NEW! DIARY

By Idris Jones

I had to admire the Welsh signwriter who thought he’d had the last laugh when, during renovation work at ‘The Feathers’ pub in Westminster, he painted the new pub sign with the words: “Twll din pob Sais!”
For a while, it looked like he’d got away with the abuse but he was rumbled during a visit by a Welsh-speaking member of the pub’s management team, who broke it to the landlord that an insult to his English customers stood in place of the traditional ‘Prince of Wales’ motto “Ich Dien” or “I serve”. The joke was well and truly over when red-faced bosses ordered a rapid repainting of the royal emblem – and apologised for the embarrassing prank. Two years ago, the Conservative leader David Cameron told Wales on Sunday newspaper that “Twll din pob Sais” was the only line of Welsh he’d ever been taught – his maternal nain comes from North Wales. I hope he’s not saying the phrase around Parliament!

A Cut Above

Roy Noble on Motivation

“In Gwaun Cae Gurwen there was a kind of earth mother who was adept at all the ‘old ways and remedies’. One of her specialities was ‘Torri’r Llech’ – a loose translation meaning to break or repair ricketts, a disease affecting the bones in children.”

The full version of this article appears in the September-October issue of Cambria

Mrs Patel, the chippie, and the Language Act

Quite a few language enthusiasts will be feeling pretty sore when they see the government proposals for a new language Act due after the Assembly returns in September. To be presented and shepherded through Cardiff and Westminster until they become law by none other than Plaid group deputy leader Rhodri Glyn Thomas, the bill will fall a mile short of what Cymdeithas yr Iaith have been demanding.
The language may indeed at last find a legal place within the private sector – until now its legal life been confined to areas where government was formerly or is currently engaged. But any advance will be accompanied by whispered references at the Assembly to “Mrs Patel”, or to the “fish and chip shop in Connah’s Quay” (or, for southern audiences, in Chepstow).
I think the CQ chippie was first mentioned by the Assembly Tories. But Mrs Patel was the invention of Alun Ffred Jones, the Plaid AM for Caernarfon (and former leader of Gwynedd county council). Mrs Patel keeps a corner shop “somewhere” in Gwynedd; she speaks enough English to do business; but is much better in Hindi; in Welsh, she’s got nowhere (although her children are likely to be pretty fluent).
After Mr Jones spoke about her and the language in an interview for the Welsh monthly Barn, Cymdeithas went bananas. The problem with that society is that common sense is hardly one of its virtues; rather, it demonstrates all the excitability of its younger student members; and interaction with the wider population in Wales is minimal.
Now, the same message which Mr Jones was conveying has been spelled out in official detail by the new heritage minister, the AM for Carmarthen East and Dinefwr, Rhodri Glyn. Mark well the comments he made within minutes of being announced to his new Cabinet post. “We have a commitment to a new Welsh Language Act, and we will deliver on that,” he said. Will it be the Cymdeithas yr Iaith version? asked Cambria.

