Glyndwr's Independence 2

Thursday, May 21, 2015

A combined S4C and BBC Wales documentary will mark the 150th anniversary of the first journey to South America by Welsh settlers.

By Daily Wales correspondent
A combined S4C and BBC Wales documentary will mark the 150th anniversary of the first journey to South America by Welsh settlers.
On May 28th, 1865 a group of 153 passengers left Liverpool for a two month sea journey, taking them the 7,000 miles to Patagonia in Argentina.
In the S4C programme, Patagonia, Huw Edwards meets with some of the descendants of those first settlers who had dreamt of building a new Wales as a safe haven for the Welsh language.
Huw Edwards said:

“I’ve travelled the world in my capacity as a journalist and broadcaster, but this is the first time I’ve experienced the Welsh life in Chubut Province in southern Argentina.
“The communities of Chubut and the Andes were both warm and sincere in their welcome, proud of their Welsh ancestry, and keen to lay firm foundations for the future.”

The programme, to be shown on May 31, explores the prospects for the Welsh language in the region and asks what the future holds for the culture the pioneers strived to protect.
It’s estimated that around 5,000 people still speak Welsh as their first language, with a further 25,000 having it as their second language.
Dafydd Rhys, S4C Director of Content, said:

“We are all set at S4C to celebrate the fascinating history of the Welsh people and those of Welsh heritage in Patagonia with a range of exciting new programmes and a rich archive.
“This authoritative documentary by Huw Edwards, one of the leading Welsh broadcasters of our generation, will be the best possible taster for the season that is scheduled to mark the 150th anniversary of the landing in July.
“We are delighted to be working closely with the BBC and many other organisations to make this national celebration truly memorable.”

Celebrations will be held in Wales and Patagonia to mark the anniversary and in addition to Patagonia Huw Edwards on S4C, Patagonia with Huw Edwards will be broadcast on BBC1 Wales on June 1st.

A nation without language is a nation without heart..............Welsh the language of heaven!....Well a least the music of heaven!

Translation: A nation without language is a nation without heart
Approximate pronunciation: Ken-edl heb yayth, kenedl heb gal-on

Wednesday, May 20, 2015

150 years of Welsh Patagonian setlement!

Thursday, May 14, 2015

Carwyn Jones: Welsh people ‘least knowledgeable’ in Europe on their own history

14 May 2015

Posted by Daily Wales
Posted in News

By Daily Wales correspondent
The Welsh First Minister believes Welsh people know less about their own history than any other nation in Europe.
As the man in overall control of the nation’s education, you might expect this to form part of a radical rethink on the way children are taught in Wales.
But it’s not. Instead, he made the remark while muttering about the importance of good signage at Welsh historical sites.
It was part of a Cardiff Bay talk to members of UNESCO – the organisation which decides on which landmarks should receive special World Heritage status.
He is reported to have said:

“It is probably true to say that the Welsh people are the least knowledgeable of their own history as a group than possibly anybody else in Europe.
“People know a little bit about Welsh history. You can talk to people about what happened in the 13th century, you can talk to people about Glyndwr, you can talk to people about the Anglicisation of the Welsh gentry – what I did at A-level history – they don’t know about that.
“The industrial heritage we have, again people quite often are not aware of it. So being able to use our World Heritage sites to promote knowledge amongst our own people and across the world widely is crucial.”

The problem of English and British perspectives dominating the teaching of history in Welsh schools was highlighted by a 2013 report compiled by a Welsh Government appointed panel.
The Cwricwlwm Cymreig study found that:

“The influence of this belief that the history of England is the only ‘proper’ history is still to be seen in the custom of referring to the history of Wales as a subject distinct from history itself.
“The history of the state, and thus of England, is the official history, namely, the history taught in the country’s schools since the public education system developed in the Victorian era.
“This did not have to mean a complete absence of Welsh history in schools. Given that Wales had been a part of England, practically and constitutionally, for so many centuries, it follows that Welsh history had to be studied in the wider context of English history.
“However, when added to a historic lack of confidence in Welsh national identity, too often Anglocentric British history became the only kind of history taught. Rather than interpret Wales within a British context, Wales was often simply just left out of the history taught in schools.”

In Scotland, the curriculum was changed in 2013 to promote a greater understanding on the country’s history, culture and language

Save our Male Voice Choirs!

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Save our Male Voice Choirs!

SAVE OUR MALE VOICE CHOIRS http://www.gofundme.com/saveourchoirs Once upon a time when the mines were the life blood of the Welsh valleys, the choral sounds ...