Author: Rheolwr Gwefan

Penarth’s Secret Role in Welsh History

Penarth’s secret role in Welsh history.

Tuesday, 7th January 2014, Windsor Arms, Windsor Rd. Penarth, 7.30pm.

Lecture by Prof. Richard Wyn Jones and a buffet to follow to remember the occasion, 90 years ago, of the first meeting of the ’ Welsh Movement’ which led to the foundation of Plaid Cymru.

Tickets £10.00. Post your cheque to Alan Jobbins, 47  Wingfield Rd. Eglwys Newydd, Caerdydd CF14 1NJ

Saunders Lewis Ambrose Bebb

An event to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the first meeting of Y Mudiad Cymreig/The Welsh Movement, which led to the formation of Plaid Cymru the following year, is being held in Penarth in January.

The historic meeting was held at 11, Bedwas   Place in Penarth on the evening of January 7th, 1924, and the commemorative event is being held at the Windsor Arms on Tuesday, January 7 (7.30pm).

It is being organised jointly by the Plaid Cymru History Society and the Penarth Branch of Plaid Cymru.

The guest speaker will be Professor Richard Wyn Jones, the eminent historian, political commentator, author and broadcaster.

At the 1924 meeting, a small group of nationalists, led by the lecturer and playwright Saunders Lewis, began drawing up a set of aims and policies intended to rescue Wales from political and cultural oblivion.

As well as Mr Lewis, that first meeting was attended by the historian, Ambrose Bebb, and the owners of the house, the historian and Welsh scholar G. J. Williams and his wife, Elizabeth.

They were joined at a later meeting, on February 5, 1924, by D.J. Williams and Ben Bowen Thomas and at their March meeting by the Treorchy minister, the Rev Ffred Jones, the grandfather of folk singer and former Plaid President Dafydd Iwan and of Assembly Member Alun Ffred Jones, who will be chairing the anniversary meeting.

The group met in secret throughout 1924 and, at about the same time, another group of nationalists were meeting in Gwynedd.

Early in 1925, the leader of the northern group, H.R.Jones, contacted Saunders Lewis to invite him to help with the creation of a new political party. The two groups stayed in close contact and, on August 5, 1925, Mr Lewis and the Rev Ffred Jones travelled to Pwllheli to join H.R. Jones and three others – Rev Lewis Valentine, scientist Moses Griffiths and carpenter D.E. Williams – at a meeting which established Plaid Genedlaethol Cymru as the National Party of Wales.

Some of the policies which were forged in Penarth by the Welsh Movement have been long abandoned, but the vision of a party with, in D.J. Williams’ words, “the specific aim of delivering to Wales, in the fullness of time, self-government and its own parliament, along with all the privileges of a free nation” became a reality.

The rebirth of Wales as a self-governing nation can be traced back, in no small part, to those secret discussions at Bedwas Place in 1924.

It is hoped that guests at the commemorative event will include descendants of the Welsh Movement’s principal members and representatives from the Pwllheli branch of Plaid Cymru.

Tickets (ÂŁ10 a head to include buffet) are available from Rowland Davies, of the Penarth Branch, at ardbear@btinternet.com or on (029) 20702603 or 07769 195025, or from AlanJobbins, of the Plaid Cymru History Society, a asjobbins@btinternet.com or on (029) 20623275 or 07790 868686.

Myth Busting in Conference

Why have a number of Unionist politicians sought to smear Plaid Cymru with the gibe of being fascist, without so much as a shred of evidence?  And how have they got away with it for so long?

This was the theme of a well-attended fringe meeting at this year’s annual conference in Aberystwyth addressed by the political historian Professor Richard Wyn Jones.  During the year, Professor Jones published the first ever detailed analysis of these accusations, which have surfaced from time to time over the last seven decades.  The meeting, chaired by Professor Daniel Williams, was jointly sponsored by Cangen Aberystwyth and the Plaid Cymru History Society.

The book, at present available in Welsh only, is a ‘must’ for all nationalists.  It forensically and conclusively debunks a lie systematically put about for decades by less scrupulous anti-Welsh politicians. 

‘Y Blaid Ffasgaidd yng Nghymru’: Plaid Cymru a’r Cyhuddiad o Ffasgaeth (2013).  Richard Wyn Jones. University of Wales Press.

2013m10 Richard Wyn Jones

1958 Conference by Philip Lloyd

The Plaid Conference and Summer School were held in Merthyr Tudful in 1958. The location was the grammar school in Cyfarthfa Castle, the old home of the Crawshays, where the family could look out across the valley on their profitable business, Cyfarthfa iron works.

The three photographs show discussions at the conference in the school hall. Sitting at the table on the stage are Dr R. Tudur Jones (Vice-President, Blaid), Gwynfor Evans (President), J.E. Jones (General Secretary) and Emrys Roberts (Assitant Secretary). Although this conference was held during the period of the ban on Plaid Cymru from Radio and Television by the Labour Party and Tories, there must have been some attention given in the media; the BBC microphone can be seen in each photograph.

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Llun 1: Unknown speaker. Anyone know who he is?

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Llun 2: the speaker is Trefor Beasley, I believe. Am I correct? On the table beyond the stage are the translators, Meirion Lloyd Davies and Chris Rees. Meirion told me later that there was no simultaneous-translation equipment available at that time: the translators would take notes while the speech was in progress and after it was finished the translator would rise to give an English summary for the non Welsh speaking members.

