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A three-year dispute began on 22 November 1900 when 2800 men walked out of the Penrhyn Quarry in Bethesda. Most of the quarrymen held out for three years, by which time they had been crippled by hardship.
The dispute was the result of years of ongoing dissatisfaction in the quarrying industry. An agreement or 'bargain', which had protected the quarrymen’s earnings against working with rock of variable quality, had not been honoured, and the entire workforce went on strike.
The quarry owner, Lord Penrhyn, was determined to break the tradition of ‘bargain’ because of the autonomy it afforded the workers. He vigorously opposed unionisation, and it was the right to an effective union that became the main principle during the strike.
By 1902, 1300 had left the area in search of work, mainly to the south Wales coalfield. Tensions between strikers and returning workers were high, with notices being displayed in the houses of striking men bearing the words ‘Nid oes Bradwr yn y Tŷ Hwn’ (There is no traitor in this house). Facing starvation, the quarrymen were gradually forced back to work, the atmosphere becoming increasingly severe when it became obvious that Lord Penrhyn would not compromise.
The strike was a devastating blow to the slate industry. Penrhyn’s labour force had been decimated, and a depression in the building industry meant the gradual disintegration of slate quarrying.
Born on this day 22nd November 1819 in Nuneaton, Warwickshire (her father was Welsh and she attended a Welsh Baptist School in Coventry)
Mary Anne Evans, known by her pen name George Eliot, was one of the leading writers of the Victorian era. She published seven novels, mainly set in provincial England. She used a male pen name to ensure her works would be taken seriously, as female authors at the time were considered incapable of writing anything other than lightweight romances.
The Welsh language was officially spoken in the Vatican by Pope John Paul II, on 22 November 1987, as part of a beatification ceremony raising three Welsh martyrs, convicted under the penal laws of Queen Elizabeth I, to the rank of 'Blessed'. Beatification is the penultimate stage before being declared a saint in the Catholic Church.
President John F Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963, in Dallas, Texas. (J.F.K is pictured with possibly the most famous Welsh terrier in the world, Charlie, his loyal companion)
J F K's visit to Wales in 1938;
In July 1938, the 21 year old future President spent 5 days at St. Donats Castle owned by newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst in July 1938, with his father Joseph and other members of the Kennedy family.
Edward Nicholson, a member of staff at St Donat's Castle, recalled how "Mr Kennedy was a very active youngster, full of life. He swam in the pool and was an excellent swimmer. He attended mass at St David's Roman Catholic Cathedral in Charles Street, Cardiff. I shook hands with the President. He asked a lot of questions about the Welsh language and how many people in Wales spoke it. He showed a keen interest in Welsh industry, too."
On 22nd November 1974, Helen Morgan won the Miss World beauty contest. However, she was encouraged to resign four days after her victory on the discovery that she had an 18 month old child. In the same year, she won the Miss Wales and Miss United Kingdom titles and came second in the Miss Universe pageant.
Born on this day 1882 in Eglwys Rhos, Caernarfonshire,
Harold Lowe, who was Fifth Officer on RMS Titanic when she sank in April 1911. He was described by survivors as 'the real hero of the Titanic' for his role in the evacuation. He was the only officer to return to the ship to search for survivors. He also rescued a sinking lifeboat and towed another boat to safety.
On his return to Barmouth, 1,300 people attended a reception held in his honour and he was presented with a commemorative gold watch. He served in the Royal Navy Reserve during the First World War and saw service in Vladivostok during the Russian Revolution and Civil War. During World War II he served as an Air Raid Warden until his death in 1944.
Born on this day 1815 at Court, near Fishguard,
John Bowen - Anglican bishop in Sierra Leone, West Africa.
Bowen had travelled widely and had fought for the militia in Canada, before attending Trinity College, Dublin. He joined the church and whilst a curate became involved with the Church Missionary Society, who sent him to the Middle East, where he learned Arabic. In 1857, he was consecrated bishop of Sierra Leone, where, after initially recovering from recurring attacks of yellow fever, he died of Malignant fever.
On 21st November 1953 Cardiff Rugby Club beat the New Zealand All Blacks 8-3.
Bleddyn Williams, the club captain, had toured New Zealand with the British Lions in 1950 and resolved to make their heavier pack run and tire.
Cardiff scored first, with Sid Judd crashing over for a try converted by Gwyn Rowlands. A magnificent penalty goal from R. A. Jarden followed, from a range of 45 yards, with Gwyn Rowlands scoring a second try.
The “Western Mail ‘ on Monday 23rd November 1953 pronounced : “We do not think that the passing of the years will ever dim for us the gleam and glory of the historic encounter at the Cardiff Arms Park on Saturday, or tarnish the memory of Cliff Morgan’s darting and swooping across the turf and skimming past every obstacle like a swift at play. There was greatness in that clash of bone and sinew wherein the impenetrable object that was the Cardiff pack successfully withstood the supposedly irresistible force of the New Zealand ‘terrible eight’."
Born on this day 1914 in Swansea
Charles Fisher - journalist, writer, poet and adventurer, was the last surviving member of the Kardomah gang, a literary and artistic circle in Swansea in the 1930's, which included Dylan Thomas, Vernon Watkins and Daniel Jones.
Fisher went to school with Dylan Thomas and on leaving, they both become journalists for the South Wales Evening Post.
During World War II, Fisher was active for British Intelligence in France and later wrote for Reuters, the South Wales Evening Post and the BBC.
