The Ffestiniog & Welsh Highland Railways, the Welsh Highland Railway Society, the Welsh Highland Heritage Railway and the Welsh Highland Railway Heritage Group are jointly sponsoring a series of activities and events in 2022 and 2023 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the opening of the ‘original’ WHR in 1923 from Dinas, near Caernarfon to Porthmadog.
As part of the celebrations and with the support of Mortons Media Group, publishers of Heritage Railway and The Railway Magazine, the sponsors of the Centenary are launching a competition for the best piece of original research on the history of the WHR, the North Wales Narrow Gauge Railway Company (NWNGR), its associated activities and personalities for which a prize of £500 will be awarded.
The NWNGR completed the section from Dinas to Rhyd ddu in 1881 but it was not until the early 1920s that a 1914 Light Railway Order was re-activated and the line re-opened in 1923 as the Welsh Highland Railway when the ‘missing’ link was completed between Rhyd-ddu and Porthmadog. Subsequently, after a somewhat turbulent financial and operational history the railway closed in 1937 and was scrapped in World War 2. Not until 2010 were the aspirations of the directors of the NWNGR finally realised when a ‘new’ WHR was open all the way from Caernarfon to Porthmadog.
The competition will be judged by two eminent historians, Dr Dafydd Gwyn and Gareth Haulfryn Williams and the result announced in June 2023, precisely 100 years after the WHR’s opening in 1923 and cash prize of £500 awarded.
Dr Gwyn is a Bangor-born archaeologist, historian and consultant with a long-standing interest in the Industrial and Modern period. He is advised Gwynedd Council on their successful bid for UNESCO World Heritage status for The Slate Landscape of Northwest Wales and is a trustee of the Festiniog Railway Company and chairman of the Bala Lake Railway. Welsh-speaker, Dr Gwyn is a graduate of the Universities of Cambridge and of Trinity College, Dublin and lives in North Wales. . He is the author of several studies in industrial-era archaeology and in 2015 his major study of the Welsh slate industry was published by the Royal Commission on Ancient Monuments of Wales.
Gareth Haulfryn Williams was born in Llandudno and graduated at Bangor University College with a degree in English, a Diploma in Archives Administration and a research Masters in Welsh History. A former English teacher, then County Archivist of Merioneth, and subsequently in charge of the Caernarfon archives, he retired as Head of Culture for Gwynedd Council in 2003, prior to spending ten years as a translator, heritage consultant and mentor for HLF grantees. He has been a trustee of the Ffestiniog and Welsh Highland Railways Trust, curatorial adviser to FRC and Chair of the Ffestiniog Railway Heritage Company. He is presently Hon. Archivist of the Welsh Highland Railway Society. He has published and broadcast on various aspects of transport and social history and is a Welsh speaker resident in Llanwnda.
Nick Booker, chairman of the Welsh Highland Railway Heritage Group, said “ On behalf of the railway’s Centenary celebrations committee, I ‘m extremely pleased that Mortons Media Group is supporting our Research Competition. We hope that the submissions to the competition will shed further light on the complex history of the railway, the area it served and the many individuals involved in its planning, construction and operation and of course its demolition and ultimate re birth. The Railway Magazine and Heritage Railway have over the years played an important role in reporting on the story of the Welsh Highland and its predecessors. We look forward to them continuing to do so and reporting on a worthy winner of our competition in 1923.”
Further details of the competition rules etc are available from Nick Booker at nick.booker@welshhighlandheritage.co.uk
TIMETABLE
- Announced in the media March 2022 onwards
- Registration of interest to submit an entry – March 2022 onwards
- Deadline for electronic submission of completed entry – 28 February 2023
- Winner announced and award of prize – June 2023
SUMMARY OF THE RULES ETC
Scope and eligibility
Original research article on the history of the WHR, NWNGR, its associated activities, customers and personalities eg businesses, directors, employees etc.
Submissions should not have been published elsewhere, or already offered for publication.
For the purposes of this competition, ‘the eligible period is taken to mean the period from 1840 to the present day’.
Prize entries should be written in English and / or Welsh and take the form of an essay based on original research. The length of the essay shall not exceed 10,000 words. Essays that are shorter than 3,500 words will not be considered. A Bibliography (the provision of which is mandatory) and references should not be included in the word count, nor should text associated with features such as maps, diagrams, and tables.
