural Funds over the period 2000-06. It is part of the Welsh Assembly Government's Economic Development and Transport Group.
A range of partnership bodies in the public, private and voluntary sector delivers projects.
The Structural Funds aim to promote sustainable economic growth, increase prosperity in all parts of Wales, reduce disparities within Wales and tackle inequality, inactivity and social exclusion.
