The farmer who spearheaded the drive to save his old school for the community

November 14, 2024

The farmer who spearheaded the drive to save his old school for the community

George Evans has mixed memories of his time at Ysgol Gynradd Bryncrug (Bryncrug Primary School). He fondly remembers walking to lessons, aged five or six, with his brother Philip, sisters Helen and Rhiannon and several other children who lived in the same row of cottages at Rhydyronen.

"There were about ten of us altogether," he recalls. "The path would take us through a farmyard at the bottom of the lane and each morning the farmer's wife, Mrs Pugh, would be standing by the door, waiting to count us past. When we returned in the afternoon, she'd be there again to count us back, and on hot summer days she'd have a jug of water and glasses waiting for us."

But George also remembers struggling at school because of his dyslexia and "missing quite a lot" of his primary education because of his difficult home life. Behind closed doors, his outwardly charming father, Jack, was violent and controlling. George, Philip and their mother, Evelyn, bore the brunt of the physical abuse. "I remember my mother lying unconscious on the floor," says George, who owns Brynglas Farm. "When Philip or I had bruising, my mother wouldn't send us to school.

"People thought my father was the most charming man in the world, but he was very controlling. We had a hell of a life. Even worse than the hidings was the unpredictability. It affects you in different ways and it's something you never get away from."

Half a century on, George's personal history with Ysgol Gynradd Bryncrug was one of the reasons he decided to spearhead a drive to save it for the community when it closed to pupils in 2013. George, fellow Bryncrug farmer Ken Ellis and the late veterinary surgeon Glyn Jenkins secured ownership of the school buildings, adjoining ganolfan (community centre) and rear field by forming a company that bought the site from Gwynedd Council for the nominal sum of £1.

Today, ten years later, Y Ganolfan Bryncrug Community Centre Limited still rings to the sound of children playing: a nursery has occupied the former classrooms since 2014; first Meithrinfa Deryn Bach and, for the past 18 months, Gwenyn Bach, which is run by the Margaret Barnard Trust.

The small hall (the original ganolfan) hosts various local groups, including Young Farmers, First Responders, Bryncrug Community Council and Merched y Wawr, while events - from coffee mornings and bingo nights to birthday parties and craft fairs - are held in the big hall. The field is home to Dysynni Dogs, a successful dog-training business, and it's also used for outdoor events such as Bonfire Night fireworks and the annual village country fair.

"When we started, we had a lot of help from people - the equivalent of crowd-funding," explains George. "For the first two years we managed to operate with almost nothing in the bank. We set it up so that the overheads were minimal, and we don't employ anyone - it's run by volunteers, which is impossible to put a value on."

George and Ken Ellis outside the former school they saved

George divides his time between chairing the board of directors and the ganolfan committee and running his sheep and cattle farm.

Although agriculture runs in the family, George didn't take it up until he was in his mid-40s.

His father forced him to leave school at 15 with the aim of enrolling him in his building business, but somehow George's maternal grandfather, Dennis, an army sergeant major, convinced Jack to let his son take a different path - effectively freeing the teenager from his father's tyranny.

"Every school holiday I'd worked on the building site with my father and when I was 15 he announced I wasn't going back to school and was going to work for him. But my grandfather, who was very good to me and was probably one of my biggest influences, saw the shadow I was living under and wanted to get me out of it. He persuaded me to apply for an apprenticeship at Tywyn Turned Parts, a car component engineering firm in the village. It was a big step for me, because I'd not really mixed with people. Then - and I don't know how he did it - he got my father to agree to it."

The apprenticeship, says George, was the making of him. "Everything I've become since is because of that, really. It enabled me to break free."

The dark times were not over, however: three years later, George's brother Philip was killed in a motorcycle accident, aged just 17, leaving the family devastated.

With two older sisters and two younger ones, George and Philip - who shared a birthday a year apart - had enjoyed a special bond. "We were the two middle children and he was only a year younger than me, so we had a deep friendship and understanding. When we lost Philip, it was very hard."

George counts himself "very lucky" to have had wife Carys to support him. "We both grew up in the village and have known each other since we were at school. No marriage is without its difficulties, but we've got through everything together and have brought up four kids we're very proud of. Family is so important. I had a stroke a few years ago and was also diagnosed with prostate cancer, and my family really helped me through. I almost feel sorry for my father, because he didn't have the love and support of family that I've enjoyed."

After his apprenticeship ended, George started out on his own as a groundworks contractor. "What I learned during my time at the engineering firm was invaluable, but I didn't like being inside all the time."

His love of the Great Outdoors was one of the reasons George started helping out at Brynglas Farm, where his Uncle Griff kept sheep.

"He and his wife Glenys didn't have children, so in some ways I was like a son to them, and Griff was like a father to me. Glenys died the same year as Philip, so I used to come up here and help him, although as much for the wildlife as for the farming. But as my uncle got older, he needed my help more."

Eventually, in 2002, George rented the farm and bought the stock from his uncle, and when Griff died, George inherited it. In the years since, he's added pedigree Limousin cattle to the flocks of sheep. Last year, he won first prize in the "small herd" category of the British Limousin Cattle Society's North West Mids & North Wales Club Herd Competition. This year, he won a special award "for the member who has supported the club the most 2023/24".

As well as introducing cattle to Brynglas, George has also changed the sheep system. "We're more on the market side than the subsidy side, which is how my uncle ran it."

George still does some groundworks, but over the years the farming has taken over, "more for the way of life, really. Cows can kick you, but generally they're easier to deal with than people".

Yet it was a wide range of people he had to deal with when he waded into the debate about what to do with his old primary school when the decision was made to close it in favour of building a new one in Llanegryn.

"My motivations was a little bit political," George concedes. "I felt very sad that Plaid Cymru was the political party that closed the village school - and other village schools too. It's like they were able to work out the cost of something, but not understand its value. For communities - Welsh communities in particular - it's devastating when schools close."

One aspect of working the land, observes George, is that farmers see the bigger picture.

"Farms are always planning for the longer-term - looking to the next generation - and that's how we felt about losing the school: what's here for the youngsters if there's nothing in the village? We wanted to encourage people to bring up their children in Bryncrug."

After a complicated and contentious process, a group of villagers led by George, Ken and Glyn set up a limited liability company that bought the site from Gwynedd Council.

"We had to form a company, draw up a business plan and a feasibility study," recalls George. "We needed income, but the one thing we didn't have was a tenant. We were a week away from the deadline when Ken met Laura Griffiths, who was looking to open a children's nursery. She helped us with our final bid."

After a successful few years, Covid struck, but the ganolfan is now back on an even keel, with new events and activities taking place and others in the pipeline.

"I feel very proud of what's been achieved," says George. "The ganolfan is a way of bringing the Welsh- and English-speaking communities together. It's important to keep the balance between English-speaking volunteers, who have moved here and are retired, and Welsh-speaking volunteers, most of whom have grown up in the area. Both need to feel welcome. I'd say the communities are a lot closer now than they were a decade ago.

"Y Ganolfan Bryncrug is one of the best facilities of its kind in Gwynedd and it would have been tragic if we'd lost it. As long as we keep a good balance, and everyone feels they can be part of it, then I can't see why it can't carry on for a long time to come."