Highly successful event held as new memorial to 37 miners is unveiled on the Cynheidre Colliery site / Digwyddiad hynod lwyddiannus a gynhaliwyd wrth i gofeb newydd i 37 o lowyr gael ei datgelu ar saf

A new permanent memorial has been unveiled at the Llanelli and Mynydd Mawr Railway in Cynheidre on Sunday 23 August, to commemorate the 37 miners who lost their lives working at Cynheidre Colliery.

The railway is located on part of the old colliery site, and the new memorial ensures that the names of those 37 men are permanently remembered in Cynheidre.

A heartfelt speech was made by Cllr Alex Evans, who represents the Glyn ward, who himself is the great-nephew of one of the 37 and the grandson of a miner who spent more than 20 years underground at Cynheidre.

This was followed by Linda Stonehouse, who emotionally explained that her father was killed at Cynheidre Colliery. Linda was one of the key the driving forces behind making the memorial happen, a process that has taken a long time to come to fruition, but is now a reality.

The memorial also commemorates the large number of miners whose lives were cut short by illnesses suffered as a result of their years of working underground.

From 12pm onwards, members of the public were able to visit the railway for a special open day in Cynheidre with free train rides and the new memorial open for all to see.

For anyone that wishes to visit the memorial, the site is currently open to the public on Thursdays and Fridays between 11am and 3pm and Saturdays between 10am and 3pm when the railway’s community café, Caffi Super Sprinter is open.

We wish to extend a special thanks for Andrew Edwards of S W Monumental Masons for all of his fantastic work in building the memorial. A video of his work can be seen on the S W Monumental Masons Facebook page.

As well as the unveiling, the railway also opened its new heritage woodland project, which helps tell the story of the colliery and the generations of people who worked there. This includes information boards detailing the mining and industrial heritage of the site and audio descriptive recollections featuring the voices of former Cynheidre employees themselves. Former mine workers were interviewed about their lives and experiences in Cynheidre. These recordings – their own voices, memories and words – are now a permanent part of the site's experience, enabling visitors to hear directly from former Cynheidre Colliery workers as they wander the woodland and discover Cynheidre's mining and industrial heritage.

The woodland project was made possible through a grant of £85,000 from the Welsh Government and the Heritage Lottery Fund through the Woodland Investment Grant.

After the unveiling, Mark Thomas, Chairman of the Llanelli and Mynydd Mawr Railway, said:

“Today has been an absolute privilege for the railway to unveil this permanent memorial.

"Seeing so many family members, friends and former colleagues of those lost at the colliery was both emotional and humbling for all of us, and we are delighted that we now have a permanent memorial in place.

“Everyone is invited to come and view this when we are open, along with the fantastic woodland that we now have to tell the story of the colliery.

“We want to publicly thank everyone that has helped us with this project and to everyone that very kindly donated to the fundraiser.”

As well as the regular café opening times the next public train running events will be held on Saturday 29^thAugust and Saturday 26^th September between 10am and 3pm.

END

Notes to editors

• The Llanelli and Mynydd Mawr Railway (LMMR) is located on part of the site of the Former Cynheidre Colliery - SA15 5DQ.

• LMMR is a registered charity and has been developing the site since 1999.

• LMMR has also received £20,000 from Carmarthenshire County Council and £40,000 from the UK Government's Common Prosperity Fund towards the costs of opening our SuperSprinter Cafe.

Press Inquiries:

Mark Thomas: llanellirailway@gmail.com

Mae cofeb barhaol newydd wedi'i datgelu ar Reilffordd Llanelli a Mynydd Mawr yng Nghynheidre ddydd Sul 23 Awst, i goffáu'r 37 o lowyr a gollodd eu bywydau wrth weithio ym Mhwll Glo Cynheidre.

Mae'r rheilffordd wedi'i lleoli ar ran o hen safle'r lofa, ac mae'r gofeb newydd yn sicrhau bod enwau'r 37 o ddynion hynny'n cael eu cofio'n barhaol yng Nghynheidre.

Traddodwyd araith galonog gan y Cynghorydd Alex Evans, sy'n cynrychioli ward Glyn, sydd ei hun yn or-nai i un o'r 37 ac yn ŵyr i löwr a dreuliodd fwy nag 20 mlynedd o dan y ddaear yng Nghynheidre.

