Images by Leigh Rose. Words by Gruffudd ab Owain.
To mark the third week of Purposeful Adventures, we invited our friend Gruffudd ab Owain to take on the Traws Eryri route through the heart of Snowdonia, and share in his words what the beauty of Welsh landscape and heritage offers to explorers.
Please note this post is written in both English and Welsh. Scroll down to the line break to find the English translation.
Mae’r Traws Eryri yn cael ei werthu fel taith ‘ddiarffordd’.
Byddai ‘route â thirwedd cymysg’ yn agosach ati, o ystyried y cyfnodau hir ar darmac, ambell ennyd o raean esmwyth, a thipyn go lew o stwff mwy garw.
Dydw i heb wneud ryw lawer o seiclo oddi ar y ffordd, yn enwedig mewn blynyddoedd diweddar, a dwi fwy neu lai ddim ond yn seiclo ar y lôn. Yn aml iawn, roedd y ffordd fawr o fewn cyrraedd i route yr wythnos hon; ro’n i’n gallu’i chlywed hi, a’i theimlo’n prysuro gyda threigl yr wythnos.
Byddai’n dilyn trywydd paralel â’r llwybr ‘diarffordd’, a minnau’n rhwystredig braidd gan yr ymdrech ychwanegol oedd ei angen i gyrraedd yr un lle ag y gallwn i gyrraedd ar feic ffordd dipyn cynt. Roedd hi’n teimlo, weithiau, ’mod i’n treulio mwy o amser yn agor giatiau nag o’n i’n ei dreulio yn y cyfrwy.
Ond efallai mai dyna’r pwynt.
Mae’r Traws Eryri’n cael ei werthu fel route ‘diarffordd’.
Mae’n wahoddiad.
Cysylltu nifer o’r potiau mêl adnabyddus wna’r llwybr mewn gwirionedd; Machynlleth, Dolgellau, Betws y Coed, dyffryn Ogwen, a Chonwy. Serch hynny, yn hytrach na dilyn y prif lif, mae’n ein gwahodd i wau edefyn gwahanol
Mae’n wahoddiad y agor y giatiau.
Mae’n wahoddiad i ddysgu, i ddarganfod, ac i deimlo. Mae’n wahoddiad i brofi stori; bron i anadlu ei naratif wrth lwybro’i thrywydd bron 200km o hyd.
Yn aml, fodd bynnag, dydy o’n ddim mwy na gwahoddiad. Mae gwau’r edefyn yma o ddysgu ac o brofi yn gofyn mwy o ymdrech, ac ni roddir unrhywbeth ar blât bron byth.
Roedd cyd-weithio gyda Trash Free Trails yr wythnos hon yn ymgais i agor y giatiau, ac i’ch cyflwyno chi i’r stori oedd yn adrodd ei hun ar hyd y daith.
Ond allwn i ond gobeithio cynnig cip.
Weithiau, roedd adrodd y stori mor rhwydd â’r disgyniadau tarmac hir drwy Gwm Penmachno neu Nant Ffrancon.
Stori fflam danbaid ffydd Mari Jones ar ei thaith o Lanfihangel y Pennant i’r Bala ym 1800, a chynnau dau ganrif o waith cenhadol rhyngwladol Cymdeithas y Beibl.
Stori chwedlonol Blodeuwedd o bedwaredd gainc y Mabinogi; olrhain ei thaith o Domen y Mur lle cynllwyniodd farwolaeth Lleu Llaw Gyffes gyda Gronw Pebr, ar hyd yr afon Cynfal i Lyn Morwynion lle trodd yn dylluan gerbron Gwydion.
Stori magwraeth William Morgan yn Nhŷ Mawr Wybrnant, a’r cyfieithiad cyntaf o’r Beibl i’r Gymraeg yn ail hanner y 16eg ganrif; fersiwn sy’n ddarllenadwy hyd heddiw, ac un o’r conglfeini pwysicaf ym mharhad yr iaith.
Droeon eraill, roedd adrodd y stori’n orchwyl anoddach, megis seiclo dros y tirwedd garw ar y ffordd i lynnoedd Cregennan neu rhwng Llanfairfechan a Bwlch Sychnant.
Stori Streic Fawr yn Chwarel y Penrhyn barodd rhwng 1900 a 1903, gan rwygo cymuned Bethesda, ac effeithiau hir-dymor y tlodi, y rhaniadau, a chwymp diwydiant.
Stori Penmachno, un o nifer fawr o lefydd lle bo’r gyfran uchel o ail dai a bythynnod gwyliau yn herio cymunedau cryfion, gwledig, sy’n aml yn gadarnleoedd yr iaith.
Stori nifer fawr o enwau tai ac enwau busnesau y gwnes i eu pasio, lle try ‘Snowdonia’ yn wrthrych i fanteisio arno, gan ddisodli enwau cynhenid fel Eryri sydd, yn amlach na pheidio, yn dal ystyr, hanes, a stori ynddi’i hun.
