A5

Rhan 1: Y Waun i Fetws y Coed

Y tro yma, dim teithio o'r gogledd i'r de fyddwn ni fel ar yr A470. Na, ffordd sy'n croesi Gogledd Cymru o'r dwyrain i'r gorllewin ydy'r A5. Roedd hon yn ffordd bwysig a phrysur iawn ar un adeg - hon oedd y ffordd oedd yn cario pobol a'r post ar y goets fawr o Lundain (London) i Gaergybi (Holyhead).

Mae'r A5 yn croesi'r ffin o Loegr i Gymru ym mhentre'r Waun (Chirk). Yma mae castell 700 oed - un o gestyll Edward I. Mae'r castell wedi bod yn gartref i'r teulu Myddleton er 1595 pan brynodd Thomas Myddleton y lle. Yn 1614 roedd Thomas Myddleton yn Arglwydd Faer Llundain ac yn 1630 talodd am gyhoeddi'r Beibl Bach Cymraeg.

O'r Waun, gallwch chi deithio i'r gorllewin ac i fyny dyffryn hardd Afon Ceiriog ar y B4500. Dyma lle cafodd y bardd John Ceiriog Hughes ei eni yn 1832. Mae olion chwareli a hen dramffordd yn y dyffryn.

Ond mae'r A5 yn troi i'r gogledd nes cyrraedd Afon Dyfrdwy (Dee), yna mae'n troi tua'r gorllewin ac yn teithio i fyny'r dyffryn i Froncysyllte. Dyma'r lle i weld Pontcysyllte - pont ddwr enwog Thomas Telford, sy'n cario camlas Llangollen ar draws y dyffryn.

Cyn hir mae'r ffordd yn dod â ni i dref Llangollen - cartref yr Eisteddfod Ryngwladol. Roedd hon yn dref ddiwydiannol yn y 19eg ganrif ond, heddiw, twristiaeth sy'n dod â phobol yma. Maen nhw'n dod i weld lleoedd fel Castell Dinas Brân, Plas Newydd, Abaty Glyn y Groes a Bwlch yr Oernant (Horseshoe Pass), i deithio ar y gamlas a'r trên stêm, ac i fwynhau bwyd a diod y tai bwyta da sydd yn yr ardal.

Ymlaen i fyny'r dyffryn; i'r gogledd mae bryniau gwyrdd ac i'r de mae mynyddoedd Berwyn. Dyn ni'n dod nawr i bentref Glyndyfrdwy, y pentref roddodd ei enw i un o bobol enwocaf Cymru - Owain Glyndwr. Yn yr ardal yma dechreuodd ei wrthryfel yn erbyn y Saeson yn 1400.

Mae'r A5 yn symud ymlaen eto i hen dref Corwen. Uwchben y dref mae Caer Drewyn - caer o'r Oes Haearn. Mae gan Eglwys Sant Mael a Sant Sulien gysylltiad ag Abaty Glyn y Groes yn Llangollen. Yma yng Nghorwen, yn 1789, yng Ngwesty Owain Glyndwr, roedd yr eisteddfod fodern gyntaf. Am ganrifoedd mae'r lle wedi bod yn dref farchnad bwysig. Heddiw, mae'n ganolfan dda i ymwelwyr i Ddyffryn Dyfrdwy a'r mynyddoedd o amgylch ac yn y dref mae amrywiaeth o gyfleusterau hamdden.

O Gorwen, dych chi'n gallu teithio ar y B4401 i'r de-orllewin ar hyd lan Afon Dyfrdwy, drwy bentref Cynwyd ac ymlaen i'r Bala a Llyn Tegid. Neu gallwch chi deithio i'r gogledd ac i lawr Dyffryn Clwyd ar yr A494 i Ruthun. Ond mae'r A5 yn mynd â ni ymlaen ar hyd glan Afon Alwen at bentref Cerrigydrudion. Gerllaw mae bryn o'r enw Pen-y-gaer; yma mae olion caer y Brenin Caradog, y brenin gafodd ei ddal gan y Rhufeiniaid a'i gymryd i Rufain (Rome). O'r pentref mae'r B5105 yn mynd drwy Fforest Clocaenog a dros y mynddd i Ruthun ac mae'r B4501 yn dringo i fyny at Lyn Brenig yng nghanol Mynydd Hiraethog.

