The longtime friends who have played a big part in the life of Bryncrug for half a century

June 13, 2026

The longtime friends who have played a big part in the life of Bryncrug for half a century

Last month, Delyth Williams officially opened a community cafe in Bryncrug's former primary school - exactly 60 years after her late husband, Les, took up the position of headmaster there. Joining Delyth to snip the red ribbon was Maureen Robertson, who taught alongside Les at the school. Caffi'r Hen Ysgol (The Old School Cafe) is situated in the very classroom where Les used to teach, while his headmaster's office is now the cafe kitchen.

It was a poignant, nostalgic moment for Delyth and Maureen, but a happy, hopeful one too: both have fond memories of the school, and both are delighted that the opening of the cafe marks another new chapter in the building's 90-year history.

The two women, now in their 80s, have been great friends since they met when Maureen moved to Bryncrug more than 50 years ago. They have also played a big part in the life of the village over the decades - starting a Merched y Wawr group, singing in the Bryncrug-based ensemble Parti Min y Marian and, when the school closed in 2013 and the building became a community centre (ganolfan), introducing monthly coffee mornings in the small hall, which they ran until the Covid lockdown.

Delyth was brought up in Penrhyndeudraeth, with her parents later moving to Dolgellau. It was here she met Les, who was born in Dinas Mawddwy, but relocated to Trawsfyndd to take up his first teaching post. He was just 31 when he was appointed head of Bryncrug Primary School in 1966, and it was only his second job.

Four years after the Williamses and their three young children moved into Bodlondeb, then the schoolhouse, situated on the main road, Maureen - who was born in Borth but grew up in Dolwyddelan, north Wales - arrived in Bryncrug.

"The reason we came here is that my husband John worked for the Forestry Commission and for several years was a lecturer at its training school in Capel Curing," she recalls. "But then it was decided to close it, along with all four of its schools in Britain, and he was appointed one of two training instructors for the whole of Wales, based in Ceinws, near Corris. One day he was travelling down the coast road and as he drove through Brycrug he saw bungalows being built in Maes y Grug and stopped the car. He spoke to the builder, Jack Evans, who told him which bungalows were still available to buy - and that's how we ended up living here."

To get to know people and make new friends, Maurren started going to the Tywyn branch of Merched y Wawr, a voluntary, non-political organisation for women in Wales, and it was here she met Delyth, as well as Mair Jones - who still lives in Bryncrug - and the late Megan James.

"Shortly afterwards, Mair instigated the setting up of a branch of Merched y Wawr in Bryncrug, and Delyth, Megan and I joined her, with Gwyneth Thomas and Sali H Jones supporting us," explains Maureen. "Today, 50 years later, the branch is still going strong, meeting regularly at the ganolfan."

In 1971, Mair was instrumental in forming an octet, and Delyth - an alto - helped to find six more singers, one of them being Maureen, who sang soprano. Claudia, Ieu, Bob, Basil and Sul completed the line-up. The close-harmony group, which became known as Parti Min y Marian after the name of the house in which they rehearsed, performed regularly - singing mostly in Welsh - as far afield as the Midlands and Cheshire, and were once on the same bill as Max Boyce.

Parti Min y Marian with Max Boyce (far left)

In many ways, Maureen and Delyth's lives have run almost in parallel: For a while, they even lived in the same cul-de-sac after Delyth and Les moved to Maes y Grug before eventually relocating to Plas Edwards in Tywyn.

"There are lots of similarities," says Maureen. "Delyth's son David and my daughter Heather were born in the same year; Delyth's other son, Dylan, and my other daughter, Fiona, were also born in the same year, and - more sadly - our husbands died just a few months apart. We also went to the same chapel, and both of us were involved with the Bryncrug Carnival committee."

In fact, it was Les who had the idea of starting the village carnival, which ran successfully for many years.

"Because Les felt there was a lack of things happening in the village, he also started the Young Wives and Young Farmers clubs," remembers Delyth. "But he did things quietly, and was more than happy for others to take the credit."

Maureen worked with Les for six years, from 1978, having worked in several schools previously, including a primary school in Liverpool, where she completed her probationary year. One of the children she taught there was Roy Gladden, who went on to become Lord Mayor of the city between 2022 and 2023.

"I loved working in Liverpool and could have stayed on after my probationary year," she says, "but I wanted to come back to Wales to get married. I got a job at the primary school in Capel Garmon, near Betws-y-Coed and was there for three years before we moved to Bala."

When the family moved to Bryncrug, Maureen's daughters were young, so she worked as a supply teacher for a while, covering Llanegryn, Fairbourne and Corris schools, before taking the job of infant class teacher at Bryncrug Primary School.

"I stayed there until 1984, which is when it was decided to make Bryncrug a two-teacher school, so I moved to Tywyn."

Les - who taught the top class - stayed on as head until 1991, when ill health forced him to retire.

"He was very popular with the children," remembers Maureen. "He loved old army songs and their melodies lingered with him, so he decided on themes for creating action songs so that all the children could be involved. With the help of very capable co-teacher Gwenfair Pierce, these wonderful action songs were performed by the pupils, including when the Carnival Queen was crowned and also competitively in the Urdd Eisteddfod."

When in 2010 Gwynedd Council voted to close the school - along with four others in the Tywyn area - as part of a reorganisation process, Maureen and Delyth were both deeply saddened. But after a group of villagers saved the building for the community and a children's nursery took over two of the old classrooms (the third classroom was an artist's studio for a few years), Maureen especially was thrilled.

"I would drive up there and sit in my car, listening to the sounds of the children playing outside," she explains. "I've always loved children and I love to watch them going about their business and playing around. When the school closed, I thought that was lost forever, but having the nursery there means there are still young children using the building, which is wonderful.

"And now, ten years after we started the coffee mornings with the late Ann Humphreys and, later, Myra Dods, there is a community cafe too - as well as the monthly coffee mornings, which resumed after Covid. We're very chuffed that the current members of the ganolfan aren't content for things to stay the same, but are forward-thinking and progressive."

Delyth adds: "Les was headmaster of the school for 25 years and I know he'd be pleased that his old classroom was enjoying another new lease of life as a community cafe."

* Caffi'r Hen Ysgol, a not-for-profit cafe run entirely by volunteers, is open on Fridays and Sundays, 10am to 3pm (with more days being added as soon as possible). If anyone is interested in joining the cafe team, please contact Ros Dodd at rosdodd@gmail.com.