Blogs

Americymru has received the following email from member Hywela Lyn who is celebrating the launch of her new novel "Starquest" today. "Yes - it's officially in print today! It's even more beautiful in 'real life' and the starry background carries on to the back cover.To celebrate I'm holding a contest to win:1. An autographed copy of 'Starquest'2. A special 'Starquest' Teeshirt with the cover printed on the front. Large or Medium - winner's choice3. A handy Desk calendar for 20094. A pair of tiny 'blue rose' earrings'. (To see find out the significance of the blue rose you need to read the story)To enter - just go to my WEBSITE and read the first chapter of Starquest to find the answer to this question -What is the name of the DESTINY'S computer? When you've found it, Email me at Contest@hywelalyn .co.uk before 27th December, making sure I have your email address. I'll get the prizewinner's pack out to them early in the New Year. Good Luck!Don't forget, books make wonderful presents and if you'd like an autographed copy for a Christmas gift, just email me at Lyn@hywelalyn.co.uk or go to my website where there's a purchase link.I hope you're all doing well and not getting too stressed in the run-up to Christmas. Remember it's not the value of the gift but the thought behind it that really counts. Please find a moment to enter my contest."

Americymru members Andy Edwards and Gareth Evans were interviewed on the Roy Noble Show on Radio Wales on their coast-to-coast cycling challenge across the southern US to raise money for the Children's Hospital for Wales: http://walescoast2coastusa.blogspot.com Roy Noble suggested that he interview them daily on their ride on how each previous day has gone, to follow their trip.Go here to look for the show (have to have Real Player to run it): http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/radiowales/sites/roynoble Their route is now on the blog with date they hope to be in each city. If you're in those cities and can help them out in any way, please do!

David Western's Lovespoon Blog

Well, the fun stuff has finally started. I've been busy scroll sawing out the shape of the spoon and am very pleased with how the wood has responded. There is lots of lovely grain patterns which should make the bowl and the leaf look really vibrant and the wood has been cutting evenly with no splitting or shattering. Wood this old and dry can sometimes be a bit brittle, but this walnut seems very good. The dowel that I came across last week shows up pretty well in this photo, but won't be quite so visible when the spoon is complete. I'm very pleased with the proportions and am even more confident that this will be a very smart spoon when complete.

In the second picture I have begun carving out the spoon bowl using a hand-made bent knife. These are specially made for me by Mike Komick at Preferred Edge Tools who specializes in crafting razor sharp, beautifully made blades. In the old days, the Welsh carvers used a ferocious looking bent bladed knife called a 'twca cam' which was often fashioned from whatever metal was at hand. Thankfully for me, I can rely on Mike to use the very best steel so that I can reap the benefits of a good, keen edge. Many carvers use gouges, electric grinding tools and curved scrapers to achieve the same ends, but I personally prefer the bent knife.

Carving the spoon bowl is one of my favourite parts of the process and is one I am happy to spend a good deal of time on. I tend to think that a lot of spoon carvers consider their bowls an afterthought with the lack of attention they give them showing up as a clunky and unsightly end to their hard carving efforts on the handle. But I'm starting to get preachy, so I'll get back to the tools and see how things shape up.

Before I go though, I hope that you are enjoying the blog so far and that you will feel inclined to donate a dollar or two to the Left Coast Eisteddfod! Every dollar you gift will equal a chance to win this spoon when it is completed. I hope you'll join in and I wish you good luck!

