This project lead to a wonderful collaboration with Tegwen, our selected poet who embraced the themes which were emerging from deep within the stones I was carving. Below is the Folk tale of the Abergele 3 sisters.

Inspired by the Western Gateway Art project, the stone, the old market place and hearing the hidden voices of times long past.

Benjamin C Dearnley: September 2024


The 3 Sisters of Abergele.

A long time ago, there lived a farmer with his 3 daughters up in the hills behind Abergele town. Seren, was the oldest, then Haulwen and Rhoswen. Sadly, their mother had died shortly after Rhoswen was born so their father had brought the girls up on the farm, largely on his own. The 3 sisters were the best of friends and always had been ever since they can remember and they loved their father dearly.

One fine early Autumn day their father thinking they were now old enough to be trusted with farm business, sent the girls down to Abergele market to sell the years cattle. “Don’t dilly dally on the way and come straight back with the coin”, he said as they left waving and dancing along behind the cattle which plodded slowly down the lane.

Before long they met a traveler on the way and he stopped them as they passed and said he too was on his way to market to buy just such cattle as the sisters had. He offered them good coin for the lot there and then.
Well, Rhoswen and Haulwen said “let us sell”, but Seren said “no,” they must obey their father’s wishes and go on to the market. Now many was the time the girls had come to disagree about a thing and long ago they had made a pact that if there were 2 to 1 then the 1 shall fall in with the 2 and they become 3, united. And so it was to be on this lovely warm Autumn morning. They agreed to sell to the passing stranger and he gave them the money as promised and set off with the cattle.

The sisters were so delighted with this that they decided to go up to the top of Abergele Tower Hill to celebrate their good fortune. When they reached the Tower on top of the hill, they began to dance with glee at how clever they had been. They sang and danced as they went around and around the tower in an anti-clockwise direction. On the 3rd full turn, the coins which they had held tightly in their hands, suddenly turned to dust and the girls were turned to stone.

Now they are held forever, in the bonds of their everlasting friendship, within the stones of old Abergele Town and if you look out across the old market square on the night of the full Autumn moon, you may just catch a glimpse of the 3 sisters of Abergele dancing in the moonlight.

Below are some images from the public open studio sessions.

These were a great success with many locals and visitors to Abergele taking part in both the stone carving and poetry sessions. Many had no experience of carving stone yet were able to make fantastic progress within such a short space of time. My thanks to all those who joined in and help to make this a true community engaged project.

Public Sessions: The below lays out how the open studio sessions were run.

Run from 11-3 pm 4 x Open studio for the public to engage with the Western Gate project. August 10th, 15th 26th and 31st

The first 2 on the 10th and 15th August:

This will be for the public to come and see what's happening and be able to 'Have a go at stone carving' with Ben, who will guide those attending in art of carving stone. These sessions are intended to give people the opportunity to come and get involved with the project, there will have the opportunity to add their own marks into the 'Community Stone' which will later become a feature of the site. This will help them to feel a sense of 'ownership' to what will become a new part of western entrance to Abergele.

The second 2 x sessions, on the 26th and 31st.

I will be joined by the twice crowned poet Tegwen Bruce-Deans who will lead the poetry aspect of this project. Her role will be to have a 'Poet's Corner' where people can come and learn how to compose a simple bit of poetry. She will guide us in the art of poetic writing and those attending will be able to put thoughts onto slate and have these become inspirations for the stone carving which will be continuing along side the poetry. The cards which are written on the day can also be kept as a memento of the day or be sent to friends who can then become connected to the project even though they may live far away.

Ben says:

"People coming along will be treated to 2 of the most ancient forms of artistic practice and will play a part in the end result of how the site looks and feels. These amazing opportunities are quite rare to find as most times the work placed within the public realm is delivered without a collaboration with the people who live near to the site. Here in Abergele, we will open up the space for people to come and get involved during the 4 open workshop sessions. The aim is to involve residents and visitors to Abergele, by giving them a unique experience and sharing our artistic skills we hope to be able to inspire those joining us to think about the theme of Friendship, Community and Joy in a deeper way".