SQ NO.4
Inspiration
for the arts
Snowdonia is a place which has inspired some of the nation’s most notable culture, folklore, art, literature and music; an influence which continues across all creative pursuits to the present day.
Across all the creative disciplines, questions of style and the aesthetics of landscape and content have been set against social and cultural implications, representing this awe inspiring area of rural Wales across eras of urbanisation, industrialisation and now digitalisation.
Ancient Welsh traditions of folk singing and poetry have remained strong in Eryri since the days when bards entertained at the Princes’ courts. Modern versions include events like the National Eisteddfod and locally organised festivals such as the Sesiwn Fawr in Dolgellau where Welsh and Celtic bands perform and share with a worldwide audience.
The views from our summits inspired numerous English Romantic poets of the 18th and 19th centuries, notably Shelley and Wordsworth. Of the many poets whose work reflects this powerful landscape, the best-known within Wales is Hedd Wyn, the shepherd-poet killed at Pilckem Ridge in 1917 on the first day of the Battle of Passchendaele, whilst serving with the Royal Welsh Fusiliers. He is commemorated in a film about his life, which received an Oscar-nomination in 1996 and his childhood home at Yr Ysgwrn near Trawsfynydd is also open to the public.
Equally, modern poets such as the Chief Bard, Myrddin ap Dafydd, have been influenced by Eryri’s impressive topography. In Myrddin’s words: “I wonder regularly in the Park, in all seasons and in all types of weather. Beauty and history interweave through the scenery and it is not under blue skies alone that Snowdonia’s marvels are to be discovered. Traces of human activity and society, scraping a living and survival are a huge part of the appeal for me.”
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FACTS
The NATIONAL Eisteddfod chair won posthumously by Hedd Wyn is known as ‘The Black Chair’.
- Hollywood movies have used the stunning settings within Snowdonia, including Clash of The Titans, Tomb Raider, King Arthur, TOMORROW NEVER DIES and many more.
- images of Snowdonia have been sent around the World for more than 100 years.
- ‘Millions of Images’ ...Digital photography has revolutionised the World. Snowdon is by far the most visited mountain in the UK (600,000 people per annum), and so the views are likely to be the most photographed and shared as well. When it comes to all Snowdonia’s landscapes, then we are talking tens of millions of photographs each year, mostly via smart phones. Each camera and amateur photographer, capturing a slightly different view, light and perspective.
- Kyffin Williams is ‘the man who painted in Welsh’ and whose paintings in recent years have sold for up to £50k!