Assessment
The judges will make their decision based on the author’s:
- Skill and control in using sources and command of evidence
- Clarity and quality of writing
- Contribution to the knowledge and understanding of an aspect of the history of the Welsh Highland Railway and its antecedents
- Originality of approach
Publishing
Copyright of the winning entry will remain with the sponsors of the competitionand any suitable works may be published.
Mae Rheilffyrdd Ffestiniog ac Eryri, Cymdeithas Rheilffordd Eryri, ‘Rheilffordd Treftadaeth Ucheldir Cymru’ a ‘Grŵp Treftadaeth Ucheldir Cymru’ yn cyd-noddi cyfres o weithgareddau a digwyddiadau yn 2022 a 2023 i ddathlu 100 mlynedd ers agor y Rheilffordd Ucheldir Cymru gwreiddiol yn 1923 o Ddinas, ger Caernarfon i Borthmadog.
Fel rhan o’r dathliadau a gyda chefnogaeth ‘Mortons Media Group’, cyhoeddwyr ‘Heritage Railway’ a ‘The Railway Magazine’, mae noddwyr y Canmlwyddiant yn lansio cystadleuaeth ar gyfer y darn gorau o waith ymchwil gwreiddiol ar hanes RhUC, ‘North Wales Narrow Gauge Railway’(NWNGR), ei weithgareddau a’i bersonoliaethau cysylltiedig y dyfernir gwobr o £500 ar eu cyfer.
Cwblhawyd ‘NWNGR’ y rhan o drac rhwng Ddinas i Rhyd Ddu yn 1881 ond ni chafodd Gorchymyn Rheilffordd Ysgafn 1914 ei ailysgogi tan y 1920au cynnar ac ail-agorwyd y lein ym 1923 fel Rheilffordd Ucheldir Cymru pan gwblhawyd y cyswllt ‘coll’ rhwng Rhyd-Ddu a Phorthmadog. Yn ddiweddarach, ar ôl hanes ariannol a gwerithredol braidd yn gythryblus, caeodd y rheilffordd yn 1937 a chafodd ei sgrapio yn ystod yr Ail Ryfel Byd. Doedd hi ddim tan 2010, pan wireddwyd dyheadau cyfarwyddwyr ‘NWNGR’ o’r diwedd, ac agorwyd RhUC ‘newydd’ yr holl ffordd o Gaernarfon i Borthmadog.
Bydd y gystadleuaeth yn cael ei feirniadu gan ddau hanesydd nodedig, Dr Dafydd Gwyn a Gareth Haulfryn Williams a chyhoeddir y canlyniad ym Mehefin 2023, union 100 mlynedd ar ôl agoriad RhUC yn 1923 a bydd gwobr ariannol o £500 yn cael ei ddyfarnu.
Mae Dr Gwyn yn archeolegydd, hanesydd ac ymgynghorydd a aned ym Mangor ac mae ganddo ddiddordeb hirsefydlog yn y cyfnod Diwydiannol a Modern. Cynghorodd Cyngor Gwynedd ar eu cais llwyddiannus am statws Treftadaeth y Byd UNESCO ar gyfer Tirwedd Llechi Gogledd Orllewin Cymru ac mae’n ymddiriedolwr Cwmni Rheilffordd Festiniog ac yn gadeirydd Rheilffordd Llyn Tegid. Yn Gymro Cymraeg, mae Dr Gwyn wedi graddio o Brifysgolion Caergrawnt a Choleg y Drindod, Dulyn ac yn byw yng Ngogledd Cymru. Mae’n awdur nifer o astudiaethau mewn archaeoleg o’r cyfnod diwydiannol ac yn 2015 cyhoeddwyd ei astudiaeth fawr o ddiwydiant llechi Cymru gan Gomisiwn Brenhinol Henebion Cymru.
