Written by Rajan Madhok
Sometimes good things happen by chance. John Roberts was looking for one of the trustees to join the trip to Corwen Hydro Scheme, and feeling guilty at not being very active lately I had agreed, and what a wonderful decision that turned out to be – duty became a pleasure as Mike (Michael Paice, Chairman of the Corwen Electricity Cooperative) became our guide. He is one of the four founders, and they started the Cooperative to “generate electricity by turbine, reduce the carbon footprint of Corwen, and bring a little bit of our electricity infrastructure into local democratic ownership rather than owned by international corporations.”
It is a 55kW high head hydropower scheme, with 152m of head and a total of 720m of pipe running from the Corwen reservoir down to the edge of the town, and this can be seen in a very informative display at the Corwen Museum where we started the visit. After explaining the scheme, Mike took us across the road to see the turbine – which sadly was not running due to the recent dry weather (yes, hard to believe given the rain we have had!), but it was still worth seeing, and his explanation of its working almost brought it to life!
We then started up Coed Pen y Pigyn following the Drewyn giant trail – the giant who came to Corwen to look for his milkmaid sweetheart and because of holes in his pocket dropped various items like his spoon and comb which can be seen on the way. Also seen on the way was the gorsedd, with its stones, from when the Eisteddfod was held in town in 1919!. Just before the reservoir we saw the cairn with its flagpole which was built in 1868, to celebrate the marriage of the future Edward VII who married Princess Alexandra. In 1911, it was afforded restoration and a new plaque to mark the Investiture of the future Edward VIII as Prince of Wales in 1911. This site is also associated with Owain Glyndwr who seemingly threw a dagger down with such force that it has left a mark on the rock near the church in town. The views from the cairn are amazing.
After this very surprising and welcome diversion into history and folklore we arrived at the reservoir and saw how the water was split (there is another scheme from the reservoir, and the water is shared between the two) and then sent down through the pipe to the turbine; a wonderful feat of engineering. Mike and his team are working with Cadwyn Clwyd and have started another, bigger, scheme at Bonwm just outside Corwen. Our thanks to them for the schemes and for the visit.
All in all, a seemingly, rather technical visit about electricity generated by water turned out to be a lesson in history too, complemented by a refreshing walk up the hill, in nice and dry weather with good company. I made a mental note to return and see the Museum and the town properly – it’s a such an interesting place, and may be the Friends should arrange a history and architecture tour of Corwen!
For further information please see: https://howardwilliamsblog.wordpress.com/2024/02/23/a-royal-cairn-at-pen-y-pigyn/ ;
https://www.clwydianrangeanddeevalleyaonb.org.uk/projects/corwen-giant-trail/ ;
and http://corwenelectricity.org.uk/the-scheme/
Ymweliad â Hydro Corwen: cymysgedd cyfoethog o hanes a’r dyfodol
Weithiau gall pethau da ddigwydd ar hap. Roedd John Roberts yn chwilio am un o’r ymddiriedolwyr i ymuno â’r daith i Gynllun Hydro Corwen, a gan deimlo’n euog nad oeddwn wedi bod yn egnïol iawn yn ddiweddar roeddwn i wedi cytuno, ac am benderfyniad gwych fu hynny – daeth dyletswydd yn bleser wrth i Mike (Michael Paice, Cadeirydd Trydan Cydweithredol Corwen) ddod yn arweinydd i’n tywys. Ef yw un o’r pedwar sylfaenydd a dechreuwyd y fenter Gydweithredol i “greu trydan gyda thyrbin, lleihau ôl-troed carbon Corwen a dod ag ychydig o’n seilwaith trydan i feddiant democratiaeth leol yn hytrach na bod y corfforaethau mawr yn berchen arno.”
Mae’n gynllun pŵer dŵr pen uchel 55kW gyda phen 152m a phibell 720m yn rhedeg o gronfa Corwen i lawr i ymyl y dref a gellir gweld hyn mewn arddangosfa llawn gwybodaeth yn Amgueddfa Corwen lle dechreuodd yr ymweliad. Ar ôl egluro’r cynllun, fe aeth Mike â ni dros y ffordd i weld y tyrbin – nad oedd yn weithredol yn anffodus o ganlyniad i’r tywydd sych yn ddiweddar (mae hynny’n anodd credu o ystyried yr holl law rydym wedi ei gael!), ond roedd yn dal yn werth ei weld, ac roedd ei eglurhad o sut roedd yn gweithio bron â dod â’r tyrbin yn fyw!
Yna aethom i fyny Coed Pen y Pigyn gan ddilyn llwybr Drewyn y cawr – y cawr a ddaeth i Gorwen i chwilio am ei gariad a oedd yn forwyn laeth ac o ganlyniad i dyllau yn ei boced fe ollyngodd eitemau amrywiol fel ei lwy a’i grib y gellir eu gweld ar y ffordd. Hefyd gallwn weld cerrig yr orsedd ar y ffordd a osodwyd yma pan gynhaliwyd yr Eisteddfod yn y dref yn 1919! Yn union cyn y gronfa ddŵr fe welsom y garnedd gyda’i pholyn baner a godwyd yn 1868 i ddathlu priodas Edward VII a briododd y Dywysoges Alexandra. Yn 1911 cafodd ei adfer a gosodwyd plac newydd i nodi Arwisgiad Edward VIII fel Tywysog Cymru yn 1911. Mae’r safle hefyd yn cael ei gysylltu gydag Owain Glyndŵr a daflodd ddagr gyda chymaint o rym yn ôl y sôn nes y gadawodd farc ar y garreg ger yr eglwys yn y dref. Mae’r golygfeydd o’r garnedd yn anhygoel.
Wedi’r dargyfeiriad syfrdanol hwn i hanes a chwedl a groesawyd yn fawr fe gyrhaeddom y gronfa ddŵr a gweld sut roedd y dŵr wedi ei rannu (mae yna gynllun arall o’r gronfa ddŵr, a chaiff y dŵr ei rannu rhwng y ddau) ac yna ei anfon i lawr drwy’r bibell i’r tyrbin; camp beirianyddol ryfeddol. Mae Mike a’i dîm yn gweithio gyda Chadwyn Clwyd ac wedi dechrau cynllun arall, mwy yn Bonwm sydd y tu allan i Gorwen. Rydym yn diolch iddynt am y cynlluniau ac am yr ymweliad.
Fe drodd ymweliad a ymddangosai’n eithaf technegol am drydan yn cael ei greu gan ddŵr yn wers mewn hanes hefyd, ac i gyd-fynd â hynny taith gerdded hyfryd i fyny’r bryn mewn tywydd braf a sych gyda chwmni da. Fe nodais yr hoffwn ddychwelyd i weld yr Amgueddfa a’r dref yn iawn – mae’n lle mor ddiddorol ac efallai y dylai’r Cyfeillion drefnu taith hanesyddol a phensaernïol o amgylch Corwen!
Mae rhagor o wybodaeth yma: https://howardwilliamsblog.wordpress.com/2024/02/23/a-royal-cairn-at-pen-y-pigyn/ ;
https://www.clwydianrangeanddeevalleyaonb.org.uk/projects/corwen-giant-trail/?lang=cy ;
a http://corwenelectricity.org.uk/the-scheme/