Category: Tribute

REMEMBERING O.P. HUWS

 

On behalf of the members of the Nantlle Valley Branch.

O.P. was an inspiration to us all; a leader by instinct and full of fun and mischief. He worked tirelessly on councils and in the community for the welfare of the people of the Valley, to promote work opportunities and to protect the Welsh language and our heritage. A man of the people who did the ‘small things’ but one who saw far. The Nebo and Dyffryn Nantlle area were fortunate to have such a lively character among us.

O.P. was never still. There was too much to do. One of his frequent sayings was, “If you want something done, ask a busy man.” And O.P. was a busy man.

His great hero was Wmffra Roberts, – County Councilor and Dafydd Wigley’s Agent in the 1974 General Election. A charismatic man and an inspiration to many. O.P. had enough fire in his belly as a Welshman but Wmffra showed him how to channel that to win votes, win elections and win the hearts of the country’s folk.

And O.P. was a people person. And a man of the people; he got on with everyone. And O.P.’s was not some ‘look-at-me’ nationalism. – but a practical one. A man who always had his feet on the ground.

Immigrants to Nebo? One solution was to create Cymdeithas Fro to try to assimilate the new arrivals. And start a learners’ class.

House prices rising unreasonably? Organize a protest in Nebo and then occupying the land of a nearby house that was for sale at a bargain price and sleeping in a tent on the lawn to draw attention to the crisis. And of course that raises neighbours’ fears.

He noticed when canvassing a certain village that the population was aging and there was a lack of young families. What did we do? Establish Antur Nantlle and years of committee and organizing. But now over a hundred people work in Antur’s offices and workshops.

But that’s not all. When there was a campaign for the establishment of a Welsh Television Channel he refused to pay the license fee, – he and his friend Bryn Mosely from Nebo, and both had a period in Walton. The stories would flow about his short stay in prison and the ‘characters’ among his fellow lodgers. But there was also a deep sympathy with those who were caught in an endless cycle of being in and out of prison. “What hope did they have?” was his question.

But O.P. was not a man to despair. There was too much to do and ideas to realize! I called to see him in Bryngwyn when he was confined by the cancer and despite his pain the conversation flowed. As I was leaving he said, “Thank you for calling. Thank you for the conversation. Where did the years go?” Of course I had no answer. But I do know one thing, that Owen Pennant Huws made full use of his years in his adopted Valley surrounded by his family and his neighbourhood. He will leave a big gap behind him.

 

 

Alun Fred

Tribute given in Welsh at the funeral of Lord Dafydd Ellis Thomas in Llandaff Cathedral on 14 March 2025  by Aled Eurig   

We are here to celebrate the life of The Right Honourable Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas of Nant Conwy – born 18 October 1946, died 7 February 2025, known to most of us here, as ‘Dafydd El’.

He has been recognised as one of the most influential Welsh political figures of the past fifty years, a ‘founding father’ of the Senedd, a ‘political giant’.

He was born in Carmarthen, and brought up in Llanrwst in the Conwy valley. His father, WE Thomas, was a prominent Presbyterian minister and his mother Eirlys, a cultural leader in her community. In chapel and school concerts, Dafydd was a precocious child, and trained in public performance and debating skills from an early age. His first political memories were of the Parliament for Wales campaign in the 1950s, and Llanrwst boys being conscripted into the Army at the time of the Suez crisis.

In 1958, he became a member of CND, and in 1962 joined Plaid Cymru. In 1964 he went to Bangor University, where as a brilliant scholar, he gained a first-class degree in Welsh, and established himself as a formidable debater, student politician, and literary critic.

As chair of Plaid Cymru’s youth section, he opposed the Investiture of the Prince of Wales in 1969, ironically given the warm personal friendship he developed with Prince Charles in later life. In February 1974, he won the Meirionnydd seat and became the youngest Member of the House of Commons at the age of 27. An energetic and campaigning MP, he supported Labour’s devolution proposals, which ended in failure in 1979. Following that, he moved Plaid Cymru towards the left.

In the House of Commons, he showed bravery in opposing the Falklands/ Malvinas War, and a readiness to court unpopularity by moving the writ for the Fermanagh and South Tyrone byelection after the death of its Member of Parliament, the IRA hunger striker, Bobby Sands.

In 1984, he became Plaid Cymru’s President, led it to support the miners’ strike, and aligned the party with the decade’s main causes – anti-Thatcherism, the Welsh language movement, Greenham Common, and the anti-apartheid campaign.

Throughout his life he had a strong connection to the countryside. He was a passionate walker and runner in the landscape, and an early champion of the environmental movement.

After 18 years in the Commons, in 1992, he controversially took a seat in the House of Lords and was appointed Chair of the Welsh Language Board, where he ensured that the language was seen as available to all, and above party politics.

In May 1999, he was elected to the National Assembly for Wales, and undoubtedly the political highlight of his life was as the Assembly’s first Presiding Officer. He worked with the First Minister, Rhodri Morgan, to embed the new institution into Welsh life, and secured an iconic home for the Assembly – the award-winning Senedd building, which reflected the principles of a transparent democracy.

The 2011 referendum gave reality to Dafydd’s teenage dream of a legislative Senedd. After standing down as Llywydd that year, he found it difficult to settle into life as a backbencher, and in 2016, left the party on the occasion of his seventieth birthday, to become an independent Member. In 2017, he was appointed deputy Minister for Culture, Sport and Tourism in Government – a role that he delighted in and was eminently suited to.

He was mischievous, challenging , entertaining and provoking, but Dafydd was also a profoundly serious man – he retained his interest in the semiotics of language, philosophy and the arts; and in religion, he moved gradually from the ascetic Calvinism of the Presbyterian church, through the liberalism of Congregationalism, to the Church of Wales, where he was made a lay canon in this very Cathedral.

