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Wales Online
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Joshua Knapman

Cofiwch Dryweryn tributes have been spotted as far afield as the USA

A historian has mapped all of the sites where Cofiwch Dryweryn tributes have appeared after a recent surge in replicas.

The tribute has appeared all over the country - and further afield - after the original mural was repeatedly damaged .

It was first scrawled on a wall in Llanrhystud in the 1960s, in response to the loss of Capel Celyn, a village in the Tryweryn Valley.

In 1965, residents of the village were forced to abandon their homes after the UK Government flooded the area and created a reservoir - Llyn Celyn - which would supply water to Liverpool and the Wirral.

David Howell, a lecturer in history at the University of Gloucestershire, has pulled together an interactive map, showing the location of every site that has been discovered so far.

The 37-year-old said: "As a historian, there is almost a sense of responsibility to archive the murals now.

"It is very clear that there is a potency to the independence movement that has not been seen before in modern Welsh political history.

"At its heart, my mapping project is a community heritage project, built around that which people are willing to share with me."

You can see all of the tributes on Dr Howell's map, below:

"This is a fascinating and unique form of protest," he adds.

"There are certainly examples were public art and graffiti has been used on a large scale to convey public anger, but to see a form of protest from the 1960s, reinvented on a national scale, is quite striking.

"Whereas the original mural in Llanrhystud was tied up in a narrative of resistance in the face of pressures being placed on Welsh speaking communities, the current 'Cofiwch' movement, seems critically tied to a more confident, vocal and visible voice of independence.

"The murals are a living record of a changing cultural landscape in Wales, and, despite the majority of the murals appearing only in the last six months, have already become an undeniable part of the Welsh cultural heritage landscape."

Dr Howell, who was born in Newport and raised in Chepstow, added that some international locations are quite surprising.

The Welsh-speaking lecturer said: "You don't expect to see a form of fringe Welsh nationalist protest being echoed in Chicago and Ohio.

"Yet, there is a very positive and proud Welsh migrant community in the States, who are keen to celebrate their heritage."

The Cofiwch Dryweryn mural being created

Dr Howell adds: "However, despite the popularity and volume of Dryweryn murals, each are inherently vulnerable. Be it through wear and tear, local authority pressure, or counter vandalism (such as the repeated removal of the example on route between Corwen and Llangollen), many of these murals will disappear, and many of those will disappear in the very near future.

"What I do want to do is create an archive of the murals before they vanish.

"It's important to remember that the original 'Cofiwch' mural no longer exists, having been repainted many times over.

"With this project, we have the opportunity to record the way a nation responds, be it positively or negatively, to the murals appearing all across Wales."

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