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Alfred "Fred" Bestall was born on 14th December 1892.  He is remembered as the writer and illustrator of the Rupert Bear stories in the Daily Express, from 1935 to 1965. 

Most of the landscapes that Bestall used in his illustrations were inspired by his childhood holidays in Snowdonia, an area he revisited regularly as an adult, settling in a cottage on Mynydd Sygun, in Beddgelert in 1956.   

Born on 14th December 1908 in Garnant.

Claude Davey - former Welsh rugby international and captain.

He is best remembered as being the captain of the Welsh side that beat New Zealand 13 -12 in 1935.

Born on this day 1831 in Swansea.

Griffith John - evangelist and first translator of the Bible into Chinese. 

After becoming ordained as a Congregational minister, John took a missionary appointment to China in 1855, based initially in Shanghai, before moving to Hankow in 1861.  John embraced the challenge by learning fluent Chinese and travelling vast distances to preach and to help him, he translated the  New Testament into the Mandarin and Wen-li languages, which were published in 1885.

John returned to Wales in January 1912, which was towards the end of his life, as he died in July of that year and was buried in Swansea.   

Margaret Davies, born 14th December 1884 in Llandinam, in Powys and her sister Gwendoline were social philanthropists, who compiled one of the largest art collections in the UK.

The sisters, who were brought up as strict Sabbatarians, were left a fortune from their grandfather, David Davies of Llandinam, the industrialist and founder of Barry Docks. They were both devout teetotallers and neither ever married, so they were able to use their money to travel widely across Europe and indulge in their passion for art, collecting pieces from Turner, Carrière, Monet and Rodin.

Margaret and Gwendoline settled at Gregynog Hall, near Newtown, where they housed their collection and established the famous Gregynog Music festival, which attracted the composers, Vaughan Williams, Elgar and Holst and the Gregynog Press, which produced limited edition books.

They also ran Gregynog as a troop canteen during World War One and as a convalescent home for injured soldiers during World War Two. Gregynog was gifted to the University of Wales in 1960 and many of the art pieces were given to the National Museum and Art Galleries around Wales. Gwendoline died in 1951 and Margaret in 1963.

At the General Election held on 14th December 1918, Millicent Mackenzie was the first woman to stand for parliament in Wales.

Millicent Mackenzie was born in Bristol and became the professor of education at Cardiff University in 1908. She was a founder member of the Cardiff branch of the suffragette movement in 1912 and unsuccessfully stood for parliament in 1918, representing the Labour Party for the University of Wales. She was also the author of many books on teacher training.

Love this funky art by Dorian Spencer Davies. Now on sale at http://www.made-in-pembrokeshire.co.uk
Order now in time for Christmas 16 x 12 mounted prints, signed by Dorian

Peter Thabit Jones ( editor, Seventh Quarry Magazine and WCE Poetry Competition judge ) has announced that the 2014 Competition winner will be invited to submit 10 poems ( and a two page introduction ) for inclusion in a chapbook which will be distributed with the Winter/Spring issue of the magazine.

This will be a supplement to The Seventh Quarry and the winner will receive 20 complimentary copies of the chapbook. The rest will be distributed with the magazine.

This is a great opportunity to win international exposure. We must stress that the winner will be chosen from amongst the entrants to the WCE Online Poetry Competition and that contestants are NOT required to submit ten poems. The winner will be invited to submit ten poems for inclusion in the chapbook once the adjudication has taken place.

Further Details

• You may submit up to five entries.
• There is NO entry fee.
• There is also a cash prize of $200 for the winner.

WEST COAST EISTEDDFOD ONLINE POETRY COMPETITION SUBMISSIONS PAGE

Peter Thabit Jones was born in Wales and raised by his maternal grandparents. He is the author of ten books, several of which have been reprinted and two published in Romania. His work has been translated into over twenty languages. His latest international book is Poems from a Cabin on Big Sur, from Cross-Cultural Communications, New York, 2011.

In March 2008 Peters American publisher, Stanley H. Barkan, organised a six week poetry reading tour for Peter and Dylan Thomass daughter, Aeronwy. The pair gave readings and workshops from New York to California, at many universities and prestigious art venues.

Peter is also the co-author, with Aeronwy, of the Dylan Thomas Walking Tour of Greenwich Village .