After attending Dylan Thomas's funeral in 1953, Fisher emigrated to Canada, where he became a Hansard reporter in the Canadian House of Commons. He travelled widely in Spain and became an accomplished flamenco guitar player. In the 80's and 90's he met experimental composer and artist, Oool Fjolkunnigr, with whom he collaborated musically and artistically and travelled extensively in India, Indonesia and Tonga.
His poetry The Locust Years, was published in 1988 and he completed a memoir, Adios Granada, recalling his life with Romani people in Spain.
He died, aged 91, in Bangkok.
Bluenote e.v.
I used to have a very good mate called Dave Kelly.
Dave was English, but being the clever lad he was he opened up an Irish bar and called it, Kellys, which went on to be a winner.
Kellys was, for me at that time, just what I needed. A mate with his own pub is something guys like myself appreciate in a big way. Ladies, if you could imagine having a BFF with her own shoe shop, well it was like that with Dave and his pub; though not quite as gossipy and touchy-feely.
Dave was a real mate. Hed phone on a slow day, usually in the week, and innocently ask if I was up for a bit of a drink? I worked shifts then; I still do actually, and consequently my weekends would often fall in the working week. So Daves offer of a little drink, a quiet chat, maybe a jam, (my drums were set up there permanently, as I wasnt in a band at the time), was just the jobby for a guy who regularly worked Saturday nights while the world was partying.
Wed sit at the bar and drink till the cleaning ladies kicked us out, playing along to songs, singing our heads off like I say, a mate with a pub well, its just PERFECT!
Anyway, it was in Kellys that I first met Horst and Norbert Krups. Horst helped Dave out behind the bar occasionally, (actually, we ALL helped Dave behind the bar occasionally, but thats another thing entirely) and was as mad about good music, Guinness and whiskey as Dave was; so obviously they got on like a house on fire.
Dave wanted Kellys to be a music pub, as he loved the Blues and Irish music scene. So he set about finding Blues, Folk and Celtic bands to play live. Its a given that Horst and Norbert helped, and slowly but surely the foundations of what would be Bluenote were set.
The problem was that Kellys, though successful, wasnt taking in the money needed to finance the bands they wanted. Dave had some good names coming in, but good bands demand their tribute, so the Krups brothers had a brainwave. Why not start a club dedicated to promoting and presenting live music? Then the people who join could help finance the acts, work the door, maybe help set up instruments etc etc etc. In return, theyd have the chance to see the great Blues/Folk/Celtic bands they all enjoyed but were proving too costly for Dave to book.
I think its clear to anyone reading this now that the Bluenote guys and gals were, and still are true music lovers. The clubs entire income, after outgoings, went into sorting more bands out to play at the pub, which grew in stature with every gig. It was a symbiosis tailor-made for Dave, with Horst and Norbert sorting the music out, and Kellys providing the venue and beer. Gradually the name Bluenote became synonymous with the pub as bands turned up to play from all over Europe. It was a great time, and I cant count how many drunken nights I had there, singing my head off and quaffing pints of Guinness, (when I wasnt working shift, of course).
Alas, the match made in heaven was cut short. Dave asked the landlord if, as theyd agreed, hed cut the rent to a reasonable price. At the time he was paying an exorbitant amount of money for the pub, but hed been assured that after two years it would be reduced. However, now the landlord decided it was too good a cow not to milk, and he mentioned to Dave he was thinking about upping the lease.
So, after a mild tantrum and a lot of thought, he dropped my drums off, (and gave me his old set), and left for Britain never to return.
Suddenly the good people of Bluenote were set adrift with nowhere to go.
Well, thats not exactly true, as Wolfenbttel is full of great venues, you just have to find them, and Bluenote werent going to let a minor problem like lack of location stop their march. They used the castle in Wolfenbttel for a while, and an old Italian restaurant for a couple of gigs as well, (which had excellent acoustics as theres a lot of wood in the building to soak up the echo). They carried on booking acts, and sold the refreshments themselves, making a lot of friends in the process.
Like a phoenix from the ashes of Kellys, Bluenote rose out of the shadow of the Irish bar it had spent its formative years in, and was suddenly a power in its own right.
After surviving Daves departure so well, the next black mark was just over the horizon to test them. A very influential Blues guitarist, by the name of Chris Jones, passed away in 2005. Chris had made a big impression on the Blues scene in Germany before then. With his easy going nature and excellent musical ability, the man was naturally charismatic, and his time with Bluenote made its mark on the club.
To mark his passing, they decided to honour his name with a music festival. Every year, since 2005, Bluenote have invited artists from all over the globe to perform on their stage and endorse the charity Chris Jones supported when he was alive. The celebration itself has moved from strength to strength, with no sign of stopping, and is now a regular sold out institution on the Wolfenbttel calendar. I can say from personal experience, if ever a party managed to capture those old days in Kellys, its this one, despite the poignant history behind the occasion.
Another annual highlight is the Celtic Christmas. Guinness and whiskey, a liberal splattering of Celtic music and dance, and a whole wad of Christmas cheer go to make this one of THE events of the year in Wolfenbttel. I was able to find the time off work to go to one, and the atmosphere was electric.
