SOAR-Y-MYNYDD

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CASGLIAD CELF CYN-ARLYWYDD AMERICA I GYNNWYS ICON CYMREIG
Soar-y-Mynydd yn croesi’r Iwerydd
Mae cyn-Arlywydd Unol Daleithau America Jimmy Carter ar fin rhoi naws Gymreig i’w gasgliad celf drwy ychwanegu darlun o
 Soar-y-Mynydd, addoldy mwyaf diarffordd Cymru.
Mae’r darlun o waith yr arlunydd o Geredigion Wynne Melville Jones ac mae’r fersiwn wreiddiol o’r llun yn cael ei
arddangos yn Nhregaron ar hyn o bryd.
Yn 1986 bu Mr Carter a’i deulu ar wyliau pysgota yng nghanolbarth Cymru ac yn ystod yr ymweliad cafodd ei dywys i Soar y
–Mynydd ar fynyd-ddir Elenydd uwchlaw Tregaron. Cafodd ei ddyfynnu wrth iddo ddod i olwg y capel nad oedd “...wedi gweld dim byd tebyg yn ei fywyd” ac fe gyfeiriodd at yr ardal fel y ‘green desert’.
Gwnaeth presenoldeb y Cyn-Arlywydd greu argraff fawr ar bobol Ceredigion yn yr 80au ac hyd ydydd heddiw mae’r ymweliad yn destun sgwrs yn yr ardal. 
Mae’r llun yn cael ei gyflwyno i Mr Carter  fel anrheg i gofio am yr achlysur ac i gydnabod cyfraniad yr ymweliad o safbwynt hyrwyddo’r ymwybyddiaeth am ardal Tregaron ac arbennig Soar-y-Mynydd a hynny ar y llwyfan rhyngwladol.

“Mae e wedi rhoi’r cornel hwn o Gymru ar y map, wedi codi proffil y lle a dyw pobol Tregaron ddim wedi anghofio hynny” medd
Wynne Melville Jones.
Mae yntau’n cofio’n glir am ei dad Y Parch J Melville Jones, gweinidog gyda’r Presbyteriaid yn Nhregaron yn mynd yn gyson i
bregethu i Soar a byddai’n gorfod mynd yno ar gefn poni, yr unig fodd o gyrraedd y capel bach hyd ganol y ganrif ddiwethaf.
“Mae Soar-y-Mynydd yn bwysig fel icon Cymreig ac mae’n symbol o’n treftadaeth anghydffurfiol ardiwylliant Cymreig
“Mae’r darlun gwreiddiol yn mesur 80x60cm ac newydd ddychwelyd o gael ei arddangos yn Llundain.
“Nawr, mae’r llun nol yn Nhregaron yn rhan o arddangosfa gelf yn Oriel Rhiannon hyd 31 Gorffennaf.
“Mae’r print yn un o atgynhyrchiad cyfyngedig o dim ond 50 copi a Mr Carter fydd perchennog Rhif 1”, medd Wynne.
Gwnaed y rhodd yn bosibl drwy frwdfrydedd achefnogaeth person â chysylltiad â Thregaron.


Mae Wynne Melville Jones yn gyn fyfyriwr Celf ac mae e wedi dychwelyd at y brwsh paent wedi bwlch o 40 mlynedd. Mae ganddo ar hyn o bryd arddangosfeydd o’i luniau yn Nhregaron ac yn  Abergwaun. Mae e hefyd yn arddangos cyfres o 12 o
luniau fesul mis yng Nghanolfan Cymry Llundain yn Grays Inn Road yng nghanol Llundain ac mae’n rhedeg oriel ar-lein www.orielwynmel.co.uk. Mae’n enw cyfarwydd ym myd cyfathrebu yng
Nghymru ac yn Llywydd Anrhydeddus yr Urdd, mudiad sy’n agos at ei galon. Ef yw tad Mistar Urdd,  a grewyd ganddo
yn y 70au wedi i arwysgiad y Tywysog Charles yn Dywysog Cymru yn 1969 rwygo a chraethu’r mudiad.

