Chwaraeon yng Nghymru –
Sports in Wales
from WalesOnline
You can send your Bywyd Cymreig items,
suggestions, and comments to Evan Ash at
[email protected]
Bywyd Cymreig - Welsh Life
The St. David’s Welsh Society of Greater Kansas City
Sut ydych yn ei ddweud? –
How Do You Say It?
thanks to Heather Ash and Wales Online
a Wales National Super Prix in Swansea? A
motor racing event that would see roads closed
and competitors in a variety of cars speeding
through the streets could be coming to Swansea .
The city council is in talks with motorsports group
SVG Racing, and if it goes ahead it would be a
spectacular addition to the summer calendar in
Wales. A feasibility study is being carried out and
talks remain at an early stage. But senior
promoter, and former motorsport competitor Tim
Matthew, says he believes the interest exists in the
region, having witnessed the support they receive
at the annual Swansea Festival of Transport. If it
went ahead, a variety of cars would be involved,
such as Sports 2000, single-seaters, British
touring cars, and even an F1 demonstration,
possibly involving the iconic Camel Lotus from the
1980s. A number of routes are being considered,
including the possibility of using Mumbles Road,
and streets around The Guildhall. There would
also be a temporary village, similar to that set-up
during the National Air Show, and it would make
motor racing more accessible to the casual
motorsport fan.
The National Centre for Learning Welsh – a
new organisation responsible for Welsh for
Adults courses across Wales – has come up
with nine reasons why those living in Wales
should start to learn now –
1. You'll find out the meaning of the name of
the town you’ve lived in for the last 30 years,
2. Impress a new date with your Welsh
language skills,
3. Finally be able to press the Cymraeg
option when taking money out from the
cashpoint (atm,
4. Be able to sing the Welsh anthem with
gusto like the Welsh football team,
5. Finally be able to say Wales’ longest
place name,
6. When asked abroad whether you can
speak Welsh, being able to reply ‘yes!’,
7. Broaden your job prospects,
8. You won’t have to use Google translate to
follow that conversation on social media, and
9. Watch an episode of Pobol y Cwm without
the subtitles.
For more information on the Centre go
to learnwelsh.cymru.
The St. David’s Welsh Society
brings together the various people of the
Welsh “village”, of the greater Kansas City
area and its environs, and their Cornish
neighbors, to celebrate the Celtic heritage
and spirit.
Membership Information
Annual Dues date - March
Individual - $10 Family - $15 Contributing - $25
Send dues to SDWS
15332 W. 82nd Street, Lenexa, Kansas 66219
Contact
Evan Ash
Larry Griffiths
(913) 768-7006
(913) 378-6547
http://www.kcwelsh.com
SDWS Board
Evan Ash, President
Carolyn Adkins, Vice President
Bob Adkins, Vice President
Larry Griffiths, Treasurer/
Doug Wyatt, Secretary
Bill Ames, Judith Brougham, Elaine James,
Ann McFerrin, Katherine Spencer, Sue Walston
December, 2016
Digwyddiadau i ddod - Upcoming Events
Mark your calendars!
December 3, Saturday, St. Luke’s Episcopal
Church, Shawnee, Kansas – Christmas Tea,
Come join is for carol singing, harp music, “A
child’s Christmas in Wales”, and delightful
Christmas treats and fellowship.
January 22, 2017, Sunday, 2:00 p.m, St. Luke’s
Episcopal Church, Shawnee, Kansas – St.
Dwynen’s celebration for Welsh lovers.
March 12, Sunday, 2:00 p.m., St. Luke’s
Episcopal Church, Shawnee – Sts. David and
Piran celebration. Plans include a presentation
by Toby Giese about a Welsh regiment that
served in the Roarke's Drift battle in South
Africa in 1879.
May 19 – 27, 2017 – Lives, Legends and
Landscapes: A Pilgrimage to South Wales
sponsored by the Washington National
Cathedral Center for Prayer and Pilgrimage.
Write to [email protected] for
more details.
Also check out
http://www.bbc.co.uk/ education/subjects/zjpfb9q.
