THINK TANKS: THE BEVAN FOUNDATION A Left Alternative To The ''Nationalist'' Institute of Welsh Affairs.

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New Statesman - Wales must rediscover Bevan Bevan first: we didn't choose to name our foundation after him because he was ... And so - the Bevan Foundation, whose aim is "to create a communal and co- ...www.newstatesman.com/200103050022 - Similar pages - Note this

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The Bevan Foundation Website - Home - 4 visits - 16:22 The Bevan Foundation is the social justice think tank for Wales. It carries out research, publishes reports and articles, and organises discussions and ...www.bevanfoundation.org/ - 13k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this

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£10m won't solve Valleys problems - icWales The document, by Victoria Winckler of the Bevan Foundation, claims current levels of funding for the Assembly’s Heads of the Valleys initiative, ...icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/news/wales-news/2008/05/14/10m-won-t-solve-valleys-problems-91466-20906044/ - 46k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this

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So where does Heads of the Valleys Initiative Regeneration go from here? Expect WAG to fill a begging bowl or maybe Gorden Brown will deliver, that will be hoping. The Regeneration Appraisal Documents has been done and delivered, the Conference held and Huw Lewis AM has got a few Sound Bites out of it on TV and on the Radio. But what next? Sit around and wait for a miracle, meanwhile Merthyr continues to get slagged off as a ''town of slackers'', time to prove just how mistaken everyone is, not least the pessimist pundits of the media. Lets get an ''Act Together'', and that act is a plan of Socialist Self Will and Self Advancement led by the same Spirit that witnessed the workers and people of the Heads of the Valleys rise up in 1831 against all odds, to make a stand for Liberty and Freedom from Tyranny and Oppression. Today the people at the Heads of the Valleys must focus aspiration and inspiration on and around a great International Welsh Socialist Festival, a major long weekend or even week long event of many activities from Merthyr to Hirwaun, and including Aberdare and other communities in the valleys of Glamorgan. Now do not sleep on this start seriously thinking about it, all of keen interest meet during Insurrection 1831 Red Week 2008, first week of June and discuss, to begin with many of the ideas and initiatives in this R.R.Blog. That will be a good start, just take it from there but whatever, make a start in direction of Self Help and collective community action.

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G.

MAY DAY WALES 2009 & BEYOND. Calan Mai Cymru Calls For Cardiff Event

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I dedicate this post to the 'Llansamlet 12' ...Run Lads Run!!!! 12 Llansamlet Copper Workers who had been imprisoned, escaped and go on the run, see WANTED POSTER dated 1820 reproduced in the National Archive, link here >http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/humanrights/1815-1848/doc-tradeunion-image.htm . Their ''Crime'' being 'Combining' as a 'Trade Union' for the purpose to raise wages. I have not had chance to research further, wonder if they got caught, anyone know?

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Post Subject: MayDay 2008 « Calan Mai International Workers Day in Cardiff 2009. « A call for Calan Mai 2009 · MayDay 2008. Whilst there was no noticeable marking of Mayday in Wales this year, ...calanmai.wordpress.com/2008/05/12/mayday-2008/ - 11k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this . Excellent source of radical information but as for the call for, what I perceive is a call for a ''Welsh National'' May Day event in Caerdydd, it leaves me cold. Not that I do not support the idea of marking May day in Wales, but as soon as I seen the call for it to be in Cardiff, I sighed! Just got to ask, why Cardiff? The ''Bosses'' City, the Capital of Cymric Capitalism in the 19th century, a city built on the sweat of the workers, and today a ''Cymric Crachach Capital''.

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I do not wish to appear too negative, so may I suggest an alternative, but first let me say if all things were perfect I feel it would be far better for one and all to focus on holding May Day events activities in their own communities, rather than centralise in one locality. I have made similar arguments about celebrating Dydd Dewi, not that I do myself but consider it best an event taking place in numerous communities rather than being being centralised in Cardiff as a ''National Event''. Though, I do see the need for a ''National Event'' and have suggested that the ''National Event'' is only held in Cardiff when 'Dydd Dewi' falls on a Saturday. Other than that far better if one and all just concentrated on their own community concerns. Apart from such reason, I am opposed to all this ''Cardiffcentricism'', and if one looked beyond the City limits one would find a wider Wales pretty much ''pissed off'' with what is perceived as this Cardiff treating that ''Greater Cymru'' as some kind of ''Internal Colony'' to a Euro Empire City State.

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Having said the above, my preference as being for Community May Day events - even what might be organised as a MAY DAY OF COMMUNITY ACTION, possibly next year 2009 outside Supermarkets, the biggies as Tesco et al. Why! well by next year the matter of food, and feeding the ''Wretched of the Earth'' and our own growing poor at home will be a bigger issue than it is now. However, if it is really felt the most priority of things to have a MAY DAY event, to be in some International 'Line Dance' on the 1st May, I can but again ask the question Why Cardiff? WHY NOT SWANSEA? My case for Swansea/Abertawe is not only a matter of saying Cardiff you can keep Dydd Dewi ''National Event'' but let Swansea have a May Day ''National Event''. No, I am not a ''Swansea Jac'' and this is not a member of any ''Jac Army'' speaking.

