On Friday, Gay and I visited Tregaron Heritage Centre - via that mountain road. I didn't even know the Heritage Centre existed, so it was a pleasant surprise. Even better was the most amazing Tapestry on the wall inside. Every bit of it sewn and embroidered by hand, all the fabrics used had been hand-dyed by professional Artist/Embroiderer Jill Nichols, and the panels were stitched with much enthusiasm by a team of 17 ladies from the area. It took three years to turn the original painting (by Margaret Jones of Penllwyn) into this textile work of art and funds were raised by various local associations and individuals along with grants from Ceredigion County Council, the Arts Council of Wales and Grants for All Wales.
When we originally looked down the room at it, Gay and I thought it was a painting.
The drover's route of course was that very road from Abergwesyn which we had driven over that day. The animals would be assembled in a field behind the Talbot Hotel, and would be shod before they set off. By 1831 there were fourteen smiths in the town. The cattle had to be roped and thrown, their legs tied together and only then could the shoes (or cues as they were known) nailed into place. The charge was 10 pence or a shilling per beast.
Of course, sheep also feature large in this part of the world, and were well represented in the Tapestry. I love that these all seem to have individual characters and I love the way their fleeces have been sewn. Tregaron was a centre for sheep and the big sheep markets were held in Brecon 40 miles away.
Sorry - this isn't very sharp. I used the booklet for further photos. Even a bank was set up for the moneys that the Drovers accrued from the sale of the cattle. It was called the Black Ox bank and in Llandovery a building which is now a health food shop was once the original Black Ox bank. Llandovery was the meeting point for all the Carmarthenshire drovers.
The back cover of the booklet.
This lovely piece (with pony trekkers at the bottom, as Tregaron was a very busy pony trekking centre until about the 1980s) was made for a Young Farmer's Club competition. I think the archway is based on one at nearby Strata Florida Abbey.
Eistedfodds are held annually in Wales. One year in South Wales, the next in the North. Our children took part when they were in Junior School.
A big collage made from the plants found in and around Tregaron Bog, collected by the schoolchildren of Tregaron.
This Welsh Great Wheel (also known as the Jersey wheel), has survived. It was used for spinning fleece, and could also be used for spinning imported cotton.
Ah - these two stones fascinated me of course. Both were removed from their original settings in the 1830s and placed in the garden of Sir Samuel Rush Meyrick at Goodrich Court in Herefordshire, until donated to the Museum a century on. The Eneveri stone (above) is now in St Fagan's Museum in Cardiff. This early Medieval cross dates to around the 8th Century. The Potentina stone is currently "in store" at the Museum. It reads Potentina, wife (in Latin) and dates to around the 6th Century. Anyway, those will lead us nicely onto my next post about St David's Church at Llandewi Brevi . . .
The cattle drovers needed places to stay overnight - inns, which had a field at the back where the cattle could be kept overnight. "They always made our place a rest place for themselves and their animals during a night's stay, as we had a green field for the animals. My mother and the principal drover would stand by the gate leading to the field and count the animals to make sure that none were lost. She would have a quantity of peas in her pocket and when the number was twenty she would place one pea in another pocket; in this way she would know the number of animals for which she should charge." As told to Caroline Skeel, and written in the Tapestry booklet I bought.
Details from the tapestry - LOVE this cat and the rabbit is pure Beatrix Potter.
Anyway, must dash as Keith has blood tests in an hour. I spoke to the GP yesterday and she has upped his Thyroid medication again as he was getting to teatime too exhausted to eat! You can imagine this was why it took 3/4 of an hour to get up to bed and involved a wheelchair from room to room downstairs . . .
Yesterday I tried another recipe from The Bread Book by Sara Lewis. This time, as I had Whole-wheat flour to use up, it was Oat and Molasses Bread. I sprinkled the crust with coarse oatmeal too and it is delicious.
Oh and the scrumping? I happened to notice that half of an apple tree (cookers) in the garden of a long-empty house in town hung over the wall into the churchyard and there were windfalls. Far too good to leave to birds and slugs (they can have the damaged ones). I didn't have a bag with me but balanced 5 good apples on Keith's paper. When I had to go back in the afternoon I took a bag and now have some lovely fruit to cook up. Wondering if I dare to make chutney - perhaps if I take my stronger anti-histamine and have all the doors and windows open I may not be so badly affected? We'll see. Apple Pie tonight anyway.
