Cymru: Destruction Of Capel Celyn One Of ‘Darkest’ Days In Welsh History

NEWS FROM THE CELTIC LEAGUE

The Wales Minister, Alun Cairns has said the flooding of a Welsh Valley in Gwynedd to provide drinking water for Liverpool was "a shameful chapter in Welsh history".

The village Capel Celyn, one of the last Welsh only speaking communities, was flooded 50 years ago to create the Tryweryn reservoir and Cairns said it marked "some of the darkest and some of the most regrettable days in modern Welsh history".

A dozen houses and farms were submerged and 48 people dispossessed.

However, Plaid Cymru MP Liz Saville Roberts warned another Tryweryn could happen unless Wales got control of its water. She expressed concerns that the UK government still had ultimate control of Wales' natural resources, highlighting a clause in the law which gives the Welsh Secretary the right to intervene in any Welsh Assembly legislation which could have a "serious adverse impact" on water supplies in England.

Even after all this time the words 'Cofiwch Dryweryn' - remember Treweryn – are painted on the wall in Llanrhystud, outside Aberystwyth and are instantly recognisable by people across Wales as they travel from north to south.

The Treweryn reservoir affair led to the most serious outbreak of direct action in Wales which lasted for many years. Both the Free Wales Army (FWA) and the much more effective, Mudiad Amddiffyn Cymru (Movement for the Defence of Wales) carried out a series of bombings across Wales that lasted for a decade.

Both FWA (Byddin Rhyddid Cymru) and Mudiad Amddiffyn Cymru (MAC) was set up directly as a result of the destruction of Capel Celyn

Liverpool City Council apologised in 2005 for the "hurt" and "insensitivity" of the drowning of Capel Celyn in 1965 an event that has never been forgotten in Wales.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mudiad_Amddiffyn_Cymru

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_Wales_Army

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capel_Celyn

BERNARD MOFFATT

Issued by: The Celtic News

15/10/15

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Photo: Underwater graveyard Capel Celyn Wales