He was invited to Serbia in 2006 by the Serbian Writers Association to participate in the 43rd International Meeting of Writers in Belgrade. He was visiting poet in Romania in 2008 and 2009, where he carried out readings and poetry workshops at colleges and universities.

He is the recipient of the Eric Gregory Award for Poetry (The Society of Authors, London), The Society of Authors Award, The Royal Literary Fund Award (London) and an Arts Council of Wales Award. He has been a prize-winner in several UK and international poetry competitions.

He resided at Big Sur, California, in 2010 as writer-in-residence, returning again for a second and third residency in 2011 and 2012. Whilst in California in 2012, Peter was commissioned to write a drama on Big Sur sculptor Edmund Kara (famous for his sculpture of Elizabeth Taylor in the film The Sandpiper ). It will receive its world-premiere in America in 2014.

Peter is the Founder and Editor of The Seventh Quarry Swansea Poetry Magazine , which publishes poetry and articles from around the world, and the accompanying The Seventh Quarry Publishing Press, which publishes books by international poets.

His poem Kilvey Hill has been incorporated into a permanent stained-glass window at the new Saint Thomas Community School in Swansea, Wales.

In December 2012, Peter was one of just eight people invited to meet His Royal Highness Prince Charles at the Dylan Thomas Birthplace in Swansea.

He returned to California in the summer of 2013, as a writer-in-residence in Big Sur for a fourth time.

In 2014, he will be a part of a number of events commemorating Dylan Thomas in the UK and in America, including being the co-organiser of a Dylan Thomas Multilingual/International Creative Writing Competition and the organiser of a Dylan Thomas Trail of Quotations at the National Waterfront Museum, Swansea.

His short drama, The Poet, the Hunchback, and The Boy, based on The hunchback in the park by Dylan Thomas, is available as a DVD, as part of the Centenary celebrations of the Dylan Thomas Theatre, Swansea. The drama was performed by Theatre actors at the National Waterfront Museum, Swansea, and The Welsh Centre, London, in May 2013.

www.peterthabitjones.com

On 13th December 2012, the rights to the 1972 film version of Under Milk Wood were gifted to Wales by its director, Andrew Sinclair.

The film, shot primarily on location in Fishguard, was based on the 1954 radio play Under Milk Wood by Dylan Thomas set in the fictional village of Llareggub ("bugger all"  backwards)  The cast included Richard Burton, Peter O'Toole, Elizabeth Taylor, Siân Phillips, David Jason, Glynis Johns, Victor Spinetti, Ruth Madoc and Angharad Rees.  

Llandovery College was founded by surgeon Thomas Phillips in 1847, to cultivate the learning of Welsh literature and history, through the medium of Welsh.  The foundation stone of the current college building was laid on 13th December 1849. 

*  The first girls were admitted during the late 1960s.

*  The school building is designated by Cadw as a Grade II listed building.

*  All pupils in the preparatory school and up to Year 9 are required to learn Welsh.

*  Llandovery College was one of the very first teams in Wales to play rugby and were one of the founder clubs of the Welsh Rugby Union in 1881.  Two of its players played in Wales' first international game and Charles Lewis, from the college was the second person to captain Wales.  Over the years, many well known internationals attended the college, including; Cliff Jones, George North and Alun Wyn Jones.

There are three bridges which cross the Conwy estuary to Conwy Castle:

*  Conwy Suspension Bridge, which was designed by Thomas Telford and completed in 1826. It replaced the ferry, which was previously the only means of crossing the river.

*  Conwy Tubular Bridge, which was built by Robert Stephenson to carry the railway, was officially opened in 1849.

*  Conwy Road Bridge, which was opened 13th December 1958

  Conwy castle was built by Master James of St George, King Edward I's mason-architect.  Construction work began in 1283 and the castle was completed in 1287.    

Born on this day 1968 in Cardiff

Steve Robinson (Cinderella Man)- former boxing World Champion.

Robinson's story is a remarkable one.  On a Thursday night, he was eating pie and chips at his mother-in-law’s  house, having just returned home from working as a storeman with Debenhams, earning £52 per week.  But by the Saturday night Wales’ first boxing World Champion for 25 years.

