Machynlleth

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Machynlleth (pronounced maˈxənɬɛθ (help·info); sometimes referred to colloquially as Mach) is a market town in Sir Drefaldwyn/Montgomeryshire, in Powys, Wales. It is in the Dyfi Valley, and is at the intersection of the A487 and the A489. It had a population of about 2,000 people according to the 2001 census.

It was the seat of Owain Glyndŵr's Welsh Parliament in 1404, and as such claims to be the "ancient capital of Wales". However, it has never held any official recognition as a capital. It applied for city status in the 2000 and 2002 competitions.

Machynlleth hosted the National Eisteddfod in 1937 and 1981.

Contents 1 History 2 Welsh Language 3 People of Machynlleth 3.1 Led Zeppelin 3.2 Dafydd Gam 3.3 Owain Glyndŵr 3.4 Hugh Williams, Gelligoch 3.5 Beatrix Potter 3.6 Royal visitors 3.7 Ted Lewis 3.8 Berta Ruck and Oliver Onions 3.9 Sir John Philip Baxter FAA, FTSE 3.10 N.C. Hunter 3.11 Walter Wilkinson 3.12 Emrys James 3.13 David Sydney Thomas 4 Tourism 5 External links

[edit] History

There is a long history of human activity in the Machynlleth area. In the late-1990s, radiocarbon dating showed that copper mining was taking place in the Early Bronze Age (ca. 2750 years ago), within a mile of the town centre. But there are legends of a once fertile plain, the Cantre'r Gwaelod, now lost beneath the waves of Cardigan Bay.

The Romans settled in the area to an extent. They built a small fort at Pennal (Cefn Caer), four miles west of Machynlleth and are reputed to have had two look-out posts above the town at Bryn-y-gog and Wylfa. But one of the earliest written references to Machynlleth is the Royal charter granted in 1291 by Edward I to Owen de la Pole, Lord of Powys. This gave him the right to hold "a market at Machynlleth every Wednesday for ever and two fairs every year". The Wednesday market is still a busy and popular day in Machynlleth 700 years on.

Royal House, which stands on the corner of the Garsiwn, is another of the mediæval houses that can still be seen today. According to local tradition, David Gam was imprisoned here from 1404 to 1412 for attempting to assassinate Owain Glyndŵr. After his release by Glyndwr, Gam fought alongside Henry V at the Battle of Agincourt and is named amongst the dead in Shakespeare's Henry V. The name Royal House undoubtedly refers to the tradition that Charles I stayed at the house in 1643.

In 1291, a charter was granted to hold a weekly market and a biannual fair in Machynlleth. These thrived, and in 1613 drew complaints from other towns whose trading in cloth was being severely affected. A document dated 1632 shows that animals for sale came from all over Merionethshire, Montgomeryshire, Cardiganshire, Carmarthenshire and Denbighshire, and prospective buyers came from Flintshire, Radnorshire, Brecknockshire, Herefordshire and Shropshire, in addition to the above.

The clock tower, which stands on the site of the old Town Hall, is the first thing many visitors will notice. It was built by the townspeople of Machynlleth to mark the coming of age of Charles Stewart Vane-Tempest, Viscount Castlereagh, the eldest son of the fifth Marquess of Londonderry of Plas Machynlleth (see below). The foundation stone was laid on 15 July 1874 amid great festivities.

Dyfi Bridge was first mentioned in 1533, by Geoffrey Hughes, "Citizen and Merchant taylour of London" who left £6 13/4 "towards making of a bridge at the toune of Mathanlleth". By 1601 "Dyfi bridge in the Hundred of Mochunleth" was reported to be insufficient, and the current one was built in 1805 for £250. Fenton describes it in 1809 as "A noble erection of five large arches. The piers are narrow and over each cut-water is a pilaster, a common feature of the eighteenth century".

