Blogs

AS Wales First Minister hes never far from the headlines.

But Carwyn Jones has opened up on his normally private family life to reveal the story of his great uncle.

Leading Aircraftman Edgar Hopkin, from Gwaun Cae Gurwen in Carmarthenshire, was killed while in Alabama in 1942 during World War II. He was Mr Jones great uncle on his fathers side.

Now Mr Jones is uploading photographs of the RAF pilot to historical website Peoples Collection Wales, an archive of reminiscences, photographs, video and audio in the hope that others can learn his history.

Mr Jones told the Echo: When my great aunt died in 1993 all the family heirlooms came to me photographs, Edgars service card from the RAF.

We knew a lot of his story already, he was one of five siblings, which included my grandmother, and he was the first in the family to be accepted to university.

He was a colliers son going to read medicine at Edinburgh University but he never went.

The First Minister and his family discovered that Edgar, who was just 19 when he died, had been sent to the US for warm weather training and didnt when his aircraft got into difficulty.

We knew he was buried in Newcastle, Pennsylvania, near other family members, and we even had a cine film of the funeral, said Mr Jones.

I decided to put his name into Google and it found pictures on a website. I decided to contact the site administrator who told me Edgars instructor was still alive.

FORMER First Minister and Cardiff West AM Rhodri Morgan, right, has joined our campaign to save our great locals.

Mr Morgans favourites are The Windsor in Penarth and The Grange in Grangetown.

The Windsor is like a mini Splott market on a Friday with a table of all sorts in the corner, said Mr Morgan.

And Ive enjoyed many a party or function in its back room.

The Grange is a pub where theres a genuine mixture of people. You dont know who you are going to chat to when youre there.

Despite the decline in pubs across South Wales Mr Morgan is calling on people to support their locals.

Pubs are important because they are controlled licensed premises, he said.

Buying alcohol in supermarkets and drinking at home, there is no control over how much people are drinking.

Theres still a lot of damn good pubs around and people should support them and visit them.

IN his last interview before his death from last week, the teacher who inspired JK Rowlings unsettling potions teacher Professor Snape told NANCY CAVILL he was pretty proud...

TO the rest of the world she is the writer with the mysterious initials JK, but to John Nettleship she was always quiet Joanne.

Mr Nettleship had been head of science at Wyedean Comprehensive in Tutshill, Chepstow, for two years when he began teaching a timid young second year pupil called Joanne Rowling.

Back in 1976 he had poker-straight black hair worn in a severe centre parting just like Alan Rickman who plays evil alchemist Professor Snape in the Harry Potter films.

He already had a reputation among his pupils for being exacting and strict.

The gown will also be open to sealed bids registered to the charity by midnight of 6th April by those who cannot attend the event. To download bid info click HERE to be taken to Noah Ark's page and article.

The gown was worn by Dame Shirley at the 2008 Pride of Britain Awards and comes accompanied with an autographed picture of the Diva wearing the gown. (pictured)

Always a strong supporter of The Noah's Ark Appeal, Dame Shirley Bassey became Patron of the charity in 2008. It is not the first time the charity have benefitted from her generousity and fantastic wardrobe collection, in 2003, she famously auctioned 50 of her gowns at Christies to celebrate her 50 years in show business. The Noah's Ark Appeal was chosen as one of the charities to benefit from the auction and was presented with 125,000 to go towards the now complete Phase One of The Children's Hospital for Wales.

In 2004, The Noah's Ark Appeal held the 'Diamonds are Forever' Ball in Dame Shirley Bassey's honour, the Patron shocked everyone by spontaneously auctioning the dress she was wearing that evening for the chraities profit.

The gown will be auctioned at The Noah's Ark Appeal's forthcoming charity dinner. The event hosted by the Copthorne Hotel is set to be a fantastic night out with The Noah's Ark Appeal special guest Matthew Rhys, a three course meal, the Copthorne's famous theatre group, disco and prize packed auction.

To attend this spectacular Copthorne Hotel event, bid in the auction and show your support for The Noah's Ark Appeal call the Copthorne Hotel on 02920 599100. Tables of ten are priced at 450 whilst individual tickets can be purchased at 45.

If you are unable to attend the event The Noah's Ark Appeal are opening the auction of the dress to the General public. You can your bid by form below.

Once you have downloaded the form please fill in and send to dameshirleydress@noahs-ark-appeal.org . Sealed bids must be in by midnight of 6th April to ensure entry into the auction.

How the heck did I not know about this? I have a friend in Splott; I've slept in Splott! Anyway, there is a link to the first episode at the beginning of the second episode. The first episode mostly introduces the characters; the second episode is an actual case, albeit with a slightly anti-Welsh slant. I'll be interested in seeing the next installment. Here is a link to all the videos: CLICK HERE.

The Splott Division, a film series following three unlikely superheroes who warden the district of Splott , is set to become an internet smash later this month.

The trailer , which first appeared on YouTube last December, has already notched up nearly 2000 hits for independent start-up Trusty Sidekick Productions.