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My case for Swansea rests on both reason and history, much of the reason I have made known above but I also remind that Cardiff's got the National Welsh History Museum, and traditional largely rural Calan Mai events and activities will be held there over the years ahead. You can guarantee they will be big and well publicised and be a big alternative draw to any May Day event in Cardiff, on the other hand do keep firmly in mind that Swansea is home to the NATIONAL MARITIME and INDUSTRIAL MUSEUM of WALES (Please keep in mind Sailors were as much workers as Iron Workers and Miners). Further, I happened to be in Abertawe for the May Day bank Holiday and visited the Museum and took a look around the Marina, despite being a nice day, the Museum and Marina was not exactly swamped with people, tourists or locals. Thus the point is, that not only is there potential in using a large foyer space in the museum for events and activities, not least exhibitions and stalls for a major May Day event but also it's a Museum worth visiting and taking children to. There is also an huge amount of outside space, toward Town there is a green often used for various events as Maritime Festival but also around Marina there is much space as there is in streets close by, these are streets without heavy traffic.

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If the purpose of any May Day event is to grow, then also note that in this Maritime Quarter is the Dylan Thomas Centre, and there is a small theatre near, plus close by Swansea Museum. If the purpose of a ''National'' May Day event is to be ''Family Friendly'' as well as have a ''political edge', then a May Day Parade through town could be held with a concluding May Day Rally some where in the Maritime Quarter but then I would hope that any May Day Festival would get a bit ''Lighter'' with various festivities as outdoor music, street theatre and so on. On the whole given the size of Cardiff as compared to Swansea, I also think that a May Day event would make a bigger impact in Swansea whilst just being lost or out of the way, what in the Bay (again) in Cardiff.
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Having said all that above, as the big ''Swansea Sell'', to continue, now the history as to why Swansea and not Cardiff is my personal preference. The years 1793 - 1835 are important years in history of working people in Wales, as is well recorded in the book BEFORE REBECCA Popular Protest In Wales 1793 - 1835 by David V.W. Jones. Part one of this book is titled as Pre - Industrial Unrest, nevertheless in chapter 1 Corn Riots in Wales 1793 - 1801 we see an emerging Industrial Working class arising to struggle, not just on behalf of them selves but also for their communities. Yes! we also see demands for higher wages and the beginnings of Trade Unionism but at this point in time, of our own post Industrial Society here in Wales along with a growing global concern about food, there are echoes with this 18th century ''Distant Mirror''.

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This year we have witnessed throughout the world food shortages being the cause of food riots, so too in Wales particularly over the years 1793 - 96. Most major Welsh Towns in these years were centres of Corn Riots, but one event stands out in terms of popular protest and of organised workers action that maybe also marks a key moment in Working Class history in Wales. This took place in Swansea on 4 February 1793, on this day many months of unrest and protest in the town came to an head, 100's of Copper workers and others from neighbourhood of Llangyfelach marched on the town. This event stands fourth as an epic account of Workers and people involved in collective action of civil protest with an organised purpose of putting grievances before the portreeve and magistrates of the town gathered at the Guildhall.

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Any Swansea May Day event could hold a May Day Parade from the present Guildhall, through Town centre to Maritime Quarter, to commemorate these events of 1793. The Civil Powers at the time felt the matter was well out of their hands and feared the Workers and people might take power within the communities of Swansea, and thus appeals were made to William Pitt to send in the Soldiers. So they were and in no short time the Second Regiment of Dragoons occupied the ''effected areas''. History of Swansea - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia In the same year, workers from all the copper works in Swansea went on strike ... In this early part of the 19th century, the area which is now Brynmill, ...en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Swansea - 65k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this

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The following years 1794 - 75 in particular witnessed widespread corn riots throughout Wales, it is a matter of conjecture if the French were drawn to possible good prospects in Wales, that led to their disaster at Garregwasted on 22 February 1797. Unfortunately for revolutionary hopes popular protests had declined by 1796 into 1797 but by the end of the decade the discontent was kicking off again, no where more significantly so than in Merthyr Tudful (am I glad I was born there and not, Caernarfon? Thanks Dad but a special thanks to Mam, Merthyr born and bred!). 1800 - 1801 was to see in Merthyr Tudful the beginnings of what would make this town and it's outlaying Tai un Nos Townships ''Workers Barrios'' the Revolutionary centre, maybe we could call it the ''Revolutionary Capital'' of Wales. The Popular Protests and Disturbances in Merthyr in these years would come to a dramatic conclusion in September 1801 when a major riot broke out, the riot was all but the Rising Merthyr was to witness in 1831. That the riot of 1801 was something beyond the usual can be seen in records of the time, in which ''the powers that be'' seriously feared a workers insurrection throughout the South. As with 1831 it was a major military occupation of Merthyr which brought and end to a potential Merthyr Rising 1801, still the consequences were 50 arrests and imprisonments, with the ringleaders being taken to Cardiff Jail.