In April 1993, the defending WBO Featherweight Champion, Ruben Palacios, the tough Columbian fighter, was stripped of the title, for failing an HIV test before his fight with Englishman, John Davison.   The promoters had only two days to find another opponent and Steve Robinson accepted the challenge.  Against all the odds, Robinson won the bout and the title by a points decision and went on to make 7 successful defences of his title.   

Born on this day 1983 in Neath.

Richard Hibbard - Wales and Lions rugby international.

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The aftermath of Llywelyn ap Grufudd's death and his legacy.

Llywelyn was the only Welshman ever to be recognised as Prince of Wales by a King of England and managed to inspire the Welsh to unite in the common goal of defending its borders against the English.  With the result that for almost twenty years between 1258 and 1277, Wales seemed poised to become an independent nation, unified by laws, customs and language.  He is remembered as Llywelyn Ein Llyw Olaf ("Llywelyn, Our Last Leader") and his spirit still inspires Welsh people who aspire for an independent Wales.

The loss of Llywelyn at The Battle of Orewin Bridge on 11th December 1282. was catastrophic and Welsh morale and the will to resist diminished. His brother Dafydd was named as successor and carried the struggle on, but in June 1283, he too was captured, taken to Shrewsbury and executed.  Edward I, immediately embarked on defending his acquisitions, by building a formidable iron ring of castles, a days march from apart at Flint, Rhuddlan, Builth Wells, Aberystwyth, Harlech, Conwy, Caernarfon and Beaumaris.  Each of the castles was integrated with a bastide town, an idea borrowed from Gascony in southwest France, where Edward I was duke - the town and castle mutually reliant on each other for protection and trade. The bastides were always populated with English settlers, the Welsh permitted to enter the town during the day but not to trade and carry arms. 

Gwynedd was stripped of all royal insignia, relics, and regalia and Edward took particular delight in appropriating the royal home of the Gwynedd dynasty at Abergwyngregyn in an announcement to the world of the near extinction of the Gwynedd dynasty and the annexation of the principality of Wales to his Crown.

Llywelyn's elder brother Owain Goch disappears from the record in 1282 and the presumption is that he was murdered. Llywelyn's younger brother Rhodri, who had been exiled from Wales since 1272 survived and held manors in Gloucestershire, Cheshire, Surrey, and Powys.  Llywelyn and Eleanor's baby daughter Gwenllian was captured by Edward's troops in 1283. She was interned at Sempringham Priory in England, spending the rest of her life as a nun, dying without issue in 1337.  Dafydd's two sons, Llywelyn and Owain were also captured and incarcerated at Bristol Gaol, where they died. 

On 12th December 1965, The Beatles' last live U.K. tour concluded with two performances at the Capitol Theatre, Cardiff

The Capitol Theatre opened in 1921, with a capacity of 3,158.  It was purchased by the Rank Organisation in 1964 and featured many headline acts including The Beatles, Tom Jones, Queen and Bob Dylan.  The theatre was closed 1978 and demolished the following year.    

Sir Roger Williams (1539 - 12 December 1595) was a Protestant Welsh soldier of fortune. Charles Wisner Barrell, a proponent of the Oxfordian theory of Shakespeare authorship, has identified Sir Roger Williams as the basis for Fluellen in William Shakespeare's Henry V. 

A staunch protestant who fought for Cologne, the Dutch, the English and the French Huguenots as a soldier of fortune against Catholic Spain. He was knighted after the Battle of Zutphen in 1586 and was at Tilbury in 1588 in command of forces to resist the possible landing of the Spanish Armada. He later accompanied Sir Francis Drake to Portugal. Over his career, Williams acquired a wide reputation for exceptional courage and daring and was recognised as an expert on military matters by his contemporaries. In 1590 , he wrote "A brief discourse of war".  

A short history of the role of Secretary of State for Wales;

In the first half of the 20th century, a number of politicians had supported the call for a Secretary of State for Wales as a step towards Home Rule.  Although the equivalent post was created in 1885 in Scotland, it wasn't until 1964 that it was established in Wales.

*  Petitions to create a Secretary of Wales were turned down by the Labour Government of 1945-50, which instead, created a Council for Wales and Monmouthshire in 1948, which was chaired by the trade unionist, Huw T. Edwards.