Dilynwyd hyn gan Linda Stonehouse, a eglurodd yn emosiynol fod ei thad wedi'i ladd ym Mhwll Glo Cynheidre. Roedd Linda yn un o'r grymoedd allweddol y tu ôl i wneud y gofeb yn digwydd, proses sydd wedi cymryd amser hir i ddwyn ffrwyth, ond sydd bellach yn realiti.

Mae'r gofeb hefyd yn coffáu'r nifer fawr o lowyr a gafodd eu bywydau eu torri'n fyr gan afiechydon a ddioddefodd o ganlyniad i'w blynyddoedd o weithio dan ddaear.

O 12pm ymlaen, roedd aelodau'r cyhoedd yn gallu ymweld â'r rheilffordd ar gyfer diwrnod agored arbennig yng Nghynheidre gyda theithiau trên am ddim a'r gofeb newydd ar agor i bawb ei gweld.

I unrhyw un sy'n dymuno ymweld â'r gofeb, mae'r safle ar agor i'r cyhoedd ar ddydd Iau a dydd Gwener rhwng 11am a 3pm a dydd Sadwrn rhwng 10am a 3pm pan fydd caffi cymunedol y rheilffordd, Caffi Super Sprinter, ar agor.

Hoffem estyn diolch arbennig i Andrew Edwards o S ​​W Monumental Masons am ei holl waith gwych wrth adeiladu'r gofeb. Gellir gweld fideo o'i waith ar dudalen Facebook S W Monumental Masons.

Yn ogystal â'r dadorchuddio, agorodd y rheilffordd ei phrosiect coetir treftadaeth newydd hefyd, sy'n helpu i adrodd hanes y lofa a'r cenedlaethau o bobl a weithiodd yno. Mae hyn yn cynnwys byrddau gwybodaeth sy'n manylu ar dreftadaeth mwyngloddio a diwydiannol y safle ac atgofion disgrifiadol sain sy'n cynnwys lleisiau cyn-weithwyr Cynheidre eu hunain. Cyfwelwyd â chyn-weithwyr mwyngloddio am eu bywydau a'u profiadau yng Nghynheidre. Mae'r recordiadau hyn – eu lleisiau, eu hatgofion a'u geiriau eu hunain – bellach yn rhan barhaol o brofiad y safle, gan alluogi ymwelwyr i glywed yn uniongyrchol gan gyn-weithwyr Glofa Cynheidre wrth iddynt grwydro'r coetir a darganfod treftadaeth mwyngloddio a diwydiannol Cynheidre.

Gwnaed y prosiect coetir yn bosibl trwy grant o £85,000 gan Lywodraeth Cymru a Chronfa Dreftadaeth y Loteri trwy'r Grant Buddsoddi mewn Coetiroedd.

Ar ôl y dadorchuddio, dywedodd Mark Thomas, Cadeirydd Rheilffordd Llanelli a Mynydd Mawr:

“Mae heddiw wedi bod yn fraint llwyr i'r rheilffordd ddadorchuddio'r gofeb barhaol hon.

“Roedd gweld cymaint o aelodau teulu, ffrindiau a chyn-gydweithwyr y rhai a gollwyd yn y glofa yn emosiynol ac yn ostyngedig i bob un ohonom, ac rydym wrth ein bodd bod gennym gofeb barhaol yn ei lle nawr.

“Mae croeso i bawb ddod i weld hyn pan fyddwn ni ar agor, ynghyd â’r coetir gwych sydd gennym ni nawr i adrodd hanes y lofa.

“Rydym ni eisiau diolch yn gyhoeddus i bawb sydd wedi ein helpu ni gyda’r prosiect hwn ac i bawb a roddodd yn garedig iawn i’r digwyddiad codi arian.”

Yn ogystal ag oriau agor arferol y caffi, cynhelir y digwyddiadau rhedeg trên cyhoeddus nesaf ddydd Sadwrn 29 Awst a dydd Sadwrn 26 Medi rhwng 10am a 3pm.

DIWEDD

Nodiadau i olygyddion

• Mae Rheilffordd Llanelli a Mynydd Mawr (LMMR) wedi’i lleoli ar ran o safle Hen Lofa Cynheidre - SA15 5DQ.

• Mae LMMR yn elusen gofrestredig ac mae wedi bod yn datblygu’r safle ers 1999.

• Mae LMMR hefyd wedi derbyn £20,000 gan Gyngor Sir Caerfyrddin a £40,000 o Gronfa Ffyniant Gyffredin Llywodraeth y DU tuag at gostau agor ein Caffi SuperSprinter.

Ymholiadau’r Wasg:

Mark Thomas: llanellirailway@gmail.com