Meirion was a Prebyterian minister throght his life. Chris had fought Gower in the 1955 General Election. He moved to Swansea East for 1959, when we were both teachers at Ysgol Glan Clwyd, Y Rhyl. And when Blaid had a brief five minutes on the radio and television in 1965 he was responsible for the radio brodcast with Gwynfor on the televison.

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Llun 3: the speaker is Arthur Donaldson, SNP representative (he became leader in 1960). On the wall behind Emrys Roberts there is a poster announcing a public meeting organised by the Blaid against the H-bomb, to be held during the conference in a chapel in the town, with speeches by Dr Glyn [O.] Phillips, Gwynfor Evans and Michael Scott from the Direct Action Committee against nuclear war . The Direct Action Committee (1957-1961) was a pacifist group established in response to one on the H-bomb tests on Christmas Island in the Pacific Ocean between 1956 and 1967. The aim was ‘the conducting of non-violent direct action to obtain the total renunciation of nuclear war and its weapons by Britain and all other countries as a first step in disarmament’.

 

Empire Games Cardiff 1958, by Philip Lloyd

The Plaid’s main office was upstairs in a building on Queen Street, Cardiff at that time. A supply of programmes was obtained for sale to the public with the proceeds going to the Blaid. In the picture Glyn James can be seen selling at the entrance at the bottom of the stairs. Note the English name of the Blaid.

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Talk about Free Wales Radio

 

     ETHOLAETH CAERFFILI — CAERFFILI CONSTITUENCY

CYMDEITHAS HANES PLAID CYMRU HISTORY SOCIETY

Illustrated talk by Philip Lloyd

 Radio Free Wales

Radio Ceiliog

The story of illegal broadcasting – the fight for Plaid Cymru’s right to have party political broadcasts.

Clwb Rygbi Caerffili  –  Caerffili Rugby Club

Thursday, September 26th at 7:30

Mynediad am Ddim  –  Free Admission

Croeso cynnes i bawb – A warm welcome to you all

Memories of John Howell (1928-2009)

John HowellMemories of John Howell (1928-2009)

John was born of Welsh parentage in 1928 in Lahore during the time of the British Raj. ,and raised far from Wales His early years were spent mainly in India, where he went to school , followed by his later education at Bristol University studying Mechanical Engineering . He was among those who contributed to the electoral progress of Plaid Cymru during the late 1950s and 1960s. He stood twice as a parliamentary candidate in Caerphilly in 1959 and 1966. These years have been described as a real turning point for Plaid Cymru.

John was no armchair politician. He had a charismatic personality and a mischievous sense of humour. He was an eloquent public speaker, and stood in the village square of many a mining community sometimes, speaking to an audience of an old man and a dog, and sometimes just a dog. His charisma attracted many young people to the nationalist cause. On one occasion,
John raised his loud hailer, speaking in an empty square about the benefits of self-government for Wales. Standing out of sight in a nearby house was a young academic, Phil Williams, who having heard him speak, made up his mind to join Plaid Cymru, despite being a member of the Labour Party at that . time

“Out of the blue –here was a Nationalist candidate who shattered my prejudices. John Howell was brought up in Pakistan, didn’t speak Welsh, and had worked in the aerospace industry in California “(Phil Williams, ” Voice from the Valleys” 1959-1975)

Phil Williams was not the only convert to be influenced by John’s personality, eloquence and conviction. On another occasion, accompanied by his agent, Alf Williams, John was out canvassing, speaking with a loud hailer in Pontlottyn. A young man, who had just returned home from work, was sitting eating his supper in a back kitchen, listening carefully. As a result, sometime later Dave Walters was himself out canvassing with Phil Williams in the 1964 election, experiencing much the same conditions —using a loud speaker in an empty terrace, no one in sight, and not an open door.

“Don’t worry, Phil, there’s a chap having his supper. He’s listening carefully and tomorrow he’ll be down at your house, wanting to join “(Voice from the Valleys)

John was versatile in his approach to electioneering —out canvassing with Owen John Thomas, approaching a Pakistani corner shop; John introduced himself in Urdu, his first language. Taken by surprise, the shopkeeper asked John, ” But what country do you come from?” Pakistan “, replied John. “Yes, yes, but what is your nationality? “I’m a Pakistani just like you”. Answered John, much to the amusement of the shopkeeper.

Given his upbringing and education in a school in Lahore founded to educate the future rulers of the Raj, his dedication to the Nationalist cause was all the more remarkable. Influences in his early life in India, where he witnessed the rise of the Indian Nationalist movement led by Gandhi; and later in Canada, where he worked as an aeronautical engineer, and saw the renewal of French nationalism in Quebec, no doubt played their part in developing his political consciousness.

His withdrawal from active engagement with Plaid Cymru was forced upon him by the onset of Multiple Sclerosis, but he continued to take a keen interest in the political life of Wales,
and remained a staunch supporter of Plaid Cymru all his life.

Annual Pilgrimage to Gwynfor Memorial

Join us this year on Saturday 14 September 2013.

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Gather at car park of Ysgol Tregib, Llandeilo, SA19 6TB at 4.00pm.

Proceed to memorial. Brief Presentation.

Then at 7.00pm.

Evening of entertainment with ‘Jac y Do’ and buffet at the Mountain Gate, Rhydaman.

Only ÂŁ15 with all profit to Gwynfor Memorial Fund.

Pre booking needed for evening.

sethomas@sirgar.gov.uk

01269 842151

Hanes Plaid Cymru