Ymweliad â Maerdy

Ymweliad â Maerdy ~ A visit to Maerdy


“The Tibetan term for pilgrimage is ne'khor (nNas sKor) which means to go around, to make a circular journey as this emulates the direction that the sun appears to take from the earth. It is said that places of power should be approached in a somewhat indirect and oblique manner, in a different way from how a tourist would visit. It is not the pilgrim's purpose to tick off a list of places, or to collect these sites as badges of holiness – but to visit simply with a sense of openness to behold what is there. The greater the space of one's approach to a place of power, then the more it makes itself available to the sense organs of perception.”
― Ngak'chang Rinpoche

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Rydw i wedi cael yr enw 'Maerdy' yn fy meddwl ers blynyddoedd. Roedd fy mam arfer dweud "Rydyn ni'n gallu dal y bws Maerdy" pan roedden ni'n mynd i'r pentref. (Roedd y gwasanaeth yn rhedeg gan ‘Western Welsh’, rydw i’n cofio.) Roedd y pentref dim ond pum munud i ffwrdd, o'n ble oedd 'Maerdy' doedd dim syniad gyda fi. Roeddwn i'n meddwl ei fod e ddim ond rownd y gornel. Roeddwn i'n ifanc iawn ar y pryd.


[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Welsh]


Roedd yr enw ‘Maerdy’ yn codi eto pan roeddwn i dal y bws i Ffynnon Taf i ymweld â’r awdiolegydd.  Roedd y bws i Ffynnon Taf y bws i Faerdy hefyd. Nawr mae'r gwasanaeth yn rhedeg gan ‘Stagecoach’  tua bob 15 munud rhwng 6 y bore a 10 y nos.  Felly roedd syniad gyda fi ‘Beth am ymweld â Maerdy?’ Ar ôl chwe deg pum mlynedd o glywed amdano roedd amser fy mod i ymweld â’r lle. Un o’r manteision bod wedi ymddeol - y cyfle i wneud rhywbeth ecsentrig, a chyflawni ffansi pasio. A hefyd am ddim, diolch i fy mhas bws hen berson.


[https://www.stagecoachbus.com/about/south-wales]


Mae’r daith o Gaerdydd i Faerdy yn hir, o'n safle bws agosaf mae'n cymryd awr a hanner. Mae’n pasio trwy Eglwys Newydd, Coryton, Tongwynlais, Nantgarw, Trefforest Industrial Estate, Upper Boat, Rhydyfelin, Trefforest, Pontypridd, Hopkinstown, Trehafod, Porth, Ynyshir, Pont-y-gwaith, Wattstown, Ferndale, ac, yn olaf, mae’n cyrraedd ym Maerdy.


Roedd ddiddorol i basio trwy lawer o drefi bach lleoedd na fues i erioed o'r blaen. Ond wrth gwrs roedd pob lle adre i rywun. Dim ots pa mor hir roeddwn i o fy nghartref roeddwn i er cartref rhywun arall.


Mae'n yr un peth gyda thaith unrhywle. Hyd yn oed pan rydyn ni'n mynd i India, Nepal, neu Bhutan. Mae'n taith hir i ni i rywle 'newydd' a 'rhyfedd' ond mae'n ddim ond 'adre' i'r bobl sy'n byw yno eisoes.


[https://bustimes.org/services/132-maerdy-cardiff-2#map]


Roedd y daith yn hynod ddiddorol.  Unwaith heibio Pontypridd roeddwn i yn fy 'tiriogaeth heb ei siartio', roeddwn i erioed wedi bod yna o'r blaen. Sawl gwaith roeddwn i eisiau dod oddi ar y bws ac archwilio. Ond dych ch ddim yn gwneud hynny pan teithio ar y bws, nid os ydych am gyrraedd eich cyrchfa… ond amser arall efallai.


Roedd y daith yn atgoffa i mi o’r bws dros nos o Delhi i Pathankot pan roeddwn i’n mynd i Dharamsala yng ngogledd India. (Ond mae hynny yn cymryd mwy na deg awr). Roedd e’n teimlo fy mod i’n mynd rhywle arbennig. Eto, dydy hi ddim yn arbennig i’r bobol sy’n byw yno. Dim ond 'cartref' oedd o.


Felly dyna fi, ar ddiwedd fy nhaith. Des i oddi ar y bws un arhosfan yn rhy gynnar, dwi'n meddwl. Cerddais i drwy dipyn bach o’r dre ac yn ffeindio’r derfynfa. Tu hwnt i'r derfynfa nid oedd tai, dim ond gwaith prosesu dŵr a ffatri rwber (a ddisodlodd y lofa). Ac yna'r cefn gwlad a'r mynyddoedd.


https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-east-wales-35063091


Roedd hi’n dda iawn i fod yna. A dweud y gwir doeddwn i ddim yn gwybod beth i'w ddisgwyl. Doeddwn i wybod dim byd ac eithrio’r enw ‘Maerdy’ a nawr yma roeddwn i.


