http://chartists.blogware.com/blog/_archives/2009/3/1/4108660.html
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http://www.angelfire.com/ga/BobSanders/CHARTISM.html
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The Merthyr even was excellent, nice sunny day for the street theater and my congratulations to 'Chance Encounters' for their theatrical interpretations on the street and inside the meeting hall. Historians Joe England, Huw Williams, Les James also made an excellent and interesting contributions and later debated the virtues of the Peoples Charter, issue of physical force over constitutional means. Not least of interest here was the failure of Merthyr Chartists to give any full and meaningful support to Monmouthshire Chartism and the Rising of 1839.
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Appreciative thanks must go to other contributions made by Uact2 with presentation 'Sounds like Chartism' also Cor Cochion Caerdydd. Not least thanks to Viv Pugh of the Dic Penderyn Society for setting up 1831 exhibition at Merthyr Library, if others made same effort in producing and presenting such Workers History Exhibitions in their local libraries and Community Centres then Welsh Working Class history, not least of Popular Struggle might gain an higher profile than it does at present in public mind and a fading memory of our peoples history.
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I had to leave before the days events concluded with a workshop on ''The Legacy - and into the future'', mores pity as I would have liked to have made a little contribution to discussion. The legacy of Chartism of course may be seen in many ways, but as for the future, I cannot fail to comment that whilst people benefited long term from the Chartist Struggle, unfortunately it led toward a British Road to Socialism or now we might say the end product of Blair - Brown New Labour.
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It's not my purpose now to discuss the benefits, failings and faults of that British Road or of the Labour Party in the years from 1849 to our present day. Suffice to say if we are to establish another popular Peoples Charter, lets remember that the Chartist slogan of the period being commemorated called for a ''CHARTER FOR ENGLAND'', I say it is now time for a 'CHARTER FOR WALES'. May that then be a 'WELSH SOCIALIST CHARTER', possibly providing for a platform and umbrella for a future Democratic Progressive Socialist Movement of the left in Wales. I somehow have the feeling that the Tories might be back in power post next BGE, and that also possibly the Tories might make in road advances to increased power within the National Assembly.
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As for the future, if PLAID goes into a political retreat, I can see that it will revert to a main presence in rural regions North and West and then remain more or less a largely rural cultural nationalist party representing old and new Crachach. Keep in mind PLAID is quite capable of Coalition with Tories and Liberals, thus a 'Left Alliance' might serve socialist struggle better and not least in defence of People against Tory rule from London and possibly from in Bae Caerdydd too?
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Time will tell? Whatever, if you want to attend the next Chartist event and involve yourselves in a new Peoples Charter you may do so on the 16 May at Llanidloes Community Centre, I urge one and all to support the Chartist Commemoration by attending this event, this time organised by Llafur - Welsh Peoples History Society. To conclude, I have a number of photos of the Merthyr event which I hope to post up soon.
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Gethin Gruffydd.
