A New Radnor

It's plain enough that the Radnorians who settled Pennsylvania's Welsh Tract at the end of the 17C named the local creek after the river back home. There's some background here.

Up the Fron

When I was a young lad living down the Gravel Road, the Fron - and we always called it the Fron, a translation I guess of Y Fron - was a mere suburb of Crossgates. Nowadays, it seems to have graduated into a place that deserves its own roadsign, which is only right and proper, as it surely had an identity long before Crossgates had a gate.



The 15C bard Lewis Glyn Cothi composed a couple of poems to Dafydd Goch ap Maredudd, a local chieftain from the parish of Llanbadarn Fawr - the 1995 edition of Glyn Cothi's work says Llanbadarn Fynydd but that doesn't make much sense. Firstly because Dafydd's descent group - Llywarch ap Bran - had land in Llanbadarn Fawr but not in Llanbadarn Fynydd, secondly because references to the river Cymaron being in the locality - nowadays misspelt Cwmaran by those who should know better - are much more appropriate to Llanbadarn Fawr. The clincher for me is this line in one of the poems - Yn y ty fry ar y fron - OK you could translate that as "in the house up on the hill" but isn't "in the house up on the Fron" more likely?

Oh I just realised that some readers might not know that the Fron and Crossgates are both in the Radnorshire parish of Llanbadarn Fawr - nothing to do with Aberystwyth.

Nice Work If You Can Get it

Journo Andrew Gilligan makes the following point in today's Sunday Telegraph:

"For bureaucrats of the Welsh Assembly Government, the retirement age is actually lower, at 50, than the average police officer."

Now I'm sure this will come as news to the average toiler at the Assembly where the retirement age - if they can afford to - is actually 60 like everywhere else in the Colonial Civil Service.

One wonders where Mr Gilligan got this information? Down the pub? From a friendly local Taxi driver? From a pal in UKIP?

Seemingly Mr Gilligan is now away on holiday, hopefully someone will put him straight if he ventures west of Offa's Dyke.

UPDATE: The Sunday Telegraph has a circulation of over half a million, so that's a fair number who will have read Mr Gilligan's ridiculous claim last week that Assembly staff retire at 50. Has anyone from the Assembly refuted the assertion, have any of the Welsh political bloggers mentioned it? Not that I can see. Even the redoubtable Robyn Lewis has failed to get a letter published on the matter. The thing is you need to stamp on these false stories before they get legs. Come the referendum there will be thousands of hard-working souls who believe that Assembly staff retire at 50 whereas they are faced with the prospect of working until 70. The Welsh political class really need to wake up and get their act together.

The Edge of the Forest

Hay Horse Fair was a good place to go if you enjoyed a fight, at least that was the opinion of the old-timers in my local Radnorian pub when I was growing-up. Nowadays locals surely approach the Hay Literary Festival in much the same way as Amazonian Indians view so-called civilisation, peering out at an alien world from the edge of the forest.

Back in the good old days Welsh writers were more likely to be found in prison than in the pages of the Guardian, now it seems that the present generation can't wait to rub shoulders with the London glitterati in Y Gelli. But wait ..... no-one of consequence noticed that they were even there or that Hay on Wye was actually in Wales. It seems we're missing out on a great marketing opportunity by not raising the Welsh profile at Hay - although none of our politicians seemed bothered when the very successful Biker show was hounded out of Builth for no good reason.

Anyway, ever eager to help here's a suggestion .... why don't the Assembly government arrange for a few "Home Rule" slogans to be painted around the town. It was Paul Theroux who said the English only took an Irishman seriously when he was holding a gun and I guess the same thing applies to the Welsh. Give the glitterati the frisson that they are entering a conflict zone and the Welsh profile of the festival could be raised for the price of a couple of cans of Dulux.

Nothing on the Telly

YouTube is chock-a-block with Andean huaylas and huayno music - marvellous stuff.

Canberry

Back in the early 1950s when London decided that Wales deserved a capital city, there were those who thought that an out in the sticks sort of place like Llandrindod would make a mighty fine Welsh Canberra.

Now, as young Karen Brockman might say, I've been to Canberra, so I'm glad that Cardiff eventually won out. Stick a few thousand civil servants in the middle of nowhere and pretty soon the main topic of conversation becomes the latest flexitime rules.

Maybe it was Jan Morris who said that Canberra was built for a race of giants, but whoever it was, it's certainly true. Canberra is a great place to cycle but not much fun for a pedestrian, when even marching up to the counter across the huge marble floor of an empty bank is quite a hike.

