A NEW history centre in a former North Wales school is plugging into a growing world-wide craze in tracing family roots. The converted chapel in Gwynedd will also bring an economic injection for the area, with visitors from around the globe searching a massive digital archive for their ancestors. A £500,000 European grant is helping Canolfan Hanes Uwchgwyrfa to convert two buildings in Clynnog Fawr, between Caernarfon and Pwllheli. The old Ebeneser Chapel will also host exhibitions, meetings and lectures and will be a study centre for schools. Locals, along with Welsh ex-pats from all over the world, are expected to flock to the centre to unearth their family history. There is particular interest in the US, Patagonia, Australia and New Zealand. American Welsh societies are already keen on using it to track down relatives who left Wales for the New World generations ago. The village recently saw its garage and village shop re-open thanks to the efforts of local people. Job adverts for a new manager are now going out, with an official opening likely in March. The centre springs from a idea by former headmaster and local historian Geraint Jones from Trefor who, together with Marian Elias Roberts from Groeslon, turned the dream into reality. A store of historic archives stretching from Clynnog to Bontnewydd, near Caernarfon, will also be kept in the former Eben Fardd schoolhouse. Marian said: "The aim is to bring the history of the area alive for children, locals and visitors. "The area is very rich in history - we have thousands of photographs and maps, and we intend creating a digital archive. "We want people to learn and be amazed and take an interest in their own history and heritage in a lively and interesting way." Geraint said: "When it opens, we hope to have a lot of volunteers helping out. The centre will also be a boost for the village with local hotels and businesses catering for visitors from all over the world. "We will have state-of-the-art machines to help people carry out their research and I have just come back from a trip to the US visiting Welsh societies to tell them about the centre. "We haven't started on formalising the programme of events yet but we are planning to produce a monthly historical magazine in the form of an audio tape for the blind." Among the other attractions will be a historical community garden designed by Dr Anne Elizabeth Williams, an expert on herbs and old remedies. The intention is to restore the garden at the centre as it was at the beginning of the 1900s. * Ebeneser schoolhouse was used by young ministers when the chapel was opened by Methodists in Clynnog Fawr in 1844. Nearly 17 years before, Ysgol Eben Fardd was an important centre preparing young ministers before going to Coleg y Bala. | 