Ond wedi’r cyfan, annoeth ydy defnyddio ‘y stori’, achos dim ond un stori ydw i wedi’i rhannu. Un ymhlith sawl stori; y straeon ydw i wedi eu dewis er diddordeb, er pwysigrwydd, neu hyd yn oed er cyfleustra.
Ond eto, maen nhw i gyd yn benodau o’r un stori, wedi’u gwau i’r un defnydd.
Mae fy lle i ynddi mor fychan, o’i gymharu â’i ehangder a’i ddyfnder.
Alla’i ond gobeithio ’mod i wedi’i phrofi, ei hadnabod, ei thrysori.
Ymgais i roi pwrpas i’r antur, i adael hoel bositif. Achos pam fuasai unrhywun eisiau gwarchod rhywbeth nad ydych chi wedi’i brofi, ei adnabod, a’i drysori?
The Traws Eryri route is billed as an ‘off-road’ route.
‘Mixed terrain’ would probably be more accurate, given its long stretches of tarmac, moments of smooth, tightly packed gravel, and some rougher stuff to boot.
I’ve not done much ‘off-road’ riding in my lifetime, especially in recent years, and I’ve essentially become exclusively a road cyclist. Oftentimes, the road was within reach of this week’s route; I could hear it, could sense it becoming busier as the week progressed.
It would often run parallel with the off-road path, leaving me slightly frustrated by how much extra effort I was having to put in just to get to the exact same place I could reach on a road bike in half the time. It felt, at times, that I was spending more time opening gates than actually cycling.
But maybe that’s the point.
The Traws Eryri is billed as an ‘off-road’ route.
It’s an invitation.
The route essentially connects the well-established tourist honey pots of Machynlleth, Dolgellau, Betws y Coed, dyffryn Ogwen, and Conwy. Yet, instead of following the road, following the mainstream, it invites us to weave a different thread.
It’s an invitation to open those gates.
It’s an invitation to learn, to discover, and to feel. It’s an invitation to experience a story, to almost inhale its narrative as we navigate the length of the near-200km trail.
Oftentimes, though, it’s nothing more than an invitation. Weaving this thread of learning and of experiencing does require more effort, and seldom is anything offered on a plate.
Working with Trash Free Trails this week was an attempt to open the gates, and to introduce you to the story which told itself along the route.
But I could only hope to offer a glimpse.
Sometimes, telling the story was as fluent as the long tarmac descents through Cwm Penmachno or Nant Ffrancon.
The story of Mary Jones’s burning flame of faith on her journey from the tiny village of Llanfihangel y Pennant to Bala in 1800, which set alight over two centuries of international missionary work by the Bible Society.
The mythical story of Blodeuwedd from the fourth branch of the Mabinogi; tracing her journey from Tomen y Mur where she conspired with Gronw Pebr to kill Lleu Llaw Gyffes, along the Cynfal river to Llyn Morwynion where she became an owl before Gwydion.
The story of William Morgan’s upbringing at Tŷ Mawr Wybrnant, and his completion of the first translation of the Bible into Welsh in the second half of the 16th century; a version still understandable today, and one of the principal reasons why the language has survived and thrived.
Other times, telling the story was a tougher job, much like riding over the rough terrain on the way to Cregennan lakes or between Llanfairfechan and Sychnant Pass.
The story of the Great Strike at Penrhyn quarry which lasted between 1900 and 1903, tearing the community of Bethesda apart, with poverty, division, and the fall of a world-leading industry leaving long-term consequences.
The story of Penmachno, one of numerous places where the high proportion of second homes and holiday lets is taking its toll on strong, rural communities, often strongholds of the Welsh language.
The story of many house names and business names I passed, where ‘Snowdonia’ has been commodified, replacing native names like ‘Eryri’ which, more often than not, held a meaning, a history, a story in itself.
But after all, it is futile to use ‘the story’, because what I have shared is just ‘a story’. It’s just one among many stories; the stories I have cherry-picked out of interest, perceived importance, or even mere convenience.
And yet, they’re all chapters in the same story, woven into the same fabric.
My place in it is minuscule, compared with its vastness, its depth.
All I can hope to have done is experienced it, recognised it, cared about it.
An attempt to put the ‘purposeful’ into ‘purposeful adventure’, to leave a positive trace. Because why would you want to protect something you haven’t experienced, don’t recognise, don’t care about?
A tremendous thank you to Gruff for taking on this Purposeful Adventure and sharing with us the beauty of Welsh heritage, landscape, and our role within it. Thank you to Leigh Rose for capturing Gruff's adventure. Massive thank you to our Strategic Partner Orbea for loaning us a Terra for the journey!
A huge thank you to our Strategic Partner komoot for supporting our Summer of Purposeful Adventures, enabling us to empower storytellers and explorers like Gruff to take on passion projects and share their experience. Find out more about the campaign here.
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