http://americymrunet.jamroomhosting.com/paul-dicken Wed, 23 Sep 2026 00:45:27 +0100 http://americymrunet.jamroomhosting.com/paul-dicken/blog/3332/the-snowdon-mountain-railway-racking-up-117-years http://americymrunet.jamroomhosting.com/paul-dicken/blog/3332 Fri, 05 Apr 2013 08:49:24 +0100 http://americymrunet.jamroomhosting.com/paul-dicken/blog/2230/why-i-am-a-welshman http://americymrunet.jamroomhosting.com/paul-dicken/blog/2230 Dw i 'n Gymro balch. ]]> Mon, 09 Jan 2012 11:52:53 +0000 http://americymrunet.jamroomhosting.com/paul-dicken/blog/2212/step-up-welsh-radical-politicians-and-young-people http://americymrunet.jamroomhosting.com/paul-dicken/blog/2212
Watching Ed Milliband dance a ballet of indecision and uttering lightweight response to the Euro crisis and our economy has been excruciatingly painful. Similarly listening to Carwyn Jones political statements in the Welsh Assembly and the press were just like being stoned to death with popcorn. Welsh politicians have all been dancing together, jockeying for advantage and selling their souls to pass the Budget, but always with an eye on public opinion and a reluctance to put their head above the parapet.

Where are Welsh radicals of history like Anaeurin Bevan who single-mindedly fought to establish the National Health Service in July 1948, ensuring my birth seven weeks later was free to my parents at the point of delivery (literally)? Indeed one of his famous quotes could be his verdict on current politicians:
We know what happens to people who stay in the middle of the road. They get run down.
We sadly miss Welsh radicals like David Lloyd George , who for all his deep flaws, was the architect of educational reform and social benefits. He got to the heart of the matter when debating in Parliament on the new idea of unemployment benefit:
You cannot feed the hungry on statistics
Our lightweight, self-serving and ineffective politicians seem to have had every drop of radical blood removed and simple don't or won't recognise the need for radical solutions to the issues faced by today's society. Indeed, they would shy from the dictionary definition of radical:
...a person who advocates fundamental political, economic, and social reforms by direct and often uncompromising methods
My passion for justice has been fuelled by many people who were uncompromising in their quests for reform. People like the great Christian reformers such as William Wilberforce, John Groom, John Newton, Lord Shaftesbury and Elizabeth Fry. Campaigners for equality and social justice like Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King.

When I grew up, my teenage years were the 1960s and I drank in every drop of news and information about the Civil Rights Movement , the Anti-Vietnam War movement and shaped my musical taste with the protest songs of Pete Seeger , Woodie Guthrie, Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, Phil Ochs, Donovan and others. Thank goodness we still have Billy Bragg today carrying the torch - his unaccompanied singing of the Internationale always has me in tears.

Students were at the vanguard of reform in the 1960's and individuals like Daniel Cohn Bendit and Tariq Ali were young focal points for students and others including me. Today, the Occupy Movement has adopted the view, misguided in my opinion, that everyone is equal and no individual needs to be a leader or spokesman. They need to learn the lessons of history - battles are fought around a leader and a flag. Wider society can then evaluate the arguments in the way they are familiar with.

