Cymru am byth - we love Wales!

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

Post by Cugel »

Cyril Haearn wrote:The poem is about drowned villages, specifically (?) Capel Celyn that was drowned to provide water for Liverpool

Whatabout me? Like most on here, I am half Welsh and half English :?

The scum of the forests, what does Cugel think of that?


That reservoir poem of RST's is like many of his others. One must read between the lines a bit; and have an understanding of what the old clergyman was a-worrit with. The poem isn't complaining about "the English" in any xenophobic way but rather just remarking that the commercial, industrial and cultural impact of Wale's immediate neighbour (England) has effects on what Wales had become and was/is becoming.

There's no denying that parts of the Welsh landscape were pounced upon and used for the needs of often remote English interests only, such as village-drowning reservoirs, horrible mines, obliteration of native forest trees by commercial softwood species et al. The Welsh have only recently managed to wrest back control of some of these things, such as the forestry, where the polices are changing from having forests as nothing but sources of profit via paper and fuel-making to providing a greater diversity (of species, access and use).

And there was certainly a lot of policy imposed by various British governments that attempted to obliterate the Welsh language from schools, local councils and many other Welsh social services. Today the Welsh language is still in danger of extinction (along with much of the associated culture) simply from the overwhelming cultural hegemony of English-based stuff, much of it from Yankland as well as just over the border.

RST's poem observes some of these pressures on Wales, treated for so long as a second-class bit of Britain (like many other parts of Britain) by the dominant force of what we might call "The Home Counties" and the London-centric government. It's a complaint that many who live outside of SE England could still make, with their own examples - different in detail to the Welsh examples but often very similar. Policies of exploitation or neglect. Imposition of policies not derived by the locals themselves but by some Parliamentary policy wonk trying to seem a go-getter.

Cugel
“Practical men who believe themselves to be quite exempt from any intellectual influence are usually the slaves of some defunct economist”.
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9494arnold
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Re: Cymru am byth - we love Wales!

Post by 9494arnold »

Slight thread drift here, I may have mentioned the National Cycle Museum in this thread before, we have just Launched a You Tube Video
(part one of an anticipated 2 parter) . Take a look , it might just inspire you to come (or come back) and visit the Museum.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UND5yRHLoDI

I will be "front of house" a week today (Friday 15/11/2019) otherwise check the website for opening times
https://www.cyclemuseum.org.uk/

(and perhaps just give us a quick call too, one of our Volunteers has been poorly which MIGHT impact on opening in future , particularly Fridays (we have Managed to cover it so far). Don't forget, we are all Volunteers
pwa
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Re: Cymru am byth - we love Wales!

Post by pwa »

Thinking about it a bit more, RS Thomas was certainly a poet of merit, and he put things across very well. His way of thinking was not always motivated by the kindness and empathy that I associate with wisdom, but if I take him as a real human being, with faults, he begins to be interesting to me. It seems to me that he was a Canute, wishing to turn back an unstoppable tide of change and longing for a past world that could never return.
ambodach
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Re: Cymru am byth - we love Wales!

Post by ambodach »

I drove both the diesel and petrol/paraffin Fergies in the mid 1950’s. With the latter you had to remember to switch to petrol before stopping the engine.The diesel had a strange kigas ( spelling is probably wrong) injector which was supposed to ease starting from cold. It never seemed to be working. I cannot remember having to double declutch but I learned to drive on crash gearboxes so probably never gave it much thought.
MikeF
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Re: Cymru am byth - we love Wales!

Post by MikeF »

ambodach wrote:I drove both the diesel and petrol/paraffin Fergies in the mid 1950’s. With the latter you had to remember to switch to petrol before stopping the engine.The diesel had a strange kigas ( spelling is probably wrong) injector which was supposed to ease starting from cold. It never seemed to be working. I cannot remember having to double declutch but I learned to drive on crash gearboxes so probably never gave it much thought.