May 14, 2017 – Annual SDWS picnic, details to
be announced…
Y gegin Gymreig - The Welsh Kitchen
thanks to Bob Adkins and Welsh Country
Nag’s Head, Garthmyl, kitchen is proving the
best of training grounds. Ffion Lewis, the
pastry chef at the Nag’s Head , attracted
special praise from the jury as Wales came
agonisingly close to winning a gold medal in
Erfurt on 22nd October, 2016. Ffion a young
Mid Wales pastry chef was the talk of the
judges on the first day of the Culinary
Olympics in Germany on 22nd October, 2016
after helping the Welsh team to a silver medal
in the contest for junior teams. Her dessert,
Granny Smith apple frangipane and compote,
spiced vanilla syrup, poached Golden
Delicious apple, sorbet and mousse and apple
and blackberry coulis, was said the judges to
be the star of the show as the judges, who
were casting a critical eye on waste, were
impressed that she managed to use every bit
of apple.
“Ffion’s dessert was the talk of the jury on
the first day of the competition,” said Arwyn
Watkins. Culinary Association of Wales
president. “She was complimented by the
judges who said the dessert was literally the
star of the show. “I was disappointed that the
junior team didn’t win a gold medal because
the feedback from the jury was all positive.
However, to achieve a silver medal at the
Culinary Olympics is a fantastic achievement
by the team, when you consider that no gold
medals were awarded in the hot kitchen on the
opening day.”
Thirty-two national senior teams and 20
junior teams from around the world are
cooking over four days of intense competition.
The Culinary Olympics are organised every
four years and endorsed by the World
Associations of Chefs’ Societies, or Worldchefs,
of which the CAW is a member.
Gwên Cymraeg – A Welsh Smile
Jones the farmer and his son Berwyn sign up for
a sight-seeing tour in a small aircraft. As always,
Jones angles for the best deal possible.
“Very well, Mr Jones,” says the pilot. “If you can
go through the entire flight without making a
sound, you and Berwyn can have your tickets
for free.” So the plane takes off and the pilot
makes sure it’s a rough one, launching almost
straight up, flying under the Severn Bridge,
using every single bit of acrobatics in his
repertoire and doing a loop at the end. Jones
says nothing.
Your SDWS Board welcomes your ideas for
programs we can offer to nourish your Welsh
heritage. We also welcome Cornish program
ideas to help us celebrate our Cornish friends.
Please send your ideas to Evan Ash at
[email protected].
Wedi bod yno, gweld hynny - Been There, Seen
That
Third part of interview with Ruth Jones
A Return to Wales, via Paris –
A day trip to Port Merion was a highlight where
Meurig, Alan’s cousin, on the town staff, gave them
a private tour of the recreated Italian town via golf
carts! From there a trip to the slate mines in
Blaneau Ffestiniog, where besides tourist, they
now store cheese. At the mine they offered
demonstrations of slate mining techniques and
splitting slate.
After they land, the pilot turns to Jones in
disbelief. “Mr Jones, I’ve been doing this for 20
years and no-one’s ever been able to hold back
from screaming. Tell me, was there ever a point
in the flight where you wanted to say
something?”
“Aye,” Jones replies. “When Berwyn fell out.”
The powerful Tudor Dynasty, that ruled England
and Ireland from 1485 until 1603, originated in
the small Welsh hamlet of Penmynydd on
Anglesey.
The tour was quiet because children are still in
school until mid-July, so they were the only ones in
the caves. When children are out of school the
caves contain trampolines and other attractions for
Heddiw Cymru – Wales Today
from South Wales Evening Post
Council chiefs in Swansea are considering
whether or not to spend more than £7,000 on a
"hawk service" to scare seagulls and pigeons in
the city centre. The scheme, which is already
being piloted in Swansea market, includes
paying the company Hawksdrift to unleash
Harris hawks at the indoor market every week.
But the council says it could potentially be
rolled-out to other parts of the city centre, given
reports of attacks on the Swansea public this
year. The council said reducing food availability
could also be a solution and are urging food
businesses and the public to play their part. In a
written response it said: "In the city centre there
are a number of measures that have been
implemented and bird proofing such as nets
and spikes can be seen on public and nonpublic buildings."A public education campaign
to 'feed the bins not the birds' was launched
several months ago." Businesses, it added,
were encouraged to put waste food in suitable,
secure bins while people faced fines for feeding
birds or dropping bits of food on the ground.