Even his friends thought that Dafydd could sometimes be inconsistent in his political judgement – but he would argue that he was simply adapting to the political realities of the time. He was perceptive, lively, hugely charming, courteous and inspirational.
His critics have characterised him as a political chameleon, and of failing to rein in, his intellectual agility. He could certainly be a contrarian and was remarkably adept at presenting unorthodox political views. But he was true to his fundamental belief in that whatever he did, he did wholly for the benefit of Wales.

He understood the need for Plaid Cymru to extend its political hinterland, and as Presiding Officer, he knew the importance of ensuring that the legitimacy of the new Assembly, was recognised by the support of the members of the Royal family for instance, who attended every official opening.

His public roles were many but they came at a price. His time with the family was sacrificed to the needs of his party, parliaments and the public. His first victory in 1974 came as a seismic shock to him and Elen, and Dafydd found it difficult to balance the many calls on his time. One of his boys memorably said that Dafydd’s method of coping was ‘never to look in the rear view mirror’ – always to look forward.

His loss is not solely to the political and public world of course. It is a huge loss to his family – to Mair his wife, his sons Rolant, Meilyr and Cai, their mother and Dafydd’s friend, Elen, and his grand-children, Mali, Osian, Llew and Bleddyn, who have lost a loving taid.

Following Dafydd’s death, Mair has received literally hundreds of letters of sympathy. I’d like to read a section from one of them;

‘I was so terribly sorry to hear the very sad news about your husband and particularly wanted to write and send you my deepest possible sympathy….
To all things, your husband brought an independence of mind and a generosity of spirit, not to mention a wit, that I always found immensely impressive. Our public life will be so very much the poorer without his thoughtful and stimulating presence.

There can be few people who have contributed so much to the lives of their nation, in so many fields, for so long. I hope it will be of at least some small comfort to you, in your loss, to know the enormous respect in which your husband was held by so many people from all walks of life.’

A deeply affecting tribute, from King Charles, whose friendship with Dafydd extended over fifty-five years.

Dafydd was my closest friend, sometimes a wise adviser, an inteliigent and playful companion, and a fine man to share a glass of wine with. A brave and bold politician, a lover of Welsh culture and language, and a patriot. Wales, his family, and all of us, are poorer for his loss.

However, reflecting on a full and well lived life, we give thanks and celebrate Dafydd El – our nation builder.

EMRYS ROBERTS  1931-2025

The uncompromising nationalist and radical who became the first Plaid Cymru council leader.

Dafydd Williams

 

I met Emrys Roberts for the first time in a meeting of Exeter University’s Debating Society.  It was the early sixties, and I was a student of economics while Emrys had recently become Plaid Cymru’s General Secretary.  We were treated to a lively and effective address by a speaker with loads of charisma – he was surely one the party’s best ever orators.  It included Plaid’s views on international affairs and nuclear weapons.  

But what sticks out in my memory is the skilful humour with which he dealt with loaded questions.  One person insisted that the only reason he wanted self-government was to wage war.  Not a bit of it, responded Emrys with his wry smile, Plaid’s master plan was to dig a trench along Offa’s Dyke and tow Wales out into the Atlantic Ocean!

Emrys Roberts was born in 1931 and raised in  Leamington Spa.  His father came from Blaenau Ffestiniog and there was Welsh in the family but the language of the home was English. He learnt Welsh thoroughly after the family moved to Cardiff in 1941.  At the age of ten, he began attending Cathays High School, joining a Welsh-medium class with the legendary Elvet Thomas as Welsh teacher.

Emrys became a dedicated nationalist in his teens, and was always someone who thought for himself.  He showed early signs of that unique combination of humour and radicalism: although deciding he did not really believe in God, he continued to attend chapel and accepted the post of Sunday School secretary – on condition they understood he was not a believer!

He did time in Cardiff gaol for refusing to enlist in the armed forces on the grounds of nationalism.  Following dismissal from the civil service because of his prison sentence, he went to University College, Cardiff and was elected as President of the Students Union for 1954/55.

In 1957 he took up a post with the staff of Plaid Cymru, first of all with the specific role of defending Cwm Tryweryn.  He played a leading role in organising the illegal radio programmes broadcast on the BBC’s television channels after the evening closedown, and he stood as a Westminster parliamentary candidate in a number of constituencies in South Wales.

In 1960, he became Plaid Cymru’s General Secretary: I had no idea as I listened to his address in Exeter University that I would follow in his footsteps a decade or so later.  But his period of office during a turbulent period prior to the Carmarthen by-election proved to be problematic, with tensions between different groups within the national movement.  Emrys was obliged to give up his post in 1964 following a dispute that made a front page lead.

Despite this, he had made a lasting impression on Plaid Cymru’s membership, especially in the valleys of South Wales.  After a period as organiser of an international eisteddfod in the Teeside area, he and Margaret returned to Wales, where he later worked as public relations officer for the Welsh Hospitals Board.  No-one would have blamed him for keeping his head down after years of uncertainty.  But Emrys was a man of deep convictions, and when the call came in 1972 to stand as Plaid candidate in the Merthyr by-election he accepted the challenge.

It was a crucial time for the party.  After the historic victory in Carmarthen and two near misses, in Rhondda West and Caerffili, by 1970 Plaid Cymru had no representative in the House of Commons.  Labour hastened to call the by-election as fast as possible, and I recall Neil Kinnock predicting that they would bury Plaid Cymru.  But it didn’t happen:  nationalists rolled up from all parts of Wales to work through wind and rain for Emrys.  Posters appeared throughout the constituency and Labour’s majority was trimmed to 3,710.

