Cyfyng Chapel School

A Memory of Penmachno.

In reply to Christine Conroy re. Cyfyng chapel/school, in the Wybrnant valley, Penmachno. Despite being a few yards on the Dolwyddelan side of Afon Wybrnant, the 'border' betwen Penmachno and Dolwyddelan parishes, Cyfyng school was opened in the chapel in 1900, for the benefit of children from the lower parts of Penmachno parish. It was one of SIX schools in this large parish just before the First World War, teaching a total of over 370 pupils. 25 pupils went through its doors on opening day in 1900, and a photo exists of that momentus gathering. At most, some 32 pupils attended Cyfyng school, during the 1920s. It closed down in 1958, with seven of the remaining eight pupils transferred to Penmachno primary school, and the other to Dolwyddelan, I believe. The remarkable thing is that the school was never connected to electricity, or mains water. Oil lamps and well water was the order of the day. What would health and safety officers say about that today! Cwm Penmachno primary school also closed, in 1964, due to the closure of the quarries and consequent depopulation. Penmachno remains the only school left in the parish, and hopefully, will remain open for many years to come. Nice to read memories, and names of some of the Cwm ex-pats, most of whom I knew well, and shared the old way of life in a thoroughly Welsh community. I only moved 'over the mountain' from Penmachno, to Blaenau Ffestiniog, in 1965, and hence have not forgotten my Welsh, thankfully. Have the rest, I wonder?

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