*  In 1951 the Conservative Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, added Welsh Affairs to the portfolio of the Home Secretary, who at that time was Scotsman, Sir David Maxwell Fyfe. He was succeeded by Gwilym Lloyd George, in 1954.

*  This responsibility was switched to the Department of Housing and Local Government on 12th December 1957, under Henry Brooke, and his Minister of State, Lord Brecon, a former Brecon county councillor, Vivian Lewis.

*  Meanwhile the Council for Wales itself re-stated the case for a Welsh Secretary in 1957 and when this was turned down by the Conservatives, Huw T. Edwards resigned 

*  The Labour Party created a Welsh Secretary after its victory in 1964 under Harold Wilson. The post was given Cabinet rank and its first holder was James Griffiths, MP for Llanelli.

*  During the 1980s and 1990s, as the Conservative had very few MPs for Welsh constituencies, they used the post as a way of getting English politicians with potential into the Cabinet.  

 On 1 July 1999, the majority of the functions of the Welsh Office were transferred to the new Welsh Assembly Government, with the position of Secretary of State for Wales retained as the head of the newly created Wales Office.  

The Princess and the Goblin, released on 12th December 1992, was the first animated feature from Wales. It was primarily produced by S4C in the Siriol studios in Cardiff.

A peasant boy and a beautiful princess team up to rid their kingdom of evil goblins, which they attempt to do through the powers of song and love and a magical thread.  

Set in the fictitious village of Llanellwy in Wales and released on 12th December 1941, The Wolf Man was one of the first films in the ware wolf horror genre.  It starred the legendary Lon Chaney as the protagonist.

The death of Llywelyn ap Gruffydd and The Battle of Orewin Bridge on 11th December 1282.

In 1282, Llywelyn and his brother Dafydd were engaged in a bitter struugle with Edward I of England to keep Wales independent.  Edward continued to send armies into Wales and one consisting of 2000 infantrymen and 200 cavalrymen succeeded in capturing Anglesey.  However the routing of this army by Llywelyn on 6th November 1282, boosted Welsh morale and when Edward  turned to diplomacy, offering Llywelyn a large estate in England if he would surrender, Llywelyn refused,  stating that he would not abandon the people whom his ancestors had protected.  Llywelyn instead left Dafydd to lead the defence of Gwynedd and took a force himself to rally support in mid and south Wales, arriving at Builth on December 11th 1282.  Builth Castle at the time was held by the English and was where they had amassed a force of around 5,000 infantry and 1,300 heavy cavalry under the command of Edmund Mortimer, John Giffard and Roger l'Estrange to intercept Llywelyn.  The Welsh numbering 7,000 infantry camped on high ground near Cilmeri, just outside of Builth, with the two forces separated by the River Irfon, whose main crossing point at Orewin bridge was held by Llywelyn's men.

It is then, according to one version, that Llywelyn was tricked into attending a meeting with Edmund Mortimer at Aberedw, who deceiptfully claimed that he wished to give homage to Llywelyn.  In Llywelyn's absence, the English army advanced on the Welsh position and a small detachent forded the river further upstream and took the bridge.  The whole English now army now crossed and engaged the leaderless Welsh army.  Upon hearing the noise of the battle,  Llywelyn realised that he had been tricked and immediately headed back with his entourage to assume command.  They were ambushed and overwhelmed.  Llywelyn lay mortally wounded and asked for a priest, but when recognized, he was instantly killed and his head cut off and sent to Edward at Rhuddlan, who then took it to London, put on it an ivory crown and placed it on the gate of the Tower of London, where it stayed for 15 years. 

The death of Llywelyn ap Gruffydd marked the end of  an independent Wales.  Resistance continued for a while under Dafydd, but by June of the following year, he too had been captured and executed, with his head displayed next to that of Llywelyn.

There is uncertainty as to Llywelyn's final resting place, with the Cistercian Abbey at Abbeycwmhir the site suggested by most historians, although he is also said to have been laid to rest in land where Llanrumney Hall was later built in Cardiff.   

A time line of the life of Llywelyn ap Gruffydd, the last prince of an independent Wales;

c. 1223 - Llywelyn was born the second of Gruffydd and Senena, the brother of Owain, Dafydd and Rhodri and the grandson of Llywelyn ap Iorwerth (Llywelyn the Great).

