Hanes y Cwrwgl Conwy //Conwy Coracle History

Cynllun y Cwrwgl Conwy // Conwy Coracle Design

Sut i adeiladu Cwrwgl Conwy //How to build a Conwy Coracle

Cwrwgl Conwy mewn defnydd // the Conwy Coracle in use

Cwrwgl o blaen Tu Hwnt I’r Bont

An illustration of a stone bridge over a river, with boats and buildings along the riverbank, set against a green landscape and hills in the background.

ac o blaen Pont Mawr, Llanrwst

Lle mae’ nhw wedi cael eu defnyddio? // Where were they used?

Mae disgrifiadau cwrwgl Conwy gan ‘dwristiaid cynnar yng nghymru’ yn awgrymu Llynnoedd ac afonydd ledled Dyffryn Conwy, gan gynnwys ardaloedd Llanrwst, Llyn Elsi, Capel Curig a Betws y Coed.

Conwy coracle descriptions by ‘early tourists in wales’ suggest Lakes and rivers throughout the Conwy Valley, including in the LLanrwst, Llyn Elsi, Capel Curig and Betws y Coed areas.

(click on text to view larger)

Ioan Glan Lledr (19th Century)

"[Roedd] John Jones, neu Ioan Glan Lledr, yr olaf yn ôl traddodiad i bysgota â chwrwgl ar afonydd Lledr a Chonwy. Roedd yn fardd gwlad”

//

“John Jones, or Ioan Glan Lledr, the last, according to tradition, to fish with a coracle on the Lledr and Conwy Rivers. He was a country poet”

- Clwb Mynydda Cymru

“The coracle… used to belong to a Betws-y-Coed fisherman, John Jones, Tanrallt, of whom it is recorded that in 1887, he was licensed to use a coracle for salmon fishing on the Lledr river as well as on the Conwy.

Mr Geraint Jenkin’s book says that the craft were used in large numbers on the Conwy from at least the 16th century, and were used up to about 1914.

But by 1840 the use of coracles for fishing on the Conwy had greatly declined and, by 1861, it appeared to have ceased in the Llanrwst area. It seems that its surviving use at the beginning of the 20th century was limited to the Betws-y-Coed district.”

An elderly man with a beard wearing a hat and dark clothing paddling a small boat on a river.

Ioan Glan Lledr (John Jones Tanrallt), c 1880

Extracts from Welsh Heritage Series No.5 ‘Traditional Fishing in Wales’ by Emrys Evans 1995

(Cyhoeddwyd gyntaf yn Gymraeg, 1989 gan Gwasg Carreg Gwalch, Llanrwst)

Click images below to view larger.

Tecst gwreiddiol gan Elis o’r Nant ar gael yma

An old black-and-white illustration showing the damming of the waters in a river for fishing during the Middle Ages, with several people in boats and on the riverbank engaged in fishing activities.
Black and white illustration of a person in a coracle boat on the Conwy River a hundred years ago, labeled 'Ioan Glan Lledr in a coracle on the Conwy river a hundred years ago.' Below, a diagram depicts netting methods using coracles, showing cork an
Two black and white photographs related to fishing in Nant Conwy. The top photo shows a family or individual with a fish catching basket next to a riverbank, with a description about their right to use it on the river Lledr. The bottom photo depicts
Two black and white photographs of baskets on a river and a landscape with a river, trees, and a structure. The first photo shows baskets placed on the river Lledr, while the second depicts a chest and baskets on the Conwy River, dating back to Roman
Diagram of basket traps used in Severn estuary and River Lleadr, North Wales, showing various designs labeled A, B, and C.
Diagram of various types of coracles used for river navigation, labeled A through H, with a scale in feet at the bottom.

Boyne style of Coracle - the forerunner of the later lath designs…

…. and how we built our Conwy Coracle

Sut i adeiladu Cwrwgl Conwy //How to build a Conwy Coracle

Historical precident for using the Coracle as a space for conversation

Sgyrsiau Oracl Cwrwgl Conwy - Conwy Coracle Conversations

"With the approach of the investiture of the Prince of Wales in 1969, efforts were made to seek a political solution.

Denis Coslett of the Free Wales Army invited the Prime Minister Harold Wilson to meet him for coracle based discussions in the middle of the River Tywi but this invitation was declined."

- Rivers in the Welsh physical and cultural landscape by Catherine Duigan (p 19)