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A new book published by Y Lolfa aims to transform the way people think about Welsh independence. Authors Jim Wingate and Jen Llywelyn share personal experiences and practical exercises in this compact book that aims to decolonise minds.    

The book,  20 Radical Steps to Welsh Independence: By first decolonising our minds , is a self-help guide, giving the reader various examples and actions to transform the way the reader thinks about Wales. Jim has worked in 21 independent countries and uses that experience to show how things need to change in Wales. Jim and Jen say: “There’s a well-researched process called ‘decolonisation’. Every independent country has to go through decolonisation. Every individual citizen has to go through decolonisation – for example, going from being a colonised, ‘passive spectator’ to ‘taking action’ as a decolonised person. Many of these attitudes and beliefs are unconscious. This book enables you to identify all 20 of them and to liberate yourself from them all.”  

The book gives true stories, from the drowning of Tryweryn to housing and planning developments for your local area, giving ideas on ‘What can  you  do?’ yourself, and what can work in practice. There are also inspiring examples from throughout the world, including messages from the lives of Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela. The book also suggests ways of dealing with incomers and tourists in Wales, and has useful facts and statistics about thriving independent nations much smaller than Wales.  

The authors and campaigners Jim Wingate and Jen Llywelyn both have Welsh-speaking forebears. They were born in Cheltenham, Gloucester, and moved back to Cymru in 1997. Jim is a storyteller. He travels to Bavaria regularly to work in schools with pupils and teachers. Jen is author and editor of many books on Welsh culture; she has learned Cymraeg, and has spoken/written on Welsh independence on radio, television, and in newspapers. After 20 years in Ceredigion, Jim and Jen now live in northern Pembrokeshire.

After the roaring success of Junior Bill’s first 2023 single ‘Boys From Jungle’ - praised, played and playlisted worldwide - then the mournfully and politically-loaded follow-up ‘Flag of St George’ comes the third Junior Bill single of the year. ‘ Teeth ’ is a melancholic reggae number about a lonely, isolated society where sugar passes for joy and life stays stagnant around a tiny cul-de-sac in post-Brexit Britain. 

Junior Bill is the project of Cardiff songwriter Robert Nichols - acclaimed as ‘ a 21st Century Joe Strummer ’ by BBC 6Music’s Tom Robinson earlier this year. The group have found support both locally in their home country of Wales as well as internationally on radio and press in Australia, Spain, Brazil and Canada. Turning debut album ‘Youth Club!’ into a series of singles released over the course of the year, has shown a broad range of reggae, psych, indie and blues that has a core element of storytelling about pressing and urgent politicised life.

The songs of Junior Bill reach into the lives of others in an unusually empathic way, whilst still remaining extremely “singable” . Gigwise said "it's a political maturity set against a childlike honesty that makes Junior Bill so intriguing. " ‘Teeth’ tells the story of an elderly woman who can’t stop eating sweets, living a lonely life in a Truman Show-style world where people “live and work and die” all in one isolated neighbourhood. It’s all somewhat reminiscent of Britain’s increasingly claustrophobic societal atmosphere. This toy-town is recreated in the song’s video, a naive stop-motion animation made by Junior Bill and his friends. The track deals with themes of isolation, the loneliness of ageing, our increasing inability as a nation to care for the vulnerable, as well as the song’s main hook singing of the both immediate and deeper long-term need for the country’s national healthcare.

In the live music scene Junior Bill have made a lasting impression, opening for Supergrass during their reunion shows after a supporting tour with drummer Danny Goffey, then last year making their debut at Glastonbury Festival. The band returned to their hometown of Cardiff in January to a packed out show, and have a series of dates to come throughout the UK (below) whilst releasing more singles and then the debut album ‘Youth Club!’ before the end of the year. 

Pre-save ‘Teeth’ now at  https://ffm.to/juniorbillteeth.OPR

LIVE DATES

29th April - All Roads Festival, The King Arthur, Glastonbury - solo

4th May - The Canteen, Bristol - band 

5th May - Fork & Tune, Cwmcarn - band

26th May - How The Light Gets In Festival, Hay on Wye - solo

28th May - Devauden Festival - solo

3rd June - Golden Lion, Bristol - band

LYRICS

She's been getting holes in her teeth

Bet she wish she took 'em to the NHS

You can hardly hear when she speaks

And she's been talking less

Living in the house on the hill

With the yellow corridors and cups of tea

Little, white, pound-shaped pills

And cold company

Mrs Winterburn cuts your hair

And Mr Federico takes you out to town

Six chocolate eclairs

Seven up to wash it down

Neither of them need to hear you cuss

Even if they don't understand

Typical of you to make a fuss

When people give a helping hand

But how does she want it?

Let her have her cake and eat it 

Independently

Sitting up in my bedsit

I can see the children go running by

Every day they grow a little bit

As their independence dies

You won't let me visit you still

Let me take you to the dental surgery

I look up at the house on the hill

And every day it looks at me

But how did she want it?

Let her have her cake and eat it 

Independently 

But tell her to brush her teeth

The 24 ^th  of April sees the release of a new book  Charles and the Welsh Revolt: The Explosive Start to King Charles III’s Royal Career  by Arwel Vittle. Charles' Investiture in 1969 marked a turning point in Welsh history. Feelings ran high about the installation of an English Prince of Wales, and there was almost open warfare between the police and young Welsh protesters. Demos and protests, dramatic stunts from the quasi-paramilitary Free Wales Army, hunger strikes, rifts in the Welsh Establishment, secret police, agents provocateurs and a well-organised bombing campaign - this book asks what caused this extreme reaction, whether it was worth it, and whether if could all happen again.

Author  Vittle, who runs a translation company, said it was "interesting" to hear the first hand accounts of the activists and extremists at the heart of the protest movement.

“It was a tense time not only with the bombing campaign, but also Cymdeithas yr Iaith’s non-violent protests and large rallies and Plaid Cymru getting its first electoral successes. I wanted to look at what caused this extreme reaction around Charles’ Investiture, whether it was worth it, and whether it could all happen again.”

The father-of-three and author of popular histories said: "I thought it would be interesting to look at Charles' formative years in public life as Prince, which started with a bang as it were, because of the political atmosphere in Wales, which at the time was pretty febrile.

"With Charles becoming King and his coronation yet to take place, I wanted to write a popular history book which was a good read as well as informing.

"Speaking to many participants, it was good to hear first hand, what it was like to be part of that period - things that aren't documented in many other history books.

"Many hadn't spoken out about their experiences before - particularly around the secret police and surveillance - some people compared Gwynedd at the time to being like a police state like East Germany and (the then) Czechoslovakia - it was interesting to lift the lid on that."

Charles and the Welsh Revolt by Arwel Vittle is published by Y Lolfa, priced at £9.99, and is available in good bookshops.