From that point on, Plaid Cymru improved it’s standing throughout the south.  Emrys went on to win a Merthyr Council seat in the Troedyrhiw area, and in 1976 came and astonishing victory in the Borough – Plaid Cymru took 21 of the 33 council seats, with Emrys as leader of the first ever Council to be officially run by Plaid Cymru.  You can read about this and much more in his autobiography on the Plaid Cymru History Society website  www.hanesplaidcymru.org (search for A Bee or Two in my Bonnet, under Publications).

*Emrys Pugh Roberts was born on 30 November 1931.  He died on 9 January 2025.

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Statement in the Senedd by Rhys ab Owen MS 29/01/2025

The best orator he had ever heard. That was Vaughan Roderick’s opinion about Emrys Roberts. He was born in Leamington Spa, but at the age of 10 the family moved to Cardiff. Through Minny Street Chapel, Cathays school and his aunt Bet, Emrys learned Welsh. In Cathays, he was one of a group of boys who became fluent in Welsh, including Bobi Jones and Tedi Millward.

A conscientious objector, he refused to do military service after the second world war, and he was sentenced to a term in Cardiff prison. While he was there, Mahmood Mattan was hanged. Emrys Roberts saw the racism against Mahmood, and saw his fellow prisoners, those of Somali descent having to dig the grave, and covering it with quicklime.

Emrys had an international mindset. He was a leader in the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, and had enormous an respect for Castro and Cuba. His great aspiration was to see Wales sitting next to Cuba at the United Nations.

He stood for Plaid Cymru in several prominent by-elections, and he led Merthyr council at the end of the 1970s. He was also responsible for the unlawful broadcasts that happened when the BBC banned political broadcasts by Plaid.

Although he held leading roles within Plaid Cymru, it’s fair to say that he did not see eye to eye with the leadership of the party on all occasions. He was a socialist by instinct, and he worked hard to push the party in that direction. Everything that Emrys did was rooted in what was best for Wales and the peoples of the world. He was a kind man, and I experienced that kindness over the years.

It’s a privilege to pay tribute to Emrys here in the Senedd. He was part of a small group that insisted that Wales was a nation, and this Senedd is the fruit of their labours. Thank you very much.

Writing a posthumous appreciation of Brian Arnold and his contribution to the stability and success of Plaid Cymru in Pontypridd, the Cynon Valley (to which Ynysybwl belonged administratively) and the valleys of mid-Glamorgan is an unsought privilege.

It is a privilege because he was such a steadfast and upstanding character in personal and political terms and, because, over a period of sixty years or so, it was an honour to have counted him a good friend. It is unsought for the same reasons.

It has been said in other tributes to Brian (by Heledd Fychan A.S. on-line and David Walters in Clochdar, April, 2023, pp.14-15) that his inspiration for joining Plaid Cymru in 1957, at the age of 16, was Gwynfor Evans’ leadership of the Party and the latter’s statement that Wales was a nation in its own right and so possessed of the right to govern itself.

I don’t doubt that. Indeed, I heard Brian say as much over the many years of our political friendship. However, his real mentor – ‘on the ground’ as it were – in bringing him into lifelong membership of and service to Plaid Cymru was his predecessor as the leading party figure in his home district, the late Cllr. Gernant Jones (1920-2001) and also the latter’s wife, Eluned.

I have been told there was a family-link between Gernant and Brian “rhywle yn yr achau” as we say in Welsh, though I never managed to get to the root of it. Whether true or not, Gernant was Brian’s political father within the Party and primarily responsible for encouraging him to join it. What an auspicious day that turned out to be! Gernant too is worthy of retrospective tribute on the Plaid Cymru History Society’s website and I hope to furnish such a piece at some future date.

Neither of Gernant’s sons chose to pursue a political career and so Brian became his ‘political heir’. The two remained close; and when Gernant died in June 2001, aged 81, Brian was genuinely bereaved. It was as if he had lost the father-figure he had not known within his own family (having been born at Ynysybwl on the 16 February, 1941 in unsettled circumstances at the height of WW2).

Brian was raised initially by his maternal grandparents and, when they died, by his maternal aunt, Doris, at Thompson Street, Ynysybwl. On leaving school, he took a job as a trainee chef; but it wasn’t long before he went to work as a trainee and ultimately senior figure in the stores department of the old East Glamorgan Hospital at Church Village. This was a job he came to know like the back of his hand and in which he remained until retirement in 2006.

Though dedicated to his job, Brian possessed a wider vision for the society and country into which he had been born. He pursued that vision with commitment and integrity as a community figure, as a churchman and as a political activist in Plaid Cymru until the very end.

Brian was a lifelong member, and ultimately deacon and secretary, of Zion English Baptist chapel in Robert St., Ynysybwl. He was also a founder-member and leader of several community and social enterprises in the village and its environs. Among them were the local Ramblers society; a Youth Club that ran for many years on Robert Street; the Dârwynno Outdoor Pursuits Centre and its most recent addition, ‘Caban Guto’ (which Brian officially opened on 10 July, 2021), and the Ynysybwl Regeneration Partnership of which he was director between 2007 anfd 2012.

He was first elected a Plaid Cymru member of Ynysybwl Community Council in 1986 and served without a break on that body for 26 years. He regarded his rôle there (as elsewhere) as one of serving the community as a whole, not only that section of it which had voted for him. I believe it’s fair to say that his electoral opponents, as well as the wider public, appreciated this approach to politics on his part – an approach which absolutely typified him.

Brian’s first foray into a wider political field – that of the (then) Cynon Valley Borough Council – was in 1979 when he stood for election alongside his mentor, Gernant Jones, in an attempt to limit damage to the Party’s cause arising from a decision by a former Plaid councillor, Norma Harvey, to stand as an Independent in opposition to the Party. Unfortunately, Norma’s decision resulted in splitting the Plaid vote thereby allowing Labour (temporarily) to take both borough council seats – including Gernant’s, which he had held for some years prior. It hardly needs sayng that Norma’s campaign got nowhere as she came bottom of the poll. There’s a lesson there, folks!