Im a Welshman, and have nothing really Irish or Scottish within me, but even I couldnt fail to be moved by the stirring Scottish songs and mournful Irish ballads, especially as the Guinness and whiskey seemed to go down so well
Anyway, thats my condensed version of Bluenotes history. Im happy and proud to say I was there when my friends called the press to Kellys and told the local rag their plans all those years ago, (in November 2001 actually! I went to the pub to pick my jacket up after a hard night and there they were). Im also glad to be able to say that the club is now a major mover in the music scene in and around the Wolfenbttel area.
So heres to you, my friends in Bluenote!
May your success march on, yet your heart stay where it is!
Iechyd da.
Reggie.
Born on this day 1912 in Rhos on Sea, Denbighshire
Wilf Wooller, who is acclaimed as one of the greatest all-round sportsmen that Wales has ever produced.
Wooller won his first Welsh rugby cap while still a pupil at Rydal School in Colwyn Bay and played his last game of county cricket for Glamorgan aged nearly 50. In between he scored a hat-trick for Cardiff City FC, represented his country at squash and served as an England cricket test selector. Wooller's achievements over four decades were remarkable, considering that he also spent years as a prisoner of war at the Changi camp in Singapore, during World War II.
He spent 36 years as secretary and then president of Glamorgan County Cricket Club, he reported on rugby and cricket for a London newspaper and presented the BBC's Welsh Sports Parade programme in the 1960s.
Additionally, he played in Wales' first rugby win over England at Twickenham in 1933 and captained Glamorgan to its first County Championship in 1948. InDecember 1935 he also contributed to one of only three Welsh wins over the All Blacks.
Born on this day 1928 in Corris, Snowdonia,
John Disley - Olympic bronze medalist and co-founder of the London Marathon.
Disley had never seen an athletics track until he went to Loughborough College in 1946. During the 1950s, he was Wales’ most successful athlete and Britain’s first world-class steeplechaser. He set four British records and won a bronze medal at the 1952 Olympic Games in Helsinki. He became the first Welshman to be voted British Athlete of the Year and also won the Welsh Sports Personality of the Year award in 1955.
Disley was the leading pioneer of Orienteering in the UK and broke the record for the traverse of the Welsh 3000 foot peaks, later becoming President of the Snowdonia Society. He was also one of the founders of the London Marathon and is a member of the Welsh Sports Hall of Fame.
For his actions on 20 November 1917 during World War I, Captain Richard William Leslie Wain of Penarth was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross.
Despite being seriously injured he attacked an enemy position in Cambrai, France, capturing it and taking prisoners. His actions enabled the infantry, which had been impeded by machine gun fire, to advance. He was killed while continuing to fire on the retreating enemy.
Welsh was spoken officially at the European Union for the first time on 19 November 2008 when Wales' Culture Minister Alun Ffred Jones spoke in Welsh to the Council of Ministers at Brussels. His first words in Welsh to the Council of Ministers were: "Diolch madam llywydd (thank you madam chair) ..."
Although Welsh was not added to the list of the EU's 23 official languages, the union gave the go-ahead for the language to be used in speeches at the Council of Ministers if translators are present. All European legislation is also to be translated into Welsh and anyone wanting to correspond with major EU bodies in Welsh can do so.
Born on this day in 1892 in Rowen in the Conwy valley, Caernarfonshire: Huw Thomas Edwards, one of Wales’ most iconic figures. He declined an invitation to be knighted at the Investiture of the Prince of Wales at Caernarfon Castle in July 1969.
Huw Tom, as he was known, started work aged 14 at the Penmaenmawr slate quarry. He ran away to South Wales to work in the coal mines of the Rhondda Valley and was at Tonypandy at the time of the 1911 strike.
Edwards was seriously wounded during the First World War but returned to work in the coal mines and slate quarries where he set up branches of a trade union and the Labour Party. A respected and influential figure, he was chosen as the first chairman of the Council of Wales and Monmouthshire in 1949. During his nine years in the post, he collaborated on reports on devolution and on depopulation in rural Wales. He resigned in 1958 as a protest against the failure of the Macmillan government to appoint a Secretary of State for Wales.
Edwards chaired the Welsh Tourist Board, the Flintshire Education Committee and the Clwyd and Deeside Hospital Board. He was also the president of Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg (the Welsh Language Society) and was described during this time as “the unofficial Prime Minister of Wales”.
On 19th November 1936, King Edward VIII visited the derelict Dowlais Iron and Steel Works, commenting that "These works brought all these people here. Something should be done to get them at work again."
At the time of his visit King Edward VIII was a popular figure and his comments on unemployment increased his popularity with working people and irritated Stanley Baldwin’s government. However after his abdication and visit to Berlin to meet Hitler, his sympathies with the Nazi regime became evident and his popularity waned dramatically.
Born on this day 1929 in Llansamlet, Swansea
Jack Kelsey- a former soccer international and world-class goalkeeper who played for Wales and Arsenal. Kelsey played for Wales 41 times, including the 1958 World Cup in which Wales reached the quarter-finals, before being defeated by Brazil. His opponents were so impressed by his performance that they nicknamed him "the cat with magnetic paws".
The Welsh Pony and Cob Museum was opened at Bronaeron on 19th November 2010.
The Welsh Mountain Pony evolved from the semi-feral, hardy pre-Roman Celtic pony.
The first literary reference to them is in the laws of Hywel Dda, written in 930, where their speed, agility and strength are acknowledged. They would have been used primarily for farming and forestry. In 1485, Welsh horsemen, riding ancestors of the modern Welsh Cob, supported Henry Tudor in gaining the English throne.