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However, Merthyr defeated is not Merthyr conquered, against continuing establishment fears of Workers Insurrection, an address by an ''anonymous author'' at the time was circulated around Merthyr and it's 'Barrios', the address warned ''...the price of necessities had reached such a level that the workmen on the hills had decided on a revolution against 'Tyranny and Oppression', and the revolt was to take place on either of the two following Sundays''. Obviously written by a revolutionary optimist way ahead of the right time - to seize the time! However, 1816 was not too far down times road and neither was 1831! I will conclude here and suggest you read the aforementioned book that I have sourced for this information. REMEMBER THE PAST TO BUILD THE FUTURE - EDUCATE TO BE FREE! But best of all remember the imortal words of workers leader Lewis Lewis outside the Castle Hotel on the 3 Mehefin 1831.....''Shoot Back Boys! Shoot Back!''

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No! I am not making a case for Merthyr Tudful to be venue for a May Day ''National Event'' with that town being venue in time lined up for a major 1831 INSURRECTION RED COMMUNE COMMEMORATION during first week of June. it being only a matter of time before this proposed ''International Event'' gets it's act together, as well as the Peoples History Museum proposed my Huw Lewis AM. So, I will stick with the previous alternative suggestions I have made, keep May Day local and community based but if it really thought a must that a ''National Event'' is held, every time I would favour Abertawe to Caerdydd. But having said that I would support what ever is decided upon as the best outcome, I conclude by reminding that, it is as important to remember not alone the rising of the Red Flag on 31 May 1831 on Hirwaun Common but most importantly not forget the massacre that took place in Merthyr on 3 Mehefin 1831. I would not for one moment distract from the Haymarket events of 1886 but for the fact to emphasize the point that, perhaps thanks to the 'Weathermen', the Haymarket Martyrs have an excellent memorial. However, the 28 Merthyr Martyrs murdered on the 3 Mehefin 1831 have none, and this event was left unmarked until I placed my own temporary memorial there, which survived a Saturday night and lasted out the week (see pic below). Unfortunately, I will not be able to do same this year, as I shall be in Paris for the Commune 1871 Commemoration. Maybe others can make journey to Merthyr to raise up a loaf of bread on a pole with of course the Red Flag, at place I self styled & dedicated as PLAS 3 MEHEFIN 1831, this is all fully informed on, in previous posts in this RED REMEMBRANCER blog.

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Post Script: For a wonder full Radical Red Rememberance Weekend outing with freinds and family over the coming end of May Bank Holiday, get out of the Cities and try some countryside in and around Pentre Penderyn and Hirwaun. Soak up the Socialist History and the Sun with a bit of luck. See previous posts for full information on where to go and what to do, you want regret it and whilst your about it, think on my suggestion regards an ''Highlander Initiative'' at Pentre Penderyn. I have mentioned this too, in a previous post, myself I am keen on this Initiative be a two/three day end of May BH event, one day for history and one day on politics with in time a third day devoted to 'Radical Activism'. Think on it !
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INFORMATION: Haymarket Memorial, 2005 The 1886 Haymarket violence and the subsequent trial of eight anarchists, and execution of four, for their political beliefs has been a much-contested ...www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/11545.html - 7k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this .Haymarket affair - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Plaque on the pedestal of Mary Brogger's Haymarket Memorial sculpture. ... "The First May Day and the Haymarket Affair", May Day: A Short History of the ...en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haymarket_martyrs - 188k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this . Hopefully this will enspire some interest in similar for the 1831 Merthyr Massacre, any one with ideas and suggestions about this, do contact me at gethin.apgruffydd@ntlworld.com

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Best Wishes.
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Gethin.

MERTHYR TUDFUL REGENERATION & RESURGENT: The Eureka - Ballarat Way?

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Merthyr Tudful is keen for some positive regeneration and progressive resurgence, and why not? but hopefully they do not ''throw the 1831 baby out with the bath water''. I have heard a few people express the oppinion that images and talk of Red Flags and Revolution, is hardly the way to brand a town in the 21st century and it does not exactly inspire confidence in capitalist investors. This of course is a mistaken view, and Merthyr should be more than just proud about the stand made in 1831, for it was against tyrrany and oppression and the flag raised was for liberty. So Merthyr, should not just have immense pride in this history but boast loudly about it far and wide as does the City of Ballarat in Austrailia regards a similar insurrection that took place there in 1831, see website links below.