Brian was not politically ambitious for himself. So, when Gernant again stood for election to the CVBC in 1983, his running mate wasn’t him but Gareth Evans, Coed-y-cwm, who taught French in the Rhondda. In 1983, this time without a ‘renegade’ candidate to split the vote (though two Independents stood) Gernant was comfortably re-elected at the top of the poll and stayed there in 1986, 1987 and 1991 (with Gareth joining him on the local authority between 1987-91). During all this time, Brian was content to be a ‘back-room boy’: planning, persuading and campaigning on the Party’s behalf.

In 1995, a lead-election was held for the new Rhondda Cynon Taf local authority, formed in 1996 out of three previously existing borough councils (Cynon Valley; Rhondda; Taf-Elai). At this contest Ynysybwl was awarded a single member as opposed to the two that had previously been allocated on CVBC. Against every expectation, Gernant lost his seat by a single vote (696 to 695) to Labour’s Christine Chapman, the wife of a local GP. She was subsequently elected (1999) to the first Welsh Assembly as constituency member for the Cynon Valley.

It was this jolt – together with Gernant’s advancing years (he was 75) that spurred Brian into biting the electoral bullet in a way he had not previously sought to do. Thus, at the second RhCT borough election in 1999, Brian agreed to stand – with some reluctance as I recall – as the Party’s candidate for the Ynysybwl ward.

His reluctance was based not on any misgiving about the Party or on serving the community of which he thought so much. Rather, it was based on an entirely objective – and humble – realisation that, if he stood, he knew, without question, he would be elected – such was the respect in which he was widely (and rightly) held.

So it proved. In his initial RhCT election in 1999, Brian polled 745 votes (45.7%) to Labour’s 504 (30.9%) with an Independent on 380 (23.3%). He stood again in 2004, easily topping the poll above Labour, an Independent and a LibDem. The same was true in 2008 as he topped the poll with 51.3% of the vote, above Labour and a LibDem. In 2003-04 Brian served as Chair of RhCT local authority (a post subsequently re-designated ‘mayor’ by the Labour Party).

In all, Brian served on RhCT.CBC. for thirteen years (1999-2012); but decided as he entered his 70s to make way for younger candidates. He was by then 71, retired and had no wish to ‘hog’ the electoral stage. With Gernant and him having led the Party locally between them for at least forty years (1972-2012) a period of difficult readjustment inevitably lay ahead.

So it proved. In subsequent borough elections (2012 and 2017), Labour managed to regain the Ynysybwl seat on RhCT council (much to Brian’s disappointment); but it was not to last. To his relief, Ynysybwl (by then restored to be a two-seat ward) comfortably returned two Plaid members, Amanda Ellis and Tony Burnell, to RhCT Council in 2022 (in what was otherwise a disappointing election for the Party in the borough).

Sadly and tragically, Tony Burnell died a few months later, which meant, inevitably, a by-election. This was held in September 2022 and resulted in Paula Evans, the Plaid candidate, comfortably holding the seat against Labour, Conservative, Green and ‘Gwlad’ candidates: the latter having no chance of winning but seemingly content to put the seat at risk by seeking to split the ‘Welsh aware’ vote. (The lesson is still to be learned).

By this stage, Brian’s health was deteriorating markedly. He was becoming frailer and more susceptible to falling. Even so, while no longer able to canvass, drop leaflets or campaign on the streets, he sought to do what he could in support of Paula’s by-election contest by plastering 28, Thompson Street with her posters to show that she had his full and willing support.

Brian Arnold gave exceptionally long service to his community and to Plaid Cymru. Thus, it was fitting that in January 2022 the trustees of the Llanwynno-based Edward Thomas Charity (founded in 1678 – yes, you read that correctly) included him among those whom the Charity formally honours each year for service to the community. The ceremony is normally held annually in the ancient church at Llanwynno but had to be held on-line in 2022 owing to Covid restrictions. Nevertheless, it was a well-deserved (and appreciated) gesture by the trustees.

Plaid Cymru too readily paid tribute to Brian as one who devoted much of his time, energy and undoubted interpersonal skills to building the party and encouraging comradeship within it (sometimes in difficult circumstances it must be said!).

After he stood down from elective politics in 2012, the Party bestowed on him at its annual conference in 2013 its Outstanding Achievement Award in recognition of his long and sustained service at many levels across some fifty-five years (until then). At his passing on the 28 January, 2023, a few weeks before his 82^nd birthday, Leanne Wood, a previous leader of the Party, paid him fulsome tribute for his life’s work, as did Heledd Fychan, regional A.S. for South Wales Central. in a warm tribute delivered at Brian’s funeral at Glyn-taf Crematorium on the 6th March this year.

It was a shock to hear of Brian’s decease because, somehow, he always seemed to have a busy positivism about him. It was a disappointment too that I was unable to make it to his funeral to pay my respects to someone I had known as a political colleague and friend since I first joined Plaid Cymru, aged 14, in 1962.

I met Brian soon thereafter as we campaigned for Plaid Cymru’s candidates in the Aberdare constituency (as it then was) in the general elections of 1964, 1966 and subsequently. During all that time, I can honestly say – along with probably everyone who knew him – that, while we might have argued over issues, we never quarrelled; and I, for one, will miss those occasional sessions which members of the Cynon Valley constituency party at its best would have at the Brynffynnon Inn, Llanwynno or the Old Bwl Inn as we put Wales and the world to right!

Brian was a profoundly moral individual who radiated personal and political integrity. He treated – perhaps especially – his direst political opponents (not least in the Labour Party) with respect and moderation and they respected him in return. His friends, Plaid Cymru and the cause of Welsh advancement are the better for having known him – and the poorer for his loss.