The rough, tough reality of coalition politics

Two very-pleased political party leaders stood side by side on the steps of the Senedd in Cardiff Bay. Both had achieved much of what they wanted. But how long will their smiles remain?
For two years, is the probable answer from Rhodri Morgan. That is the probable period of time he intends to stay as First Minister. But for his new coalition partner Ieuan Wyn Jones, twelve hours may have been the correct answer.
My retort may perhaps be a bit unfair. But that is the precise time it took for a Labour AM to voice an (inaccurate) complaint and announce that she wanted an urgent meeting with the minister to sort out the matter.
The member in question was the normally acquiescent Rosemary Butler, AM for Newport West. She amplified complaints that no date was available for the reopening of the railway line from Ebbw Vale to Newport (the Cardiff link happens this December) into a claim that the scheme had been abandoned. She demanded to see the minister.
Over eight years such noise has rarely been heard from any Labour AM – they are such a quiet bunch that the email lines from their offices seem to have no links whatsoever to the journalists in the press gallery - totally unlike AMs affiliated to the Tory, Lib Dem or Plaid groups.
So, upon which minister was Mrs Butler intending to vent her anger? Why, none other than Ieuan Wyn Jones, the Minister for Transport and Economic Affairs. Now without doubt the honour of being a minister is worth having, but then there are those pesky elected members and their constituents to consider - particularly those signed up to another party.
There seems little doubt that Plaid Cymru would have preferred to sign a rainbow deal with the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats. The deal offered there was more radical; the constituent parties would have been more willing to throw ancient Labour policies overboard; introduce some new thinking; and with the three parties being more equal, none would have been able to dominate.
As it turned out, only a Labour deal was available. Long and hard bargaining has given Plaid three ministers and one deputy, and two of the portfolios seem almost have been made for Plaid incumbents.
But that is precisely the reason why Rhodri has been given a second reason for his big smile. Elin Jones’s occupation of Rural Affairs has enabled the First Minister to get out of his party’s hair the one area of policy with which they have almost no sympathy (apart from that evinced by smallholder Tamsin Dunwoody, who sadly lost Preseli at the election).
And the same thing has happened to the language issue. Rhodri Glyn Thomas (Carmarthen East and Dinefwr) is proud that his name will go to the new language legislation that the Assembly will be producing before long. With protests likely from language-rights hard-liners, Mr Morgan must be glad that it is not his party that will be in the firing-line.
Mr Thomas should have more fun with the heritage part of the portfolio. Labour have always had terrible difficulty accepting that England was once at war with Wales – which is no doubt a major reason why the moated site of Sycharth, near Oswestry, home of Owain Glyndwˆr, is totally unmarked, despite long-running pressure. His tourism brief should give that industry better links to the heart of government, replacing those they lost when the Wales Tourist Board was abolished.
It is the field headed by deputy minister Jocelyn Davies (South East) which most clearly bears the marks of Plaid’s bargaining. Ms Davies will deal with housing, where Plaid, in long meetings with previous minister Leighton Andrews, forced an increase in policies from two paragraphs in the Labour manifesto to almost three pages in the One Wales coalition document .

“Labour have always had terrible difficulty accepting that England was once at war with Wales”

Because of his first-language Welsh status, the First Minister has always been aware of the affordable-housing crisis in the language heartland of the West, where cash-rich incomers are pricing the locals out of every village attractive to former-Londoners. But, in a party which gains so much support from run-down industrial areas, it is difficult to obtain concessions aimed at the far-distant West.
The challenge for the nationalist part of the coalition will be to ensure that Ms Davies obtains policy moves which will satisfy such as Gareth Jones, who won back Aberconwy for Plaid after its four years in Labour hands, as much as Ms Davies’s own constituency AM, the Plaid-hating Irene James (Islwyn). Mr Jones had told a plenary of the community tensions caused by people being unable to either afford or even rent a home in their own communities.
A deep geographical and linguistic split exists here – and, now that the language-fuelled arguments of a few years ago have died down, there is considerable danger that the problems of the industrial South will prevail.
The First Minister made light of the delays in doing a deal. The eleven weeks it took was the same sort of time needed to form a coalition in Germany. Looking ahead, he mused about the sorts of alternatives which might arise in Cardiff Bay – such as a number of deals in succession which had been thrashed out, and had then collapsed. No-one was willing to say much about the final series of delays. How many hours did it take between Rhodri and Ieuan shaking hands on their list of names, and the Queen giving her purely-formal assent? About eight hours was wasted penning her “assent” to the appointment of Mr Jones as Deputy First Minister. The Cabinet took her several hours longer. Was it a garden party that intervened? Or has the signing to be fitted into one or two predetermined daily sessions? Or did the fax machine run out of paper?
Claims by some Tories that the deal won’t hold together for more than a couple of years – due to tensions induced if one coalition partner or the other loses seats heavily at next year’s council elections, or in the next Westminster poll – were firmly rejected by Plaid. Mr Jones firmly expects the deal to last a full four years, continuing under Mr Morgan’s successor. And a Plaid spokesman said that in the hierarchy of elections, the Assembly was firmly top dog.

CONTENTS OF THE MAGAZINE:

Also see our website for these articles

Jan Morris wins the Award
Anrhydedd Cymry’r Cyfanfyd – The Worldwide Welsh Award was presented to Jan Morris at the National Eisteddfod this year ‘for her exceptional and outstanding contribution to Welsh culture, heritage and letters.’

