Which stop next?
Sunday 9 March 2025
About to start on our journey at Warrington (town/hymn tune!)
As on several recent occasions, Huw and Janet Thomas rose nobly to the challenge of building a programme of hymns in an interesting and informative way. This year we were taken on round a map of Wales, seeking places that had given their names to hymn tunes. We didn’t always take the most direct route, but thankfully for the planet our virtual meander had zero carbon footprint!
As Huw played and we sang, and Janet gave us breathing space by sharing personal memories and giving some background from her researches, seeking to make “Cymru Connections”.
Stop 1: Warrington (“Hwn ydyw’r dydd o ras ein Duw”) – take a lead from the Romans and Oliver Cromwell!
Stop 2: Bryn Calfaria (“Wele wrth y drws yn curo”) – named after a lost-closed chapel in Caernarfon … probably, though disputed by our President!
Stop 3: Rhosymedre (“O! nefol addfwyn Oen”) – a village south-west of Wrexham, “home of Welsh football”
Stop 4: Builth (“Rhagluniaeth fawr y nef”) – Builth Wells is now the permanent home of the Royal Welsh Show.
Stop 5: Cwm Rhondda (“Wele’n sefyll rhwng y myrtwydd”) – a beautiful valley landscape, but a history of coal mining that had led to enormous population growth.
Stop 6: Saron (“Dy law sydd arnom, O! ein Duw”) – of three options, Janet chose to take the M4 to the Saron just outside Ammanford, formerly Cross Inn, and told the story of the 1925 Anthracite Strike.
Stop 7: Blaenwern (“Tyred, Iesu, i’r anialwch”) – named after the farm near Tufton where the composer had convalesced in his youth, brought back memories of their 1987 walk along the Pembrokeshire Coastal Path (35,000 feet of ascent!) from Poppit to Newgale.
Stop 8: Pantyfedwen (“Tydi a wnaeth y wyrth, O Grist, Fab Duw”) – a tune that secured Morris Eddie Evans lasting fame, and a prize of £300 at the Rhys Thomas James Eisteddfod in Lampeter in 1968. This was one of the eisteddfodau supported by the DJ James Pantyfedwen Foundation, named after his family home in Cardiganshire.
Stop 9: Aberystwyth (“Iesu, Cyfaill f’enaid i”) – Do you remember the harbour? or the seaside resort in its railway heyday? or connect with its university, or its large number of pubs?
Our travels round the map reached their inevitable conclusion, “Stop 10” being the tea-trolley! Grateful thanks to everyone involved.