1240 -  Following the death of his grandfather, Llywelyn's uncle, Dafydd ap Llywelyn succeeded him as ruler of Gwynedd.  He imprisoned Llywelyn's father Gruffydd and his brother Owain and transferred them into the custody of King Henry III of England.

1244 - Llywelyn's father died from a fall while trying to escape from the Tower of London and Llywelyn is first heard of holding lands in the Vale of Clwyd.

1245 - Llywelyn supported his uncle in the war against King Henry. 

1247 - THE TREATY OF WOODSTOCK - After the death of his uncle, Llywelyn and his brother Owain came to terms with King Henry.  Gwynedd was divided with Llywelyn and Owain gaining control of  Gwynedd Uwch Conwy (Gwynedd west of the River Conwy) and Henry himself taking control of Gwynedd Is Conwy (Gwynedd east of the River Conwy).

1255 - THE BATTLE OF BRYN DERWIN - Llywelyn's brothers, Owain and Dafydd formed an alliance against him, but Llywelyn defeated and captured both of them, thereby becoming sole ruler of Gwynedd Uwch Conwy.

1256 - Llywelyn, crossed the River Conwy with an army, accompanied by his brother, Dafydd, whom he had released from prison and took control of most of Gwynedd.

1258 - Llywelyn began using the title Prince of Wales, which the English Crown refused to recognise.

1263 - Dafydd switched his allegiance to King Henry.

1264 - Simon de Montfort, leader of the barons revolt in England, became the "uncrowned King of England" after defeating King Henry and Prince Edward at the Battle of Lewes.

1265 - TREATY OF PIPTON - established an alliance between Llywelyn and de Montfort in which, in exchange for 30,000 marks, there would be a permanent peace and Llywelyn's right to rule Wales would be acknowledged.

1265 - de Montfort was killed at the Battle of Evesham, which led to Llywelyn capturing Hawarden Castle and routing the combined armies of Hamo Lestrange and Maurice Fitz Gerald in order to gain a bargaining position with King Henry

1266 - Llywelyn routed Roger Mortimer's army in Brycheiniog.  After which, with the backing of the papal legate, Ottobuono, he opened negotiations with King Henry.

1267 -  TREATY OF MONTGOMERY - marked the high point of Llywelyn's power.  He was recognised as the Prince of Wales well as retaining the lands he had conquered and the homage of almost all the native rulers of Wales.  In exchange, he was to pay a tribute to King Henry of 25,000 marks in yearly instalments of 3,000 marks

1268 - Caerphilly Castle was built by Gilbert de Clare as a result of a dispute with Llywelyn.

1272 - Following the death of King Henry and with the new king, Edward I away on crusade, Humphrey de Bohun tried to take back Brycheiniog, Llywelyn ceased making payments in reply.

1274 - Dafydd and Gruffydd ap Gwenwynwyn of Powys attempted to assassinate Llywelyn.

1275 - Llywelyn refused to pay homage to Edward I at Chester and declared his intention to marry Simon de Montfort's daughter, Eleanor.  Edward took exception to the marriage and imprisoned her.

1276 - Edward declared Llywelyn a rebel

1277 - TREATY OF ABERCONWY - was the result of Edward supported by Dafydd and Gruffydd ap Gwenwynwyn marching into Wales and taking possession of the harvest in Anglesey, which deprived Llywelyn of the ability to feed his men and forced him to seek terms.  The treaty secured the release of Eleanor, allowing her marriage to Llywelyn to proceed and also guaranteed peace in Gwynedd in return for Llywelyn confining his authority to Gwynedd Uwch Conwy and acknowledging the English king as his sovereign. 

1282  Dafydd returned to the Welsh cause.  He attacked the English at Hawarden Castle and Rhuddlan.  He captured and burned Aberystwyth Castle and open rebellion broke out in Ystrad Tywi.  Llywelyn in grief at the loss of Eleanor, who died shortly after giving birth to their daughter Gwenllian, felt  the Welsh were ill-prepared, but felt obliged, to support his brother.  Edward's forces captured Gwynedd Is Conwy and Anglesey but were heavily defeated in the Battle of Moel y Don.  This encouraged Llywelyn to try and rally support in mid and south Wales, but he was killed on 11th December at the Battle of Orewin Bridge near Builth Wells.