On 29 November 1644, a Civil War battle took place near Dyfi Bridge between Oliver Cromwell's New Model Army, commanded by Sir Thomas Myddleton of Chirk Castle, and the Royalists. A great many were killed and Mathafarn was burnt down on same day. Many houses in Machynlleth occupied by Royalists were also burned down.

From 1859 to 1948 it was served by the narrow-gauge Corris Railway, which brought slate from the quarries around Corris and Aberllefenni for onward despatch to the markets. The railway's Machynlleth station building, built in 1905, can still be seen alongside the road approaching the town from the north.

Machynlleth main-line station was built by the Newtown and Machynlleth Railway, and continues to provide a link to Aberystwyth and the Cambrian coast to the west and Newtown and Shrewsbury to the east.

The daughter of local landowner Sir John Edwards married Viscount Seaham, the second son of the third Marquess of Londonderry, and they set up home in Plas Machynlleth. He became Earl Vane on the death of his father and the fifth Marquess on the death of his half-brother. To celebrate the 21st birthday of their son, Viscount Castlereagh, the townspeople subscribed to the erection (at the town's main road intersection) of the Clock Tower, which has become widely known as the symbol of Machynlleth. Another son, Lord Herbert Vane-Tempest, was the last member of the family to live at the Plas and was killed in the Abermule train collision on the Cambrian Railways, of which he was a director. The house was given to the townspeople after World War II. In recent years it was converted into the Celtica visitor centre.

[edit] Welsh Language

Machynlleth retains its strong Welsh character to this day, and you will hear Welsh spoken everywhere alongside English. Figures from the 2001 Census indicate that some 70%(1961:82%) of the population have some knowledge of Welsh with 42% able to read, write and speak the language. ^[1]

[edit] People of Machynlleth

[edit] Led Zeppelin

There are a number of local connections with Led Zeppelin and Robert Plant was certainly associated with Bron-Yr-Aur, a cottage in the foothills above Dyfi Bridge, for many years.^[2]

Plant and Page spent much of 1970 at this cottage writing the band's third and fourth albums.

[edit] Dafydd Gam

Dafydd Gam (Dafydd ap Llywelyn ap Hywel) from Brecon was reputedly imprisoned in Royal House after he failed to assassinate Owain Glyndwr and was captured by him instead. He was released only to die some time later at the Battle of Agincourt^[3], where he was knighted on the field of victory. Royal House was built in the 12th century, and is called "Royal" because Charles I was supposed to have stayed there in 1643.

[edit] Owain Glyndŵr

Machynlleth has a special role in Welsh history because of its connection with Owain Glyndŵr, the last Prince of Wales to rebel against the English during the reign of King Henry IV. Owain was crowned Prince of Wales in 1404 near the Parliament House, which is one of three mediæval houses in town, before leaders from Scotland, France and Spain and he held his own Parliament in the town.

[edit] Hugh Williams, Gelligoch

Hugh was born in 1796 at Gelligoch, just to the south of Machynlleth, and he forms an interesting link with the Rebecca Riots, which took place in 1842–43. The rioters expressed their disgust at having to pay turnpike tolls in SW Wales by smashing down the hated, and frequently illegal, tollgates. In order to preserve anonymity, they used to blacken their faces and wear women's dresses, and one explanation is that the term "Rebecca" derived from the name of one particularly large lady of that name who lent her dress to a Rioter of similar dimensions. However, later on, a fitting quotation from the Bible was adopted: "And they blessed Rebecca, and said unto her, let thy seed possess the gates of those that hate thee."

Hugh Williams was by this time a lawyer in Carmarthen, and he defended the rioters free of charge when they came to court. He also defended them in the newspapers, and it was suspected that he was the guiding light behind the movement. Hugh had good connections, as his brother-in-law was Richard Cobden, one of the leaders of the Reform Party in Parliament and the founder of the Anti-Corn Law League.