The breeds as they are known today were established by the late 15th century after the Crusaders returned with Arabian stallions from the Middle East to breed with the local horses.
In a bid to improve the overall quality of British horses, King Henry VIII ordered the destruction of all stallions under 15 hands and all mares under 13 hands in the Breed of Horses Act 1535. However, the Welsh breeds escaped the slaughter because of the remoteness of rural Wales and a partial repeal by Queen Elizabeth I in 1566.
Before the car, the Welsh Cob was a vital means of transport for doctors and tradesmen and were commonly used in coal mines, both above and below ground. They were also in demand in the United States, with large numbers being exported.
Born on this day 1936 in Gibbon, Nebraska, U.S.A
Richard Alva Cavett (Dick Cavett) - an American talk show host who was greatly influenced in the literary arts by his grandfather, a baptist preacher from Wales.
His career in entertainment began as an amateur actor and magician. He wrote successfully for Johnny Carsons and Jack Parr before establishing himself as an erudite talk-show host. Such was his reputation that he attracted guests who did not usually appear on talk shows, such as Marlon Brando, Laurence Olivier and Katherine Hepburn. Now regarded as an American treasure, Dick Cavett writes regularly for "The New York Times."
AmeriCymru would like to acknowledge and welcome the contribution of new member Nick Stradling who has agreed to link to reviews of Welsh movies ( or movies with Welsh themes or locations ) from his excellent blog Wales In The Movies
The reviews will be linked from the appropriate film listing page on the Welsh American Bookstore. Examples can be found on the pages below.
Hunky Dory - Its the long hot British summer of 1976 and Viv (Minnie Driver) has left London and her thespian aspirations, to work as a drama teacher in the local high school of her south Wales home town. Determined to fire up her hormonal, apathetic teenage charges, she sets about staging a rock musical based on Shakespeares The Tempest for the schools end of year show.
The Dark - Sean Bean and Maria Bello star in this psychological thriller about a young couple whose daughter vanishes into the ocean. The same evening that their daughter disappears, a seemingly harmless girl who bears a striking resemblance to their missing daughter appears at their farmhouse.
Now is a good time to visit the bookstore with Christmas purchases in mind. AND if you are particularly looking for a movie with a Welsh theme or location then this is the page for you - Film & TV The film and TV section includes box sets of popular Welsh TV shows as well. All items can be purchased from Amazon.com by clicking the 'Buy Now' link on the listing page.
We are confident that Nick's reviews will help you make the right choice and we invite other readers/bloggers to consider posting book or film reviews on the site. We will accept links back to your site or blog in the event that you post a contribution of reasonable length and quality on the site. To join the Welsh American Bookstore please go here:- Create an Account
( All reviews are subject to review and may be removed at the editors discretion if they are deemed not to have met quality standards. )
Tasker Watkins (18 November 1918- 9 September 2007) was a soldier, judge and President of the Welsh Rugby Union.
Watkins won the Victoria Cross for extraordinary bravery in Normandy during WW2, in an attack on an enemy position where his actions as commanding officer saved the lives of at least half of his men. Such was his modesty that he disliked speaking of his heroism, but Graham Henry, the Wales rugby coach, displayed Watkins' citation in the Welsh changing room before international matches to inspire the team, and WRU chairman David Pickering said of Sir Tasker: "He was one of the greatest ever Welshman, who will be remembered as one of our nation's heroes; a man who was an inspiration to so many people"
After the war, Tasker Watkins studied law, rising to become Presiding Judge of the Wales and Chester Circuit, Lord Justice of Appeal,1983-93, and Deputy Chief Justice of England and Wales from 1988 until he retired in 1993.
He received a knighthood in 1971, with other honours including GBE and Knight of Saint John.
In 2006, he was made a Freeman of the City and County of Cardiff, joining a select group that includes Pope John Paul II, Winston Churchill, David Lloyd George and Nelson Mandela.
Sir Tasker was an avid supporter of Welsh rugby, becoming president of the WRU to popular acclaim in 1993 and remained an iconic figure at international games until he retired in September 2004.
David Rees was born in Trelech, Carmarthenshire on the 18th November 1801. He was a great orator and social reformer who campaigned tirelessly against child slavery in the copper works and collieries in the Llanelli area. He was a Congregationalist who was ordained in Llanelli's Capel Als in 1829 and remained a minister until his retirement in 1867. He was also an editor and publisher, striving to improve the education of working class people in Wales. He established schools in the area, notably on Market Street and at Five Roads.
On 18th November 1840, the paddle steamer 'The City of Bristol' was shipwrecked off the Gower Peninsula. She was washed on to Llangennith sands, where her engines can still be seen at low tide. Twenty seven crew and passengers were drowned, although three bullocks and seventy five pigs managed to swim ashore.
Because of its treacherous tides, 250 ships have been wrecked along this coastline over the centuries, prompting the Whiteford Lighthouse to be built in 1865 in an attempt to protect shipping in the seas around Swansea, Llanelli and Burry Port.
On 18th November 1307, William Tell shot an arrow through an apple on his son's head and launched the struggle for Swiss independence. However, there is a similar legend in Wales that pre-dates this famous tale.
Sometime between 1191 and 1208, Madog ap Gruffydd Maelor, Prince of Powys Fadog, who had been dispossessed of his lands in Breconshire by William de Braose, shot an apple from the head of his youngest son, also called Madog, on the orders of Maud de Braose.
