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Gregynog - Sisters' Bequest to a Nation |
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The Davies' Purchase - Hopes and dreams
The Davies Sisters expanded Gregynog to accommodate conference visitors by adding new bedrooms and decorating the house with pieces from other family homes and furniture made by the unemployed miners at the Bryn-Mawr community, in the southern coal field. The miners' wives produced embroidered Celtic interlacing for cushions within the house. To make provision for concerts and performances, the Sisters enlarged the former billiard room and installed a small pipe organ to make a music room that could seat an audience of 230.
The conferences began in 1921, the house playing host to musical retreats for Aberystwyth college students and annual meetings of the Welsh School of Social Service. Gregynog was significant as a conference centre within Wales between the wars as previously Wales had had no appropriate facility, and in the Victorian Era any meeting of importance for Wales was held in London. One of many noteworthy events took place in 1937 when Sir John Reith was invited to discuss the future of broadcasting in Wales
The Davies Family
© Courtesy of University of Wales
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Gwendolyn and Margaret were the sisters of Lord David Davies, who was active in Welsh politics, serving as an MP for Montgomery from 1906 to 1929, and a close associate of Lloyd George - the only Welsh-born Prime Minister of the UK. The Davies siblings inherited their significant wealth from their grandfather, David Davies Llandinum or 'Davies the Ocean', the great industrialist who made his fortune by building many railways, a major port complex at Barry in South Wales, and by creating the Ocean Coal Company.
After the First World War, Lord Davies and his sisters were great supporters of the League of Nations, the predecessor of the United Nations. They erected a Temple of Peace and Health in Cathys Park, Cardiff, which became the headquarters for two Welsh societies, the 'Edward VII Welsh National Memorial Society' and the Welsh National League of Nations. In the First World War, Gwendolyn and Margaret ran canteens in France for the troops, and during the Second World War, Gregynog was used as a Red Cross convalescence home.
Click here to see a clip about the Davies sisters and their home from the 大象传媒 Wales programme, 'Treasure House'.
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