The council is not legally bound to take action
against gulls but does so on public health
grounds while not contravening the law, which
protects the scavenging seabirds.
Pentref mȃn siarad – Village Gossip!
third part of interview with Patricia Schultz
(This story has all the makings of a movie, Elvis
Presley as Charles, Ann Margaret as Patricia!)
them. Above ground you can find zip lines between
the mountains for amusement!
Life wasn’t without its grieves. When schools
consolidated, connections between Welsh
communities located in different counties were
separated and old ties were hard to keep on a
daily basis. For Gomer, a small town of 300400 people, this was particularly challenging.
But being so well known as a Welsh
community for its music, those ties continued.
Choirs won many contests and eisteddfods,
and set the example for later school choir
competitions.
Her parents divorced when she was in
early high school, her mother moved north to
be closer to Patricia’s father, both parents
keeping close touch after that, divorced and
then dated, as it were.
As an interesting but not surprising aside to
her Welsh story, Patricia and Charles, her
future husband, met doing summer stock, both
performing in a summer playhouse before
their senior year in college. It was the oldest
continuing summer playhouse in Ohio, located
on Lake Erie, sponsored by Charles’ college,
Bowling Green State University. A boy from
another town in Ohio, he loved music, but
instead majored in theater. Patricia was
attending Miami University, at the opposite
end of the state. Their chance of ever meeting
was remote.
But Charles learned she was going to be
performing at the summer playhouse, and
seeing her picture in the cast members, he
was convinced to do the summer stock
instead of another job for money for college!
That summer one of the plays was Bye, Bye,
Birdie, Charles playing Conrad Birdie, Patricia
playing Kim McAfee. However during auditions,
it was wondered if Charles could capture the
part, but once on stage he acquired the stance
needed for the character. Charles attributed his
success playing Conrad Birdie to that girl in the
story from Sweet Apple, Kim McAfee, of course
played by Patricia! And they got to sing “One
Last Kiss”.
Full and satisfied by their adventure, the Jones
clan headed back to the States. In all, apart from
the rain and the exotic world of France, Wales is
still a beautiful land to come back to.
.Darnau Cymraeg - Welsh Bits
Syniadau ar gyfer y Nadolig - Ideas for Christmas:
in part borrowed from our ffrindiau in Madison,
Wisconsin
Here are a few ideas for gifts you can give to Welsh
family members or friends who seem to have
For you dog lovers, here is a Welsh breed…
everything.
The history of the Welsh Springer Spaniel
Subscription to Ninnau, the North American Welsh began as far back as 7,000 b.c.. However, a
newspaper. Order for $20 per year at Ninnau, Box 712, trend in selective breeding, spurred on by
Trumansburg, NY 14886.
Darwinian theory in Victorian England
eventually brought back the breed. A compact
Welsh and English Hymns and Anthems
dog built for hard work, the Welsh Springer
(reformatted), $17 (enlarge edition), or $12 (standard
Spaniel is a distinct breed, not a variety of the
edition) from the Welsh North American Association.
English version. With an excellent nose and
Order online from www.wngga.org.
Patricia Bowers and Charles Schultz
on the set of Bye Bye Birdie
A Cornish Smile
Old miner to young fresh-faced youth: "I taught
'ee all I knaw and 'ee still knaw nothin'."
Two people in church observing the organist:
"She plays according to the scriptures - let not
the right hand know what the left hand doeth."
Songs of the Dragon / Caneuon y Ddraig, Welsh folk
song book ($11). Order online at www.wngga.org.
Hanes Cymry America (1872): A History of the Welsh
in America, translated by Martha A. Davies and Phillips
G. Davies ($29.95 paperback). Order from the Great
Plains
Welsh
Heritage
Project
at
www.welshheritageproject.org.
History of the Welsh in Minnesota (1895) As Told by
the Old Settlers, translated by Martha A. Davies from
Hanes Cymry Minnesota ($29.95). Order from the
Great Plains Welsh Heritage Project at
www.welshheritageproject.org.