Brian served his community selflessly. That is beyond question.

The wider significance of his and Gernant’s electoral and political work is that, for years during the 1950s, ‘60s, ‘70s and ‘80s, they proved – along with others such as Ted Meriman in Ogmore Vale, Glyn James at Ferndale and Pauline Jarman in Mountain Ash – that the Labour Party could be beaten by credible Plaid Cymru candidates representative of the communities they sought to serve.

The significance of their work lies too in the confidence this still imparts to others, and in having helped to drive the huge constitutional advance Wales has made during the past quarter of a century.

Does a journey of a thousand miles not start with a single step ?

David Leslie Davies,

07/2023

A talented American and a Welsh patriot

Dafydd Williams

One day in the mid-1970s, a young American woman walked into Plaid Cymru’s headquarters in Cardiff.  Charlotte Aull  had set her mind on finding out everything she could about Wales and its national movement. The plan was to return over the Atlantic once her PhD was complete, but – fortunately for Wales – things turned out otherwise.

Charlotte was born in Lexington, Kentucky, one of three children.  She took a degree in mathematics and then an MSc in Mississippi University before switching to social anthropology, the study of communities and their culture.  And for her PhD in North Carolina, she chose Wales as the focus of her study.

Charlotte had a quiet demeanour and a pleasant personality, but she was no shrinking violet.  Hours after landing in the UK, she was in the House of Commons interviewing Gwynfor Evans, Plaid Cymru’s leader and first MP.  Later on, while in a bookshop, she spotted a gentleman browsing a row of Welsh-related books – it turned out to be the well-known poet Harri Webb, who was interviewed on the spot!

It was probably Gwynfor who suggested a visit to the Plaid Cymru office to find out more and obtain a list of other people to interview.  But little did I foresee the happy outcome – that Charlotte would marry my friend Hywel Davies, a journalist, nationalist and author of a classic study of Plaid Cymru’s first twenty years.  So Charlotte came to live in Wales, mastering the Welsh language during the course of her PhD field work in Bangor and Cardiff.

The couple moved to the United States in 1985 when Charlotte took up the post of lecturer in the University of South Carolina.  By then they had a two-year old daughter – Elen Gwenllian, who they had adopted in 1983.  The family moved back to Wales in 1988, living in a number of places before settling in Morriston – Hywel to pursue his career in television and Charlotte in Swansea University.

Many will be familiar with her classic work Welsh Nationalism in the Twentieth Century (1989).  Although the work was published at a difficult time for Wales and Welsh nationality, Charlotte’s book broke new ground in tracing the relationship between nationalism and institutional factors, such as the growth of functions devolved to the Welsh Office.

In 1992, Charlotte was appointed as a lecturer in Swansea University, and in 2000 as senior lecturer in sociology and anthropology.  She became a prolific author, her book Reflexive Ethnography (1998) proving a key reference for those studying peoples and their cultures.  Her colleagues recall her kindness, her spirit of cooperation and her dedication to social justice.  She became a recognised authority in her subject, approachable and popular among her students.

Charlotte contributed a large number of academic papers, as well as writing for the magazine Planet and the Welsh language periodical Barn. Between 2007 and 2012 Hywel and she produced the Papur Gwyrdd, an environmental publication that presented the struggle for the future of the planet to a Welsh-speaking readership.  She was an active member of Plaid Cymru, serving as Secretary and as Treasurer of the party’s Swansea East branch, and contested the Morriston ward as Plaid candidate for a seat on Swansea Council.

Charlotte remained a patriotic American, keeping her American citizenship, making frequent visits to her family in the United States and celebrating Independence Day and Thanksgiving in style.  She was keenly interested in her homeland’s politics – it is fair to say she was no fan of Donald Trump!  As well as a love of jazz, she had a lifelong interest in horses and riding, a passion she passed on to Hywel and Elen – to such an extent that Hekla, an Icelandic pony gifted to Elen crossed the Atlantic to take up residence in Wales!

Charlotte was a committed supporter of the cause of Wales and the Welsh language, of social justice and of peace.  She served as governor of Ysgol Gynradd Gymraeg Tan-y-Lan, Morriston.  She loved mountain walking, cycling and gardening, an interest commemorated in verse by a friend and neighbour, the chaired Eisteddfod bard Robat Powell:

Ein Charlotte ddoeth, Charlotte dda – a gofiwn

drwy nos gyfyng gaeaf,

ac o’r ardd daw atgo’r ha’

i ddyn, a bydd hi yna!

 

Our Charlotte, wise and good – we will remember

in the winter night

and from the garden will come an echo of summer

and she will be there!

 

We extend our sympathy to Hywel and Elen, and to Elen’s husband Adam. 

 

Charlotte Aull Davies was born on 8 October, 1942.  She died on 18 February, 2023.

This tribute is an extended version of an article that appeared in the June 2023 issue of the Welsh-language magazine Barn, and translated by the author.  We are grateful to the editor of Barn Menna Baines for her kind co-operation.

             

Wil Roberts, or Wil Coed as he was universally known, was a well-known figure in Plaid Cymru who died in October 2022.  He played an active role in all the party’s campaigns from the nineteen sixties and served as secretary of the Pwllheli branch.  Former Plaid Cymru leader Dafydd Wigley delivered the eulogy in his funeral which we publish in full.

Translation of the Funeral Tribute by Dafydd Wigley
to the late Wil Roberts.

Dear Friends,

I would give anything not to be here today; but nothing would have stopped me from accepting the invitation from Siw and the family, for me to pay this tribute, on behalf of Elinor and myself,  to one who was such a friend to us all, in differing ways and at different stages of our lives. He was a very dear friend, whose course is now run; and whose immense contribution to his family, his community and his nation, have now, alas, come to an end.