Ymlaen o Gerrigydrudion ac mae'r A5 yn teithio ar draws gweundir nes cyrraedd Pentrefoelas. Yn y pentref mae hen felin ddwr a Maen Llywelyn, sy'n cofio Llywelyn ap Seisyll gafodd ei ladd yma yn 1023.

O Bentrefoelas, mae'r A5 yn troi ac yn troelli i lawr Dyffryn Conwy tua Betws y Coed. Tua milltir o Bentrefoelas dyn ni'n cwrdd ag un o afonydd enwocaf Cymru - Conwy. Yma, mae'r B4407 yn rhedeg i fyny dyffryn Conwy i Lyn Conwy ac ymlaen dros y Migneint i Ffestiniog; ar y ffordd, mae'n mynd drwy Ysbyty Ifan. Yn yr Oesoedd Canol, roedd hwn yn ysbyty i Farchogion Sant Ioan (Ifan), sef y Knights Hospitallers of St John. Yn ddiweddarach, daeth yn gartref i ladron! Yn y 16eg ganrif roedd Elis Prys Plas Iolyn - Y Doctor Coch - yn byw yma, ac roedd ei fab, Tomos Prys yn fardd ac yn fôr-leidr enwog!

Tua dwy filltir o Fetws y Coed mae Afon Conwy yn cwrdd ag Afon Machno ac mae'r B4406 yn rhedeg i fyny'r dyffryn yma i bentref Penmachno. Roedd chwareli yn yr ardal yma ond heddiw mae popeth yn dawel. Yn yr eglwys mae meini Cristnogol arysgrifedig o'r 6ed ganrif a chofeb i'r Esgob William Morgan - y dyn wnaeth gyfieithu y Beibl i'r Gymraeg. Mae ei gartref, Ty Mawr, gerllaw'r pentref.

Cyn i ni gyrraedd Betws y Coed mae Afon Conwy yn cwrdd ag Afon Lledr ac mae'r A470 o'r de yn croesi'r A5 ac yn mynd tua'r gogledd i lawr Dyffryn Conwy am dref Conwy a'r môr. Mae'r A5 yn croesi Afon Conwy ar Bont Waterloo a dyma ni o'r diwedd wedi cyrraedd ardal hyfryd Betws y Coed.

Y tro nesaf: Betws y Coed i Gaergybi

Help

y goets fawr - stage coach
ffin - border
cyhoeddi - to publish
dyffryn - valley
bardd - poet
olion - remains
chwareli - quarries
pont ddwr - aqueduct
camlas - canal
enwocaf - most famous
gwrthryfel - revolt
caer - fort
Oes Haearn - Iron Age
canrifoedd - centuries
cysylltiad - link/connection
amrywiaeth - variety
cyfleusterau - amenities
gafodd ei ddal - who was captured
gweundir - moorland
maen - stone (pillar)
lladron - thieves
môr-leidr - pirate
meini arysgrifedig - inscribed stones
cofeb - memorial
cyfieithu - to translate
gerllaw - near(by)

Cyfieithiad / Translation

This time, we won't be travelling north to south as on the A470. No, the A5 is a road that crosses North Wales from east to west. This was once a very important and busy road - this was the road which carried people and the mail by stagecoach from London to Holyhead.

The A5 crosses the border from England into Wales in the village of Chirk. There's a 700 year old casstle her - one of Edward I's castles. The castle has been a home for the Myddleton family since 1595 when Thomas Myddleton bought the place. In 1614 Thomas Myddleton was Lord Mayor of London and in 1630 he paid for publishing Y Beibl Bach Cymraeg - The Little Welsh Bible.

