Poets' plaques rescued from skip

Cllr Richard Row owns the land where poet Walter Davies was born

Plaques commemorating three historic Welsh figures have arrived home in Powys after they were discovered in a skip in north Wales.

But it remains a mystery how or why the engraved pieces of slate were discarded in Bangor.

They remember 19th Century poets Robert Ellis and Walter Davies and minister John Hughes, all three were from Montgomeryshire.

The plaques will be placed at the birthplaces of the men.

Walter Davies, whose bardic name was Gwallter Mechain, was one of the founding fathers of provincial eisteddfods.

Born in Llanfechain, near Welshpool, he was vicar of nearby Manafon and later of Llanrhaeadr-ym-Mochnant from 1837 until his death in 1849.

We intend to place the plaque at the site in memory of the renowned local poet Cllr Richard Row

Robert Ellis, whose bardic name was Cynddelw, was a writer, a poet and a Baptist minister. Born in Penybont Fawr, near Llanfyllin, in 1812, he died in 1875.

John Hughes was a minister and mentor to Ann Griffiths, Wales' most famous female hymn writer.

He played a leading role in the first Methodist revival in Wales.

Nia Rhosier, custodian of Hen Gapel (the Memorial Chapel) John Hughes in Pontrobert, near Welshpool, said The Welsh Slate Museum in Llanberis contacted her about the plaques.

"Someone found the plaques in a skip in Bangor and the slate museum took possession of them, but then the curator contacted me," she said.

"The curator said the plaques should go back to the areas where these people were born."

Mrs Rhosier added: "It's a bit of a mystery why the plaques ended up in a skip in Bangor, but they are back where they belong now."

Local poet

Chairman of Llanfechain Community Council Richard Row, who also owns the land where Mr Davies was born, said: "The house where Walter Davies was born doesn't exist anymore - there's just a grassy mound.

"But we intend to place the plaque at the site in memory of the renowned local poet."

He added: "It is unclear how the plaque made its way into the skip, but it could be that it was commissioned and then after a few years thrown away."