Directed by BAFTA Cymru award winner David Evans, the quirky web series follows three characters Aiden The Hearing Aid (Tim Howard), Jack The Iceberg (Jonathan Ash), and Mia Superosmia (Hanna Jarman) coming to terms with redundancies in Splott following cuts to the Superhero League Council.

Producer Jonathan Ash, a from the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, says the group developed the idea following the announcement the UK Film Council was to be axed.

The cuts inspired us to create a comedy series following superheroes in domestic situations going through the same problems and financial struggles that we are facing , he says.

The Splott Division comprises three four-and-a-half-minute webisodes which will be showcased on YouTube in monthly instalments between February and April.

Just interesting to see the Welsh connection--I hadn't heard about it before. (The Welsh angle.)

Bradley Manning, who attended secondary school in Pembrokeshire , faces scores of charges over the documents handed to the Wikileaks website .

More on this story from:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-12795170

Oh, how I wanted to title this, "Scores of Welsh Volunteers Flash Each Other!" LOL!

A TEST to show how people in the Iron Age communicated using Welsh peaks was yesterday hailed a success.

Scores of volunteers flashed torches to each other from 10 hillforts in North Wales, the Wirral and Cheshire. The furthest link spanned 15 miles, between hills at Burton Point on the Wirral and Cheshires Maiden Castle.

The experiment was designed to see how easily Iron Age communities could interact from their hilltop homes thousands of years ago.

THE 1st Battalion Welsh Guards has won the Army Premiership rugby trophy for the first time in almost three decades.

The regiment scooped by beating 2 Royal Welsh in Aldershot with a 28-9 victory against their rivals.

It is the first time the regiment has been crowned Army Rugby Champions since 1982.

The Guards have competed in the last three finals but were always the losing side.

Major Alun Bowen said: We lost narrowly to 1 Royal Scots in 2009 and also suffered a narrow loss to 2 Royal Welsh in 2010.

This win has been a long time coming and saw us take revenge for last year.

Blog can be found in its original format at www.crapwifeblog.co.uk and at http://craphousewife.blogspot.com/2011/03/shoddy-work-mr-mole-its-what-sundays.html

A Sunday morning in bed is a beautiful thing. Its on Sunday mornings that Im most grateful that we went down the three cats, 1 dog and an indiscriminate amount as fish route as opposed to the lets have a baby one. For now anyway. This means that I have no stress on a Sunday, and am able to enjoy my day without distraction and be free from responsibility. Usually, anyway. This Sunday Im tamping, because of the mole.

I expected husband to be furious, instead, he was amused.

That moles getting shoddy, werent even proper mole hills he commented over breakfast.

I feigned disinterest and went in the bath.

We spent the rest of the day with my Grandparents. We went to a car-boot sale, had lunch and walked by the sea. Refreshed and calmed by the salty air I was a perfect Wife throughout; attentive, caring and affectionate.

In the evening, we talked, looked at old photos and shared a bottle of wine. We went to upstairs happy, and for once, I didnt subject Husband to a gruelling ritual of embarrassment in exchange for access to the bed. He kissed me good-bye this morning and told me that he loves me.

Monday 21th March, 2011

Dear Mr ######,
First let me introduce myself, I am a local mole, whos been providing subterranean ventilation for lawns in the area for a number of years. I pride myself on my work, and have been instrumental in such local projects as Grass Verge by Canal and Green number 1 at South West Wales Garden Bowls Emproium. I am proud of my work, have a strong family history in the field and have a proven record with my clients.

That is why this letter is so difficult for me to write.

Lately, I have been overloaded with contracts and as such have become shoddy with my work. Where I used to dig complex tunnels and truly ventilate gardens, the recession has meant downsizing my workforce, and I resorted to fraudulent mole hills to meet demands.

Im ashamed of my behaviour and am contacting my clients in the hope that they will understand that I was driven to this by the pressures associated with a wife and 38 children under the age of one.

In an effort to make amends and re-establish myself as the diligent lawn ventilation specialist you've come to respect, I have taken the liberty of digging a large hole in the centre of your lawn. I hope this goes some way towards rekindling the professional relationship I jeopardised.
Yours Sincerely,
Gary.

Ive sent this letter via courier to Husbands place of work. He should receive it within the hour. I'm not digging the hole myself, I have paid a Handy Man to do it, I'm going to paint my nails.

Not exactly in response to Swansea Jack's query about Christian Bale, but an offshoot.

The research supports the idea that Celtic Britain underwent a form of ethnic cleansing by Anglo-Saxons invaders following the Roman withdrawal in the fifth century.

Genetic tests show clear differences between the Welsh and English

It suggests that between 50% and 100% of the indigenous population of what was to become England was wiped out, with Offa's Dyke acting as a "genetic barrier" protecting those on the Welsh side.

And the upheaval can be traced to this day through genetic differences between the English and the Welsh.

Read the rest HERE.