* Madog ap Gruffydd Maelor
1191 - Madog succeeded his father as Prince of Powys jointly with his brother Owain and adopted a neutral position between Gwynedd and England.
1197 - On Owain's death, he became sole ruler of the area of Powys between the Afon Rhaeadr and the Afon Tana. This area was named after him, Powys Fadog
1212 - Madog had been close to his cousin Llywelyn ap Iorwerth (Llywelyn the Great), but gradually distanced himself and became an official ally of the English King John.
1215 - Madog settled his differences with Llywelyn ap Iorwerth and allied with him.
* William, of the Norman de Braose dynasty, governed the border counties of Wales under King John, along with his indomitable wife, Maud, who supported his ambitions.
In 1175, William de Braose carried out the Abergavenny Massacre, butchering three Welsh princes and other Welsh leaders to at a Christmas feast at Abergavenny Castle. Unsurprisingly, this act earned him the nickname the "Ogre of Abergavenny".
In 1208, William de Braose quarrelled with King John, making incriminatory comments regarding the murder of King John's nephew Arthur of Brittany. The King confiscated the de Braose holdings, forcing them to flee to Ireland.
1210 de Braose returned to Wales and allied himself with Llywelyn ap Iorwerth in his rebellion against King John. Maud and her son were captured and starved to death at Corfe Castle in Dorset.
1211 William de Braose died in France, after fleeing there from Walesdisguised as a beggar.
* William de Braose was a favourite of King John and at the peak of his power in Wales, was Lord of Gower, Abergavenny, Brecknock, Builth, Radnor, Kington and Glamorgan. His wife Maud supported his military ambitions and was put her in charge of Hay Castle and is often referred to as the Lady of Hay.
In 1175, William de Braose carried out the Abergavenny Massacre, luring three Welsh princes and other Welsh leaders to their deaths at a Christmas feast at Abergavenny Castle. This resulted in great hostility against him among the Welsh, who named him the "Ogre of Abergavenny".
In 1198, Maud defended Painscastle against a massive Welsh attack led by Gwenwynwyn, Prince of Powys Wenwynwen, until English reinforcements arrived. Over three thousand Welsh were killed.
In 1208, William de Braose quarrelled with King John and Maud made indiscreet comments regarding the murder of King John's nephew Arthur of Brittany. The King seized all of their castles and the de Braose's fled to Ireland,
1210 De Braose returned to Wales and allied himself with Llywelyn ap Iorwerth in his rebellion against King John. Maud and her son were apprehended and imprisoned at Corfe Castle in Dorset, where they both starved to death.
1211, William de Braose died in France, after fleeing there from Wales the previous year, disguised as a beggar.
BUY ''HUNKY DORY HERE ( DVD REGION 1 USA ) ( DVD REGION 2 EUROPE )
A: I suppose technically the film is a musical, but our approach was specific in the sense that we thought it would be great for everybody who plays music in the film, to play the music for real. We recorded it more-or-less ‘as live’. That came out of what I’d observed from making music documentaries. There’s something very intimate and alluring about people making music for real - there’s a concentration there and the idea of young faces doing that was something I felt could be very cinematic.
So it’s a musical, but the focus is the rehearsals more than the show. I wanted to illustrate the sort of camaraderie and intimacy and the complete involvement of the rehearsal space in which these kids are living, compared to the other world of isolation that teenagers inhabit. Brian Wilson’s got a song called In My Lonely Room and there’s a Beatles song by John Lennon called There’s a Place That I Can Go When I’m Alone. So it’s about the loneliness of these kids, and then the complete involvement through this teacher and this music. It’s a very simple premise. That’s what we wanted to do was do a film that felt very authentic and very raw in a way around the music.
Welsh director Marc Evans
Q: How was it working with the kids?
A: One thing I can say about the filmmaking process is that at times, there was no directing required, because when we got into that school hall with those kids, the violinist was playing the violin, the drummer was playing the drums and the singer was singing – all the kids in the room were a bunch of kids making music. Because it’s orchestral, the kids go on these weekend courses that are rites of passage experiences. Those kind of experiences for the kids were the same for the actors, because they’re all quite young and some of them weren’t, professional actors before this. So, once we got the kids into a room, the film started to become what we’d hoped it would be - a celebration of those kids doing that stuff for real.
Q: Are the school and characters based on reality?
A: Yeah, the school’s a comprehensive school, and I went to a comprehensive school, as did Jon Finn. We all have our little stories to tell. The challenge was making it an ensemble piece but I think the film explores all these little strands of stories, and I suppose what we wanted was an overview of how every final year at school is somebody’s entrance into the wider world and somebody’s exit from that world. We wanted to get that feeling across rather than make it a film which is about a single person’s journey.
So all the little story strands are based on real life I guess. They’re the kind you always have in high school movies, because people always fall in love with the wrong person, people struggle with their sexuality, people have rough times at home. It’s not a heavy film in that sense but it hints at these aspects.
There’s a line from The Tempest in the film: “Our little lives are rounded by a dream,” and there’s a sense of their little lives if you like, through the music. So it’s in some ways a very simple premise, but a difficult one, because the balance on an ensemble piece is always tricky to keep all the stories going”.
Q: Is Minnie Driver’s character Viv based on anyone?