Saif Capel Soar-y-Mynydd mewn cwm unig ar fynyddoedd Elenydd tua 10 milltir i’r dwyrain o Dregaron. Codwyd yr adeilad
gwyngalchog yn ail hanner y bedwaredd ganrif ar bymtheg ar gyfer gwasanaethu ‘cymdeithas y mynydd’, cymuned o ffermydd defaid. Mae’r safle yn cynnwys capel yn  eistedd tua 100 o bobl, ysgol dyddiol, mynwent a stablau. Dros y blynyddoedd dyma’r unig adeilad cymunedol mewn ardal eang. Yn sgil newid mewn ffermio a defnydd tir mae’r hen gymuned
bellach wedi darfod ond mae’r capel yn dal i gynnal gwasanaethau bob Sul. Adeiladwyd ffordd darmac sy’n arwain i’r lle a daeth hynny a bywyd newydd i’r capel bach. Nawr,  mae addolwyr yn heidio yno i’r gwasanaethau ar y Sul 
o bob rhan o Gymru a thu hwnt i addoli yn nhangnefedd y bryniau a hynny yn “iaith y nefoedd” ac yn ôl y son mae llawer yn teimlo yn agosach at Dduw  pan yn dyrchafu eu llygaid tua'r mynyddoedd.


FORMER US PRESIDENT CARTER ADDS A TASTE OF WALES TO HIS ART COLLECTION
Welsh icon crosses the Atlantic

The 39th President of the United States of America Jimmy Carter is about to add a taste of Wales to his
art collection with a picture of the most isolated place of worship in the country.
The picture of the lonely Welsh Presbyterian chapel of Soar-y-Mynydd near Tregaron has been painted by Ceredigion artist Wynne Melville Jones
In 1986 Mr Carter and his family were on a fishing holiday in mid Wales and during his stay he visited Soar-y-Mynydd in the Cambrian Mountains above Tregaron and was quoted at the time, on seeing thelittle chapel, that he had never seen anything like it in all his life an described the place as the Green Desert.
The visit left a lasting impression on the people of Tregaron and even today,  Former US President’s holiday in mid
Wales continues to be a talking point locally. 
The picture has been sent to Mr Carter as a momento and  in appreciation of the value of the visit to the international awareness and the profile of the Tregaron area and especially Soar-y-Mynydd.
“He helped put this corner of Wales on the map and the people of Tregaron have long memories”, said Wynne Melville Jones
who was born and bred in the Mid Wales market town.
He remembers his father the Rev J Melville Jones, the  local Presbyterian Minister in Tregaron, preaching regularly at Soar-y-Mynydd and how he had  to travel there on horseback as the only means of transport  to the chapel until the middle of the last century.
“Soar-y-Mynydd is an important Welsh icon and I hope the picture will always bring back happy memories to Mr Carter of his
visit to Wales and of the friends he made during the trip
“The original oil painting measures 80x60cm,  was exhibited in London earlier this year and is now appropriately on display in Tregaron at the Rhiannon Gallery until 31 July.
“ The print is a limited edition of only 50 copies and Mr Carter will receive No1”.
The gift has been made possible by the enthusiastic support of an individual with connections with Tregaron.

Wynne Melville Jones, a former art  student,  has returned to painting after a 40 year gap and currently has exhibitions at Tregaron and Fishguard. He is also showing twelve paintings on a monthly basis at the London Welsh Centre in Grays Inn Road in central London during 2013.  Healso runs his own on-line gallery www.orielwynmel.co.uk A familiar figure in the world of communications and public affairs in Wales he is also Honorary President of the Urdd youth organisation and designed the organisation’s ever popular mascot Mr Urdd in the 1970’s after the investiture of Prince Charles as Prince of Wales  1969 had left the organisation divided and heavily bruised.
Soar-y-Mynydd is located about 10 miles east of Tregaron in a lonely valley in the uplands of Elenydd or the Cambrian
Mountains. The whitewashed stone building was erected in the second half of the nineteenth century to serve the then vibrant hill farming community in the area and the building houses the chapel seating about 100 people, a day school,
graveyard and stables. Over the years it has been only community building for many miles around. As a result of changes in land use and agriculture the community of the hills has all but disappeared but the little chapel remains open every Sunday during the summer months. The  tarmac road now leading to the chapel and has brought new life to the building with worshipers travelling from considerable distances from Wales and other parts to worship through the medium
of the Welsh language,  “the language of heaven”. It is said that many people feel closer to God in the tranquil atmosphere of the hills.