What fun to point out, after a long stroll to the National Gallery of Australia, that Aussie treasure Sydney Nolan - that's one of his paintings and they're all like that - was actually living back in Presteigne - OK I know The Rodd is a few yards over the border but ... Anyway my last visit there was in 1996, just after another Radnorian resident, Lord Williams of Elvel (and shouldn't that be Elfael) had published his biography of Bradman. Here was a book that contained the great truth that, quite contrary to accepted opinion, it was Englishmen who were cheats and Australians who were whingers. An opinion that, once shared, certainly got Canberrans off the subject of T&S for a while.

Just a Dream on my Mind

I wonder how many people remember the 1986 World Cup in Colombia? OK I know it was actually held in Mexico but originally Colombia had been selected to host the competition. At the time I knew a few Bogotanas - heck I even had a Millonarios football shirt - as well as folk from Barranquilla, Cartagena and even Medellin; finding somewhere to stay would be no problem. Oh and Wales would obviously qualify, having just missed out on Spain in 1982. The great trip was on.

Of course Colombia did had a few problems - guerrillas, drug cartels, murder and kidnapping on the streets. I remember someone telling me that you could hire a hitman for $10 American and after she insisted on showing me her exit wound I was a believer. As it was in early 1983 with no stadium construction underway Colombia admitted defeat and handed the rights to the tournament back to FIFA.

Any hope of Wales qualifying for the rescheduled competition in Mexico ended with another ridiculous penalty decision at Ninian Park the night Big Jock died. I like to think that in some alternate universe Colombia did host the 1986 World Cup, Wales qualified and we were there.

Apologies if you don't like the new-look blog. I was experimenting and have no idea how to get the old settings back.

Interlude Musical

Down in the dumps? Sheila ought to be able to cheer you up. Still miserable? ....... a few years later Sheila was transformed into Disco Diva Sheila B Devotion, see here. Well I'm happy now anyway.

Sitting Next to a Strange Man is Liable to Make Me Vomit.

There's a jolly article about Turf eccentric Dorothy Paget in today's Mail, by the way the title of this post is taken from a letter she wrote to the Transport authorities requesting that she be allowed to reserve a railway carriage for her own exclusive use - this during the Second World War!

What the article doesn't touch on is Ms Paget's earlier Motor Sport involvement. Firstly Dorothy was a first cousin of the racing driver Whitney Straight and she was, more importantly, the financial backer of Le Mans winner Tim Birkin and the Blower Bentley project. Paget's interest in motor sport ended with Birkin's death. It is suggested that Paget was infatuated with Birkin but given her dislike of men this is debatable. When she greeted her great steeplechaser Golden Miller in the paddock following another victory, a wag suggested that it was the first time she had kissed a male - yes, Dorothy replied, but he is a gelding.

A Llandrindod Correspondent

The time was that non-conformist Wales was one of the more philo-semitic corners of the planet. There's little left of that world now, apart from the names of a few emptying chapels and Old Testament Welsh surnames such as Moses, Israel and Jeremiah. Nowadays Welsh opinion formers are more likely to take a lead from the increasingly anti-semitic London media than from the traditions of their own country.

Given that historic philo-semtism, Tredegar's anti-Jewish riots of 1911 were something of an aberration. Attacking the businesses of unpopular shopkeepers was fairly common in the nascent revolutionary years of 1910 and 1911 in the coalfield. The attacks on specifically Jewish businesses in Tredegar lasted only a couple of days before being subsumed into more general unrest. Still it would be interesting to discover exactly who the anti-Jewish rioters were, given the ethnic and religious hotchpotch of Edwardian Monmouthshire.

The London press made a meal of the whole thing, comparing the riots to the pogroms of Russia, but Jewish correspondents from South Wales were quick to dismiss such sensationalised journalism in letters to the press. Indeed there was only one letter from Wales, it was published in the Jewish Chronicle, which hinted at any wider anti-semitism in the country. This came from a Jewish minister, Herbert Sandheim of Llandrindod Wells who seemingly blamed Jewish comedians in the music hall for the situation!

So was there something about Llandrindod and its entertainments which caused Mr Sandheim to express opinions not generally shared by his co-religionists? Infact a glance at the 1911 Census shows that Mr Sandheim was a 28 year old Glaswegian - he must have been holidaying in Llandrindod when he wrote the letter as he had been living in Swansea, with his Russian born wife, for at least a year. Radnorshire can have played little part in forming Mr Sandheim's opinions. You can read about the Tredegar riots here.