A: Minnie Driver’s character Viv is based on a kind of teacher from that era, rather than being a specific human being. I think there’s a kind of teacher that probably came out of the 60s and was still around in the 70s, and maybe by the time the 80s had happened, they’d had the stuffing knocked out of them!
That kind of teacher was very inspirational, they would always want to switch the kids on to Shakespeare, but they wanted to do it their own way and Viv does it through rock music. They were the teachers who would break the rules and would inhabit a grey area that most of the time was a good thing and occasionally was a bad thing.
Minnie’s character is somebody who treads a fine line in terms of how she deals with the kids. There’s a moment of almost intimacy with one of the kids but teaching these days is much more regulated and contained. There were a lot of teachers who were basically a bit mad and inspirational in the 70s and we wanted to, to portray that! The other interesting element is that she’s staging a version of The Tempest, and The Tempest is the play in which you get to explore nature and nurture. There’s a kind philosophical battle between Minnie’s character, who believes in self-expression and bringing love into the equation in teaching, and Miss Valentine (played brilliantly by Hadyn Gwynn) who is much more from the opposite school of thought - the three Rs, discipline, exams and that school is a machine to get you through and equip you to go out into the world.
Q: How did Minnie come on board and what does she bring to the character?
A: We sent Minnie the script, and we knew that her big love was music, and that she is a musician as well as being an actress. What we didn’t know was that her dad actually came from Swansea! We also knew she was great at accents, but you know, but the Welsh accent is historically one of the trickier ones but she nailed it, she really did. Matthew Rhys lives in LA, and when she said she’d do the film, the first person she hooked up with was Matthew Rhys, and she used to go round to his house and have Welsh lessons every week!
She also worked very closely with a dialogue coach called William Conacher, who Jon Finn knew from Billy Elliot, because he taught the kids Geordie accents. So we knew she would crack the accent and we were confident about her musical ability, so I suppose the mystery element was how she would interact with all those kids! When you’re in a school hall with sixty kids you have to take control of that situation, as well as concentrating on your acting, but that’s where she was just amazing.
There’s a scene in the film where they perform “The Man Who Sold The World” and there’s a big dance sequence in it. We’d worked out the music, we’d got everything ready, but I’m no choreographer, and she said, “Oh don’t worry, I’ll sort that out” and she did... she just led the kids into that dance and it was all very organic. The extra thing Minnie brought to the table was this ability to relate to the kids and to lead them as a really great teacher does and I think that comes through in the film.
Q: How did you cast the young roles?
A: We were very lucky, we had a very good casting person called Jessica Ronane, who did all the casting on Billy Elliot, so we inherited a lot of the know-how from Jon Finn’s experience on Billy. You have to get on the road and you have to just see a lot of kids but we had to make a decision to concentrate on Wales because it’s a Welsh story. We went to schools, colleges, youth clubs and had open auditions. As it happens, the Welsh College of Music and Drama in Cardiff is a good place at the moment, there are a lot of good kids coming through there, and Aneurin and Danielle were both in their last year at that particular college when we first met them, and were both at school together.
They’re two kids from Bridgend who were in college, so they, they were an easy fit for the film. It took us a while to get the film together and in the meantime Aneurin went off, did Spring Awakening, and won an Olivier award, so it just proved that we were right all along about him! We carried on casting the other roles and Tom Harries also came from that college, although he’s younger than Aneurin and Danielle. But a lot of the other kids came from totally different backgrounds, one works in a bank, one works in a restaurant, some of them are trying to get into college and some of them are still at school.
To a certain extent, if you create the right atmosphere and you get those kids into a room, they do the rest for you, because it’s an adventure for them. They all love singing and playing and they understood what a great opportunity it was. Once we got them together they started to gel as a group and they had a great party too! I don’t want to single anyone out, but know Tom Harries is gonna be big. I know ours is small film and films come and go but I do feel with with Aneurin and Tom we’ve got two very extraordinary boys here.
Q: When it came to selecting the music, was there a personal reason why you chose particular tracks?
A: I think we wanted the film musically to inhabit that world which I remember very strongly from the 70s and David Bowie’s the best example of this. He’s the kind of artists that allow teenagers to dream and to imagine themselves in situations outside of everyday life. If you listen to the words of Starman and it’s about somebody listening to an alien on the radio and when you’re a teenager, you are an alien, because you haven’t worked yourself out yet. You’re in some sort of film in your head. Bowie and bands like Roxy Music and ELO to a certain extent, created these dreamscape and that was a thing we wanted to tap into. All the interesting girls in my art class were into Bowie and Bowie is the guy who inspired otherwise fairly ordinary working-class boys to put slap on their faces! The idea was to have Viv the drama teacher let the kids pick the songs they loved and then they’d make them work within The Tempest’s sensibility.
We also wanted to use songs that when you heard them, you thought you knew them, but they weren’t so well-known. There were certain tracks there was no point covering them because they were too well-known so that’s why Queen’s not in there and the same goes for Elton John. Having such big well-known tracks would make it sound almost karaoke. With some of Bowie’s stuff, like “Life on Mars” we use the harps and it becomes something else. I suppose the most obscure song we use, is Nick Drake’s “Cello Song”, which Tom Harries sings. It’s funny, when you listen to the Nick Drake version, there’s a sort of knowingness about it, and when you have Tom singing it, with his innocence, it’s a different song altogether. I think we’ve done that with all the songs and that the thing I’m most proud of - the care we’ve put into that. The songs feel different to the originals, familiar and yet strange, and I think that’s what we were aiming for.
