MEMORIES OF COLEG TREFECCA
It is almost fifty years since my first visit to Trefecca. In July 1973 there was a great celebration weekend there to mark the two hundredth anniversary of the death of HOWEL HARRIS. There were hundreds of people there including a large number of young people who were full of enthusiasm for the Gospel with their t-shirts, banners and “Jesus One Way” salutes. For the only time in my whole life,I really felt that revival was going to break out in Wales just as it had done in the days of Howel Harris!It was called “Gwyl y Chwyldro”which suggests that revival if not revolution was anticipated. We marched from the Coleg to Talgarth Church where a special service was held to mark the occasion, and then returned to Trefecca and the atmosphere was electric. our hosts for the week end were the late Reverend John Tudor and his wife Nerys and they impressed me very much.
Other later wardens of Trefecca were Ronwy Rogers, Tom Wright, Gethin Rhys and his wife Fiona and Trefor Lewis, all of whom are still with us, but sadly we lost the beloved Gwilym Ceiriog Evans,a man with an outstanding ability to get on well with all ages and all kinds of people. I visited Trefecca during the tenure of each of these people, often through attending the Trefecca Links weekends in February each year.
Having completed a year of full time study in Aberystwyth, I was ordained in 1997 and was persuaded by my friend Bryn Williams to complete my B.D. course part-time aftre starting as a full-tme pastor in the Ceiriog Valley. This was a very hard task so whenever I had two whole days free from pastoral work, I would go off to Trefecca to continue my studies without interuption and with beautiful meals laid on for me by the excellent staff who were responsible for the catering there.
Glyn Ceiriog was a part of the Wrexham Presbytery in those days and on two or three occasions I took a group of older people from the area by mini-bus to spend a few days at Trefecca and when I moved to Bala, I was able to do the same thing with young and older people. The faciities and the natural beauty of the area make it an ideal place for people of all ages to relax and to enjoy Christian fellowship.
Sadly, since my retirement in 2013, I haven’t had many opportunities to visit Trefecca but I look back on many happy memories of the place and wish it well for the future.