After many days of moving sand and water.

Apparently there hasn't been so much coming and going down to the glastraeth between Talsarnau and Ynys Gifftan since that time when a whale was found that failed to return to the sea with the tide some time ago. Over this Sunday, October 24th 1986, like that time, a number of Talsarnau residents and others were seen walking down towards Ynys Gifftan and you could feel the intrigue and curiosity in the air - everyone asking and discussing what had appeared from the sand.

The subject and focus of all the attention was the old boat that was found in the sand between Gifftan Island and the Tidal Bar. It has probably been lying there without anyone knowing anything about it since that period when the age of the slate carrying boats came to an end around 1845.

It seems that the story started because of Mr Hefin Jones, Swn yr Wylan's interest in history and old things. Following his listening to a lecture by Merfyn Williams, Principal of Plas Tanybwlch relating to the history of the Dwyryd, this excited the desire to try to find traces or relics. Little did he imagine that he would have such success. Hefin went out one day in the summer for a walk down to the beach with his dog.

There he noticed pieces of trees with their heads standing above the water level in a pit in one of the ditches that lead to the river. He thought that these trees could be part of one of those boats that carried slate in the early period in the history of the slate quarries between about 1800 and 1845.

That started the whole thing. . . . . . . . After Hefin Jones contacted Merfyn Williams about what he thought was in the sand, he in turn contacted the Maritime Department at Bangor University, and with Owain Roberts, Amlwch who is an expert on all kinds of different types of boats and ships. Owain Roberts is a professor in Amlwch and because of his experience, expertise and knowledge in this field, he recently received an honorary degree from Bangor University. He was also responsible for leading the work of raising a slate boat found in Llyn Padarn a while back. Owain Roberts' interest in the boat was obvious from the start and when he pushed into the sand and saw more, he saw this boat as special and similar to those boats that were common on a a time sailing along the shores and estuaries of the Celtic countries.
There was no example of these boats available at this time. He thought the bow was interesting and because of the round shape it had, - unusual in that respect. Obviously, this boat had a mast that carried sails and its main purpose was probably to carry slates. When digging and emptying the middle of years of sand, interesting pieces come to light every now and then; a few pieces of wood with a special shape or pattern gave Owain Roberts more information, or pieces of slate which confirmed his earlier comments. And the weather was fair and the sun was warm, it was very nice to see so many turning towards the beach, either in terms of curiosity or to turn there with wellingtons and shovels to offer help. Maritime experts from Bangor and England also joined, some of the wardens of the Snowdonia National Park and members of Grp Hanes Lleol Blaenau Ffestiniog along with a number of local people from the area. There was also one who really enjoyed it all - Mr Tomi Gwilym Williams from Dalsarnau who has a special interest in local history and one who spent a lot of time down on the beach throughout his life setting lines and fishing.
The discovery was indeed a bonus for Tomi Gwilym. While chatting we find out from Tomi Gwilym Williams that his mother remembers that what is a blue beach today is sand, a lot of it and that some of his family were setting fishing lines not far from the tidal bank and caught a few catfish. That's how much has changed in a relatively short period of time. Tomi Gwilym Williams, although not at all in disagreement with Owain Roberts, had an interesting theory of his own about what he thought this boat could be.
Indeed there was a lot of theorising going on amongst the crew as they struggled to empty the water, mud and sand. This is Tomi Gwilym's theory. Around the same time when the slate transport boats traveled between Trwyngarnedd or Gelli Grin and Porthmadog, a boat was used locally as a 'ferry' between T Gwyn Canals, Yr Ynys and Porthmadog - carrying goods and people back and front One afternoon on August 7th 1862 and the ferry was returning from Porthmadog, a storm arose and eight lives were lost. Rees Jones was the man of the ferry at the time and he lost it in the disaster. He himself was lucky enough to be saved with another.
Where exactly did that boat sink I wonder? I wonder if there is more information available about this event? Another theory that was proposed was that which suggested that this was the Black Boat.
One of the many boats that used to carry slates down the Dwyryd was the Black Boat that ventured down the river into the teeth of a storm, against all weather warnings and forecasts. The two who were following her at the time were Thomas Jones Y Pant, and Griffith Rhisiart Gwaen Gwella, both from the Peninsula. Somewhere in the vicinity of Ynys Gifftan the load of slates shifted, the boat overturned and both lost their lives.
I wonder how close to Gifftan Island this happened? Is it possible that this boat is the Black Boat?