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But we do not have to go as far as Austrailia to see a City really proud and boasting about it's Insurrection, I mean of course Newport Rising 1831, the council over the years have errected a number of statues, placed history markers plus seen created an excellent mural. Merthyr Tudful, as far as I know has a plaque placed by voluntary effort on the Library, oh yes! there is a Weatherstone pub named after Dic Penderyn. Newport has a John Frost Square does Merthyr have any streets named after those who participated in the Merthyr Rising? Possibly they do, so please inform if so ok! also correct me if I have ignored other markers of the Merthyr Rising 1831. I am aware of the excellent presentation of the revolt at the Museum at Cyfarthfa Castle, and no doubt if Merthyr gets the Peoples History of Wales that will also tell the story of 1831. You will also note that any sense of regret about the Paris Commune in the Paris District of Montmarte has long been abandoned, so to regards America's forgotten Civil Revolts as the Shay's Revolt and Whiskey Rebellion, see link > The Whiskey Rebellion - Friendship Hill National Historic Site The Whiskey Rebellion took place throughout the western frontier. There was not one state south of New York whose western counties did not protest the new ...www.nps.gov/frhi/whiskreb.htm - 16k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this.

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However, of more comparative relevance is the Eureka Stockade Rebellion at Ballarat in 1854 which for many decades was a source of embarrassment to this growing successful town moving towards becoming a major City of Victoria State, Austrailia, see link > Eureka Stockade - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia The Eureka Stockade was a gold miners' revolt in 1854 in Ballarat, Victoria, Australia, against the officials supervising the mining of gold in the region ...en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eureka_Stockade - 84k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this. But no embarrazment now as Ballarat embraces it's history and wants the world to know about it, not least as it is now so central to the making of a modern and confident Austrailia.

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Ballarat, Victoria - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Gold was discovered near Ballarat in 1851, and the influx of over 10000 miners in less than a year transformed it from a pastoral town into Victoria's ...en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ballarat,_Victoria - 105k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this

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The above in mind, I draw attention to a meeting in Merthyr on Monday 12 May sponsored by the Bevan Foundation, see link > The Bevan Foundation Website - Home - 2 visits - 13:40 Then you should join the Bevan Foundation for just £25 a year. Click here for details. Bevan Blog. The Bevan Foundation's blog keeps you informed and ...www.bevanfoundation.org/ - 12k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this . The following information below about this meeting, is taken from a blog via the above BF website:

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Rethinking Regeneration in the valleys In the last five years ago I have heard many derogatory things said about Merthyr - "it's like Beirut, the best have left, the problem is their attitude, why don't they get on the train to Cardiff" etc etc. I also have seen the Heads of the Valleys programme, announced nearly 4 years ago, full of good intent but with not enough money or action on the ground it has achieved little other than a mess in the town centre and the threat of a Status Quo concert in the park in the summer. So, I have put pen to paper and written a pamphlet - Rethinking Regeneration: the Heads of the Valleys. I hope it will put to rest the insulting myths that swirl around the chattering classes of Cardiff and generate some real commitment to improving matters. It's being launched on 12th May at Merthyr College Theatre 4 p.m. - there will also be a 'question time' with local AMs and MPs. It's free too but you need to register in advance. The pamphlet will be available there or you will be able to download it from our website.
And, if you want more of this kind of thing, then you should JOIN the Bevan Foundation because that is the only way we can raise any money.
Posted by Victoria Winckler at 08:29

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Details of Meeting as follows: The challenge of the Heads of the ValleysMonday 12th May 20084 p.m. (refreshments from 3.30 p.m.) Merthyr College Theatre, Merthyr Tydfil A debate to mark the launch of the Bevan Foundation's latest pamphlet which challenges the Welsh Assembly Government and other bodies to more to ensure the Heads of the Valleys enjoys the same standards of living as the rest of Wales. With Leighton Andrews AM, Leanne Wood AM, Dai Davies MP and Victoria Winckler. All welcome but prior registration is essential - email events@bevanfoundation.org Sponsored by the Paul Robeson Trust Cymru

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I cannot myself attend this meeting, but anyone who is and whom might be enthusiastic about ideas and suggested Initiatves in this post or other posts in this RR Blog, please feel free to use in discussions at this or any other similar meeting regards Merthyr and any 1831 Commemoration. See further information on Eureka - Ballarat as good example for Merthyr to follow:

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Ballarat Eureka Stockade - 13:43 Information on the Eureka Stockade, Ballarat. ... The original Eureka flag, first raised on Bakery Hill and then flown over the Eureka Stockade and torn ...www.ballarat.com/eurekastockade.htm - 6k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this

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Eureka Stockade - Australia's Culture Portal An article about the 1854 Eureka rebellion, often referred to as the Eureka Stockade, which arose because of widespread opposition on the part of goldfield ...www.cultureandrecreation.gov.au/articles/eurekastockade/ - 26k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this

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Eureka Centre Ballarat Eureka - Home Premier Bracks Eureka Address The Significance of Eureka The Eureka Precinct Eureka Stockade Gardens Eureka Trails Guide Annual Report About the Eureka Flag ...www.eurekaballarat.com/ - 20k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this

