Nel Fach y Bwcs
Penboyr School
Penboyr school has won a prize in the Welsh Heritage Initiative 2016 competition for creating their own website 'Croesi’r Tonnau Nel Fach y Bwcs', a website for children created by children. In it we hear the story of Ellen Davies, who was known as Nel Fach y Bwcs, who emigrated as a young child to Patagonia in 1875 with her parents, in search of a better life to a ‘colony where they could speak Welsh and preserved the Welsh culture and traditions’, according to Michael D. Jones.
Was it a better life?
We learn of the story of her hard life in Patagonia and the tragedy of losing her mother. In 1901, she and her father returned to Wales and came to live in Drefach Felindre, a stone's throw from the school. The website includes information pages, interviews and films with Nel’s family, films/ eBooks of visits to Liverpool and Ireland, three radio programmes, contact with Ysgol yr Hendre in Patagonia, quizzes and interactive games.
“Atebol, a company which has developed the website Patagonia 150 on HWB, had seen our website and they have asked if they could put a link to our website on theirs, which is a special development and honour for our school,” said headteacher Dr James.
Ana, a Governor at Ysgol yr Hendre School in Patagonia has recently visited Ysgol Penboyr. Pupils at Ysgol yr Hendre have been studying the website and doing a piece of work on Nel Fach y Bwcs. “We hope to keep in touch and develop relationships with Ysgol yr Hendre via skype,” added Dr James.