On December 11th 2012, Dr Lyn Evans "Evans the Atom" from Aberdare was awarded the Special Fundamental Physics Prize.  He is the project leader of  European Organization for Nuclear Research's attempt to understand the "Big Bang Theory" by use of the Large Hadron Collider. 

*  The Fundamental Physics Prize is awarded to physicists involved in fundamental research. It is the most lucrative academic prize in the world. 

*  The European Organization for Nuclear Research ( CERN ), is an international organization which operates the world's largest particle physics laboratory, providing the particle accelerators and other infrastructure needed for high-energy physics research.  It is also the birthplace of the World Wide Web.

*  The Large Hadron Collider is a 17-mile-long doughnut-shaped tunnel that lies beneath the French-Swiss border, at depths ranging from 170ft to 600ft.  Its purpose is to recreate the conditions that existed a fraction of a second after the Big Bang – the birth of the universe – and provide vital clues to the building blocks of life.  

Bridget Bevan (1698 – 11 December 1779) - financial supporter and manager of the Circulating Welsh Charity School system, that it is estimated taught over 200,000 Welsh people to read and helped Wales achieve one of the highest literacy rates in Europe.

Bridget Bevan was born at Derllys Court, Llannewydd in Carmarthenshire, the daughter of  John Vaughan, a financial supporter of the Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge (SPCK) schools. In 1721, she married Arthur Bevan, an MP for Carmarthen and  local lawyer. 

In 1731, she helped Griffith Jones, a local preacher to establish an experimental school in Llanddowror, Carmarthenshire, which was the fore runner of the Circulating Welsh Charity School system, which moved from village to village throughout Wales, educating the children and adults.  After Jones's death in 1761, she took on the management of the project and between 1736 and 1776, it is estimated that half the population of Wales had attended a circulating school.  

Born on this day 1948 in Port Talbot 

Allan Martin - former Wales and Lions rugby international,  who was a specialist line-out forward, also noted for his long distance goal-kicking 

Martin, who won 34 caps for Wales, formed the second-row partnership with Geoff Wheel that was the backbone of the successful Welsh team of the 1970s, that won grand slams in 1976 and 1978 and triple crowns in 1976, 1977, 1978 and 1979.  He also toured with the Lions to New Zealand in 1977 and South Africa in 1980. Martin played club rugby for Aberavon RFC, with over 780 appearances from 1966 to 1992. 

  Today is the feast day of Saint Peris

Saint Peris c.570 - Legend says that Peris was one of the many children of Helig ap Glannawg of the lost Land of Tyno Helig (the Great Orme, nr Llandudno). It is said he was a 'Cardinal of Rome' who retired to the solitude of Nant Peris (Snowdonia), which along with the nearby village of Llanberis is named after him. Ffynnon Peris is a well nearby in which Peris, according to tradition, kept two fish and drank from daily.

The legend of Llys Helig (Helig's Palace) and the lost Land of Tyno Helig;

Helig ap Glannawg was the prince of Tyno Helig, whose lands stretched from Flintshire in the east, to beyond Conwy in the west. 

Helig`s daughter Gwendud fell in love with Tathal, whose father was the Lord of Snowdon.  However, they could not marry because Tathal did wear a golden torque, which was the symbol of a nobleman.

Undeterred, Tathal killed a Scottish chieftain who was being held prisoner and who he had gained the trust of and stole his golden torque. Gwendud could now marry Tethal,  but at their wedding party, the murdered Scottish chieftain's ghost told them that he would gain his revenge over the fourth generation of their family.

Subsequently, at the celebration to mark the birth of their great-great-grandchild, a maid was sent to the cellar to get more wine, only to find it flooded by sea-water.  She alerted her lover, the court minstrel and they ran for their lives.  They were just out of the palace when they heard the crashing of mighty waves behind them.   They eventually escaped the chasing waves, but when they looked back the following morning, Helig's palace had been consumed by the sea.

Legend has it that the ruins of the palace can still be seen at very low tides and there is an area to the west of the Great Orme, that is still known as Llys Helig.

The Inn of the Sixth Happiness, released on 11th November, is a 1958 American 20th Century Fox film.  It tells the story of a maid who became a missionary in China during the build up to World War II.   Snowdonia was used for the exterior locations.