Criccieth’s Contribution 1918-2018

Description

Criccieth’s Contribution 1918-2018.
Criccieth Town Council received a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund (The First World War: yesterday and today) for Commemorating Criccieth's Contribution in partnership with Ysgol Treferthyr, Coleg Meirion Dwyfor and Criccieth Memorial Hall. Over the last year Ysgol Treferthyr pupils and a group of students from Coleg Meirion Dwyfor have been researching into and learning about Criccieth's contribution to the First World War and the effect it had on the town, the area and its people. They had very successful visits to the Memorial Hall in Criccieth, Robert Cadwalader's studio, the National Library of Wales Aberystwyth, the Lloyd George Museum and Caernarfon Castle.The children and students have also been working with local poets and musicians Twm Morys and Gwyneth Glyn and local artist Ffion Gwyn who has also been the project coordinator to create a series of poems, displays, installations and contemporary memorials to note the centenary of the end of the First World War with the emphasis on peace to remember and commemorate Criccieth and the area's contribution to that war. Criccieth has a unique heritage regarding the First World War. The Memorial Hall is a memorial to 49 local individuals who fought and perished. Many families and descendants of those individuals still live in Criccieth and the surrounding area today with many memories and records in their possession.
Criccieth was also the home of David Lloyd George, the Prime Minister at the time of the First World War and during his time at 10 Downing Street many Welsh people from Criccieth worked there and the families and descendants of many of them still live in Criccieth and the area today with stories and memories which will not be found in any of the usual history books. All these have been kind enough to share their stories, records, photographs and artifacts in community events over the last year for a special exhibition and digital record so that they will not be lost or forgotten. In addition to sharing the outcomes of the project work the Remembrance Week events also include:
An unique opportunity to remember those lost in the war in the company of the stars of "Hedd Wyn" some of whom will be meeting up for the first time since filming to share their experiences of being part of this Oscar nominated film (1992): a stirring story of the poet Ellis Evans, from Trawsfynydd who was posthumously awarded the National Eisteddfod of Wales chair at Birkenhead in 1917 after failing to return from the l st World War trenches.
A lecture on Welsh Art in WW1. At the outbreak of the Great War, Wales was a hub of world capitalism, exporting coal, slate, steel and manufactured goods to all points of the globe. Welsh-born artists, like Augustus John and Christopher Williams, were famous and much in demand, throughout the United Kingdom. As the war escalated, they and their contemporaries were confronted with the horrors of the first modern, industrialised conflict to be fought on a continental scale. They produced some of the most memorable images of a war to end all wars.
A concert entitled 'NO MAN'S LAND' which is specially composed music by bassist and composer David Heyes commemorating the end of the Great War. Contemplative in nature, with a sense of loss, but also of hope for the future. titles include 'The Last Poppy', 'When I'm Gone' and 'Passchendaele'. Performances of works by the children of Ysgol Treferthyr, Gwyneth Glyn and Twm Morys, readings of letters sent to family and friends from local soldiers and war-time songs by the Starlight Players and members from the University of the Third Age.