An article I wrote for the Spring edition of Abersoch Life Magazine.
What does Plas Glyn-Y-Weddw and Patagonia have in common?
The answer is ‘more than you think’ and no, this isn’t an article about what outdoor gear you wear on your walk to the pub.
Anyone who has visited Abersoch, on the Llyn Peninsula, North Wales knows the Glyn y Weddw pub at Llanbedrog, it’s a great pub and a well-known local landmark. Not so many know where Oriel Plas Glyn y Weddw (Glyn y Weddw house and art gallery) is though. This beautiful old mansion house sits, tucked away on the right, halfway down the hill between the pub and beach. It’s a hidden gem (which the pub is named after!) and the entrance to its grounds is opposite the national trust car park, just above Llanbedrog beach.
What’s any of this got to do with Patagonia you ask?
Well, Plas Glyn y Weddw is a Grade II* Listed Victorian Gothic Mansion overlooking the magnificent mountains of Snowdonia and Cardigan Bay. It was built by the Madryn family in 1857 as a dower house for the newly widowed Lady Elizabeth Jones Parry of the Madryn estate. The original Madryn house that nestled at the north-eastern side of Madryn mountain (which sits right in the centre of Llŷn) is mostly lost now, bar the gatehouse, which acts as a gateway today to a caravan park. The Love-Jones-Parry family who owned the estate were the main landed gentry on Llŷn during the Victorian era, owning over 10,000 acres of land and landlords to most of the farming tenants in the surrounding area, and thus a very wealthy family as a consequence to their privileged status.
The link with Patagonia and South America however moves on a generation. Lady Love’s son, Sir Thomas Love Duncombe Jones-Parry, was an exuberant and colourful character who was a patron of many cultural activities. Quite uniquely amongst the gentry of the time he was also a Welsh speaker and a supporter of the Eisteddfodau. In 1862 Jones-Parry largely financed a recce trip to Argentina with ‘Y Wladfa’ founder Lewis Jones to look for land to establish a Welsh settlement out there. He visited Buenos Aires and met with the Interior Minister who agreed to provide land in Patagonia. Setting sail for southern Argentina the expedition’s ship was driven by a storm into a bay which they named ‘Porth Madryn’ after Jones-Parry’s Madryn estate back home.
They returned home on a mission to establish a settlement in the promised land of Patagonia and in 1865 a group of 153 Welsh emigrants set off from Liverpool for Patagonia on a ship called the Mimosa.
The Welsh colonists who settled in Patagonia made an important contribution towards the development of that part of Argentina. Eventually, after great initial hardship and troubles, several Welsh towns were established including Madryn, Trelew, Gaiman and Trevelin.
Welsh is still spoken in many parts of Patagonia and in 2015 the Welsh settlement celebrated its 150th anniversary of its founding with Plas Glyn y Weddw leading celebrations back home in Wales. Celebrating 150 years of ‘Y Wladfa’ with a mixed exhibition of work based on Patagonia along with a series of special celebratory activities which included a retrospective exhibition of work by the late Delyth Llwyd from Patagonia shown alongside new work by Luned Rhys Parri from Groeslon, inspired by her residency in Patagonia, organised by the gallery. Work by pupils of Ysgol yr Hendre, Trelew, which was completed during Luned’s visit, was shown alongside work by pupils of Ysgol Pentreuchaf, near Pwllheli. A celebratory dinner was also held in Nefyn, a town that is twinned with Puerto Madryn, for the distinguished Argentine guests, which included school children from Ysgol yr Hendre in Trelew, a celebration all involved will remember for a long time to come
Plas Glyn y Weddw has recently partnered up with local Spanish tutoring company ‘Adventures in Spanish‘ to run Spanish classes at the gallery. ‘Adventures in Spanish’ is a boutique Spanish language school that delivers bespoke Spanish courses. The company’s owner Kelly Thornhill used to live in Argentina. Kelly says of the partnership; “It’s a real pleasure to be running Spanish classes at Plas Glyn y Weddw because of its links to Patagonia. While living in Argentina for 12 years I visited Patagonia many times, it has a special place in my heart. Most of my tutoring is on-line to children who are home educating and to individual adults or groups wanting to learn Spanish for their work or holidays. It has been something different for me to be able to bring my knowledge of Patagonian culture into my lessons at the gallery, enhancing the links between this part of Wales and Patagonia.”
Gwyn Jones, Oriel Plas Glyn y Weddw’s Director says ‘It’s a pleasure to be hosting Kelly’s classes here at the Plas. Her linguistic talents and easy natured teaching skills are proving very popular and her links with Patagonia make the Plas the perfect setting to learn Spanish, be it South American or European in nature‘.
The Plas is rich in history and today attracts over 140,000 annual visitors. Part of its charm is its location and its varied history. In 1896 the property changed hands and was bought by a Cardiff businessman Solomon Andrews (who built several of the buildings along Pwllheli seafront.) Soon after buying the mansion, he opened it as a public art gallery, and exhibited paintings by famous artists such as Turner, Constable and Gainsborough. A tearoom, known as the ‘Refreshments Room’, was built near the entrance to Glyn y Weddw and a dance hall was built on the site of the old stable yard, the venue was advertised as a ‘Fine Art Gallery and Pleasure Grounds’. It even had a horse drawn tram to Pwllheli!
For the history buffs, the gallery has lots more information on display about the building’s history and its links with Patagonia. The house also has 12 acres of woodland to explore, an open air theatre and a lovely restaurant with stunning sea views that has been recently renovated and is now housed in a stunning artist designed sculptural ‘urchin inspired’ cafe…….you have to see it to believe it….. oh, and there’s a gift shop too. So, for those of you who perhaps didn’t know the art gallery was hiding away on the beach road, this summer is an ideal time to check out the gallery, the grounds, and the cafe/restaurant. There is also accommodation for anyone wanting to make the Plas their base for a holiday. And if you do make the Plas a base for a winter break perhaps you will be protected from the weather by some clothing from the Patagonia company that shares its name with the rugged region of Argentina the Welsh settlers made their new home.
Article shared with permission of Abersoch Life Magazine