From Chirk you can travel westward up the beautiful valley of the River Ceiriog on the B4500. This is where the poet John Ceiriog Hughes was born in 1832. There are remains of old quarries and a tramway in the valley.

But the A5 turns northward until it reaches the River Dee, then it turns westward and travels up the valley to Froncysyllte. This is the place to see Pontcysyllte - Thomas Telford's famous aqueduct, which carries the Llangollen Canal across the valley.

Before long the road brings us to the town of Llangollen - the home of the International Eisteddfod. This was an industrial town in the 19th century but, today, it's tourism that brings people here. They come to see places such as Castell Dinas Brân, Plas Newydd, the abbey of Glyn y Groes (Valle Crucis) and Bwlch yr Oernant - The Horseshoe Pass; they also come to travel on the canal and the steam railway and to enjoy the food and drink in the many good restaurants that are in the area.

Onwards up the valley; to the north are green hills and to the south the Berwyn mountains. We now come to the village of Glyndyfrdwy, the village which gave its name to one of Wales' most famous people - Owain Glyndwr. His revolt against the King of England began in this area in 1400.

The A5 moves on again to the old town of Corwen. Above the town lies Caer Drewyn - a hill fort from the Iron Age. The Church of St Mael and St Sulien has a link with the abbey at Valle Crucis in Llangollen. It was here in Corwen in 1789, at the Owain Glyndwr Hotel, that the first modern eisteddfod was held. The place has been an important market town for centuries. Today, it's a good centre for those visiting the Dee Valley and its mountains; the town itself has various leisure amenities.

From Corwen you can travel on the B4401 to the south-west along the banks of the Dee, through the village of Cynwyd and on to Bala and Llyn Tegid. Or you can travel northward and down the Clwyd valley on the A494 to Rhuthun. But the A5 takes us on along the banks of the River Alwen to the village of Cerrigydrudion. Nearby is a hill called Pen-y-gaer; here are the remains of the hillfort of King Caradog (Caractacus), the British king who was captured by the Romans and taken to Rome. From the village, the B5105 goes through Clocaenog Forest and over the mountain to Rhuthun, while the B4501 climbs up to Llyn Brenig lake in the moorlands of Mynydd Hiraethog.

Onwards from Cerrigydrudion and the A5 travels across moorland until it reaches Pentrefoelas. In this small village there's an old water mill and the stone pillar called Maen Llywelyn, which commemorates Llywelyn ap Seisyll who was killed here in 1023.

From Pentrefoelas the A5 twists and turns down the Conwy valley towards Betws y Coed. About a mile from Pentrefoelas we meet one of Wales' most famous rivers - Conwy. Here, the B4407 runs up the Conwy valley to Llyn Conwy and on over Migneint to Ffestiniog; en route it passes through Ysbyty Ifan. In the Middle Ages, this was a hospital for the Knights Hospitallers of St John (Ioan or Ifan). Later, it became a thieves hideaway! In the 16th century Elis Prys Plas Iolyn - The Red Doctor - lived here and his son, Tomos Prys, was a poet and famous pirate!

About two miles from Betws y Coed the river Conwy meets the river Machno and the B4406 runs up the Machno valley to the village of Penmachno. There were quarries here once but, today, all is quiet. In the local church there are inscribed Christian stones from the 6th century and a memorial to Bishop William Morgan - the man who translated the Bible into Welsh (in 1588). His home, Ty Mawr, lies nearby.

Before we reach Betws y Coed, the river Conwy meets the river Lledr and the A470 from the south crosses the A5 on its way north along the Conwy valley towards the town of Conwy and the sea. The A5 crosses the Conwy river on Waterloo Bridge and, at last, we arrive in Betws y Coed - but more about this lovely area next time.