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Eureka Stockade - The Film ...Site Created by Jargon Marketing & Design · Skip Intro >>>. Last updated November 22 2002.www.eurekastockadefilm.com/ - 3k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this

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So once Merthyr decides to go down the Ballarat - Eureka Road, next I suggest going down the Tolpuddle Martyrs Road with a major annual 'Head of Valley's Insurrection 1831 Commemoration Festival , as follows may inspire:

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Tolpuddle Martyrs The Tolpuddle Martyrs - their own amazing accounts in 'The Victims of Whiggery' and 'The Horrors of Transportation', written on their return from ...tolpuddlemartyrs.online-today.co.uk/ - 11k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this

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Welcome to the Tolpuddle Martyrs Museum The Tolpuddle Martyrs Museum tells the harrowing tale of the Martyrs arrest, ... This Website has been created with the generous financial support of ...www.tolpuddlemartyrs.org.uk/ - 8k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this

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Trades Union Congress - About the TUC The TUC is not responsible for content of external internet sites Tolpuddle Martyrs Online Please also see the complete list of web site links. ...www.tuc.org.uk/the_tuc/index.cfm?mins=75&minors=75 - 24k - Cached - Similar pages - Note thisMore results from www.tuc.org.uk »

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MerthyrRising : Merthyr Rising 1831 - the beginning Merthyr Rising 1831 Commemoration - Cardiff Dic Penderyn was executed 13 Awst 1831: Outside the market on St Mary Street, Cardiff near the spot where he was ...merthyrrising.blogspirit.com/archive/2006/01/05/merthyr-rising-1831-the-beginning.html - 20k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this

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L'actualité de la Commune - 09:45- [ Translate this page ] L’Association des Amis de la Commune de Paris-1871 a mis en place des commissions, comme l'avait .... Gilles Plas. 77470 Trilport. PAROLES DE MILITAIRE. ...lacomune.club.fr/pages/Actua2005B26/pageactua/page6.html - 52k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this .

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Montmartre - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - 2 visits - 14:20 Many artists had studios or worked around the community of Montmartre such as Salvador Dalí, Claude Monet, Pablo Picasso and Vincent van Gogh. ...en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montmartre - 45k - Cached - Similar pages - Note thisMore results from en.wikipedia.org »

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That's about it, if you want to make any enquiries, I can be contacted at g.apgruffydd@ntlworld.com Further note, Sian Ifan has been researching for over a year for a book on Lewis Lewis, Lewsyn yr Heliwr, taking the Insurrection beyond, just of Dic Penderyn and the ''Cult of Martyrdom''. Yes! some Revolutionary Revisionism!!! Sian can be contacted at s.ifan@ntlworld.com

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Gethin.

CHARTIST 1848 COMMEMORATION 2008. A Postscript To Previous Post.

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The Very Salt Of Life: Welsh Women's Political Writings from Chartism to Suffrage. Honno Classics. Edited by Jane Aaron and Ursula Masson. An excellent must have on your shelf book. Although for my purpose in this post, just want to draw attention to Part One: Chartism, Nationalism and Socialism, three essays for you to consider, they being 1: Members of the Blackwood Female Patriotic Association, anonymous Chartist address to Henry Vincent. 2: Jane Williams, Ysgafell. Remarks on the Blue Books 1848. 3: Agusta Hall, Lady Llanover. An address to the Women of Wales. Also see the Introduction to this Part One by Jane Aaron. Just a brief comment regards writting 1: references within show clearly the identification of the writter with British Chartism and links to Bristol and Bath more than with Towns in other parts of Wales. In this same connection it should not be lost on us, that in 1831 there was also a major Insurrection in Bristol > Bristol Riots - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia The Bristol Riots of 1831 took place after the House of Lords rejected the second Reform Bill, which aimed to get rid of some of the rotten boroughs and ...en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bristol_Riots - 29k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this These riots having as much impact on ''Monmouthshire'' as the Merthyr Insurrection of that year, indeed English migration into ''Monmouthshire'' at this time pulled it closer towards the ideas about trade unions and Chartism, ideas generally coming out of England into Wales. I suspect that Penderyn and Hirwaun were witness to more ideas coming out of Ireland, certainly as well as the Ceffyl Pren rural justice experience of West Wales migrants into Southern Industrial Wales in the 1820's on into the 1830's and beyond.

