Iaith Pesda

As with all Welsh speaking communities, Bethesda has a unique set of sayings and words that are commonly used by our community. We are lucky in Dyffryn Ogwen that a lot of work has been done by various people to capture and preserve these for posterity (please see the links at the end of the article for more information on resources available).

To celebrate some of these words and phrases, Partneriaeth Ogwen have collaborated with the Carneddau Landscape Partnership to bring them to our High Street. After preparing a list of Bethesda words and idioms with local expert Mary Jones, a group of students from Ysgol Penybryn set about designing slates featuring the words accompanied by designs inspired by the Dyffryn Ogwen slate carving tradition. Local craftsman Alun Davies (Amser Al) helped the group use the Canolfan Cefnfaes Maker Space laser cutter to bring their vision to life.

Several local businesses have kindly agreed to display the slates in their windows through the summer. The slates can now be seen in windows up and down the High Street. Follow the map below to find them all. The Ysgol Penybryn students also helped create some illustrations to show the meanings of the words. How many of these words do you recognise? Are there any you still use regularly?

Partneriaeth Ogwen would like to thank Mary Jones, Alun Davies, Ysgol Penybryn and all the local shops who have agreed to take part. We are also grateful to Partneriaeth Tirwedd y Carneddau for funding the project.

More Resources about Iaith Pesda:

For many more examples of the rich variety of words and phrases being used in Dyffryn Ogwen, take a look at Mary Jones’ monthly column in Llais Ogwan - previous issues available here: llaisogwan.com

Here is also a really interesting lecture given by J Elwyn Hughes in May 2022 as part of a Cyfaill Cymunedol afternoon coffee event available on YouTube.