[edit] Beatrix Potter

The famous writer of the Peter Rabbit books visited Machynlleth in 1888 when she was very young, and had this to say about the town:

"May 13: Went with Mamma and Papa to Machynlleth, Merioneth. From Euston to Stafford by Holyhead Mail all very well, but the Welsh Railways are past description. Four hours to go sixty miles between Shrewsbury and Machynlleth. When mushrooms are in season the guard goes out to pick them. Machynlleth, wretched town, hardly a person could speak English. Wynnstay Arms, to which we were directed, closed these two years. Lion, only other, a singular place."

"Countryside most beautiful, but on rather a large scale for getting about."

"Welsh seem a pleasant intelligent race but I should think awkward to live with. The children exceedingly pretty, black or red, with clear complexions and bright blue eyes. The middle-aged are very plain but the old people are better. The language is past description."

[edit] Royal visitors

The Prince and Princess of Wales and other members of the royal family visited Machynlleth between 25 June and 27 June 1896, the town celebrated Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee in June 1897, and Queen Victoria visited on 24 August 1889. King George V and Queen Mary, the Prince of Wales and Princess Mary all visited Machynlleth in June 1911.

[edit] Ted Lewis

Ted Lewis, a 1901 baseball star and American educationalist, was born in Machynlleth on 25 December 1872 and, at the age of eight, emigrated with his family to the USA, to settle in Utica, New York. He entered Williams College, Williamstown, Massachusetts, in 1893 and found popularity through his prowess as a baseball pitcher.

[edit] Berta Ruck and Oliver Onions

Writer and novelist Berta Ruck (1879–1978) grew up at Esgair, near Pantperthog, had close family connections with Pantlludw, in the foothills just to the north of Machynlleth and, from the 1950s, lived in Aberdyfi. She was a prolific writer, publishing more than 100 books over the course of her long life, including a large number of novels and her family history, in various volumes from 1967. Her aunt Amy was married to Charles Darwin's son, Frank. Her husband, well-known ghost story writer Oliver Onions (1873–1961), wrote many such books, but one in particular — The Beckoning Fair One — is apparently considered by many to be the best ghost story ever written. He pronounced his name "Own-EYE-ons", but this must still have worried him, because he later changed his name to George Oliver, reportedly to spare his children any embarrassment. The University of Delaware Library's Special Collections Department holds Berta's 1928–37 travel journals.

[edit] Sir John Philip Baxter FAA, FTSE

John Philip Baxter was born in Machynlleth in 1905. After obtaining his BSc and PhD at Birmingham University he pursued a career in the UK chemical industry until 1949, when he emigrated to Australia. He took up the post of Professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of New South Wales, becoming Vice-Chancellor in 1955. He was Chairman of the Australian Atomic Energy Commission from 1957 until 1972. He was awarded the OBE in 1945, CMG in 1959 and KBE in 1965. He died in 1989.

[edit] N.C. Hunter

Playwright N.C. Hunter was a latter day tenant of Pantlludw, who apparently did much of his writing during his time there. Very successful during the 1950s and early 1960s he wrote, among other plays:

• Waters of the Moon, a comedy/drama.
• A Picture of Autumn, a comedy.
• A Day by the Sea, "a Chekhovian drama" and a 1953 hit at the Haymarket Theatre, starring John Gielgud, Ralph Richardson and Irene Worth.
• A Party for Christmas, 1956.
• A Touch of the Sun, which brought Sir Michael Redgrave an Actor of the Year award in 1958.
• A Piece of Silver, a 1960 production to open the brand new rep theatre at Cheltenham's Everyman.
• The Tulip Tree, 1962, starring Celia Johnson, John Clements and Lynne Redgrave in her West End début at the Haymarket.

