Adventures logged a year later.

Having done a presentation on my adventures with the Woolman Semester yesterday at Cardiff Quaker Meeting (and am planning on the same for Ross on Wye and at South Wales area meeting) I am inspired to write some more of my trip on my blog.


I paste a copy of one of my best pieces of work at Woolman. It was a creative response to the Mexico Trip concentrating on the subject of "Borders". As I was at home while the Mexico trip took place I wrote mine on a border closer to home.






Dear Traveller,


In this world of border control and the essentiality of carrying a passport, the privileges of being European are vast. As Europeans we are both free to wander the countries of our Union and welcomed as civilized guests into the rest of the world. We have the opportunity to be welcomed into a rainbow of cultures. But Traveler, know this, the biggest cultural difference is right here in the United Kingdom. You will come across more borders in Wales than you would travelling through Europe. I will advise you on three of these borders.


En route west of London the road upon which you travel becomes suspended between over-sized rugby posts across the Severn Estuary; this is when you know you have reached the first border, it is real and physical, it is the border of Wales. On crossing, if you look to your right, through the green spiders-leg suspenders, you will see an identical bridge. One was not enough. There will be no greeting from border guards, no passport to display, no searches or restrictions to your luggage weight. Nevertheless you will have to pay, an extortionate amount for the bridge you just crossed.


Croeso i Gymru! After you have raced the other vehicles past the tolls to get back into a lane, you have entered a country in which every inch of the land beholds a different culture. Beware though as Welsh history is riddled with events which made Wales’ permeable border what it is today. The effect on the Welsh people has been long lasting; many are unaware why they are still bitter towards the English. The Welsh have a tribal spirit, which has not proven to be a very forgiving one; they also have very long memories. So here we have the second border. Their spirit is a border.


When the Norman conquest of England began in 1066, it had little initial effect on Wales. Norman control slowly crept north and west. Llewelyn ein llyw olaf, (Llewelyn our last leader) was the last true Prince of Wales. After keeping the Normans at bay he was killed by the English King Edward I.
In 1272 King Edward I began his conquest of Wales. A rebellion rose up in 1400 by Owain Glyndwr – it was quickly squashed by King Henry IV, English law became once again firmly in place.


Wales used to have the biggest coal mining industry in the world. As mines were owned by English businessmen, the country’s potential wealth was lost, and once the coal had run out all that was left were the black hillside valleys and a country with no economic potential.


The Welsh language is older than English, with Celtic roots there is no similarity to any other widely spoken language on earth. This linguistic border is the third. The protection of the language is fierce; it has created and united a culture. There are festivals in celebration of the language namely Yr Eisteddfodau. The Urdd Eisteddfod is the biggest youth festival in Europe and there are 100,000 young members of the Urdd (pronounced ‘eeerth’). In the times of English dominant rule over Wales there was a “Welsh Not” policy. In Welsh speaking schools today pupils are punished for speaking English.


The borders I have warned you of culminate in long resentment and a history of power struggle over the land of their fathers. It gives y Cymry (Welsh people) pride in their place. These elements come together to form a strong cultural border of which any in-comer should not be ignorant.


I wish you well in your travels,
Cymry am byth.