Author Archives: Graham Stephen

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Slate or State, Penrhyn Castle

Slate or State in the Grand Hall, Penrhyn Castle

Date

2 July 2017

Location

Penrhyn Castle, Llandegai, Bangor
SH 60219 71962; 53.22624°N, 4.09534°W

Information

The installation, entitled Slate or State, is on display in the Grand Hall of Penrhyn Castle from 1 July until 5 November 2017.

“This sculpture was developed as part of a year-long residency by artists Zoe Walker and Neil Bromwich. It is a symbolic object; its form is drawn from Victorian paintings and sketches of Penrhyn Quarry, the quarry once owned by Lord Penrhyn.

“The choice of material for the sculpture draws inspiration from the history of protest, and large-scale inflatables that since the 1920s have taken to the streets in collective actions that have called for a fairer society.

“Walker and Bromwich are known internationally for their large-scale participatory events and exhibitions that invite audiences to imagine better worlds. Their residency at Penrhyn Castle was the final act of a three-year collaboration between Arts Council Wales and the National Trust, and their brief was to “interrogate the castle’s controversial history, the stories surrounding it and its relationship with local communities”.

“The focus of the work is the Great Strike of 1900-03, a bid by the men of Penrhyn Quarry to improve their working conditions.

“Walker and Bromwich have worked with individuals, schools and community groups in the quarry town of Bethesda to develop this sculptural work. This sculpture was the focal point of a symbolic event that paid tribute to the local community, which staged the longest strike in British industrial history.

“On 1 July 2017 the Penrhyn Choir processed this sculpture from Bethesda into the Grand Hall. During this performance the original demands of the Great Strike, combined with demands of today, were sung by the choir: colliding in time two points in history where working conditions have been at the forefront of social change.”

– Sara Roberts, Curator

Further Reading

Penrhyn Castle;
Great Strike;
Penrhyn Quarry;
More posts in the Penrhyn Castle Series

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Hydro Ogwen Scheme

Weir above Ogwen Bank Falls

Date

25 June 2017

Location

Ogwen Bank, Bethesda
SH 62608 65410; 53.16801°N, 4.05676°W

Information

Hydro Ogwen is a community hydro-electric generation scheme on the Afon Ogwen owned and operated by Ynni Ogwen Cyf (Ogwen Energy Ltd), a company established in 2015 to complete the development of the project and to manage it thereafter. The venture was financed by £450k raised via a community share offer and profits are to be distributed for the benefit of the local community.

Family-run contractors Gwyn Roberts Construction, based near Bala, carried out the building work, which started in July 2016 and was mostly completed by March 2017. The 100 kW generator, whose estimated annual output will be 500 MWh, is driven by a turbine fed via a 900 mm diameter pipe buried under the Lon Las Ogwen path with water abstracted from the intake weir, approximately 300 m upstream, just above the waterfalls at Ogwen Bank.

Further Reading

Ynni Ogwen;
All posts in the Afon Ogwen series…

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Barclodiad y Gawres Chambered Cairn

Barclodiad y Gawres

Date

18 June 2017

Location

Mynydd Mawr, Cable Bay (Porth Trecastell), Anglesey
SH 32896 70746; 53.20743°N, 4.50361°W

Information

Barclodiad y Gawres restored Neolithic burial chamber (c 2500 BCE) is situated on the Mynydd Mawr headland overlooking Cable Bay, or Porth Trecastell, on the southwestern coast of the Isle of Anglesey.

The cruciform passage grave, six of whose stones are carved with geometric designs, was excavated in 1952, following which a domed concrete roof was added and the entrance passage was rebuilt.

The site is in the care of Cadw and, to prevent against vandalism, the interior is only open by appointment.

Further Reading

Barclodiad y Gawres Burial Chamber (Cadw)

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