I'm sure many of us have a number of stories we could tell of wild times in our youth when the most outlandish of actions seemed perfectly reasonable or at the very least possessed of a certain kudos that in today's parlance would be known as cool. The following is an account of a trip made to London in 1982.Two friends of mine called Julian Phillips and Alan Powell accompanied me on a weekend visit to some friends " up the smoke " or London as it's more commonly known. They lived near The World's End pub in Chelsea. The visit was to last two nights wherein we would party as only people in their early twenties could.So on one bright Friday summer morning we left Treorchy station for the great metropolis. We would make a train connection at Cardiff which would take us to Paddington and from there to Sloan Square and the Kings Road in Chelsea. The distance from Sloan Square to the Worlds End pub is about a mile.Everything seemed straightforward until it became apparent that one of my companions had taken it upon himself to go on a magic mushroom hunt. He produced a bag of the hallucinogenic inducing fungus and handed it around as if it were something we could confidently build our futures upon. Being already fortified by several large whiskeys I went against my better judgement and swallowed a handful and washed the lot down with a generous slurp of Scotland's finest.I had no idea what the combination of the two intoxicating substances would produce but it wasn't long before I found out. Slowly but surely I became aware of a change in the atmosphere in the Pullman compartment in which we were traveling. There was a cosiness about the place that I hadn't noticed before. The rattle of the tracks seemed to be actually singing to me and most startling of all was the pattern on the seating in the compartment. They were little stripes of colour that were actually beginning to dance in front of my eyes. This was swiftly followed by a sensation that made my bottom lip feel like kneaded rubber and I was convinced that my arms and legs were at least nine foot long apiece. I remember thinking that I've had enough now. But this was just the start. Powell and Phillips suddenly took it upon themselves to become survey takers and they disappeared into the train to ask other passengers what seemed to them pertinent questions about rail travel. At this point I had an almost overwhelming need to laugh and I just knew that if I looked at either of them in the eye I'd be reduced to hysterical jollity. This happened to them as well and we spent the rest of the journey studiously looking at anything but each other desperately stifling laughter.The trip ( no pun intended ) from Paddington to Sloan Square was the longest 20 minutes of my life - or so it seemed. We couldn't look at each other or anyone else without wanting to burst into maniacal laughter. However, we reached the top of The Kings Road Chelsea and proceeded along the highway towards the Worlds End public house at the other end of the street - which as I stated was about a mile away.Normally I could cover this distance in about twenty minutes. But not tonight. Trying to walk on nine foot legs and having every red double decker bus smile at me was quite disconcerting. That, coupled with Julian talking to lamp posts an Alan disappearing up every side street meant it took us the better part of ninety minutes to get as far as the pub.We did get there though and met our friends over several pints of lager which tasted like nectar. Things seemed to have calmed down a bit in my mind and I had stopped laughing although the large clock in the bar kept winking at me and there was the Viking who was standing at the end of the bar. But apart from that I felt I was returning to normal. I wish I could have said the same for Jules and Alan. Possessed of their new found god like abilities they had decided to take poppers and much more alcohol as we all did. At around 23:30 that night we left the pub in what could only be described as an advanced state of inebriation. Somehow I managed to lose the rest of the people I was with and could not for the likes of me remember where I was supposed to sleep that night. I had a vague idea of where our friends house was but not the exact location. So it seemed perfectly reasonable to me to knock on the doors of every house I thought was likely to be where I should be. As you can imagine the residents were not too pleased particularly as I knocked the doors on at least two streets twice in the space of two hours. I finally gave up at 03:00 ish and decided that Id go for a walk by the Thames until it was daylight.Whilst doing this I noticed some very plush houses indeed and decided to investigate their premises to pass the time as much as anything else. At around four oclock now desperately tired I was just about to lie down on the lawn of one of the houses when someone called me. It was a police officer on the beat. I thought Oh good! Hes going to arrest me for trespass and put me in a nice cosy cell where I can sleep for years. As fate would have it he was from Wales and refused to arrest me but did tell me that a caf would be opening soon not far from where we were. He suggested I went there and drank some coffee. So off I went and became lost again.It was then I had a stroke of genius. I knew I needed to get some sleep pretty fast and I knew I couldnt afford a hotel especially in Chelsea. So what was I to do? It then occurred to me to travel to Portsmouth on the south coast. This was not as mad as it first seems. I was a student in Portsmouth in the late seventies and knew that a return ticket was relatively cheap. More to the point the train would be practically empty because it was so early and I could be assured some rest. I also knew that the train was checked at Portsmouth by rail staff before they allowed it to board a ferry for The Isle of Wight therefore I had a wake up call. So this is what I did. I haled a taxi and went to Waterloo station, bought a ticket, boarded the train, slept like a baby, was woken up at Portsmouth, bought breakfast and caught the next available train back to London and slept all the way back.Refreshed and sober I returned to The Worlds End pub and instantly remembered where my friends house was. When I got there I found out that I hadnt been missed until around midday because no one had woken up or recovered from the stupors theyd put themselves into the night before.The irony of all the previous nights fiasco was that I was as fresh as a daisy whilst my companions had continued partying into the early hours and were well and truly wrecked.It was fortunate really because that night partying continued once again and Alan and Jules insisted on taking the idiotic mix of mushrooms, poppers and booze. I stuck to beer.On the Sunday morning we had to make our way back to Wales. I was ok except that every time I shut my eyes I could see a chess board. Julian was shaking a bit but was rallying by the hour. Alan on the other hand was green. And I mean GREEEEEEN. Ive never seen anyone so ill who hadnt died soon after. He recovered though. It took a month or so but was OK.I for one as you can see will never forget that fateful trip to London in the Summer of 1982.