I've given up on today's politicians. There are young people out there burning with passion, energy and zeal that need to declare themselves, step up to the plate and be the leaders they are and then change Wales, the UK and the wider world for the greater good of the people. ]]> Thu, 15 Dec 2011 22:32:41 +0000 http://americymrunet.jamroomhosting.com/paul-dicken/blog/2163/abergwyngregyn-and-the-princes-of-gwynedd http://americymrunet.jamroomhosting.com/paul-dicken/blog/2163 Mon, 28 Nov 2011 15:42:31 +0000 http://americymrunet.jamroomhosting.com/paul-dicken/blog/2146/when-worlds-collide-occupy-and-the-99-percent http://americymrunet.jamroomhosting.com/paul-dicken/blog/2146 Thu, 17 Nov 2011 09:56:52 +0000 http://americymrunet.jamroomhosting.com/paul-dicken/blog/2134/diary-of-a-day-occupying-cardiff http://americymrunet.jamroomhosting.com/paul-dicken/blog/2134 Sat, 12 Nov 2011 12:46:21 +0000 http://americymrunet.jamroomhosting.com/paul-dicken/blog/2122/wales-greenham-common-and-occupy http://americymrunet.jamroomhosting.com/paul-dicken/blog/2122
The Occupy movement has filled our media who struggle to understand the nature of protest which is not accompanied by a list of demands. Thirty years ago Wales kicked off another protest which lasted for 19 years. The Greenham Common Peace Camp, where Helen Thomas sadly lost her life, was started in September 1981 by a Welsh group, Women for Life on Earth, who travelled to RAF Greenham Common in Berkshire to protest against the decision of the British government to allow Cruise missiles (nuclear weapons) to be sited there. The Women for Life on Earth group walked 120 miles from Cardiff to Greenham Common and on reaching their destination they chained themselves to the perimeter fence. They were joined by women from across the UK and during the height of the protests, thousands of women blocked the entrances to the base, cut through perimeter fences and formed human chains around the site.

There were some huge demonstrations during the tenure of the Peace Camp. In December 1982, 30,000 women joined hands around the base at the Embrace the Base event. On 1 April 1983, some 70,000 protesters formed a 14 mile human chain from Greenham to Aldermaston and the ordnance factory at Burghfield. Another encircling of the base occurred in Dec 1983, with 50,000 women attending. Sections of the fence were cut and there were hundreds of arrests.

The women were ultimately successful as the Cruise missiles were removed in March 1991. The airbase was closed in 1993 but the peace camp remained until 2000. The attention they received prompted the creation of other peace camps at more than a dozen sites in Britain and elsewhere in Europe so the Occupy movement is not breaking new ground. There are two clear lessons for Occupy from the Greenham Peace Camp.

You have to be prepared to be there for the long haul Despite all the Police, the Media, the Courts and Local Authorities throw at you peaceful protest is the way to succeed Occupy is beginning to succeed. It has caused the St Pauls authorities to (finally) take a principled stand and Ed Milliband to (finally) come off the fence. Thoughtful people are starting to think the issues through and Im optimistic that the most powerful force for change, public opinion, will gradually start to bring about the changes our society needs. ]]> Mon, 07 Nov 2011 16:53:47 +0000 http://americymrunet.jamroomhosting.com/paul-dicken/blog/2099/welshmen-unite-you-have-nothing-to-lose-but-your-hang-ups http://americymrunet.jamroomhosting.com/paul-dicken/blog/2099
Unfortunately, at other times the events of history have caused Wales to be a nation lacking in self-confidence. Historians point to conquest by the Normans, Edward Ists bloody campaign and the various Acts passed between 1535 and 1542 which made in Wales part of England - at least, in law. This sense of oppression and being downtrodden has sadly been embraced by many Welshmen throughout subsequent years. This resentment was reinforced by educators who forbade use of the Welsh language in schools by means of the notorious "Welsh not" token where any child heard speaking Welsh at school was made to wear the token around their neck, passing it on to another offender if caught, and the last child at the end of the day was caned. However, it was never official government policy.

I grew up with my Welsh valleys mam-gu (grandmother) furious if ever Winston Churchill's name was mentioned in the house because he was said to have sent the troops in against the South Wales miners in Tonypandy. The reality was actually somewhat different but the point was that this was seen as yet another example of the Welsh being treated badly by the English.