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It is not possible to talk about 1831, 1839 nor 1848 without mentioning Alexander Cordell Alexander Cordell - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Alexander Cordell was the pen-name of George Alexander Graber (September 9, 1914 - November 13, 1997), a prolific Welsh novelist and author of thirty ...en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Cordell - 24k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this . Not only did his books make an huge impact (my eldest daughter is named after a character in his novel, Rape of the Fair Country) at time they were first printed but continue to do so. Not least in the creation of a Cordell Country, liesiure and Tourism Landscape across the Southern Vallies, see > Cordell Country - 12:37 Travel and tourist information about South Wales, the area that inspired Alexander Cordell's works.www.cordellcountry.org/ - 2k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this ALSO SEE > Cordell Literature Competition Alexander Cordell Literature Competition 2008 - Children’s Short Story Competition. Entries are invited for the 5th annual Alexander Cordell Literature ...www.cordellcountry.org/flash/litnew.html - 12k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this Are you getting thirsty, try in here > The Cordell Country Inn - 12:42 The Cordell Country Inn is a family run inn with panoramic views over the Sugar Loaf Mountain and Brecon Beacons.www.cordellcountryinn.co.uk/ - 6k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this WANT TO READ MORE > Blorenge Books and Cordell Cordell Country by Chris Barber . AND LISTEN TO SOME REBEL MUSIC > Dawson Smith.com - The Cordell Collection The Cordell Collection Folk Songs by Dawson Smith ... This led to me being contacted by The Cordell Country tourism project (as I had credited the books and ...www.dawsonsmith.com/dawson/cordell_info.html - 19k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this.

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Further to above, for more about the history of Industrial South Wales, check out HERIAN >Welcome to Herian - Herian Herian Logo and title, enter the site containing English text · enter the site containing Cymraeg text. Montage of people enjoying the heritage of ...www.herian.org/ - 3k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this .

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That's it! Cannot think of much else.

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Gethin.

CHARTISM 1848 - 2008: 160th Anniversary. Whose Legacy? Discussion & Debate For May.

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Adam Price Plaid MP kicked off a debate, of which you can read via this link > Grounds for Plaid to claim Chartist legacy - icWales Clearly Vincent and the other Chartists had not thought through in any detail the implications of what a Welsh republic would be like and how it could ...icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/.../2008/03/31/grounds-for-plaid-to-claim-chartist-legacy-91466-20695102/ - 41k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this . I have already commented on this in a previous post in this blog, now in this post I am encouraging continued discussion and debate on this subject and related matters of Socialism and Nationalism, not least in a Welsh Historical and contemporary context.

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However, as important I hope this D&D will very much be a commemoration of Chartism in Wales on 160th anniversary of 1848. I can find very little going on in Wales re actual commemorative activity, nor for the 40th anniversary of 1968 - a year of revolt, not without connection back to 1848, in respect to all ''home countries'' of the British Isles and most of Europe. In a nutshell, Adam Price claimed Chartism as a Plaid legacy, hotly disputed by Labour Party in Wales. Adam raised up a Welsh Republican Flag as a Chartist Flag but in reality, a proposed Welsh Chartist Flag was Green, Blue and White, as picture below. This flag was designed by Hugh Williams, see my comments in Flags of the World Web site below. Note my mistaken reference to Hugh Williams being bueried at Llangennech, this is now corrected, he was bueried in the cemetery of St Ishmaels, near Ferryside. Go on a summers day and the road to the church gives you an absolutly fabulous view of the Towy estuary over to Llansteffan in Sir Gar. See pics below of the grave of Hugh Williams, not too hard to find, following entry to the Church turn left and go up the slope to side rear of the Church, close to trees at this back end of the cemetery, you will not miss it if you keep the fotos below in your mind's eye. If you have a family, Ferryside will make a great day out for the kids. Note you can get there by Bus and Train but will have a long walk to St Ishmaels if you have no car.

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I place before you this information on Hugh Williams, although do look up other Welsh Chartists as John Frost. I have picked on Hugh Williams as one man who lives through the period under consideration, personally touching on all the key episodes in this key period of Welsh History, a decade 1839 - 1848 that will shape and change Wales forever, prefoundly so and which makes of our country what it is today, in particular politically. 1848, is a cross roads, as much as 1839 was, although 1848, set much in stone and the story of Hugh Williams will very much present a picture of this. I have not had much opportunity to study the life of Hugh Williams other than in reading books as the classic The Rebecca Riots by David Williams, UWP Cardiff 1955.

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In Hugh Williams one sees a young radical but having read the inscriptions regards he and other family members, in English on the grave stone, I could be forgiven for believing much else. It appears that Hugh Williams was to become as many ''Young Radicals'' of the 1840's, the ''Hungry Forties'', in old age very much in the Welsh context a successful part of the rising Victorian middle classes. Here, I keep in mind what Proff Ifor Wilks has said about the 1839 Newport Rising, ''When the smoke of the Soldiers guns had cleared, the Welsh Middle Class were to realise which side of their bread was buttered''. At this point I draw attention to the infamous BLUE BOOKS of 1848, not alone in suggesting that this is more the legacy to which Welsh Nationalism, Plaid Cymru in particular owes much to, and not Chartism. Of course there is nothing wrong in a contemporay ''Plaid Left'' wishing to identify with Chartism and Vincents ''Welsh Republic'', this was siezed on my the Welsh Republicans of WRM I, not least by Harri Web and the later Proff Ifor Wilks. But historically, British Political Reformism and later Chartism is more a British - Welsh Legacy, myself whilst not rejecting this British - Welsh Political Reformism, nevertheless look back more to Lewis Lewis, Lewsyn yr Heliwr, and the struggle for popular liberty and natural justice began on 31 May 1831 with the rising up of the Red Flag on Hirwaun Common. Full information on, you will find in previous posts to this blog.