Welsh flag print fabric and other Welsh items for use in
making gifts. Order online from the Textile Express
(Oswestry, UK) at www.textileexpressfabrics.co.uk/
slightly webbed feet, the breed is a versatile
hunter, water dog, and retriever. Their
trademark coat is a striking red and white in
color, and is also waterproof and thorn proof so
it can show off its versatility in all climates and
terrains.
Welshies are loyal, hardworking hunters
famous for persistence, stamina, and an
uncanny nose for birds. Energetic Welshies
train well and need lots of exercise and human
contact to reach their full potential. The Welsh
authority John Phillips wrote about his breed, “A
sense of humor, expressed as a love of games
of all sorts, is an endearing feature of the breed.
… Though he seems dignified and even aloof at
times, with his spaniel-sad face, he is never
really gloomy, and delights in fun and frolic.”
Cymru ym mhobman! - Wales Everywhere
thanks to Ann McFerrin
and the New York Times
Grand Central Terminal, the main building on
Ellis Island and other great New York City
landmarks — look better today than they have
since their earliest years. Many hands were
responsible. John Belle was the common
denominator. Mr. Belle, the retired founding
partner of an architectural and planning firm
that has specialized in preservation,
restoration and contextual design, died
recently at 84. With his death, the city has lost
an architect who conveyed a genial joy in
resuscitating the masterworks of his
predecessors. That made him an appealingly
modest figure in a room full of big architectural
egos, since he was at his best when his own
interventions were least obvious. New York
has also lost a link to the intellectual crucible
of the 1960s, when others demanded that
architects stop obliterating the past and,
instead, take time to understand the many
ways in which people were well served by
older
buildings
and
neighborhoods.
“Preservation is one of the highest forms of
good citizenship,” Mr. Belle said. “As a witness
to the aftermath of the urban renewal movement
in New York, I was determined to find a different
way.”
About the Grand Central Terminal, you
almost had to have been there in the 1970s and
’80s to believe how far the Beaux-Arts terminal
had fallen into decrepitude, even after its status
as a landmark was upheld by the United States
Supreme Court in 1978. Travelers shared Grand
Central with a large homeless population. “The
building was divided into turf claimed by
different drug dealers, Commuters were scared
to take trains there at night. Parents warned
their children not to use the dangerous
bathrooms.”” Mr. Belle and Maxinne R. Leighton
wrote in “Grand Central: Gateway to a Million
Lives.”
John Belle was born on June 30, 1932, in
Cardiff, Wales. His father, Arthur, was a clerk at
a Lyons tea shop in Cardiff. His mother, Gladys,
was a housewife. Mr. Belle received diplomas
from the Portsmouth School of Architecture in
England and the Architectural Association in
London before moving to the United States in
1959. Once in America, Mr. Belle worked
for Josep Lluís Sert, who became Harvard’s
Dean of Design, before starting his own firm in
1968.
The Brecon Beacons National Park shelters
Europe's largest cave system, Mynydd
Llangatwg, Britain's longest and largest
showcave, Dan-yr-Ogof, as well as Britain's
deepest cave, Ogof Fynnon Ddu (308 m / 1,010
ft).
and search on “Welsh flag”.
The oldest tree in Wales, Llangeryw Yew, is
between 4,000 and 5,000 years old.
Cymru, 4,000 mlynedd yn ôl –
Wales, 4,000 Years Ago
from The Daily Post
Archaeologists working in a Gwynedd quarry
discovered an ancient cemetery containing some
of the best preserved Bronze Age pottery ever
found in the area. The team from Brython
Archaeology were working in the Cefn Graianog
Quarry at Llanllyfni, near Caernarfon , on behalf of
site operators the Tudor Griffiths Group. During
their work at the sand and gravel quarry they were
surprised to come across a Bronze Age cemetery
but even more shocked to discover what was lying
inside two graves. Iwan Parry, for Brython
Archaeology, said: “The quarry has been operating
since the 1970s, and we know the area has been
occupied since the Bronze Age thanks to previous
discoveries made as the quarry has grown. The
team uncovered two graves created from pits lined
with stone slabs – one smaller one and another
larger adult sized grave, which contained two pots
known as beakers. “They are a specific kind of pot
dating from the end of the Neolithic Age and
beginning of the Bronze Age. “The smaller pot was
damaged and has been painstakingly
reconstructed by conservation staff at Cardiff
University, but the larger pot was completely intact.