He died in 1971, and is buried in the little chapel in Eglwysfach, a few miles down the road

[edit] Walter Wilkinson

Wilkinson wrote a series of books before and after the Second World War recounting his travels through the country, pushing his puppet show on a barrow, and his books depicting this lost world have something of a minor cult status. In his 1948 book Puppets in Wales (published by Geoffrey Bles, London), he devotes a whole page just to trying to pronounce "Machynlleth", recounts how he tried to get a newspaper from Smith's and then from the corner shop. He found the tobacconist's shop a melancholy sight as it had no stock, rather liked the "ancient elixirs, nostrums and cure-alls" in the chemist's, and admitted to growing fond of the town, with the "simple dignity of its tree-planted, wide streets, grey houses and inns, [and] of the glimpses of the green hills between the buildings".

Despite the fact that "everybody was hopping about, getting in and out of buses, mounting or dismounting from bicycles, going in and out of shops, and the traffic constable danced a ballet" (traffic constable? - it'd take a brave constable to step in front of the traffic these days) he suspected that you could have a very pleasant country-town holiday in Machynlleth - and that is still very true.

He left the town via "a crumbling bridge over the River Dovey, …where kine were standing in the water", and in some ways it's a relief that this, at least, hasn't changed since his time.

[edit] Emrys James

The actor Emrys James was born in Machynlleth and lived at 46 Maengwyn St during his childhood, where today there's a commemorative plaque. He attended Machynlleth County School during the 1940s, where he was noticed for his acting talent, and from there he went on to become a professional actor. He appeared on television as early as 1960 but, by 1968, had joined the Royal Shakespeare Company, staying with them until 1984. During his years with the RSC he also appeared in many TV drama productions, and made two appearances in Doctor Who, something to which all serious British actors aspired. TV and film work seems to have rolled in right through the 1970s and 1980s, and he also took part in a remake of Dylan Thomas's radio play Under Milk Wood in 1988. He died a year later.

[edit] David Sydney Thomas

Syd Thomas, as he is commonly known, is Machynlleth's most successful sporting son. He was spotted by London football scouts playing for the town side in his teens and signed professional forms in 1937. World War II started just as he was breaking into the first team and whilst he represented several London teams in the war years, he was robbed of several years of football. He was a regular on the right wing from 1946 onwards and played for Wales on four occasions. Everton were rumoured to be buying him yet Syd found himself moving to Bristol City in 1950. He won Bristol's Sportmans of the Year award in his first season but was then unlucky for the second and final time in his career when TB struck him down for a long period.

He returned to Machynlleth village life, running the bakery and town foodstore right through until the 1980s when he retired. His son Clive also showed promise as a footballer though decided to pursue his preferred hobbies of ballet and sewing. As of 2007, Syd still lives in Machynlleth to this day, fit and well.

[edit] Tourism

From 1995 until 2006, Celtica showcased Celtic life using audio-visual displays and exhibitions. Often hyped as having significant cultural importance, it always suffered from poor visitor numbers which ultimately forced its closure. Powys County Council are responsible for deciding what will become of the large mansion-style building gifted to the people of Machynlleth, but talk around town is that it will probably become a new set of council offices.

Even with the current closure of Celtica the primary employment sector remains tourism with a wide range of activity based attractions (for example several mountain bike trails) as well as visitor centres (Centre for Alternative Technology). Agriculture clearly continues to play a significant part in the make-up of the town and surrounding area as well. Another important local industry and employer is the renewable energy sector. The area now has a rapidly-expanding renewable energy industry with several small to medium sized companies now operating in or around the town.

The town has a large market on Wednesdays which appeals to both locals and tourists. The Wales Museum of Modern Art, MOMA, presents lunchtime talks and performances on market days.

[edit] External links

• Aerial photograph of Machynlleth
• Dyfi Mountain Biking
• Eco Dyfi Valley Partnership
• The Tabernacle Museum of Modern Art
• Dulas
• The Centre for Alternative Technology
• Machynlleth Clock Appeal
• Machynlleth Town Council
• 2001 Census Neighbourhood Statistics: Machynlleth

Preceding station	Heritage railways			Following station
Terminus		Corris Railway		Ffridd Gate