Ganed Gareth Haulfryn Williams yn Llandudno a graddiodd yng Ngholeg Prifysgol Bangor gyda gradd mewn Saesneg, Diploma mewn Gweinyddu Archifau a Meistr ymchwil yn Hanes Cymru. Yn gyn-athro Saesneg, ar y pryd yn Archifydd Sir Meirionnydd, ac wedi hynny â gofal am archifau Caernarfon, ymddeolodd fel Pennaeth Diwylliant Cyngor Gwynedd yn 2003, cyn treulio deng mlynedd fel cyfieithydd, ymgynghorydd treftadaeth a mentor ar gyfer grantion ‘HLF’. Mae wedi bod yn ymddiriedolwr Ymddiriedolaeth Rheilffyrdd Ffestiniog ac Eryri, yn gynghorydd curadurol i ‘FRC’ ac yn Gadeirydd Cwmni Treftadaeth Rheilffordd Ffestiniog. Y mae yn bresenol yn Anrh. Archifydd Cymdeithas Rheilffordd Eryri. Mae wedi cyhoeddi a darlledu ar wahanol agweddau o drafnidiaeth a hanes cymdeithasol ac yn Gymro Cymraeg sy’n byw yn Llanwnda.
Dywedodd Nick Booker, cadeirydd Grŵp Treftadaeth Rheilffordd Ucheldir Cymru “Ar ran pwyllgor dathliadau Canmlwyddiant y rheilffordd, rwy’n hynod falch bod Mortons Media Group yn cefnogi ein Cystadleuaeth Ymchwil. Gobeithiwn y bydd y cyflwyniadau i’r gystadleuaeth yn taflu goleuni pellach ar hanes cymhleth y rheilffordd, yr ardal yr oedd yn eu wasanaethu a’r llu o unigolion a fu’n ymwneud â’i chynllunio, adeiladu a gweithredu ac wrth gwrs ei dymchwel a’i haileni yn y pen draw. Dros y blynyddoedd mae The Railway Magazine a Heritage Railway wedi chwarae rhan bwysig wrth adrodd ar hanes Ucheldir Cymru a’i rhagflaenwyr. Edrychwn ymlaen iddynt barhau i wneud hynny ac adrodd ar enillydd teilwng ein cystadleuaeth yn 1923.”
Mae rhagor o fanylion am reolau’r gystadleuaeth ac ati ar gael gan Nick Booker
nick.booker@welshhighlandheritage.co.uk
AMSERLEN
- Cyhoeddwyd yn y cyfryngau Mawrth 2022 ymlaen
- Cofrestru diddordeb i gyflwyno cais – Mawrth 2022 ymlaen
- Dyddiad cau ar gyfer cyflwyno cofnod wedi’i gwblhau yn electronig – 28 Chwefror 2023
- Cyhoeddi’r enillydd a gwobr – Mehefin 2023
CRYNODEB O’R RHEOLAU ‘ETC’
Cwmpas a chymhwysedd
Erthygl ymchwil wreiddiol ar hanes y ‘WHR’, ‘NWNGR’, ei weithgareddau cysylltiedig, cwsmeriaid a phersonoliaethau e.e. busnesau, cyfarwyddwyr, gweithwyr ac ati.
Ni ddylai cyflwyniadau fod wedi’u cyhoeddi yn unman arall, neu eu cynnig i’w cyhoeddi eisoes.
At ddibenion y gystadleuaeth hon, ‘cymerir bod y cyfnod cymwys yn golygu’r cyfnod o 1840 hyd heddiw’.
Dylai ceisiadau am wobrau gael eu hysgrifennu yn Saesneg a/neu Gymraeg a dylent fod ar ffurf traethawd yn seiliedig ar ymchwil wreiddiol. Ni fydd hyd y traethawd yn fwy na 10,000 o eiriau. Ni fydd traethodau sy’n fyrrach na 3,500 o eiriau yn cael eu hystyried. Ni ddylid cynnwys Llyfryddiaeth (y mae ei darparu yn orfodol) a chyfeiriadau yn y cyfrif geiriau, ac ni ddylid ychwaith gynnwys testun sy’n gysylltiedig â nodweddion megis mapiau, diagramau a thablau.
Asesiad
Bydd y beirniaid yn gwneud eu penderfyniad ar sail y canlynol:
- Sgil a rheolaeth wrth ddefnyddio ffynonellau a meistrolaeth o dystiolaeth
- Eglurder ac ansawdd yr ysgrifennu
- Cyfrannu at wybodaeth a dealltwriaeth o agwedd ar hanes Rheilffordd Ucheldir Cymru a’i rhagflaenwyr
- Gwreiddioldeb y dull gweithredu
Cyhoeddi
Bydd hawlfraint y cais buddugol yn aros gyda noddwyr y gystadleuaeth a gellir cyhoeddi unrhyw weithiau addas.