Many years ago when I had just had a huge promotion at the age of 27, I became Head of English in a comprehensive school of 1000 children. I was excited and nervous. You would say, well, what has this to do with Wales? My mother and I went on holiday touring and ended up near Aberdare in a lovely village called Cwmdare. We saw this cottage for sale. It was a tiny terrace with one bedroom on the first floor, no bathroom or toilet, a toilet in the garden and the only water in the house was the kitchen sink. It was for sale for £1400 and my mother was determined to buy it. We managed to raise the money.
The joyful part about this little tiny terrace was that you opened the front door and walked straight down into the Dare Valley Country Park, absolutely gorgeous. I remember doing all the preparation for this new promotion in that cottage over the Easter holidays and my lovely neighbour, May, Welsh speaker and chapel, brought in a lunch tray for me every day as I had so much work to do. Dear May is still in my heart.This is where my mother and I started to fall in love with Wales.
My mother had Wales in her heart before then. She had come over from India having married my father when the war was over and they came back in 1945 and I was born in 1947. My mother could pass as white but my aunt and uncle were both very brown. So she wanted to hide the fact that she was Indian as she was very frightened by the racism after the war. Landladies would have signs up saying, “no blacks, no Irish, no dogs”. She didn’t cook any Indian food and she never spoke to us in Hindi or Urdu. The only thing she could not disguise was her accent which was sing-songy like the Welsh so when people asked where she came from she said that she was Welsh and she was left in peace.
In recent years, I spoke to my husband about travelling because I have travelled all my life and I suddenly got itchy feet again. So I said to him, a Portsmouth boy, born and bred: “Do you fancy moving to Wales?” He walked out of the room, came back in and said, yeah, why not. So here we are in Llanelli, very happy and enjoying our lives here, very much involved in the local community and I have been learning Welsh. Llanelli is a lovely place full of creativity. Local people are friendly and the amount of musical shows that we see here and every year one Shakespeare play. It’s fantastic. We should be very proud of the people of Llanelli for what they have achieved over the years.
I then started to learn more about the traditions and the history. It became a very sad research as I found how badly treated the Welsh were by the English.
The Union Jack has no reference to Wales. The Royal Coat of Arms is divided into four. One is the harp of Ireland, one is the lion of Scotland and the other two are both the three lions of England. For some unknown reason, which I have yet to fathom, Wales is seen as part of England. In 1888, the Encyclopedia Britannica had a section for Wales and beside it, it simply said, SEE ENGLAND.
Even in present times, there is a lack of Westminster concern for Welsh matters and a lack of investment in Wales. The European Union gave huge amounts of money to Wales because it was considered a poor country by Europe. Since Brexit all that has stopped. Welsh devolution powers are limited, with many matters reserved by Westminster which also retains parliamentary sovereignty over Wales.
Since 2006, Scotland’s Saint Andrew’s day is now a bank holiday. Saint David’s Day is still not a bank holiday. Whatever you think of Nicola Sturgeon, she made a lot of noise and had plenty of charisma. Our leaders, however good they are, have none. The Scots have devolution which includes justice, policing and rail. The Welsh do not.
In 1847, the infamous Blue Books came out, their other name being The Treachery of the Blue Books. These books were reports on education in Wales. They presented the Welsh as dirty, deceitful, superstitious and sexually promiscuous. They also decided that the Welsh language was a waste of time. This time the Welsh rose up against these books, rightly so, and this caused a furore around the country.
I have been fascinated by the wonderful Welsh history, myths and legends. Some of the Welsh language has its roots in Latin as Britain was conquered by the Romans. Then we have the amazing princes protecting their realms. The Welsh dragon is an important myth.The history is divided into three periods, Ancient, medieval and modern. So take your pick.
Gruffydd ap Llywelyn was the first and only King of Wales. In the 12th Century the most famous rulers were Owain Gwynedd and Rhys ap Gruffydd. In the 15th century Owain Glyndwr led a significant revolt against England and it was between 1400-1415 that he was pronounced Prince of Wales but eventually he was defeated.
Another important aspect of Wales is this Welsh nationalism. In the 19th century, David Lloyd George was involved in the re-awakening of Welsh nationalism. In 1952 a small republican movement started. From then onwards there were different groups doing different things, one group burning down holiday homes owned by the English resulting in an English joke, “Come home to a real fire, buy a house in Wales”.
Alun Rees, a Welsh poet was frustrated by the lack of movement after the short time of violence and wrote this little verse,
“Taffy has fought the wide world over
He’s given blood and bone
He’s fought for every bloody cause
Except his bloody own.”
Welsh Pride and passion for their country are still in-bred in the Welsh soul, the land of music and creativity, but they have lost a little the urge to bring it back. They need to make more of a fuss and not allow Westminster to short-change the people of Wales.