We were less interested in the happy clappy, “let’s put on a show right here in the barn” sort of music, we were more interested in the songs that maybe the kids would have chosen because they spoke to them personally.
Q: Hunky Dory is the title of David Bowie’s fourth album. Did he give his blessing to the film?
A: We didn’t speak to Bowie personally, but he gave us permission and his blessing to use two songs. We’d love for him to see the film because it’s such a hymn to him, in a way. If you have to pick one artist who inspired the film it would be David Bowie. Not just David Bowie’s music, but the world that he inspired and the inspiration he was to teenagers, including myself during that period.
Q: The school hall burns down just before they’re about to do the show. Is that based on any real incident?
A: The gym burned down in our school, and I think a lot of schools in the 70s had their gym burned down – there seemed to be a lot of arson around at that time!
We put it out as a plot device, but it’s the kind of thing that used to happen. There were other things that happened during that time that we thought about using. There was a scene that we cut, based on a bunch of kids in our school who used to go and visit a blind old-age pensioner, they’d get her shopping and stuff, then would sit round her house smoking spliff. For anyone who grew up at that time, in a similar environment, there was a was a kind of roughness and madness to school life in the 70s that would occasionally have repercussions, but mostly it was just a looser world where there would be less parental supervision, school gyms used to burn down, kids used to bunk off, but on the other hand, there was less fear, I think, about abduction or pedophilia. It was a free, loose, kind of messier world and we wanted to capture that in the film.
Q: Tell us about the locations and the challenges of the shoot.
A: Weather and doing a period piece are two terrible things to deal with on a low budget film. Especially as most of our money was really spent on the music and getting that right.
So, the reality was, we were a low-budget film shooting the hottest summer of all time in Wales! We were shooting during the summer of 2010 and in September, I kept thinking to myself, ‘we do tend to have Indian summers down here in September’, but it just didn’t really happen!
The school we used is actually Bishop’s Gore School in Swansea, which used to be Swansea Boys’ Grammar. It was a school that Dylan Thomas attended, it was a school that Russell T. Davies of Doctor Who fame attended too, so it’s got this tradition of sorts and it has a reputation for being a good school. It’s also the school they shot Submarine in. It’s a school that’s been visited a few times, and remembered for all sorts of things, and it’s just got a really great feel. It’s got the parquet-floored hall, it’s got those corridors that are so reminiscent of every school you ever saw in the 70s. So it definitely brought something to the table, that school. It had its own atmosphere, its own history.
During the shoot, we were continually rescheduling to try and chase the weather, and I think we shot every sunny moment there was to hand, that was available to us in that short period of time. In terms of locations for the period, we picked Port Talbot, next to Swansea because it has a big steelworks in the middle of it, and it’s still a working town, and my memory of South Wales in the 70s, was that there were still coal mines, there were still steelworks, and people worked. So there was poverty, but a different kind of poverty, it wasn’t like the poverty of unemployment. So we picked Swansea and Port Talbot because they’re coastal and there’s this sort of feeling of them turning into a bit of a surf town in the summer.
We had great locations. With the houses, we looked for ones that little old ladies lived in that hadn’t changed anything since 1976 more or less. I think we managed to find 1976, but by the skin of our teeth, both weather-wise and period-wise!
Q: Was it emotional for you going back to South Wales to shoot this film?
A: I think the good thing about having lived it, is that it just smelt real to me. I’m not sure how emotional it was, because you’re so busy trying to shoot it that you don’t have much time to think about that, but it definitely had huge resonances. It brought back huge memories. My affection for the film is based on that. The film is real in that sense. It’s authentic to my memory of what the 70s was like, and what being in school in the 70s was like.
Q: What’s the appeal of this film?
A: The worst part about making a film is then trying to ask retrospectively who it’s for, because you make it for yourself in a funny sort of way. I suppose the film is for people like me out there who remember the 70s and have the sort of affection for that music and that sort of chunk of pop culture. But inevitably it’s for kids. I think there’s definitely a sense of contemplation on youth in it. I think you definitely get a sense of that idea about youth being wasted on the young.
When you’re 17 you don’t know who you are and you don’t know what you’ve got, and you cannot possibly realise that that golden period of your life will never come again. Because when you’re in it, it just feels complicated and unknowable, but when you look back on it, you can’t help but have a huge nostalgia for being that age, because your life’s ahead of you.
I hope it speaks to everybody who’s been to school, because for better, for worse, your schooldays just stay with you forever. That feeling of that period of your life not coming again, is very strong, and I think it’s what fuels all these sort of high school reunions and there’s a massive nostalgia for that.
WEST END PERFORMERS UNITE FOR EMERGENCY FUNDRAISING CONCERT IN AID OF TYPHOON HAIYAN VICTIMS
By Ceri Shaw, 2013-11-17
The evening, taking place in Caerphilly, will feature songs from West End and Broadway musicals and feature a host of West End and local performers including; Peter Karrie, Dan & Laura Curtis, Adam Robert Lewis, Billy Harvey, Bruce Anderson, Samantha Link and Your Voice Competition winner, Kasia Howley.
The concert has been organised by composers, Dan and Laura Curtis, who have recently returned from working on their new album in New York and are currently working on a musical about Richard Burton.