The Gathering of the Celts
Every August more than three-quarters of a million people gather in Lorient, Brittany, to experience the world’s largest and most colourful Celtic festival. 2007 was the year of Scotland - 2008 will be the year of Wales.

Llantarnam Abbey
David Jones tells the story of Llantarnam in Gwent established as a great Cistercian abbey 800 years ago by Hywel ap Iorwerth, Lord of Caerleon. Even today it remains an oasis of tranquillity and of prayer.

The Welsh Pilgrim
Patrick Thomas describes how the medieval Welsh pilgrim was not short of places to visit, and did so. Rome and Santiago de Compostella attracted many, and for those who did not wish to venture so far, there was always St Davids.

Roy Noble on motivation
‘In Gwaun Cae Gurwen there was a kind of earth mother who was adept at all the ‘old ways and remedies...’. roy noble takes a look at techniques to assist Welsh children in the quest for a good education.

Diary
Cambria’s new diarist Idris Jones offers a personal view of Wales, in ‘The first of a regular column looking at some of the things happening in Wales.. It may be controversial, useful or simply amusing...’

All about our ‘dai-aspora’
One community’s economic immigrant, under-cutting costs and wages, is another’s heroic, down-trodden worker, finding a better life for himself and family sending much-needed money home says Sion Jobbins.
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Portrait of Llangorse
Robert Jones’s portrait of Llangorse Lake: ’Originally known as Lake Syfaddan, it is the second largest in Wales, and has an amazing variety of plants and animals with species-rich grassland and woodland.’

Plus: Aberystwyth in colour; Literary section, reviews, personalities etc; Peter J. Conradi on Cascob; Byron’s Glittering Prize!

10th Anniversary Editorial

Almost exactly ten years ago in September 1997 the first issue of Cambria appeared. A day later, with a wild sense of euphoria and hope, the ‘Yes or Wales’ campaign carried the day in the devolution referendum, and Wales won its own Assembly. We are proud to have grown in tandem with the new Wales.

Looking at our first issue again, I think it is one of the best we have produced. It has some glorious photographs and challenging, thought-provoking articles which are as pertinent today as they were then. The issue may not have been quite as polished as it is today, but it is every bit as relevant. Cambria has evolved, and will keep doing so, but there is a recognisable thread that holds the whole range of its issues together - the relevance, perhaps, of the past to the present and the future.

Where are they now, those contributors to our first issue? Gwynfor Evans is sadly no longer with us, but has left Wales one of the greatest legacies of any of her sons. Jan Morris goes from strength to strength, if such is possible, and was the recipient of the World Wide Welsh Award at this year’s National Eisteddfod. John Davies never seems to change or falter in energy and enthusiasm, and has been busy producing the first-ever Welsh encyclopaedia. Patrick Thomas’s charming, uplifting articles have appeared in ever issue but one, and that was due, appropriately, to a pilgrimage. Sion Jobbins has never missed an issue, and his observations and insights are keen, germane, controversial, and influential. Lord Elis-Thomas is, of course, now Llywydd of the National Assembly and one of the nation’s leading figures. Rhodri Pugh still contributes, as do the rest of us.

Cambria has inspired a number or initiatives and campaign which have had considerable impact on Welsh life. Sadly, despite all the efforts so far the Teilo Gospels are still held in Lichfield, but there are many who are still determined to see them return home! The National Botanic Garden, thanks to the brave and inspiring leadership of Alan Hayward, the hordes of volunteers and magnificent public support, is still here despite tricky times, still developing, and seems to grow more magical with every visit.

Do we have anything to celebrate? Cambria goes on from strength to strength. Despite the Jeremiahs and the whingers we have exceeded all expectations. Every day we come across people who still haven’t discovered the magazine, we acquire new subscriptions and receive appreciative letters from all over the world. As Jan Morris says ‘gallant Cambria marches on!’

Thank you, all of you, who read Cambria, without whom our existence would be futile. Thank you to our contributors who make it so readable, to our advertisers - many of whom have become a familiar part of the magazine, and to all those who have given their support, advice and kind good wishes. Here’s to another ten years. Diolch o galon!

Frances Jones-Davies

Editor