On the other hand, the old boat may have seen years of service regularly traveling the six miles each way between Hay Grin and Ynys Cyngar and when the line and the small train managed after a long struggle to give the boatmen out of work, that he was left at the end of his life to be gradually buried by the elements – who knows? Despite how much use was made of these small boats, and many of them are said to have been built on the banks of the Dwyryd, there is little information about them - and not a single example is available in a museum anywhere. It is therefore easy to understand that Owain Roberts and the crew are quite excited about the discovery.
Having found it, hopefully, after successfully getting it out of the sand, and after it has been treated and repaired, it will in time be displayed in a maritime museum in Porthmadog so that it will be available easy for us to see so we can go and show our children some of the history and our way of life in the past.
Slate Carrying Boats - A Few Facts It seems that the Diphys Quarry was one of the first quarries to open in Blaenau Ffestiniog, and during the first years, the slate used to be carried from the quarries down to Maentwrog on backs horses and in carts. The slates were then loaded onto small boats off the quays on the banks of the Dwyryd river in order to transport them I wonder why?
People of the time referred to the boatmen of Y Traeth Bach as "The Philistines" - I wonder why? This is how one described the work:
Rwy’n cofio’r badau ar eu hynt
A’u hwyliau gwynion yn y gwynt
Yn cario llechau hardd i lawr
Cyn bod y gledrffordd fel yn awr
Ac weithiau rhwyfo blin y gwaith
Er ceisio cyrraedd pen y daith.
Mor bybyr oedd y dynion iach
Er llwydd trafnidiaeth y Traeth Bach

Roughly translated:
I remember the boats on their way
And their white sails in the wind
Carrying down beautiful slates
Before the palm road was like now
And sometimes rowing tired of the work
Although trying to reach the destination.
How strong were the healthy men
For the success of Traeth Bach transport.

I wonder if this verse by Evan Dafydd, Y Morfa does not describe something of what is typical about the nature and tenacity of these extraordinary men. Here is a list of some of the names of the boats: Cwch Du, Cwch Gwyn, Cwchfon Twrch, Darn, Gagre, Hagnu, Hector, Magog, Neptune, Pelican, Star, Swallow, Twrog, Tyro, Y Garreg Wen, Y Werddon, Y Albion . As well as sailing along the Dwyryd, building boats and ships was also an important industry in the area. There is a record of a number of ships built between 1761 and 1821 - as many as 53 of them. The longest - the "Unity" measured 67 feet long and 21 feet wide while the smallest - the "Stag" was 29 feet long and 9 feet wide - very similar to the measurements of the boat from up to him on the beach.
The following places are noted as some of the places where ships were built: Abergafran; Ice Estuary; Archollwen (Llechollwyn?); Carreg Ro; Honesty; T Gwyn, The Island; Scyrnolwyn.
This period was a very interesting and busy period but with the arrival of the railway between Porthmadog and Blaenau Ffestiniog came the beginning of the end of the small boats. Although they competed enthusiastically and fought hard for their lives for many years their history was lost to more modern developments - the steam engine. Likely as a result of that, Blaenau quarries increased between 1831 1 1881 from 7 quarries to over 20, and by the end of the century around 4,000 people were employed in the slate industry. Little did Hefin Jones think when he went to listen to a lecture at Blas Tanybwlch (where the owners of some of the quarries once lived!) that it would lead to creating such interest and give all the satisfaction to other people by for them deep in the history of the slate industry. Strange world. . . . . . . When compiling these few comments in 1986, the only intention was to try to put something on paper that would be memorable and to remember the event of finding the old boat, and perhaps stimulate more interest.

Thanks to Hefin Jones for being alert enough to see and realize. I hope he goes to listen to lectures and to take his dog for a walk. . . . . .