For 150 years the mines and quarries of Wales North and South supplied the United Kingdom, the Empire and the World with iron, steel, coal and slate to drive the Industrial Revolution. Sadly, the vast wealth that these valuable resources created was not enjoyed by the miners, ironworkers and quarrymen that paid a terrible price in poor wages and working conditions with many paying the ultimate price in the many industrial accidents or cruel, lingering deaths through occupational diseases like pneumoconiosis or silicosis. This became yet another brick in the wall built by Welshmen of examples of oppression and was duly embraced.

Where I live in the mountains of Snowdonia, we are rich with a great history of castles and yet I was amazed that none of my Welsh friends would dream of going into magnificent castles like Caernarfon or Conwy because of the association with Edward I and English oppression. More up-to-date is the fact that most people living in the nearby town of Bethesda would not dream of going anywhere near Penrhyn Castle, because that was the home of the local Penrhyn Quarry owner who locked out the quarrymen for two years at the start of the 20th century.

I am happy to say that I am a Welshman without this cultural baggage and was drawn by hiraeth to come and live back in my beloved Wales. I accept the relationship between Wales and England would not be used as a model for contentment between nations, but I believe a major shift of culture is needed.

Wales is a country where we have magnificent cultural heritage, Europe's oldest language still flourishing, choirs and a musical tradition unsurpassed in the world. We have stunningly beautiful mountains, rivers, valleys and landscapes. We have more wonderful castles than you could shake a stick at, heritage railways that bring pleasure to every child and grown-up child smelling the steam and oil. We have given the world much-loved actors, politicians like Nye Bevan who gave us the NHS, world famous singers and pop groups. We have our own language which is slowly growing after long decline. We have our own Welsh Government which, for all its flaws, is becoming distinctive and confident. If we were to embrace all that we have as proud Welsh men and women, then the move for Welsh independence would simply disappear as Wales adopted its rightful place as a nation in a Union of nations, co-equal, co-valued and the envy of the world.

So Welsh men and women throw off those chains of oppression and being downtrodden. They dont exist any longer. Despite everyone and everything: we're still here - Er gwaethaf pawb a phopeth: dyn ni yma o hyd! ]]> Thu, 27 Oct 2011 12:50:45 +0100 http://americymrunet.jamroomhosting.com/paul-dicken/blog/2004/personal-memories-of-9-11 http://americymrunet.jamroomhosting.com/paul-dicken/blog/2004 Tue, 06 Sep 2011 20:31:57 +0100 http://americymrunet.jamroomhosting.com/paul-dicken/blog/1966/army-kills-innocent-protesters-in-south-wales http://americymrunet.jamroomhosting.com/paul-dicken/blog/1966
There were plenty of reasons for rail workers to strike. Prices of basic goods were rising sharply and wages were stagnant or falling. A third of railway workers were paid less than 20 shillings a week. In Llanelli, large crowds of picketers halted rail traffic. Local magistrates had requested the help of the army and soldiers were drafted in as other industrial workers came onto the streets in solidarity, joining crowds of people from the railway and dockside communities. On Saturday 19 August 1911, as strikers attempted physically to prevent a train passing through, soldiers of the Worcester Regiment opened fire, killing two men and wounding others.

There were subsequent riots and, sadly as was the case last week, looting took place. The shops of the magistrates who brought in the troops were stormed and comprehensively looted. Battles took place with soldiers who tried to clear the streets at bayonet-point. Many protesters received bayonet and baton wounds, avoiding hospital for fear of arrest.

Significantly, at the height the battles the soldiers stood back and refused to engage, at one point penned in the railway station while crowds attacked it, smashing all the windows. For hours the authorities seemed paralysed, unable or unwilling to intervene as the trucks and sidings of the Great Western Railway Company were assailed, looted and burned, triggering an explosion which killed another four people. One soldier refused to fire on the crowd, was arrested, escaped from military custody and went on the run, raising the authorities fears of a wider mutiny.

Its important to remember the people who died in these incidents. At Llanelli, ironically neither of the men who were killed were railway workers or even directly involved. Jac John was a tinplate worker, shot as he stood in the garden of No 6 High Street, overlooking the railway line. The other man Leonard Worsell was shot in his own back garden, whilst in the midst of shaving.

