Ghost village is reborn as cultural centre
by Nathan Bev, walesonline.co.uk
March 12th 2011
People power has helped transform a disused quarry into a cultural centre
protecting the Welsh language. Nathan Bevan finds out more
IT was an abandoned ghost village in a quarry on the Llyn Peninsula, steeped in
2,000 years of history from mad English kings, to tragic lovers and flamboyant
former Beatles.
But, 40 years after it was trashed and left derelict by a commune of longhaired
hippies, Port Nant has been born again.
And next week it’s due to get its first official opening as Nant Gwrtheyrn, a
new major mark on the landscape of the Welsh language and thriving cultural
centre on the edge of the Irish Sea.
“It was built in 1860 to house granite quarry workers and their families, with
some 2,000 men from as far away as Scotland mining the three quarries every day
for the stone slabs that would go on to make up the cobbled streets of
Liverpool and Manchester,” says Jim O’Rourke, Nant’s acting chief executive.
“The village comprised of just two rows of 24 cottages, a manager’s house,
office, a shop and a chapel – the first English language chapel in North West
Wales. It would have been a fireball of heavy industrial activity, with ships’
hooters sounding all day long and explosions going off – but by the 1950s the
quarries had closed the last families slowly left.”
But Nant would not go empty for long.
“A large group of hippies, calling themselves the New Atlantis Commune, moved
in and took over the village with their many children, and they pretty much
trashed the place,” adds O’Rourke.
“They broke down the doors and tore up the floors to use as firewood, but, and
I don’t know if this is urban myth or not, singer John Lennon is supposed to
have bought them an island to the west of Cork to go and live on instead.
“So that meant plans to rejuvenate the village could go ahead.”
Those plans were the brainchild of local GP, and now president of Nant, Dr Carl
Clowes, who wrote to the quarry owners saying there was a group of people who’d
like to buy the village for £25,000, and that’s exactly what they did.
Under the watchful eye of Dr Clowes – the dad of Super Furry Animals’ Daffyd
Ieuan and Cian Ciaran, who played there at the opening of its new heritage
centre in 2003 – volunteers set about renovating the houses one by one,
scraping together funds to buy a single bag of cement at a time.
That was no mean feat, seeing as the only access was by a steep stone track
which could only be navigated by an ancient Landrover, and the only power came
from a generator powered from the nearby stream.
Many man hours and £5m in European and Welsh Assembly Government grants later,
the secluded Victorian idyll has come a long way since running its first Welsh
language course in 1981 – with First Minister Carwyn Jones turning up to cut
the ribbon to the centre on Thursday.
“Nant is alive again now for the first time since those quarries fell silent,”
says O’Rourke of the multi-use residential centre and community facility.
“With very little marketing we managed to get about 20,000 day visitors last
year, and it was Dr Clowes’ dream to bring life back to the local area and make
it a place where people could take our in-house Welsh courses in an area where
75% of the population still speak it.
“And the centre’s taught more than 25,000 adult learners over the last 30
years, which, if you compare the sorry state the language was in the 1960s to
the way it’s flourishing now, illustrates the importance of the work being done
here.”
O’Rourke explains that there were many other facets of Nant Gwrtheyrn – named
after King Vortigen, the mad tyrant who fled from Kent to this secluded valley
in the mid-400s – for people to enjoy.
“We’ve created a new downhill mountain bike track that’s been recognised by the
US champ of the sport as one of the most challenging he’s ever seen,” he says.
“And it is hellish steep I can tell you, descending 600m in height in two
minutes and having to dodge rocks and trees as you go.”
Hopefully though, the course of true love will run a lot smoothly, the centre
having become an increasingly popular spot for couples to stage their weddings.
“That’s become a little golden nugget for us, what with our 150-seater function
room and four-star accommodation for up to 80 guests,” adds O’Rourke.
“You can have the whole village to yourselves to enjoy the stunning sea views,
and if you’re lucky you’ll be able to capture the dolphins in the bay behind
you as to pose for your wedding photos.”
Does he find it an odd destination for newly-weds given the ancient Welsh myth
though?
“You mean the story of Rhys and Meinir? Yes, that is the saddest of all love
stories, I suppose,” he adds.
“The legend tells us that she was a bride who hid from her love in a tree, got
trapped and died. Then her distraught groom, upon eventually finding her there
after lightning had spilt the trunk, commits suicide!
“So, yes, I think it is testament to the beauty of the surrounding area that so
many people choose to spend their happiest day here.”
Cymraeg – pages 26 and 54
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