I very often think of the Ynys, and I try to picture it in my mind, it must have been very busy around Ty Gwyn and Garreg Ro and of course Clogwyn Melyn, the Ferry Arms, as it was called then, and with all the ships built there it must have been an interesting place to be.
In 1860 a ferry sunk with the loss of eight people. In the thirties they wanted to put new sluice gates at Ty Gwyn but there was too much water on the Harlech side of the embankment. W T Williams, Llanfair cut through the embankment,opposite the lake, and put big pipes for the water to drain from the lake but the tide came through before they had finished it and they had to find something to fill the gap as it was widening with every tid. They put a little railway track on top of the embankment and that is where Ty Gwyn y Gamlas went, they used all the stones from the old house and also they had clay from the traeth. They worked all hours and the stones can be seen near the lake. The old house was by the river with a privy near the water.
As a child I remember going to different farms for my mother to get different things. I would go to Ty Mawr every Saturday for butter and if my mother only knew, I would kick the old basket as I went up along the road. I would go with Dei my brother to Draenogau Mawr for buttermilk and we lost a two shilling piece near Caerffynnon, that was a lot of money then and I still look for it when I go that way. The buttermilk tasted good with new potatoes from the garden.
We also went to Fucheswen for `maidd' after Mrs Evans had been making cheese and on the way home we would take the lid off the can and pick some cheese that was floating on the top. We also went to Trem y Wyddfa, it was known then as Snowdon View, and Jonathan Parry would give us plenty of plums and apples for my mother to make jam. She would make blackberry jam and wine and we would get some elderberries for her and she also made `diod dail'.
Nuts were plentiful then. I don't know if the grey squirrel is taking them now as there is not a lot about. In winter we would be very busy getting the firewood in. It was lovely to go to the farm, we would go to my Auntie Mary, who farmed at Hafod Talog in Penrhyn. She was my mothers sister and a very kind woman. As soon as we were in the house she would reach for the big home cured ham that was hanging on a big hook and with the homemade bread it was a real feast. The big oven was outside in one of the buildings and they made a big fire inside the oven and when they thought the oven was hot enough they would rake all the fire out and then put the bread in and a few cakes as well. After dinner we would help them to churn in the old fashion way. There was a place in the back where the horse did the churning. The horse went round in a circle fixed to a long pole which went round for an hour or two and this was connected to the dairy. It was nice to sit on the old horse as he was working.