The lesson of Llanelli must stay in our minds. It is almost unthinkable that the authorities would consider ordering British troops to fire on their fellow unarmed British subjects. Last week the knee jerk reaction of many people who saw crowds of rioters outnumbering beleaguered police was Call in the army! Even in some of the Middle East countries, notably Egypt, the military refused to fire on protesters. It was heartening to hear about unprecedented assistance of police with information following our recent riots. We must oppose any move to introduce draconian measures that would undermine our successful model of policing by consensus. ]]> Mon, 15 Aug 2011 16:59:45 +0100 http://americymrunet.jamroomhosting.com/paul-dicken/blog/1941/welsh-rugby-more-than-just-a-game http://americymrunet.jamroomhosting.com/paul-dicken/blog/1941 It was certainly a golden age for Welsh rugby winning the triple crown six times in 12 years between 1900 and 1911 was a magnificent achievement for a tiny nation and an opportunity for pride, both for Welshmen in the old country or those dispersed throughout the world. Wales was making a major impact in rugby, to use a boxing analogy, punching well above her weight. At the time of the victory against New Zealand, Wales was at its zenith industrially with Welsh steel in the construction of much of Europes shipping, and its coal firing the boilers of those ships. Historian John Davies linked rugby closely with the industrialisation of Wales and reinforced it as a powerful symbol of the nations identity. He suggested sport, but not necessarily rugby, had become the new religion of the Welsh people rather than Christianity and Gareth Williams suggested that the ebb and flow of Welsh rugbys fortunes coincided with similar cycles in the Welsh economy and in the confidence in Wales as a nation. Whilst there is clearly a case for sport in general and rugby in particular being akin to a religion for some, a case might be made for the National Health Service taking the place of Christianity as a cherished value. Similarly, whilst the economic situation has been poor in Wales since 2008, Wales rugby has done quite well. Comparison with Christianity is important because the Nonconformist chapels ultimately contributed a significant role in its growth. They placed a seal on the iconic role of rugby in Wales with their late-in-arriving but nevertheless positive affirmation and endorsement. Although an Anglican College, St Davids at Lampeter, had led the introduction of rugby to Wales, the Nonconformist chapels were initially vociferous in opposition, associating the game with intemperance, blasphemy and Sabbath-breaking. The religious revival of 1904 led to a marked decline in the sport in Wales and the (at least, temporary) closure of many clubs. However, the dramatic victory of 1905 made a rapid reversal of this process which led Gareth Williams to state that, [Rugby] would now play the role that religion had once enjoyed as a popular mass activity. Eventually the ministers and deacons began to take a pragmatic view and reluctantly began to be more positive. Some even constructed sermons from the discipline that the teams showed in playing successful games. A century ago the Chapel still held significant sway in the communities of Wales and so the removal of disapproval and then affirmation of the game gave tacit permission both to be participants and to spectators of rugby. Christianity still features, possibly only for historical reasons, in rugby. The stands still ring out with hymns like Cym Rhondda and Calon Ln amid secular songs today. Interestingly, rugby matches in south Wales where Welsh language is not widely used are still occasions when songs like Sospan Fach and Calon Ln may be heard in sometimes shaky Welsh. Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg may take some comfort! Max Boyce, ex-miner from the Valleys and popular comedian and folk singer wrote a number of songs that captured the intrinsic Welshness of rugby. A more reflective song, Ten Thousand Instant Christians juxtaposes the almost religious fervour and devotion of rugby fans in an ironic contrast with the closed and boarded former Chapels echoing with the hymns of yesterday. When He sees the Hope and Anchor
Where we sang before the game
Where Cwm Rhondda and Delilah
First sounded both the same
The bar was filled with singing
Hymns came on a tray
Saturday was Sunday
I wonder what Hell say A more upbeat song of Max Boyces which inevitably features at every international Welsh rugby game is Hymns and Arias, a nod to the combination of sacred and secular singing at matches. Possibly its enduring success is because it is an account of a coach trip from south Wales to Twickenham to watch Wales play the great enemy, England. Of course, Wales won and so the somewhat worse-for-wear Welshmen were able to join in the rousing chorus: And we were singing hymns and arias,