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My judgement of Hugh Williams does not give a complete picture of the man or of his radical beliefs and career, for more information, read aforementioned book also see outline in > The National Library of Wales :: Dictionary of Welsh Biography Hugh Williams is important because of his connections with the Chartist ... In 1836 he organised, at Carmarthen, the first radical meeting in South Wales. ...yba.llgc.org.uk/en/s-WILL-HUG-1796.html - 18k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this also see > Modern Wales: A Concise History, C. 1485-1979 - Google Books Result by Gareth Elwyn Jones - 1984 - History - 376 pagesThe Unitarians, especially strong in Merthyr, added a particularly radical element. There were leaders of high calibre - Hugh Williams of Carmarthen, ...books.google.co.uk/books?isbn=0521469457... also see > Chartist Flags (United Kingdom) - 06:31 Designed by Hugh Williams, the Old Rebeccite, who I believe is buried in Llangenech. ... So maybe these Welsh blue / violet / red triband flags are actually ...www.crwflags.com/FOTW/FLAGS/gb_chart.html - 15k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this
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Do also consider other Chartists as Welsh Socialist, Republican and Nationalist Hero John Frost (Chartist) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia The Chartist movement in south east Wales was chaotic in this period, ... John Frost Square, in the centre of Newport, is named in his honour. ...en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Frost_(Chartist) - 28k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this also see other Chartists as Zephaniah Williams and William Jones, not least Dr William Price.

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A Welsh Nationalist Hero? Perhaps not so much today, although Newport Tories in a Welsh Heroes poll put forward his name, in main because he put down the workers in 1839, see link > Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council - Sir Thomas Phillips 22 Mar 2007 ... Sir Thomas Phillips was born at Ynys y Garth - the row of cottages ... active in local politics and, in 1838, was elected Mayor of Newport. ...www.blaenau-gwent.gov.uk/8032.asp - 19k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this Also See Lady Llanover and all related to the rise of Victorian Cultural Nationalism to rise of Political Nationalism as Michael D.Jones and Emrys ap Iwan et al to establishment the Welsh ''nationalist'' Cymru Fydd > Cymru Fydd - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia The movement lost some of its impetus following the withdrawal of T. E. Ellis to join the Government in 1892, after which leadership of Cymru Fydd was taken ...en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cymru_Fydd - 19k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this and later of Plaid Cymru > Plaid Cymru - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Plaid Cymru (IPA: [plaɪd ˈkəmri]; English: The Party of Wales; often referred to simply as Plaid) is a political party in Wales. ...en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plaid_Cymru - 92k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this

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CHARTISM 1848 INFORMATION:

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Chartism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Hyperlinked article about the movement for political and social reform in the United Kingdom during the mid-19th century between 1838 and 1848. [Wikipedia]en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chartism - 49k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this

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BBC - History - The Chartist Movement 1838 - 1848 A BBC History multimedia presentation of the Chartist movement; includes articles, links, and interactive content.www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/victorians/chartist_01.shtml - 25k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this

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Chartist Ancestors: Chartism, the Chartists and the People's Charter Chartism, the Chartist movement and the People's Charter: Chartist history resourcs for family historians, social historians and political historians ...www.chartists.net/ - 37k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this

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The Procession of the 1848 Chartist Petition - 06:20 In April 1848 the final Chartist rally was held at Kennington Common, London, after which the Petition was taken to parliament in three Hackney cabs. ...www.historyhome.co.uk/peel/chartism/1848pet.htm - 14k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this

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chartists.net news :: Chartist riots in Trafalgar Square 6 Mar 2008 ... Henry Vincent and the 'Welsh republic' · Chartism and the Chartists in university ... Keywords: rising, petition, events, chartist, 1848 ...chartists.blogware.com/blog/_archives/2008/3/6/3562566.html - 33k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this

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CHARTISM IN WALES: I begin with link to the Scotch Cattle, as whilst much is known about Insurrection 1831 and of the later Rebecca Revolt not so much is known of the Scotch Cattle. As with Lewis Lewis, the leader of the Scotch Cattle Edward Morgan is as often as not kept in the shadows of Welsh History be it of the Labour or the PLAID kind, as to why? I suggest you all D&D as well.