This morning, our deep condolences go to Siw, to Dewi and Ifan; and to Quentin, who is also  part of the family; and to Jordan, Mia and Cai, for whom Wil was a loving Taid; and indeed to all the family. And I know that everyone would want me to thank Siw  for the loving care she gave Wil over the years, and particularly in this recent challenging period which they as a family had to face.

Siw has the certainty which she derives from her faith, rooted in this church; and that will be an anchor for her in the storms through which she is living. Siw was, of course, brought up in the Catholic tradition in Cardiff and came under the inspiration of the renowned Father  Gregory Fitzgerald; and her faith, together with the  Catholic church, have been a strength to Siw down the years.

So may I thank Bishop Emeritus Edwin Regan, for leading us today and for his support to Siw during this recent difficult period; and to everyone  associated with this church for their support for Siw and the family; for their kindness towards them; and for their practical help in their time of need. Also, may I thank Archdeacon Andrew Jones for the exceptional support he has given the family.

Siw has asked me to draw attention to the invitation extended to everyone, to join her and the family for a light lunch at Pwllheli Golf Club. The burial will be at Deneio Cemetery  after this service; but those who don’t wish to attend the cemetery are  welcome to go directly to the Golf Club.

William O Roberts was born on the 23^rd December, 1943, the son of J.O, and Catherine Roberts, Cefn Coed Chwilog; and so it was  as “Wil Cefn Coed” he was known to everybody, later truncated to “Wil Coed”. His father was manager of the Creamery at Rhydygwystl; and a Caernarfonshire County Councillor.

Many of our generation don’t realize that Wil was one of twins, but sadly his sister died at birth; and it was a miracle that Wil survived. And the family suffered another tragedy, when Wil’s younger brother, Richard, then aged sixteen, was killed in a motor bike accident.

But I am under orders from Siw not to be too sad in my remarks today, rather to remember Wil as a delightfully happy friend, as indeed he was to all of us. I’ll try to obey that request.

After being a pupil at Ysgol Uwchradd  Pwllheli, Wil went on to study to be a Vet, at Liverpool university; but while his written work was excellent, he had difficulty with spoken English – a frequent feature amongst children in rural Wales. So he went to work for a year at the Creamery, before going on to the University at Bangor, to study agriculture. He was in the same year as Dafydd Elis Thomas, whom I am glad to see here today.

It was at about that time that I first met Wil. I was working over the summer vacation  as Plaid Cymru’s organiser in the Arfon Constituency. I arranged to meet a crowd of young party supporters in Pwllheli – and I handed them a pile of Welsh Nations – Plaid’s English language newspaper – for them to distribute from door to door.

I immediately sensed that I had a problem. Wil and his school friend Osborn Jones (whom I’m also glad to see here today)  were both glaring angrily at me.. One of them declared “There are already far too many English papers being read in Pwllheli!” –  threatening to leave me with my mountain of unwanted papers. Somehow, a compromise was reached – and Osborn, Wil and I became lifelong friends!

After graduating in Bangor, Wil won a scholarship to take a higher degree, in Agricultural Economics at Aberystwyth. So, naturally, his first job was with the Welsh Agriculture Department in Cardiff. He was in his seventh heaven travelling around the farms in the Vale of Glamorgan – and was surprised to discover how many farmers were still, at that time, Welsh speakers. And the farmers themselves were equally happy to deal with a civil servant who spoke Welsh.

Wil went  on to work with the Welsh Folk Museum at St Fagans,  with the task of driving around Wales, recording interviews in Welsh with farmers. Those recordings remain some of the treasures of St Fagans up to this day.

Wil was Plaid Cymru to the core; and he had no fear of declaring his allegiance. Despite his stammer, he was willing to knock doors the length of Wales; and wherever there might be a rally, or protest, or byelection, Wil would be there.

By 1970. Wil had met Siw – and guess where they met? Yes, in the romantic location of a Plaid Cymru Constituency  Committee in Cardiff. Siw was then sixteen years of age and Wil ten years her senior.

Although still a teenager, Siw was an experienced as a canvasser – and also of selling Welsh Nation papers from door to door in Cardiff. Just as well that Will hadn’t baulked at selling that paper in Cardiff as he had earlier in Pwllheli!

Wil and Siw “became an item” in 1971 – the year Elinor and I moved to live in Merthyr Tydfil; and that’s where I first met Siw. She and Wil came to canvass there in a famous parliamentary byelection and stayed in our home, where it seemed that half of Wales had chosen to camp down. In their sleeping bags, all; across our floors!

Wil had one abiding characteristic: he could sleep anywhere!…so much so, that on one occasion while riding his bike along Lon Goed, he dropped off – to sleep and from his bike – and suffered a nasty accident.

Wil was a person with whom accidents seemed to have an abiding relationship… On one occasion, he smashed his foot severely in a hay harvester. On another occasion, while a schoolboy, he went to play in the fields, and put down his coat, without realizing that a nosy pig was busily eyeing it; and when Wil turned his back, started to devour it for supper. Wil’s mother was not best pleased!

On another occasion, Wil suffered a serious accident while travelling in a car driven by his lifelong friend Geraint Eckley, which, on traversing the brow of a hill, hit black ice and Wil broke his back in three places. Geraint apologises that, for family health reasons, he cannot be here today.

Geraint recalled to me another of Wil’s traits – that he would suddenly get a great idea into his head – and off he would go! One morning, Wil announced to his house-companions in Aberystwyth that he was going to see the great Welsh author and patriot, D J Williams, down in Fishguard. Geraint went with him – and they landed, unannounced, on DJ’s doorstep. They were given a great welcome  and Wil became a bosom friends with DJ and visited him in Fishguard half a dozen times before DJ died, to chat with him about his recollections.