Land of my Fathers, Ar hyd y nos Contained within that good-natured snipe against the English is a deeper issue. The long-standing rivalry between the nations is read by some as enmity and mention is made of any real or perceived injustice to Wales from Edward I, through exploitative pit, steelworks and quarry owners, to the Welsh Not placard that children heard speaking Welsh in some schools were forced to wear in the late 19 th century. Others will say that the enmity lasts for the duration of the match with peace being declared in the bar after the game. South Wales rock group Stereophics even brought out a song in 1999 with the title, As long as we beat the English, (we dont care). Welsh rugby gives Welsh men and women an opportunity for pride, particularly in individual players who have excelled. There can be no better example than Gareth Edwards, voted the greatest player of all time by his peers in a 2003 poll in Rugby Magazine and by former England rugby captain Will Carling as the greatest player ever. National Eisteddfod organiser Hywel Edwards controversially suggested that rugby shirts might be a more appropriate Welsh national costume for girls than Lady Llandoverys tall hats, shawls and aprons, or boys dressed as colliers for St Davids Day celebrations. He said, Images of children in lace aprons and colliers clothes beamed around the world on St Davids Day created an image of Wales as a backward country stuck in the past. However, active participation in the game of rugby in Wales is not high. Compare Wales with New Zealand, a similar size nation. Wales New Zealand Population 3 million 4 million Male rugby players 70,000 142,000 Female rugby players 2,000 6,000 Source: Sports Council Wales Similarly, home attendance at Welsh regional rugby matches during 2006/07 was between 5, 000 and 10,000, whereas home attendance at Cardiff City FC was 15,000 and Swansea City 12,500. English Premiership attendance 34,000 and Manchester United FC 76,000. Sports Council Wales reported that rugby came ninth in a list of participation sports in Wales, whereas football was third. A YouGov/Daily Telegraph poll in 2005 looked at the proportion of sports fans in Wales/Midlands taking an interest in a number of sports. Football came top at 68% and rugby was mentioned by only 48% less than half the respondents. Despite these low proportions, Welsh people demonstrated their commitment to their national team with a quarter of the population watching rugby on TV a higher proportion than in any other country. A 2009 Wales v England international was watched by 55% of Welsh viewers but only 18% of English viewers. What explains these inconsistencies? Welsh rugby was, and still is a classless game where its players were historically as likely to be consultant surgeons or GPs as they were to have been from the pits or the steelworks. That level playing field has contributed to Waless embracing the game to her heart. Kenneth Morgan asserts that Rugby was, and remains, an attractive aspect of the national identity of Wales, but points out that nationalists feel preoccupation with rugby diverts people from the greater priority of national independence. That reservation by nationalists does reflect some other issues. The heartland of nationalism, north and west Wales is largely rural, other than some medium size towns on the north Wales coast. They are also areas with the greatest concentration of Welsh language and a very different focus of sport: walking, climbing, mountain biking use and sea-based pursuits. Theres no historic tradition of rugby in these areas and many football fans in north Wales look to the great football clubs of north-west England which are easily accessible. The large Magners League clubs are all based in south Wales: Cardiff, Newport, Llanelli and Swansea. If culture, geography, language and sports interest were the sole factors that determine the role of rugby as an icon of Wales, then one could make a stronger case for rugby being more than a game predominantly in south Wales. The huge crowds on the terraces, at least of international matches, are united in their commitment to their national team, becoming a huge corporate sixteenth player. Rugby (in reality, international rugby) brings people together with a mixture of nostalgia, pride in a nations achievement, a reflection of Welsh values and a history of great success in an environment where the Welsh language features in a non-divisive way and it can genuinely be described as more than a game. (I wrote this a year ago as part of my Welsh History studies at Bangor University but thought rugby fans and haters alike might be surprised at the true interest in Welsh rugby. References, sources and bibliography are available on request.) ]]> Tue, 02 Aug 2011 10:25:19 +0100 http://americymrunet.jamroomhosting.com/paul-dicken/blog/1899/frank-lloyd-wright-the-welsh-connection http://americymrunet.jamroomhosting.com/paul-dicken/blog/1899
I've visited Wright's house in Oak Park, Chicago and seen many of his iconic buildings including the Guggenheim Museum in New York and his summer home Taliesin (left) in Wisconsin which I have visited. Wright's parents, William Cary Wright and Anna Lloyd-Jones, originally named him Frank Lincoln Wright, which he later changed after they divorced in honour of his mother's family, the Lloyd Joneses who had emigrated from Taliesin in mid-Wales. I recall visiting his grave in Wisconsin which was moved shortly afterwards to Arizona. Many people locally remembered Wright as famously eccentric and as a man who never paid any of his bills to local shops!