Roeddwn i eisiau cerdded yn y cefn gwlad ond doedd dim llawer o amser gyda fi.  Cerddais i fwrdd o’r dre tuag at y bryniau.  Roedd golygfa dda iawn gyda fi dros yr afon, y dre, i’r bryniau ar ochr arall. Mae'n rhaid i fywyd fod yn wahanol pan fydd cefn gwlad mor arw o'r fath o amgylch eich tref, wahanol iawn i fyw mewn dinas.  Roeddwn i'n hapus hefyd i weld tyrbinau gwynt ar y bryniau. Unwaith roedd Maerdy yn cynhyrchu glo nawr mae'n cynhyrchu trydan.


Fe wnes i barhau â'm taith gerdded gylchol a dod o hyd i Gofeb Lofaol y Maerdy. Mae'n deyrnged i waith ac aberth y glowyr a'u teuluoedd., ac yn dangos olwyn fwynglawdd enfawr a cherflun o löwr a phlant. Roedd placiau esboniadol yno nad oedd gennyf amser i'w darllen - roedd yn rhaid i mi fynd ar y bws adref.


[https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/maerdy-mining-memorial-unveiled-8510336]


Felly dyna fy ymweliad i Faerdy. Rydw i’n  meddwl fy mod yn gwybod ychydig mwy nawr am gymunedau de Cymru, ond rydw i’n  siŵr bod llawer iawn mwy i’w ddysgu.


Des i adre yn meddwl ei fod yn dda iawn i wneud rhywbeth gwahanol, i brofi lle yn wahanol i'r lleoedd roeddwn eisoes roeddwn i'n gwybod, i sylweddoli faint doeddwn i ddim yn gwybod, ac yn bod yn barod i ddysgu mwy.


Mae hi wedi bod tipyn bach fel pererindod

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I've had the name 'Maerdy' in my mind for years. My mother used to say "We can catch the Maerdy bus" when we went to the village. (The service was run by 'Western Welsh', I remember.) The village was only five minutes away, I had no idea where 'Maerdy' was. I thought it was just around the corner. I was very young at the time.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Welsh]

The name 'Maerdy' came up again when I caught the bus to Taff’s Well to visit the audiologist. The bus to Taff’s Well was the bus to Maerdy too. Now the service is run by 'Stagecoach' approximately every 15 minutes between 6 in the morning and 10 at night. So I had an idea 'Why not visit Maerdy?' After sixty five years of hearing about it it was time for me to visit the place. One of the advantages of being retired - the opportunity to do something eccentric, and fulfill a passing fancy. And also free, thanks to my old person's bus pass.

[https://www.stagecoachbus.com/about/south-wales]

The journey from Cardiff to Maerdy is long, from our nearest bus stop it takes an hour and a half. It passes through Whitchurch, Coryton, Tongwynlais, Nantgarw, Treforest Industrial Estate, Upper Boat, Rhydyfelin, Treforest, Pontypridd, Hopkinstown, Trehafod, Porth, Ynyshir, Pont-y-gwaith, Wattstown, Ferndale, and, finally, it arrives in Maerdy. 

It was interesting to pass through many small towns, places I had never been before. But of course they were home for someone. No matter how far I was from my home I was near someone else's.

It's the same with a trip anywhere. Even when we go to India, Nepal, or Bhutan. It is a long journey for us to somewhere 'new' and 'strange' but it is just  'home' for the people who already live there.

[https://bustimes.org/services/132-maerdy-cardiff-2#map]

The trip was fascinating. Once past Pontypridd I was in my 'uncharted territory', I had never been there before. Several times I wanted to get off the bus and explore. But you don't do that when traveling by bus, not if you want to reach your destination... but maybe another time.

The trip reminded me of the overnight bus from Delhi to Pathankot when I was going to Dharamsala in northern India. (But that takes more than ten hours). It felt that I was going somewhere special. Again, it's not special for the people who live there. It was just 'home'.

So there I am, at the end of my journey. I got off the bus one stop too early, I think. I walked through a little bit of the town and found the terminal. Beyond the terminus there were no houses, just a water processing plant and a rubber factory (which replaced the colliery). And then the countryside and the mountains.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-east-wales-35063091

It was very good to be there. To be honest I didn't know what to expect. I knew nothing except the name 'Maerdy' and now here I was.

I wanted to walk in the countryside but I didn't have much time. I walked away from the town towards the hills. I had a very good view over the river, the town, to the hills on the other side. Life must be different when there is such rugged countryside around your town, very different to living in a city. I was also happy to see wind turbines on the hills. Once Maerdy produced coal now it produces electricity.

I continued my circular walk and found the Maerdy Mining Memorial. It is a tribute to the work and sacrifice of the miners and their families., and shows a huge mine wheel and a statue of a miner and children. There were explanatory plaques there that I didn't have time to read - I had to get the bus home.

[https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/maerdy-mining-memorial-unveiled-8510336]

So that was my visit to Maerdy. I think I know a little more now about the communities of south Wales, but I'm sure there is a great deal more to learn.

I came home thinking it was very good to do something different, to experience a place different from the places I already knew, to realise how much I didn't know, and to be ready to learn more.

It has been a bit like a pilgrimage

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Disgrifiad (Cymraeg): Cofeb mwyngloddio maerdy
Description (English): Maerdy mining memorial

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