But let me return to Wil’s own story. Wil and Siw were married in 1973 at St Peter’s Church , Cardiff – and that was another story worth recalling. Wil had already by then introduced Siw to the Welsh mass at Cowbridge; and it was Welsh language Catholic marriage service which they enjoyed in Cardiff, with the famous Bishop Mullins officiating.

But there were two other officials responsible for organising the wedding ; and they hadn’t discussed which of them was responsible for organising the registrar to be present. During the service, it dawned on them that no registrar was in attendance; Panic! Someone was despatched from the Church to scour the suburbs of Cardiff for an available registrar.

The poor harpist, Eleri Owen, had to improvise on the harp for over half an hour until some deputy registrar was found and the legal niceties of the wedding could be concluded. At long last, Wil and Siw were then declared husband and wife.

After the wedding Wil was due to start a new job, as deputy secretary of the Welsh Black Society in Caernarfon. So off they went on honeymoon – only for Wil to get an urgent message – that his new boss had been taken ill and he was required immediately in Caernarfon. So Wil had a new job, a new home, in a new area,…and a new wife!

Their new home was on a small group of houses in Llandwrog. Their neighbours included Huw Jones (Sain) and Siân; Menna and Ceredig Davies of Gwynedd council; around the corner lived Wil’s old school friend Osborn Jones and Glesni; as did poet Gerallt Lloyd Owen and Alwena. Up the road was Richard Morris Jones and Manon Rhys; and a little further, John and Gwenno Hywyn. What a gallery of 1970s young Welsh talent.

This was quite a change of scene for Siw; but Wil was in his element and in his territory. According to Osborn, Wil was the character who held that diverse group together. Wil had the ability to deal with everyone; he was one of the most likeable people you could ever meet.

 It is Siw’s belief that if Wil had his time over again, he would have studied history and Welsh. Wil certainly had a delight in writing, particularly for newspapers. He had a column in Y Cymro on agricultural matters; he wrote for the Herald papers under the name of Thomas Parry (and such was his articulate style, many thought that it was Professor Tom Parry, Principal of Aberystwyth!); and Wil was an active member of the small group which produced the Ddraig Goch and Welsh Nation papers.

This was serious and responsible  work; but Wil’s humour found an outlet as he wrote letters to the Herald papers – not in his own name but in that of Twtws Parry of Llandwrog – expressing controversial  views that would anger the more respectable residents of the village. No-one could make out who was this Twtws Parry. Only close friends  realized that was the name of Wil and Siw’s pet cat!

Wil was also a first class photographer and for a while was the Western Mail’s official photographer  in international rugby matches.

Siw and Wil lived in Llandwrog for five years and during that time Wil was appointed  estates valuer for Gwynedd Council. They then moved to Wil’s childhood home at Cefn Coed, where they lived for ten years before moving to Yr Ala in Pwllheli where they resided for thirty-six years.

Wil was careful with his money. On one occasion, when he and Siw came down to join me for lunch in the House of Lords, he realized – too late – that he had left his suit at home. Surmising that he would be expected to wear a jacket in the rather grand Peers Dining Room,  he visited several shops and was horrified at the prices.  He eventually found a charity shop which had a jacket of his size; paid five pounds for it; and no-one noticed.

I can remember as if it was yesterday, when Wil, twenty tears ago, told me on Crewe station that he had just learnt that he was suffering from prostrate cancer.  He had clearly been shaken – but took a positive attitude that he wouldn’t allow that condition to define the rest of his life; however long that transpired to be.

However, he retired from Gwynedd Council to give his body every chance to conquer the cancer; and after five years, was given the all-clear.

And so it was that Wil,  over the subsequent fifteen years, lived a full life – at home with his family, within the local community in Pwllheli; active with the local Plaid branch; helping Siw with her work for this church; and writing even more – including  a tribute to his good friend Ioan Roberts in the book “Cofio Ioan”.

And then, just before the Covid lockdown, cancer struck again. For a time, because of lockdown, he couldn’t access the hospital. He then had several checks – all suggesting that the cancer had gone. But then, in 2020, symptoms returned and Wil suffered a fall at home.

It was feared that he had suffered a stroke; but that wasn’t the case. He had cancer in his spine and he endured protracted treatment at Ysbyty Gwynedd and Glan Clwyd. However in May this year, his spine collapsed and he fell down stairs.

Following that he was in Bryn Beryl hospital for many weeks  where he was given outstanding care; and both he  and Siw are so grateful to the staff.

When I called at Bryn Beryl to see Wil in July,  he was in excellent spirits; chatting with everyone; but yearning to return home to Siw. He made it clear how much he appreciated  the visits he had received, and the messages which Siw passed on,  wishing him a speedy recovery.

And when Wil returned home in late August,  a special bed was placed for him downstairs; and Gwynedd Council were excellent in providing ramps and equipment to help his mobility.

He had great assistance from  Jo and Natasha, therapists at Bryn Beryl; and aid from the “Tuag Adref” service  from Ysbyty Alltwen, in providing care at home; something Wil and Siw greatly appreciated. And nurses would call, day and night, to help, over the seven week period. 

The family wish to pay the highest possible tribute to both  the social services and the NHS; and it’s good, and appropriate that this is noted. But there is one special; person who Siw wishes me to name – that’s Bonnie, who many of you will know through her work at Canolfan y Gwystl. She called every night at Wil and Siw’s home, to clean Wil and care for him. Without her help, Siw doubts whether she could have coped. And she did this totally voluntarily: aren’t there some fundamentally good people still around?

I saw Wil for the last time at home in Yr Ala, a fortnight ago, on Wednesday 5^th of October. He was in bed, and heavily sedated. But it was possible to conduct a fascinating and purposeful conversation with him; his mind was still very active and his aspirations for Wales as committed as they ever were.

