Geograph - photograph every grid square

Memorial to Mary Jones at Tyn-y-ddol

This memorial commemorates Mary or Mari Jones, a girl of 15 or 16 who saved up for six years to buy her own Bible in the Welsh language and in 1800 walked maybe 25 to 30 miles to Bala to obtain one, barefoot and unaccompanied. Her resolute focus, her determination, her thirst for knowledge, information, teaching and answers to all life's most meaningful questions so impressed a church minister that he gave her his own copy. He set about establishing what became the British and Foreign Bible Society to ensure that people like Mary all around the world could get a Bible printed in their own language.

The contrast with what a 15 or 16 year old wants today could hardly be greater, it seems to me anyway. Just the notion of someone saving for six years for something, such as a laptop for example, is laughable. I'm certain that any 16 year old mind carries the same determination, hunger for knowledge you can trust and willingness to take action to achieve one's aims is still very much there but of course there are very few ready comparisons between rural life in 1800 Wales and the world of today.