Mynydd Tir y Cwmwd
Encyclopedia
Mynydd Tir y Cwmwd is an area of about 175 acre
s (708,000 m²) in north Wales
to the south of the village of Llanbedrog
.
From the top of the Headland, with a covering of gorse
and heather
, there are fine views towards Abersoch
and Pwllheli
as well as over Cardigan Bay
. The whole area is privately owned common land
and is zigzagged by many paths. Great care must be taken on the slope where numerous accidents have occurred.
Along the cliff coast are situated three disused granite
quarries, relics of pre-war activity. At the sea end of the headland from the beach when the tide is out are the remains of the jetty
that was used by ships to transport the stones from the quarries
. The remains of the old quarry buildings can also be seen; one is a large hopper building, where stone setts that were cut at the quarry were stored before being transported by ship.
The purpose of the "Tin Man" or Tinman on Llanbedrog headland is not known. However, it can be seen from the beach and of course from the grounds of Plas Glyn-y-Weddw. Local tradition has it that the original wooden man was a figurehead
from a ship, placed there by Solomon Andrews, a wealthy Cardiff
businessman. However, an identical figure could be found in the grounds above the Plas as late as the 1960s, and one must assume that the wooden man was more in the nature of a romantic folly. When the weathered remains of the original were vandalized by being burnt the village replaced it with another one, which was commissioned for £7,000 and was designed and built by Simon Van De Put and put in position in 1981. It was then known as the iron man. This statue too was vandalized so that all that remained were the boots.
The village decided to replace the second one with a third, but this time using local village talent. The team consisted of Berwyn Jones, who designed the new Tinman and two local craftsmen, David and Hugh Jones, who created the final product. This was helicopter
ed into position on Llanbedrog headland on Jubilee weekend (June 1, 2002). The new one is hollow and on a windy day the wind makes the Tin Man sing.
Acre
The acre is a unit of area in a number of different systems, including the imperial and U.S. customary systems. The most commonly used acres today are the international acre and, in the United States, the survey acre. The most common use of the acre is to measure tracts of land.The acre is related...
s (708,000 m²) in north Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
to the south of the village of Llanbedrog
Llanbedrog
Llanbedrog is a village and community on the Llŷn peninsula of Gwynedd in Wales. It is situated on the south side of the peninsula on the A499 between Pwllheli and Abersoch. Formerly in the county of Caernarfonshire, it has a population of 1,020....
.
From the top of the Headland, with a covering of gorse
Gorse
Gorse, furze, furse or whin is a genus of about 20 plant species of thorny evergreen shrubs in the subfamily Faboideae of the pea family Fabaceae, native to western Europe and northwest Africa, with the majority of species in Iberia.Gorse is closely related to the brooms, and like them, has green...
and heather
Ericaceae
The Ericaceae, commonly known as the heath or heather family, is a group of mostly calcifuge flowering plants. The family is large, with roughly 4000 species spread across 126 genera, making it the 14th most speciose family of flowering plants...
, there are fine views towards Abersoch
Abersoch
Abersoch is a large village in the community of Llanengan in Gwynedd, Wales. It is a popular coastal seaside resort with approximately 1,000 inhabitants, on the east-facing south coast of the Llŷn Peninsula at the southern terminus of the A499. It is about south-west of Pwllheli and south-west of...
and Pwllheli
Pwllheli
Pwllheli is a community and the main market town of the Llŷn Peninsula in Gwynedd, north-western Wales. It has a population of 3,861, of which a large proportion, 81 per cent, are Welsh speaking. Pwllheli is the place where Plaid Cymru was founded. It is the birthplace of Albert Evans-Jones -...
as well as over Cardigan Bay
Cardigan Bay
Cardigan Bay is a large inlet of the Irish Sea, indenting the west coast of Wales between Bardsey Island, Gwynedd in the north, and Strumble Head, Pembrokeshire at its southern end. It is the largest bay in Wales....
. The whole area is privately owned common land
Common land
Common land is land owned collectively or by one person, but over which other people have certain traditional rights, such as to allow their livestock to graze upon it, to collect firewood, or to cut turf for fuel...
and is zigzagged by many paths. Great care must be taken on the slope where numerous accidents have occurred.
Along the cliff coast are situated three disused granite
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
quarries, relics of pre-war activity. At the sea end of the headland from the beach when the tide is out are the remains of the jetty
Jetty
A jetty is any of a variety of structures used in river, dock, and maritime works that are generally carried out in pairs from river banks, or in continuation of river channels at their outlets into deep water; or out into docks, and outside their entrances; or for forming basins along the...
that was used by ships to transport the stones from the quarries
Quarry
A quarry is a type of open-pit mine from which rock or minerals are extracted. Quarries are generally used for extracting building materials, such as dimension stone, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, and gravel. They are often collocated with concrete and asphalt plants due to the requirement...
. The remains of the old quarry buildings can also be seen; one is a large hopper building, where stone setts that were cut at the quarry were stored before being transported by ship.
The purpose of the "Tin Man" or Tinman on Llanbedrog headland is not known. However, it can be seen from the beach and of course from the grounds of Plas Glyn-y-Weddw. Local tradition has it that the original wooden man was a figurehead
Figurehead
A figurehead is a carved wooden decoration found at the prow of ships largely made between the 16th and 19th century.-History:Although earlier ships had often had some form of bow ornamentation A figurehead is a carved wooden decoration found at the prow of ships largely made between the 16th and...
from a ship, placed there by Solomon Andrews, a wealthy Cardiff
Cardiff
Cardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales and the 10th largest city in the United Kingdom. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for...
businessman. However, an identical figure could be found in the grounds above the Plas as late as the 1960s, and one must assume that the wooden man was more in the nature of a romantic folly. When the weathered remains of the original were vandalized by being burnt the village replaced it with another one, which was commissioned for £7,000 and was designed and built by Simon Van De Put and put in position in 1981. It was then known as the iron man. This statue too was vandalized so that all that remained were the boots.
The village decided to replace the second one with a third, but this time using local village talent. The team consisted of Berwyn Jones, who designed the new Tinman and two local craftsmen, David and Hugh Jones, who created the final product. This was helicopter
Helicopter
A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by one or more engine-driven rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forwards, backwards, and laterally...
ed into position on Llanbedrog headland on Jubilee weekend (June 1, 2002). The new one is hollow and on a windy day the wind makes the Tin Man sing.