Dan Curtis said We recently worked with one of the Philipines most renowned artists, Lea Salonga on a song that we have written for a forthcoming album. As a result of this we have been in contact with many of her fans from the Phillipines. When the Typhoon struck we were hearing first hand about the terrible ordeal people were going through and heard several heartbreaking stories about those who had lost contact with their families. We just want to try and do something to help.
The concert will be held at St Martins Church in Caerphilly on Thursday 28th November at 7:30pm, with tickets available at 10. Tickets can be purchased directly from the church or reserved via e-mailing dan.curtis@dlcmusic.com or phoning 07584486312.
Typhoon Haiyan
Typhoon Haiyan slammed into the Philippines on Friday (8 November), causing catastrophic damage. It is the strongest storm ever to make landfall, hitting an area where thousands of people are already homeless after an earthquake in mid-October.
The 300-mile wide typhoon locally known as Yolanda has left a trail of destruction with thousands feared dead. The full extent of the damage will become clearer in the next few days as rescue teams reach the more remote areas.
Philippine Red Cross volunteers have been on the ground since before the storm hit, helping with evacuation plans and warning communities. Now, they are getting aid to the people who are most in need and preparing to help thousands more.
Llywelyn ap Dafydd, de jure Prince of Gwynedd, died at Bristol Castle in mysterious circumstances in 1287 and was buried in the nearby Dominican church (now known as Quakers Friars, which was later established as a Quaker meeting house on 17th November 1747).
Llywelyn ap Dafydd was the eldest son and heir of Dafydd ap Gruffydd (Prince of Wales 1282-1283). He was probably born around 1267 and it is likely that he accompanied his father during periods of exile in England in the 1270s. Following the death of his father's brother Llywelyn ap Gruffydd on11 December 1282, Gwynedd was placed in the hands of Dafydd.
January 1283 - Edward I surrounded the heartland of Wales with a massive army, and Dafydd and his family, including Llywelyn ap Dafydd, moved to safety at Castell y Bere.
April 1283 - Castell y Bere was besieged by over 3,000 men. Dafydd and his family escaped north to Dolbadarn Castle.
May 1283 - They were forced to flee again, to the Welsh royal home in Abergwyngregyn.
22 June 1283 - Dafydd and his younger son Owain ap Dafydd were captured in a secret hiding place in a bog by Bera Mountain and taken to Shrewsbury. Dafydd's wife and seven daughters, together with Prince Llywelyn's baby daughter Gwenllian ferch Llywelyn, were also taken captive.
28 June 1283 - Llywelyn ap Dafydd was captured and escorted to Bristol. Edward triumphantly proclaimed that the last of the "treacherous lineage" of the "turbulent nation", was eliminated.
3rd October 1283 - Dafydd was executed in Shrewsbury.
1287 - Llywelyn ap Dafydd died at Bristol Castle in mysterious circumstances, his burial being paid for by King Edward I.
Colonel Morgan Morgan, an American pioneer from Glamorganshire, died on 17th November 1766 aged 78 years. He was thought to have founded the first permanent settlement in present day West Virginia at Cool Spring Farm, arriving in 1731.
Morgan had wealth and a very respectable social standing. Early records list him as a merchant and tailor, and he was also a magistrate.
Morgan died in Bunker Hill, Berkeley and was buried in the Morgan Chapel Graveyard. Morgan had eight children, and one of his sons, David Morgan, became an Indian fighter. Francis Harrison Pierpont, governor of Virginia, claimed descent from Colonel Morgan.
Giles de Braose, Bishop of Hereford (1200 to 1215) and ally of Llywelyn ab Iorwerth (Llywelyn the Great), died on 17th November 1215 and was buried in Hereford Cathedral.
Giles was the second son of William de Braose, a landholder on the Welsh Marches, who was favoured by King John of England. Giles owed his Bishopric to his father's position with the king and was employed as a 'judge-delegate', or papal representative. He was also involved in resolving the political disputes of the border lands, including a wrangle between King John and Gwenwynwyn ab Owain of Powys, which was resolved in 1204.
In 1206, John developed a distrust of the de Braoses, which resulted in Giles seeking refuge in France. While there, he joined a group of other English exiles seeking support from King Philip II of France against John. In 1210, Giles' elder brother and mother were starved to death on John's orders, and this prompted Giles to aid Llywelyn ab Iorwerth's efforts in 1212 to make an alliance with King Philip.
Giles returned to England in 1213 and joined the barons opposing John, and colluded with Llywelyn in razing Hugh de Mortimer's castle in Herefordshire. After Llywelyn's revolt in May 1215, the de Braose ancestral lands were restored and the bishop himself took a number of the castles.
David Emanuel, who was born in Bridgend on 17 November 1952, is a Welsh fashion designer best known for designing the wedding dress worn in 1981 by Diana, Princess of Wales.
David continued to dress Diana, Princess of Wales after her wedding and has also dressed some of the world's most beautiful women, including Joan Collins, Madonna, Shirley Bassey, Faye Dunaway, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Jane Seymour and Elizabeth Taylor.
Gethin Jenkins (born 17 November 1980 in Llantwit Fardre) is a Wales and British Lions international rugby union player, currently playing for Cardiff Blues. He is the most capped front-row forward for Wales.
Jenkins first played for Wales against Romania in 2002, and in the 2005 Six Nations Championship scored a memorable try against Ireland. In November 2007, he captained Wales for one match against South Africa.
He is one of the few Welsh players to have won three Grand Slams.