Imagine my surprise when I discovered that Frank Lloyd Wright had a connection with another eccentric architect - Sir Bertram Clough Williams-Ellis, creator of the Portmeirion village near Porthmadog in North Wales. Although born in England, Williams-Ellis' family claimed direct descent from Owain Gwynedd, Prince of North Wales. Frank Lloyd Wright visited Wales in 1956 to receive an honorary doctorate from Bangor University. He stayed with the creator of Portmeirion, Sir Clough Williams Ellis (right), whose work in Portmeirion Wright admired greatly. Both men wanted to design buildings that lived in harmony with the natural landscape. On the day of the Bangor University degree ceremony the great man, without telling Williams-Ellis, ordered a taxi to take him from Portmeirion to Taliesin in search of his Welsh roots. Clough panicked and immediately dispatched a fast motorcycle to apprehend the car, so that his guest could be awarded his degree.

Portmeirion is a unique place - used for many tv and film locations and is set in wonderful scenery in the Mawddach Estuary. I shall enjoy it so much more now I know of its connection with one of my heroes.


]]> Wed, 13 Jul 2011 12:44:50 +0100 http://americymrunet.jamroomhosting.com/paul-dicken/blog/1890/why-the-english-language-compared-to-welsh-is-a-nightmare http://americymrunet.jamroomhosting.com/paul-dicken/blog/1890
However, in almost every other aspect Welsh presents so many challenges to learners. The name of this land of Wales in its native tongue is Cymru but depending on context it might be Gymru or Nghymru. Similarly I do my local shopping in Bangor which could also be Fangor or Mangor. Counting should be easy: one, two, three, four but actually it's un, dau (or dwi), tri (or tair), pedwar (or pedair). Twenty is dau deg but sometimes ugain. Are you losing the will to live yet? Don't ask me how many ways you can say yes or no - I'm up to twenty or so but there are many more, again according to context.

So why am I a Welsh learner? Because hiraeth drew me home to Wales and although all Welsh people (round here 3 in 4 are first-language Welsh) do speak English, I want to connect with my roots and speak my grandparents' and mother's first language. Cymru am Byth! ]]> Sat, 09 Jul 2011 13:22:59 +0100 http://americymrunet.jamroomhosting.com/paul-dicken/blog/1889/slate-quarry-lockouts-the-trail-of-tears-and-news-international-corporation http://americymrunet.jamroomhosting.com/paul-dicken/blog/1889
It turned out Llechwedd too had experienced intransigence and opposition resulting in a lockout for some months. The lockout at Dinorwig lasted two years and that at Penrhyn in 1903 even longer. Pause to consider; these men and boys were not being greedy, they worked in hard, dangerous, poorly paid conditions and out of meagre wages they bought their own tools, candles and blasting powder. They wanted safer conditions and a fair wage.

