Cadw Gwndraeth was begun in 2008 by local people who were concerned about the neglect of a particular ancient monument - Pwllygod Bridge. As a result of their deliberations it was felt that the best way to help in its restoration was to establish a heritage group drawing its strength from all the communities in the Gwendraeth . From there was but a short step to a group which sought the same for all the heritage in the Gwendraeth.
Cadw Gwendraeth is for the heritage of the valleys of the Gwendraeth Fach and Fawr. We aim to disseminate the history of the Gwendraeth and its people through lectures and articles, its physical enjoyment through walks and talks, for the survival and revival of its heritage through campaigns and projects of restoration, and for its remembrance through acts of commemoration.
The people of the Gwendraeth have struggled against foreign invasion, oppression, and exploitation ... and they have sung and celebrated in a dazzling display of literary and musical genius.
Its men and women fought alongside their countrymen in a 200 year war against Norman-French land-grabbers, its workers struggled to make a democratic nation in the teeth of autocratic tyranny, and with its coal miners in the van its communities sought to build a society for the many and not just the few ... for the small as well as the great, for the fach as well as the fawr.
The Gwendraeth was part of that celtic culture which astonished and terrified Roman invaders by turns ... the Gwendraeth has inspired that unique marvel of medieval literature ... the Mabinogi ... and its poets, writers, singers, composers and preachers have dazzled in the languages of both English and Cymraeg.
And this is but the tiniest hint of a fragment of its story ... a story that Cadw Gwendraeth will try to tell in the years to come.
2008