“It was so well preserved that it could easily have
been a reproduction made a few days ago rather
than something that’s been in the ground for over
4,000 years, and the beakers are some of the
which are also believed to date back to the
Bronze Age, and the treasures uncovered will
be passed on to the Gwynedd Museum and Art
Gallery in Bangor.
Diwrnod mewn Hanes Cymru –
A Day in History
Thanks to http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/
waleshistory/ 2011/12
The very first eisteddfod, was held over the
Christmas period of 1176. Poets, story tellers
and musicians came together for several days
over the season to compete for two chairs,
one for poetry, the other for music. The
eisteddfod was held at Cardigan Castle and
was organised by Rhys ap Gruffydd, the Lord
Rhys as he was known.
Even though the term "eisteddfod" was not
used when describing this first event, bardic
tournaments had been established and
continue until this very day - even though they
are now held during the summer months
rather than over Christmas.
2016 Brit Faire
Our SDWS table, telling visitors about Wales’
environmental efforts, was quite busy and a lot
of information and good will was shared.
Thanks to Evan and Lynn Ash and Larry
Griffiths for manning the table. And to Judith
Brougham, Sharon Potts, and Ann McFerrin, a
big diolch! for making Welsh cakes to give
our visitors.
Winners of our drawing were
Maggie Walsh – Elizabeth Duncan’s Murder
by the Hour
Susie Adamson – Rhys Bowen’s A Royal
Threesome
Anne Davies, Trisha Petty, and Barbara Wilks,
red dragons.
Caneuon o fywyd – Songs of Life
From Evan Ash
Fans of Candain Televsion’s film, A Child’s
Christmas in Wales based on a short story
written by by Dylan Thomas, will be familiar with
Mary Symes rendition of “On to Behtlehem
Town” or “Tua Bethlem dref”.. Thanks to Mary,
Evan Ash has a hand written copy of the music
and lyrics from Mary, which he shares with
Society at its Christmas Teas. Based on a
traditional hymn written by David Evans in
1934, the words are
1. On to Bethlehem town;
Join the crowd and travel down;
Down the road that leads us to the cradle.
Come all who are able.
Come, come to the stable with
Hearts full of joy as we kneel and pray
Come and see the child,
With his mother Mary mild.
Come along and worship at the cradle.
2. There we'll see the boy;
Hearts aglow with boundless joy;
In the everlasting word.
We will bow before for Him
Come, come and adore Him
Bringing gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.
On to Bethlehem town;
Join the crowd and travel down.
Down the road that leads us to the cradle.
earliest examples ever found in this part of North
Wales.” Managing Director of the TG Group, Tudor
Griffiths, said “We are fully aware of our
responsibilities when it comes to preserving the
heritage of the area.” As well as the pots, the team
discovered pits containing charcoal and pottery
Artists have been coming to Cornwall for over
two hundred years. They love the landscape
and quality of light which is much brighter than
other parts of Great Britain. The most painted
scene in.Cornwall is the view of St Micheal’s
Mount
In the 1900′s Cornwall mined half of the world’s
tin, it was the largest enterprise in Europe.
The tin miners of Cornwall once traded with the
Phoenicians and at this time Cornwall was
known as The Cassiterides or The Tin Islands.
Poyntys Kernowek (Darnau I Gernyw [W]) –
Cornish Bits
thanks to http://rathgowry.co.uk/fun-cornish-factsfigures/
There are over 200 surf-related businesses in
Cornwall. The UK surf industry is worth £200
million, £21 million of that is generated in
Cornwall. Cornwall is home to the world’s first
eco-surfboard.
Fisherman in Cornwall can catch over forty
different types of fish, more varieties than
Eden’s largest biome is fifty meters high, big anywhere else in Britain.
enough to house the Tower of London. The
scaffolding structure used to build it went into the
Guiness Book of Records as the largest ever
freestanding scaffold structure in the world. The
46,000 poles would have stretched end to end for
230 miles (almost to London).Cornwall boasts the
largest collection of plant species in the British
Isles.