Feisty

Sorry I haven't been a great blogger lately, I've been a bit neglectful as I've been very busy and quite disorganised.

I went to a wedding in Devon over the weekend. It was marvellous. I had a tremendous amount of fun, ate humongous amounts of delicious food and drank what is an impressive amount for such a light weight (and here's the best bit) without even getting a hangover! Hurrah!

The lovely couple

Wedding Cheese!

'The Welsh Lot.'

I'm going to the National Eisteddfod tomorrow, where I shall be promoting the Gwent Record Office (where I work.) For my non-Welsh readers, an Eisteddfod is a festival that celebrates literature, music and performance. The Eisteddfod tradition dates back to the 12th century, when a festival of poetry and music was held by Rhys ap Gruffydd of Deheubarth at his court in Cardigan in 1176.

The National Eiseddfod focuses particularly on Welsh poetry etc. and promotes the use of the Welsh language in the attempt to keep it alive. It travels the country, alternating between North and South Wales every year. The last time it came to my town was in 1958 when my Pa was only 7 years old.

I'm very excited to be attending as I've never been to the National Eisteddfod before. I just cannot wait to get into the Craft Tent! But I would also like to point out that not everyone is as enthusiastic as me about the event coming to my town. Some because it's a Welsh language festival (the area in which I live is on the whole English speaking) and others because they think my town cannot put on an event as large as this as it's not an affluent area and there's no point in 'tarting it up' because it's a 'tip' and we'll only fail to make a good impression.

To those people I say; how can we ever better ourselves if no one will give us the chance? We need an event like this to showcase the positive aspects of our surroundings and residents; like our beautiful countryside, our industrial past, our welcoming friendly nature and artistic talents. We may fall short of some peoples expectations but we are doing our damned well best in times of great hardship and I for one believe this is a great opportunity for the regeneration of my town and the surrounding vallies.

Sorry to get all political on your ass, it's not something that I would usually do, but I'm proud of where I come from and I feel that it needs to be said, even if the nay sayers will never read this.

Anyway, I shall take lots of pictures of the Maes (Welsh for field and traditionally the area in which the whole event is held.) And let you all know how I got on tomorrow.