OFF THE RAILSIn another one of my incarnations I worked for a number of years as a railway guard in the South Wales valleys. The company was part of the Regional Railway Network called Valley Lines both of which were part of British Rail. I was based at the Canton depot in Cardiff and took trains as far afield as the exotic flesh pots of Barry Island, Rhymney, Treherbert, Aberdare and Merthyr Tydfil.During my time as a guard I came across many strange passengers; there seems to be a peculiarity about train travel in the UK that alters the personality of those who chosen to travel by rail. Some people go very quiet. Others act as though theyve been kidnapped and regard train staff as oppressors. Others still, develop an ability to lie that would make Tom Pepper look like a saint. However, no matter how eccentric the passengers there was always a guard who could make them look like rank amateurs when it came to odd behaviour.For example there was one who revelled in the name of Captain Chaos. He had been given this moniker because of his ability to make the slightest problem seem like an extinction level scenario. Another was Smelly Evans a man who could clear a train just by walking through it. But undoubtedly the very top of the eccentric tree belonged to one Billy Lucas.Lucas was a guard of the old order. He was in his early sixties, had served forty years on the railways, was in possession of a hair lip and a nasal delivery to match. He also had the most intolerant attitude to passengers it was possible to have without actually killing them.Tales of Billy were legendary. One recalls with a certain fondness the time he ejected two youths from his train for failing to purchase a ticket. The standard approach when dealing with fare dodgers was to ask them if they actually wanted to buy a ticket. If they said no, the British Transport Police were called. If they said yes but had no money their names and addresses would be taken ( hoping they were telling the truth ) and they would be issued with the most expensive one way ticket to their destination that the rules allowed. The revenue department would then bill them and if they refused to pay they would go to court. Billy didnt believe in any of this and his invariable response to fare dodgers was OFF . Such was the case with the aforementioned youths who were duly put off the train somewhere in the upper reaches of the Rhymney valley. What made this incident remarkable however was that Billys Philistine approach had been witnessed by a vicar who took it upon himself to chastise Billy for his unchristian ways. Billy took one look at him and said Shut up you. I work seven days a week. Not one. You can get off as well if you like.On another occasion Lucas was working the Treherbert to Barry Island service on a particularly busy train. So, as he proceeded through the train calling out TICKETHS PLEASTH courtesy of his hair lip, he didnt have the time to look at the faces of the passengers he was serving. If a passenger had a ticket they would hand it to him and he would clip it. If they didnt have a ticket they would say something like Single or Return to Cardiff please. He could then issue them with a ticket from a portable ticket dispenser we all carried at work.On the day in question he had reached the second carriage and was calling out the usual TICKETHS PLEASTH when a passenger said Thicket tho Cardiph pleasth. Billy wasnt biting today so he said without looking up from his machine. Thingle or return? The passenger hadnt heard him and said again Thicket tho Cardiph pleasth. Again without looking up Lucas said THINGLE OR RETURN? THINGLE PLEATH came the reply. At this point Lucas was reaching a fever pitch of indignation for being mocked and said in the loudest possible voice ARE YOU TAKING THE PISSTH OUT OF ME? He swung around only to be staring into the face of a man with a bigger hair lip than he had.Undoubtedly though Lucass finest hour was dealing with a man who believed in the common sympathy we would all feel for a fellow human being in his plight. Billy and I were working a train from Cardiff. I was the assistant ticket collector and Billy was the guard. We approached a guy who was looking the worse for wear and didnt have a ticket. He proceeded to spin a tale of woe second to none. Im sorry boys he said My mother died yesterday and I went out and got drunk, lost all my money on the horses, started a fight and was arrested by the police. I was fined 500.00 this morning and I havent got a penny on me.. I looked at Billy. Billy looked at the guy and said Not your lucky day is it pal? OFF.