The illustration shows Staniforth's Dame Wales apologizing to a Jewish shopkeeper for the depredations of the rioters. Nowadays the BBC would probably call them peace activists.

A Radnorian State of Mind

Been reading some articles by Fred Pearce on the over-population myth. this is a good summary. Even more evidence that lovable old David Attenborough is one of the most dangerous individuals in Britain. Seemingly Jeremy Irons is the latest to nail his colours to the Eugenics masthead. Why don't these people take the most obvious step to reducing the world's population?

Talking of superfluous luvvies it's the ghastly Hay Festival and it isn't raining .............. bugger! How will Breconshire's leading artist, the amazing Steffan Powell, ever complete his magnum opus without a steady supply of sodden panama hats from the festival field? His mud entombed SUV taken from the RWAS showground was such a triumph, although the ewes in the Ifor Williams trailer are getting a bit rank now. Think formaldehyde Steffan.

Finally, I've been spending a fair amount of time delving into the 1911 Census looking, amongst other things, at the last few dozen young Radnorians from established Radnorshire families who still spoke Welsh. Some of these individuals even lived on into the 1990s, like Joni said you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone.

Give 'em an Asbo

Watched a TV programme about drummers and Keith Moon's penchant for driving cars into swimming pools. Of course this was just another example of rock stars copying the anti-social behaviour of an earlier generation of race drivers.

Innes Ireland usually gets the blame for parking a Hertz hire car in a hotel swimming pool in California back in the early 60s, although in reality the culprit was local sportscar driver Augie Pabst. It was seemingly done to settle a bet about headlights working underwater and Hertz weren't very pleased until Pabst pointed out that their advertising slogan of the day was "you park it, we collect it."

At this point I would post a photo of French GP driver Harry Schell's little road car neatly parked in his hotel bedroom, only the copyright police might not approve.

"Fair Votes"

So what would the House of Commons have looked like if it was actually decided by "fair votes" as Billy Bragg and his mates seem to wish? Something like this:

Tories 235, Labour 188, Lib Dems 149, UKIP 20, BNP 12, SNP 11, Green 6, Democratic Unionists 4, Plaid Cymru 4, Sinn Fein 4, the Rest (around 14 parties) 17

So I guess the BNP would be up for that. Of course there are plenty of PR systems which could be worked to exclude extremist minority parties but then they wouldn't be "fair" would they?

"Fair votes" takes power even further away from communities and puts it more firmly than ever in the hands of the party bosses and the media manipulators, but hey that's just my opinion.

NOTE: I'm not sure if sacking Kay Burley is one of the conditions for Clegg joining the coalition, although it would be a fairly easy one to agree on.

Musical Interlude

You Tube gold ....... Mr Jackie Shane

Election Round-Up

I've got a stalker .... his name's Nick Clegg and he keeps sending me letters. It's all a bit unnerving.

I did think of voting for the Tory, especially after watching a determined 70 year old, who normally walks with a stick, scrambling down a cliff face to recover a Suzy Davies placard thrown there by some hater. I thought about it, but then I remembered those poor folk evicted into the snows of Rhos Llanyre in the 1830s and I realised it was too soon, give it another 100 years and maybe.

Years ago candidates actually used to turn up on your doorstep but nowadays campaigning seems to be restricted to the telly. The only one to make it down my garden path was the Labour lad, who is about 15 and hasn't yet sipped too deep at the well of cynicism.

UKIP? I hadn't realised that the only people they hate more than the Continentals are each other. If you enjoy a bit of a snigger then check out this UKIP member's blog.

Back in 1970 I hitch-hiked halfway across the country to cast a vote for Plaid Cymru. Nowadays? Well, the most interesting thing about their campaign is the age of their candidate - is she 56 or 70? In the interest of completeness I should mention that there are three looney candidates standing, one green one, one mad one and one with a silly hat.

Posh Totty

It would be a fairly bigoted Labour supporter who refused to admit that Samantha Cameron possessed a decent undercarriage. OK not enough to get one voting for Suzy Davies, but still.

Anyway while perusing today's papers I came across an article detailing some of the gel's blue blooded ancestors and one reference caught my eye, her grandmother was the widow of a racing driver. So who could this be, the article didn't say? Infact a little research revealed it was someone we've already posted about on this blog, Glen Kidston.

