Cymru am byth - we love Wales!

Commuting, Day rides, Audax, Incidents, etc.
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Bowedw
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Re: Cymru am byth - we love Wales!

Post by Bowedw »

This anger works both ways and I certainly feel resentment with all the english force onto us.
pwa
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Re: Cymru am byth - we love Wales!

Post by pwa »

Bowedw wrote:This anger works both ways and I certainly feel resentment with all the english force onto us.


Quite. I suspect the best way is to allow regions of Wales to take their own path. If I moved to an area where a lot of people spoke Welsh I would embrace it to fit in with my neighbours. No point round here. The locals have not spoken Welsh for several generations. Just the way it is. When our village name went up in Welsh as well as English the reaction was "Why have they done that? Nobody ever called the place that". I'd like places to be given the name the locals prefer, Welsh or English. And I'd like my bills to come in the language I choose, Welsh or English. Not both. Sending bills and other correspondence in both is just a silly gesture that wastes paper.
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Mick F
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Re: Cymru am byth - we love Wales!

Post by Mick F »

Cyril Haearn wrote:Why do you love Wales?
Because I was born there and have a Welsh birth certificate. :D
Mick F. Cornwall
pwa
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Re: Cymru am byth - we love Wales!

Post by pwa »

Wales is full of ambiguities and complexity. There is no single, typical Welsh person. The simmering language issue is just one of many ways of splitting Welsh people into groups. I often imagine Wales as two places: the former coal and steel dominated area of South Wales, and the rest. Within South Wales people often distinguish between the Valleys people and the rest. The stereotypical Valleys person is proudly working class, has a sing-songy accent and is loud. Some of that is based on truth, but I have come to see Valleys people as generally more likely to be friendly and considerate than better off people in the coastal towns and cities. Wealth does not improve people.
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honesty
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Re: Cymru am byth - we love Wales!

Post by honesty »

The first place I personally chose to live was in Cardiff and I loved it. Lived there for 10 years. I'm sure its got much busier since I left in 2005, but for the years I lived there it was a fantastic and friendly city, and I would move back there in a heartbeat if my job/family/etc. required it.
Cyril Haearn
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Re: Cymru am byth - we love Wales!

Post by Cyril Haearn »

I think one does not need to choose Welsh or English, one may have both. In the industrial revolution people migrated to Wales for work and had to learn Welsh, then English took over, now Welsh is growing again

I think one should feel envy (in a positive way) for bilingual people

It is great that children in Wales learn both languages. They will be better at acquiring other languages later too
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pwa
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Re: Cymru am byth - we love Wales!

Post by pwa »

Cyril Haearn wrote:I think one does not need to choose Welsh or English, one may have both. In the industrial revolution people migrated to Wales for work and had to learn Welsh, then English took over, now Welsh is growing again

I think one should feel envy (in a positive way) for bilingual people

It is great that children in Wales learn both languages. They will be better at acquiring other languages later too


In the school where my wife teaches they find that children are less inclined to focus on foreign languages like French or German because with Welsh and English they are doing loads of language already. My daughter enjoyed doing Welsh and feels more Welsh because of it. My son doesn't care about it.
Cyril Haearn
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Re: Cymru am byth - we love Wales!

Post by Cyril Haearn »

The Black Mountains, great for walking, not so good for cycling. *On the black hill* by Bruce Chatwin

The Sugarloaf near Abergavenny, a perfect small mountain

Male-voice choirs

The departure board at Shrewsbury station, it has the best connections into Wales
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Cyril Haearn
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Re: Cymru am byth - we love Wales!

Post by Cyril Haearn »

Why, even the prime minister loves Wales

She and her husband took a walking holiday and she went shopping in Dolgellau!
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pwa
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Re: Cymru am byth - we love Wales!

Post by pwa »

Cyril Haearn wrote:Why, even the prime minister loves Wales

She and her husband took a walking holiday and she went shopping in Dolgellau!


Shopping in Dol! That must have been a very pleasant five minutes. Fantastic area, though. Took a stroll with the Missus today, from Pontycymmer in the Garw Valley up onto the hills to the west, then back down to Blaengarw and the valley bottom cycle track. Upto 415 metres above sea level at one point, looking down on the former mining valley below as if from an aircraft. Very friendly locals walking their dogs. Nice people. Great landscape. Saw a red kite and a lizard. I don't have a mountain bike but if I did I would have huge climbs and descents in the forestry up there. And it is all free.
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honesty
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Re: Cymru am byth - we love Wales!

Post by honesty »

Didn't like Dolgellau, they tried to charge me 20p for a pee...
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The utility cyclist
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Re: Cymru am byth - we love Wales!

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pwa
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Re: Cymru am byth - we love Wales!

Post by pwa »

The utility cyclist wrote:yeah, Wales is lovely http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales ... s-12886936


I wouldn't excuse that, but I can almost understand it. Anger at a perceived injustice can make people abandon reasonable behaviour and lash out. In this case the intended target was a motorcyclist who should not have been there. I don't really think that sort of thing is particular to Wales, though. I walked several miles of neglected Welsh bridleway yesterday and there was no hint of any deliberate obstruction or conflict. Some of the plastic disc waymarking was bleached white because it has not been replaced in the last fifteen years (since I put it there), but nor has it been removed by the farmer whose land it is on. Some of the bridleway was a bit overgrown, but there were no locked gates. And no booby traps. In four miles of sheep farm and forestry we met one friendly mountain biker (three times) and a few examples of local wildlife.
Cyril Haearn
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Re: Cymru am byth - we love Wales!

Post by Cyril Haearn »

honesty wrote:Didn't like Dolgellau, they tried to charge me 20p for a pee...


tried to? Did they succeed? What did you do? :wink:
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Cyril Haearn
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Re: Cymru am byth - we love Wales!

Post by Cyril Haearn »

The utility cyclist wrote:yeah, Wales is lovely http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales ... s-12886936


he was ordered to attend a thinking skills course, what is that?

may I attend one as a law-abiding citizen? I want to learn to think (better)
Entertainer, juvenile, curmudgeon, PoB, 30120
Cycling-of course, but it is far better on a Gillott
We love safety cameras, we hate bullies
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