So did I. Double declutch in a field and with a hand throttle?? Yes I've driven vehicles with all crash gearboxes.
"It takes a genius to spot the obvious" - my old physics master.
I don't peddle bikes.
Mike Sales
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Re: Cymru am byth - we love Wales!

Post by Mike Sales »

MikeF wrote: Double declutch in a field and with a hand throttle?? Yes I've driven vehicles with all crash gearboxes.


"Crash" would certainly describe my gear changing, on the road since I never tried in the field.
It's the same the whole world over
It's the poor what gets the blame
It's the rich what gets the pleasure
Isn't it a blooming shame?
ambodach
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Re: Cymru am byth - we love Wales!

Post by ambodach »

I don’t imagine I ever tried double declutch in a field while working but travelling light yes. We once travelled by road about 10 miles to collect a load of hay in winter. I can still feel the cold. I also delivered grain in sacks to hen keepers and collected ash from the Ropeworks in Port Glasgow to fill potholes in our farm road.
Cyril Haearn
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Re: Cymru am byth - we love Wales!

Post by Cyril Haearn »

Our Bhoys just won at football. Again :wink:
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Cyril Haearn
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Re: Cymru am byth - we love Wales!

Post by Cyril Haearn »

Treorchy won the High Street of the Year award
Plus One for The Valleys!

We'll keep a welcome in the hillside
We'll keep a welcome in the vales
This land of song shall still be singing
When you come home again to Wales
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Cyril Haearn
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Re: Cymru am byth - we love Wales!

Post by Cyril Haearn »

Celebrating Saint Dwynwen today, the patron Saint of Love :wink:
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pwa
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Re: Cymru am byth - we love Wales!

Post by pwa »

Cyril Haearn wrote:Treorchy won the High Street of the Year award
Plus One for The Valleys!

We'll keep a welcome in the hillside
We'll keep a welcome in the vales
This land of song shall still be singing
When you come home again to Wales

I love Wales, Bryn, but I know Treorchy well and that street is at gridlock twice a day and very busy with traffic most of the rest of the day, and it is not a nice place to be for a pedestrian. I imagine it won that accolade simply because there are lots of locally owned shops. The people there tend to be very friendly and kind though.
Cyril Haearn
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Re: Cymru am byth - we love Wales!

Post by Cyril Haearn »

Only a week until St David's Day, time to practice singing:

Mae hen wlad fy nhadau yn annwyl i mi
Gwlad beirdd a chantorion, enwogion o fri
Ei gwrol ryfelwyr, gwladgarwyr tra mad
Dros ryddid collasant eu gwaed

Gwlad! Gwlaaaad!
Pleidiol wyf i'm gwlad!
Tra mor yn fur i'r bur hoff bau
O bydded yr hen iaith bar hau
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Cyril Haearn
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Re: Cymru am byth - we love Wales!

Post by Cyril Haearn »

Cyril Haearn wrote:1.3 is the Welsh national day

I love Wales because many of my best cycling memories are Welsh, and many of my best non-cycling memories

I love Wales because it is not too big or too small

I love walking in Wales, weather air and views

I love Wales because it is both familiar and strange. Everyone can speak English but..

I love the Welsh language

Why do you love Wales?

Again :wink:
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NATURAL ANKLING
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Re: Cymru am byth - we love Wales!

Post by NATURAL ANKLING »

Hi,
Not read the rest of the post just the first page so it might already have been said before.

I think S4C it's going to be scrapped?
they get 10 times the rain of Manchester.
It rains a lot in Wales from my experience of sitting in the van for a whole week.
The 37 5 million EU subsidies will end.
I don't understand the language.
What's not to like :mrgreen:
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NATURAL ANKLING
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Re: Cymru am byth - we love Wales!

Post by NATURAL ANKLING »

Hi,
Serious question I was wondering about.
How many people in Wales only speak Welsh you can't speak English?
NA Thinks Just End 2 End Return + Bivvy - Some day Soon I hope
You'll Still Find Me At The Top Of A Hill
Please forgive the poor Grammar I blame it on my mobile and phat thinkers.
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