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POPULAR REVOLTS WALES 1831 - 1839 - 1848. Between these years major revolts broke out in South East Wales and South West Wales, the one was a workers revolt and the other a small Farmers and Rural Labourers Revolt. Scotch Cattle - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - 06:53 Scotch Cattle was the name taken by bands of coal miners in South Wales, analogous to the Molly Maguires in Pennsylvania, who, in disguise, would visit the ...en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scotch_Cattle - 21k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this . The Scotch Cattle were a violent secret underground movement whose story has not been as ''popularised'' as the Rebecca Revolt as you will see by viewing the following excellent Rebecca Country web site, if only the, as deserving Scotch Cattle had the same popular attention, and why not? > Bro Beca Mae straeon eraill am Becca’n gorfodi llanciau i briodi eu cariadon ar ôl i’r ... Cychwynnodd Bro Beca yn 2002 fel prosiect ar y cyd rhwng Rhwydwaith ...www.brobeca.co.uk/beca.html - 28k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this
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CHARTISM CONTINUED:

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1839 in Wales - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Jump to: navigation, search ... is about the particular significance of the year 1839 to Wales and its people. ...en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1839_in_Wales - 24k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this

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BBC - Mid Wales Llanidloes - Chartist Revolt In 1839, Llanidloes was the scene of a major riot as Chartists clashed with police at the Trewythen Arms. Local historian Gay Roberts has written an article ...www.bbc.co.uk/wales/mid/sites/llanidloes/pages/chartists.shtml - 32k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this

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1848 in Wales - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Jump to: navigation, search ... is about the particular significance of the year 1848 to Wales and its people. ...en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1848_in_Wales - 22k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this

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Chartism after the Newport Rising Nantyglo and Blaina Charter ...... nantyglo and blaina charter group "the unenfranchised rally around your flag ... rising 1839 and kennington common chartist demonstration london 1848, ...chartistnetwork.ning.com/profiles/blog/show?id=1439898%3ABlogPost%3A101 - 35k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this

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Human Rights: 1815 - 1848 - Poster for a 'Chartist' public meeting ...Poster for a 'Chartist' public meeting at Merthyr Tydvil [ Merthyr Tydfil ]. Date: 20 March 1848. Catalogue reference: HO 45/2410 (5) folio 1001 ...www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/humanrights/1815-1848/doc-chartist-transcript.htm - 32k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this

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Chartist Flags (United Kingdom) Events ranged from the Peterloo Massacre in 1819 to the last Chartist Petition of 1848, which took place at a time when revolutions were occurring all over ...www.crwflags.com/FOTW/FLAGS/gb_chart.html - 15k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this

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Background History in General:

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TUC History Online Use our timeline to discover more about the history of the British trade union movement. Click on a time period to find out more. ...www.unionhistory.info/timeline/timeline.php - 10k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this

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History of socialism in Great Britain - Wikipedia, the free ...From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. (Redirected from History of British ..... The defining event of the 1980s for British socialists was the 1984-5 ...en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_British_socialism - 98k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this

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The Welsh Labour Party: History of the Welsh Labour Party - 10:37 Labour.org.uk. A brief history of the Welsh Labour Party by Professor Duncan Tanner, University of Wales, Bangor. The Labour party in Wales has a formidable ...www.welshlabour.org.uk/history_of_the_welsh_labour_party - 16k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this

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Treachery of the Blue Books - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Saunders Lewis, in Tynged yr iaith, maintained that the Blue Books were for Welsh history "the most important nineteenth-century historical documents we ...en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treachery_of_the_Blue_Books - 21k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this

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Welsh nationalism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Welsh nationalism is a political and cultural movement that emerged during the nineteenth century. It generally seeks independence from the United Kingdom ...en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welsh_self-government - 51k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this

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History of Plaid Cymru - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia [99] Professor Laura McAllister, a Plaid Cymru history expert and former party candidate, said that unless the party shed its "pressure group past" it could ...en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Plaid_Cymru - 218k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this

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Well that's it, hope you have found all that interesting but more hoping it sparks of a good D&D, and that it resolves much for the better? It is interesting to note that Chartist activity in Merthyr in 1848 witnesses a poster being published calling for a 'CHARTER FOR ENGLAND', hhhmmm!!! wonder where Wales fitted into the thinking here! This is how it was with Welsh Radicals, they were often politically of an ''English Mind''. In earlier times even ''Welsh Republicans'' as Iolo Morgannwg and Morgan John Rhys thought in ''Anglo'' Political terms and wished to see a 'Brtitish/English Republic' established. Welsh Radicals of these times were far from being as ''Nationally Minded'' as Irish Republicans or for that matter Irish Socialists. Whatever, maybe much of this could be discussed during MERTHYR RED WEEK 1831 - 2008 COMMEMORATION, unofficially or officially, if some one in Merthyr cares to organise a suitable meeting place for a ''live'' D&D Session on who has the right to claim the Chartist Legacy?

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Keep me posted.

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As it's still May remember, ''Beneath the Paving Stones, the beach! '' don't you just love it? Excellent feature on the World Service the other night, go check out BBC World Service, maybe you can down load it. I am geting ''Right On'' with my coming ''Red Week Outing'' to Paris in June, so will not be able to make Merthyr Rising 1831 events this year.

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Gethin.