A cultural and photographic history of The Siop Newydd Girls – eight daughters whose parents ran Siop Newydd on Eldon Square in Dolgellau.

The book was compiled by the sons and daughters of the eight Siop Newydd girls and combines oral history with ancestry. The family tree goes back to Evan Evans (1799-1869) who was a hill farmer in the Rhinogs above the village of Ganllywd in Snowdonia to the north of Dolgellau.

The great granddaughters of Evan Evans lived at various times in Siop Newydd between 1923 and 1946, a painting and decorating and hardware shop in Dolgellau. The book explores their lives as they grew up and made their way in the world.

It contains many archive photographs and a 32-page picture section that includes a remarkable set of photographs from the hill farm of Penrallt above Porthmadoc where one of the girls (Nanw) spent her married life.

It also traces the family’s movements across North Wales and North West England from Birkenhead to the Rhinogs, Trawsfynydd, Bala, Llanfachreth, Wrexham and Dolgellau.

This twist-and-turn book is bilingual with the Welsh and English text separated by the picture section.