It's the laugh that gets you. It might be the impressive moustache that you notice first, but it’s the laugh that will form your lasting impression of Wil Edwards. You just know that it’s heartfelt and sincere, and as soon as you hear it you feel you’re in the company of an old friend.
When you step over the threshold at Ty Mawr Wybrnant, you’re in Wil Edwards’s domain, and you can tell from the start that you are going to enjoy your visit.
He can reel off the history of the house no problem, but it’s the little extra snippets he throws in that stick in your mind. He also has a few surprises up his sleeve.
This is the birthplace of Bishop William Morgan - the first to translate the Bible into Welsh, and, as Wil reminds us, the man credited with saving the Welsh language from almost certain extinction.
The children were astounded when he told them there would have been no glass in the windows in William Morgan’s day, just shutters to keep out the howling winter. They thought he was pulling their legs when he said the animals might have shared part of the house with the family during the coldest months, and they were positively incredulous when he said children in those days would have been sewn into their clothes for the winter.
These are the little gems and surprises Wil throws into his spiel about the house and its history, with the trademark laugh thrown in here and there.
© National Trust
'I try to explain to children how Ty Mawr would have worked in Tudor times. What smells would have been here, how dark would it have been, how cold etcetera. It’s my attempt to bring the history of the place alive.'
Originally from Bala, Wil has lived in the Wybrnant valley for the past six years, and has been Custodian of Ty Mawr for the past three. During the winter months when Ty Mawr is not open to the public, he spends most of his time on other projects, usually involving ancient crafts like wattle and daubing or limewashing.
But it’s quite obvious that his first love is Ty Mawr, and he’s heavily involved in trying to make the experience as rewarding as possible for visitors, and an even more attractive destination for families as well as the usual cultural tourists who visit the place.
'We’re trying to make it more worthwhile for families to spend some time here, not just half-an-hour visiting the house. So we’ve started these activity packs, which include a quiz and lots of other things for children to do based on their visit to Ty Mawr. It’s something they can do in the garden, with a picnic maybe, after going round the house.'
The Ty Mawr Wybrnant Animal Magic Trail is another family activity that has become a firm favourite, if the number of families who organise a return visit is anything to go by.
'One thing we’ve got plenty of here is peace and quiet,' says Wil. 'What we’ve got is a wonderful place for children to enjoy themselves in a safe environment, and without it costing the earth.'
Wil explained he was also keen to get more locals to visit the famous house.
'The contribution this house made to the history of Wales and the Welsh language is immense. The language would probably be dying now if were not for him. It certainly wouldn’t be the same as the language now spoken here.'
'So much has happened in this part of Wales over the centuries, there is so much to learn about the place, and yet we never learn about the things that are on our own doorstep.'
Wil had one more surprise for me, before Ieft, when he declared that his name wasn’t Wil at all.
'It’s Gerwyn,' he said with another burst of that infectious laughter.
P.S. The story behind the nickname is another good reason for visiting Ty Mawr.
|