When I mentioned the huge Independence rally in Cardiff the previous Saturday, where I had spoken,  his eyes lit up and he was so eager to learn more. And when I told  him that I would be presenting a Bill in the House of Lords next Friday, to protect the Welsh Senedd’s devolved powers,  he was voluble in his support.

I don’t know whether Wil, at that stage, realized  – as Siw had warned me – that he would hardly survive to the end of this month to  learn of the outcome of my Bill. I chatted with Wil that day for just half an hour;  he was clearly tiring;  and the time had come for me to withdraw – but not before he insisted that we shook hands; and he held my hand with a grip more powerful than I ever remember.

None of us know what is our destiny; nor whether we shall ever be allowed to know, after we have left this life, what will happen to our loved ones, to our aspirations; to our community,  and to our nation. But if there is any justice  in this great scheme of things of which we are a part, Wil’s spirit will be with us in those struggles which we shall have to wage – for the future of our countryside, for social justice, for national freedom,  for cultural fulfilment and for international peace.

Wil is with us in each and every one of those campaigns; he will not be forgotten; nor will he be indolent; his memory will fire us in our aspirations; and thereby, he too, will share in their ultimate triumph.

Thank you Wil; blessed is your memory; and rest in peace.

Dafydd Wigley

21 October, 2022.                     

Penri Jones, Author of Jabas, Councillor and Welsh language activist has died at the age of 78 years.

A tribute by Liz Saville Roberts:

Penri is well known to generations of Welsh people as the author who created the character Jabas. But there was much more to Penri: Author of a number of novels, a Welsh language teacher and a highly regarded local politician.

I had the privilege of working with Penri when  Coleg Meirion Dwyfor opened in 1993. He was amongst a number of teachers who chose to come to the new college to be able to provide Welsh language education of the highest standard.

As well as working as a lead teacher, he represented Llanbedrog Community on Gwynedd Council as a Plaid Cymru councillor where he held the education portfolio for many years and played a key role in developing and implementing the county’s language policy.

Penri was also an union representative for the UCAC teachers’ union.  On his request I joined UCAC, becoming the union representative after him, and following his encouragement I stood as a county councillor in 2004. Without his encouragement, I would never have ventured into politics. I have a significant personal debt to him.

Every sympathy to Mair and the family and to Penri’s many friends.

Tributes have been paid by family and friends to former Councillor on Gwynedd Council, Pat Larsen, who passed away at Gwynfa on 20 November 2021.

A former primary school teacher Mrs Larsen served as Mayor on the former Arfon District Council. She was a member of the former Gwynedd Council and was elected onto the newly formed Gwynedd Council in 1996. She was its first chairman in 1996-98.

Apart from a period when her children were small she had been a councillor for over 50 years. One Penisarwaun resident said many villagers could not remember a time when Mrs Larsen was not their councillor.

Paying tribute in a message to the Larsen family on social media Dwyfor Meirionnydd MP Liz Saville Roberts said: “I am proud to have known Pat Larsen when she was a county councilor, remembering her toughness and friendliness.”

Gwynedd Council vice chair, Cllr Elwyn Jones, who now represents the Penisarwaun ward, said: “I’m very sorry to hear the news of Mrs Larsen’s death. She was a very special woman who had a very special relationship in the community and beyond.”

Councillor Simon Glyn, the current Chair of Gwynedd Council, said: “Pat Larsen served tirelessly and effectively for her area and for Wales for many years and will be fondly remembered as a member of the councils of Arfon and Gwynedd and especially of her tenures as Mayor and Chairman.”

Arfon Senedd Member Sian Gwenllian, who served with Mrs Larsen on Gwynedd Council for many years, added: “I was saddened to hear about the passing of Pat Larsen, a woman that was very much ahead of her time. Hers was an immense contribution not only to her local community, but to the whole of Gwynedd and Wales.

“She led the way for women such as myself in her unyielding determination and I considered it a privilege to serve side-by-side with her as a councillor.

“My thoughts are with her family at a time of inevitable sadness and grief, but I will also be celebrating the life of Pat Larsen, a life well and truly lived to the full, and on a personal level, I will give thanks for being able to know and learn from her wisdom and perseverance.”

In Memory of Maldwyn Lewis

It is with great sadness that we heard of the death of Maldwyn at the age of 93 on April 9 2021 following a short illness.

Maldwyn was a member of Plaid Cymru since his youth in Blaenau Ffestiniog, and he acted conscientiously and tirelessly for the party throughout his life.

He came to prominence in the seventies as a Porthmadog Town Councillor and Gwynedd Councillor for Plaid Cymru. This is the period when membership of the Bro Madog Branch led  by Maldwyn was over 300. 

As Chair of the Education Committee he was one of the founders of Cyngor Gwynedd’s Welsh Education policy, and solid foundations were laid. He also contributed to the Welsh language being at the forefront of Council services.

He was Dafydd Wigley’s agent in the 1979 and 1983 elections, and organised colourful campaigns when “Herald Ni” was being distributed to every house in the old Arfon Constituency.

His biggest contribution to the Porthmadog area was – along with Bryan Rees Jones – setting up Elusen Rebecca (charity) and buying the Cob. The charity continues to distribute the interest raised by the tolls to societies and organisations on an annual basis.

He was also active in Yr Wylan, the local community newspaper. He was Chairman of the management committee and a member of the Editorial panel.

During his life Maldwyn’s contribution to his area, Plaid Cymru and Wales was notable. He was an inspiration and a source of gratitude to those of us who are trying to follow his lead. 

Our deepest condolences to his sons Dewi and Geraint, his daughter Gwenith and their families in their bereavement.

Dewi Williams

Secretary  Bro Madog Branch, Plaid Cymru