In the summer of 1870, the French Government drew their country into a war with Prussia but the French were surrounded and defeated. In Paris however, the citys masses had organized a National Guard and despite shortage of food, money was pooled to purchase cannons. In this move the wealthy saw a danger to themselves, no less than that posed by the Prussians. Their fear was that the masses were aroused to a revolutionary fervour and their guns could be swung toward the bourgeoisie (Government and middle classes) within the walls as easily as against the foe without.

On 18 March 1870 the Paris Commune was proclaimed. The Government withdrew with its troops to Versailles. Two months later, they attacked the Communards as they had become known, aided by Prussian officers, in May 1970 and butchered everyone. The Communards, worn and exhausted, were falling back before an advance that spared neither woman nor child. Thousands were killed where they stood; the old and sick were herded to open places to be shot and each detachment of the maddened Versailles troops was an executioner's gang, summarily killing every suspected sympathizer. The Commune was being drowned in its own blood. In that one week 40,000 workers were slaughtered and the wealthy, many of whom had now returned, stood on the curbs to watch the ghastly parade and congratulate themselves on their victory.

Other examples of mans greed resulting in inhumanity to fellow-man are numerous. In 1838 and 1839, as part of Andrew Jackson's Indian removal policy, the Cherokee nation was forced to give up its fertile and productive lands east of the Mississippi River and to migrate to an area in present-day Oklahoma. The Cherokee people called this journey the "Trail of Tears," because of its devastating effects. The migrants faced hunger, disease, and exhaustion on the forced march. Over 4,000 out of 15,000 of the Cherokees died. All because the white man wanted their rich productive lands.

The events in these three countries have two common themes. They all affected communities that were poor, seeking to better themselves, were committed to each other and had no means of defending themselves. The second theme was they were all exploited and crushed by powerful wealthy people without morality whose greed was without bounds.

News International Corporation is in exactly the same mould. They are ruthless, they crush anyone who opposes them and all for the aim of making more money at any cost. Unsurprisingly, they have a non-union policy. They committed a speechlessly cynical act yesterday in closing the News of the World, sacking their 200 employees men and women with families, mortgages and now, unemployment. All to detract from their plans to take full control of BSkyB and enlarge the Murdoch empire. Well, the Bible says What you sew, you reap and for my atheist friends Chickens come home to roost!. I hope it happens sooner rather than later. More blogs on www.hiraeth.org.uk/blog ]]> Fri, 08 Jul 2011 19:12:09 +0100 http://americymrunet.jamroomhosting.com/paul-dicken/blog/1888/wales-and-the-american-civil-rights-movement http://americymrunet.jamroomhosting.com/paul-dicken/blog/1888
The event was dramatically captured in Joan Baez's haunting song Birmingham Sunday (see it on You Tube here) - long a favourite of mine. No other issue has shaped my philosophy, passion for justice, hatred of discrimination and my respect for all men than the Civil Rights movent. I grew up in the 60s with Pete Seeger, Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Peter Paul and Mary, Woodie Guthrie and other protest singers and I can still cry with some of the songs and images of the times.

That morning was one of my proudest moments in many years - to learn that the people of Wales joined in solidarity and friendship with the black people in the most racially bigoted city in the United States. I was never prouder to be Welsh. This was a sample blog that I posted a few weeks ago. If you'd like to read the blog of a Welshman living in Snowdonia on Welsh history or anything that is my passion of the moment, then click on www.hiraeth.org.uk/blog - the blog of a Welshman who heard the call of hiraeth , the link with the land of Wales, its half-forgotten past, its language, its call to the spirit. It connects with the rocks, the earth, the lakes and rivers, the trees and the waves. It's Wales. ]]> Thu, 07 Jul 2011 17:42:21 +0100