Every time I walk on the sands towards the cockle traeth I come across a lump of coal and it makes me wonder where it has come from. Many a time I heard my grandmother naming some of the ships that had been wrecked when crossing the Bar, some I am sure with coal.
With the high tides churning the sands up, and the Glaslyn and Dwyryd in heavy floods during the winter, that has caused the Dwyryd to change its course from the Ynys side to the Penrhyn side a few times this century. There could be a little history to the lump of coal.
It would have been nice to see the old slate boats coming down the Dwyryd. It must have been a hard work to row them boats. The men were called Philistines, as they were big strong men. Most of the men were from the Parish of Llandecwyn and Llanfihangel. When the Ffestiniog Railway started running it took the slates to Porthmadog and that was the end of the slate boats.
It would be interesing to know where the ford was to cross the river Dwyryd before the bridge was built as there was no road leading to where the bridge is now. I think they used to cross the traeth opposite Borth Las as the road finishes there and it must be the only road that came down from the main road at Llandecwyn as there was no roads in the bottom then. The farmers would take their animals across the Traeth Bach and then they would make their way across the Traeth Mawr. The council still maintains the road to Borth Las but the gates are locked now oposite Borth Las where the old ford was. I have been told that the bridge is called `Pont y Briw Fad' not Briwet. In 1809 they had the Royal Assent to build a road from Barmouth to the Traeth Mawr and also to build a bridge across the Traeth Bach but the Ralway did not come until 1867.