Capturing hidden Wales

Dylan Arnold works as an ophthalmic photographer for the NHS, taking specialised images of patients’ retinas, but in his spare time takes pictures of other places which are hidden to most people.

Here he chooses some of the images from his book ‘Cymru Gudd’ (Hidden Wales), a collection of photos of secret locations he’s taken whilst out walking.

Mae Dylan Arnold newydd gyhoeddi ei gyfrol gyntaf, Cymru Gudd, sy’n gasgliad o’r lluniau mae o wedi eu tynnu o lefydd di-arffordd wrth crwydro dros y blynyddoedd.

Dyma ddetholiad o’i luniau, a’i eglurhad ohonyn nhw – y tro cyntaf i rai o’r lleoliadau hyn ymddangos mewn print.

This is the home of the descendants of former US President, Abraham Lincoln.

The farmhouse in the Hiraethog mountains was the home of Ellen Morris, Lincoln’s great grandmother. Ellen Morris later travelled to Liverpool with the Quakers in order to set sail for the US.

She sailed to Pennsylvania to begin a new life and became one of the first settlers in the area.

Cartref disgynyddion Abraham Lincoln, yr 16eg Arlywydd o’r UDA.

Yn y ffermdy yma yng nghesail mynyddoedd Hiraethog mae gwreiddiau hanes Lincoln, pan deithiodd Ellen Morris, ei hen nain, o’i chartref ym Mryn Gwyn i Lerpwl, gyda’r Crynwyr o’r Bala.

Oddi yma hwyliodd i Pennsylvania i gychwyn bywyd newydd fel rhai o’r setlwyr cyntaf i fyw yno.

This used to be the highest house in Wales and was the home of Goronwy Owen and his family.

As a child, Goronwy remembers his mother waking them up to look at German planes flying over Padarn Lake below their house.

Y tŷ uchaf yng Nghymru a fu unwaith yn gartref i Goronwy Owen a’i deulu.

Yn blentyn, cofiai Goronwy ei fam yn ei ddeffro o a’i frodyr i weld awyrennau Almaenaidd yn hedfan dros Lyn Padarn islaw eu cartref.

The statue is hidden in a forest which is now part of a private estate, but it used to be a prominent feature in an old manor house.

It is said that Lord Clarence Paget of Plas Newydd built the statue as a practice run before he created the famous statue of Nelson which stands below Britannia Bridge on the banks of the Menai Straights.

Mae’r cerflun yn cuddio mewn eiddew yng nghoedwig sy’n rhan o ardd breifat a fu unwaith yn rhan o ardd addurniadol plasty mawr.

Yn ôl y sôn, yr Arglwydd Clarence Paget, Plas Newydd, greodd y penddelw fel ymarfer cyn creu’r cerflun enwog o Nelson sydd yn sefyll ar lan Afon Menai, ger Pont Britannia.

This tunnel was formed by a large machine called the Double Tunneller during the Victorian era.

Due to the machine’s enormity and the problems in moving it from one location to the other, examples of these tunnels are quite rare.

Crëwyd y twnnel rhyfeddol hwn gan beiriant anferthol, Fictorianaidd, o’r enw’r Double Tunneller.

Oherwydd maint y peiriant, a’r problemau o’i ddefnyddio a’i gludo o gwmpas, ni fu’r Double Tunneller yn llwyddiant aruthrol, ac felly nid oes llawer o’r twneli yma yn bodoli.

Here’s an example of one of Angelsey’s oldest churches which has been derelict for over twenty years.

There’s a possibility that a church once stood on this site in the 7th Century. There’s an incredibly peaceful atmosphere surrounding this location.

Un o eglwysi hynafol Ynys Môn sydd bellach yn segur ers dros ugain mlynedd.

Mae’n bosib fod eglwys Gristnogol wedi cael ei sefydlu ar y safle yma mor bell yn ôl a’r 7fed ganrif. Mae awyrgylch llethol o dawel yn perthyn i’r lleoliad arbennig hwn.

This is a special location, it’s like taking a step back in time.

Equipment and tools are still visible from the days when the building was used as a blacksmith’s forge. It closed for the last time in 1956.

Lleoliad arbennig iawn. Mae bod yna fel camu yn ôl mewn amser.

Mae’r offer a thŵls yn eu lle hyd heddiw, yn union fel yr oedd yn y dyddiau pan fu’n efail, a hefyd yn ysgol Sul a chanolfan y gymuned leol.Caeodd yr efail ei drysau am y tro olaf yn 1956, gan ddod â thair cenhedlaeth o ofaint yno i ben.

This propeller was once part of a plane that crash-landed on the cliffs of Lake Dulun in the Carneddau mountains in November 1944.

Usually this propeller is submerged under water. But during one dry summer in 2021, the water levels dropped so low that the propeller became visible.

Propelar awyren Dakota a ddrylliwyd ar glogwyn Llyn Dulyn, Y Carneddau, ar Dachwedd 11, 1944.

Fel arfer mae’r prop o dan ddŵr ond roedd i’w weld yn gyflawn yn ystod haf poeth 2021.