Kidston, winner of Le Mans in 1930 and whose various dare-devil exploits earned him the tabloid sobriquet "the man who cannot be killed" finally met his maker flying in the Drakensburg Mountains, he'd recently broken the London to the Cape record. Kidston's funeral service was held at Glasbury Church on June 3rd 1931. I'm not sure if he was buried at Glasbury or at the family estate - does anyone know? Kidston's widow wasted no time finding a new husband, marrying Sam's grandfather later that year.

Howey was Howey when Llandrindod was a pup, Howey will be Howey when Llandrindod's buggered up!

It seems that the Radnorshire village of Howey has awakened from its slumbers to seek fame and fortune in the BBC and Big Lottery Fund Village SOS competition. Good luck to them.

Looking at the before and after pictures in the bilingual directory, it's something of a shock to realise that your blogger is more familiar with the village in its late 19th Century guise rather than the present day. Certainly nothing much changed until the 1970s, when the Pentis - the old wooden smithy (middle distance) and the bakehouse (foreground) were knocked down. The less said about the Bridgend Inn being renamed the Laughing Dog the better.

Incidentally, I wonder if the regenerators of Ashfield are aware that the site was originally called Shimne Wen?

Equal Treatment?

I'm trying to avoid this fantasy election but I couldn't help noticing that all the London based parties, including the saintly Nick Clegg, are now demanding that immigrants have to learn English. Can you imagine the kerfuffle if someone suggested that incomers to Meirionydd, for example, should have to learn Welsh?

In a sane country it might happen but in Wales not a chance. Even the Assembly is quite content that 30% of the public servants in it's Caernarfon office can't speak Welsh, while in the Carmarthen and Aberystwyth offices monoglot English speakers make up a whopping 70% of the staff.

Land Speed Record

click to read

I can't say I'm very interested in modern-day motor sport. Take rallying for example, time was it tested road car reliability, stamina and navigational skills. Nowadays road cars are pretty reliable, you can find your way with satnav and driving for long periods without a break is seen as irresponsible. Modern day rallying has retreated to the forests where a series of short sprints are the order of the day. What is the point?

Formula racing might have a purpose if it contributed to the most important motoring issue of the day - sustainability. As it happens 1950s Grand Prix racing - when the cars ran on ethanol for example- was far more eco friendly than the current over-blown circus.

Perhaps the most pointless exercise of all is the Land Speed Record. Who but a few eccentric Englishman would want to charge around at 700mph? Everyone else gave up when technological development meant landing on the moon, not sitting on the end of a four-wheeled rocket belting across a dried out lake.

Of course it once had a point and the holder of the land speed record at 125mph between 1914 and 1924 was one Ligurd G Hornstead - or was it? Now Ligurd is a pretty rare forename and no such person as Ligurd Hornstead exists in the public records, I once put forward the theory that the speedsters real name was Lydston Hornstedt, a son of a former British consul, born in Moscow. Now the above extract from the 1911 census seems to clinch that identification.

"the backward and pagan county of Radnorshire"

The Religious Census of 1851 would certainly have added weight to the view of mainstream non-conformist Wales that Radnorshire was a pagan county. The bare figures show just 50% of the population attending a place of worship on 30th March 1851 compared with 105% in devout Cardiganshire.* Even the heathen city of Cardiff managed a 70% turnout. Only the Rhayader district 72% shows a degree of religiosity, while Presteigne 49% and Knighton 37% are firmly in the camp of the damned.

The figures have to be treated with a degree of caution however, because they are based on Registration districts not the administrative county boundaries - it's a difference that continues to catch out researchers today. Ten Radnorshire parishes were counted in the Builth district 61% and nine with Hay 65%. Meanwhile the Knighton district contained seven English parishes while Presteigne contained fourteen Herefordshire parishes including the town of Kington.

The figures from the 1910 Report on Religious Bodies in Wales have been published on an administrative county basis and these show little difference between Radnorshire, 40% of the population shown as being a member/communicant of a religious body, and neighbouring Breconshire 44% and Montgomeryshire 45%. Yes Radnorians still lagged behind the Cardis 64% but were well ahead of Monmouth 24% and Glamorgan 31%.

Radnorshire was no doubt a less chapel frequenting county - in 1910 the Anglicans on 41% of the religious still outnumbered the Baptists on 36% - but was it quite as pagan as the 1851 figures might suggest?

*The figure was arrived at by comparing the number of worshippers with the population, of course some attended more than one service and would be counted twice.