In my life I have worked in many varied jobs. During a short period in the nineteen eighties I worked for the Royal Mail in London as a postman. The office I worked in was called E.C.D.O ( Eastern Central District Office ) located in Newgate Street adjacent to Saint Paul's Cathedral. It had a compliment of four thousand staff and dealt with mail posted in and received by The City of London. This included The Stock Exchange, Bank of England, Hatton Gardens (diamond merchants) and all the other financial institutions one would expect to find in a great metropolis.The building we worked in was extraordinary as it contained a church a mosque, two restaurants, two bars and assorted playgrounds. The work area itself extended from an underground railway system independent of London Transport through six or seven storeys that was the hub of all manner of sorting activities; letters, parcels and packets were processed at a rate of seven million a week on average rising to nineteen million at Christmas. It was often touted that we ran the best postal system in the world - an assertion that had the majority of postal workers laughing like drains. However, the system did work because we were all prepared to help each other so that the Royal Mail was delivered on time.In order to ensure that we were not impeded in our efforts, by some unkind fellows who would often take the time and effort to send letter bombs through our office, security was of a ' high' priority. I myself was instructed to remove a suspect package and take it to a place where it would be safe until the bomb squad arrived. I imagined some high tech isolation unit so you will appreciate my surprise when I and said suspect package had to travel in an elevator up two floors only to find a bucket of water and a bucket of sand in the middle of a large hall. This journey became a fairly regular affair but the office remained open and the sorting unaffected. This was the normal state of affairs until the 'night of the marzipan attack'.To understand how marzipan could disrupt the mail its best to have a picture of the building I worked in in your mind. Imagine, if you will, a large Victorian edifice that had platforms at the east and west sides of the building. These were used to receive and dispose of sack loads of mail brought to and taken away from us by vans. Connecting these two platforms was a conveyor belt that ran through the center of the building. Mail brought to us which was intended for sorting at our office would be taken from the vans and deposited down a chute marked ECDO. The rest would be deposited down a chute that led directly to the conveyor belt. This would take it to the platform at other side of the building where it would be sorted into vans dependent on which district it was headed for. This was an unremarkable process that took place hundreds of times a day. However on a particularly sultry summers night, a combination of heat, gravity, fans and plain bad judgment led to the evacuation of everyone in the building.You see! At around three thirty in the morning the temperature in the main sorting area had rising to stifling levels; body and machinery heat coupled with the outside atmosphere meant that the fans which were always running to reduce the paper dust in the building and cool us were becoming ineffective. So someone had the sensible idea of wedging open the doors on the east and west platforms to create a draught. It helped a great deal until that fateful delivery of a gallon of concentrated marzipan extract. It was delivered to us in a standard post bag so we couldnt see exactly what we were dealing with. It was heavy and was marked for another office and as such was duly dropped onto the conveyor belt some ten feet below the platform. There was a sharp crack as the glass container holding the stuff broke. But off it went through the building to the opposing platform where it hit the ground and spilled its contents.During its short but eventful journey through the sorting area some of the staff started to cough unaccountably and their eyes started to stream. The air was filled with marzipan flavour and many commented that Christmas seemed to have come early. However, the best was yet to come. One of the managers in charge of the platform where the concentrate was now oozing decided that the best course of action would be to turn a hose on it and wash it away. In his defence it must be said that he had no idea that he was dealing with anything other than a wet smelly substance that should be washed away. The result of his actions meant we then had about 80 gallons of concentrated marzipan extract giving of fumes that took full advantage of the draught system created to alleviate our discomfort. It would be hard to say that the effect on the personnel was akin to a mustard gas attack but it wasnt far off. Soon people were making for every available exit. As luck would have it Saint Bartholomews hospital was located further down Newgate Street and a few traipsed there in the hope of succour. Others who had developed a furious thirst in the marzipan cloud decided the best course of action was to wander down to Smithfield Market. The famous London meat emporium worked through the night just like we did and because of this the local pubs opened to cater for the workers hours accordingly. By seven oclock some four hours after the onset of the marzipan attack it was difficult to discern which postal workers were suffering from what. It was generally agreed however that two symptoms brought on by an overflow of marzipan extract was slurred speech and an unsteady gait.I believe the report into the incident was lost.

Go to this blogpost and install the locale switcher and language pack to run a Welsh language version of Firefox:- http://smilingunderbuses.blogspot.com/2007/02/welsh-language-firefox-extensions.html http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/lang-packs/welsh.html I havent tried it yet. Let us know how you get on.There is also this site for a bilingual browser:- http://www.gwelywiwr.org/firefox/bilingual.htm

"Founded in 2001, The Burlington Welsh Male Chorus is a Canadian choir based upon the Welsh Male Choir traditions" Find more photos like this on Americymru Where is the choir based? The Burlington Welsh Male Chorus is based in Burlington Ontario, (just West of Toronto) Who is the choir director? Other officers or positions in the choir? We have a new Choir Music Director, Janice Beninger and are recruiting a new accompanist to join her in a revamped music team! How many members does it have? We have 70 registered members currently. approximately 50% are Welsh or of Welsh descent, then there are the Barbarians - Canadians, Scottish, English, Irish, Zimbabweans, ... What is the history of the choir. When was it formed? BWMC was formed in Sept 2001 when a few members from another choir and some new recruits joined with the famous director and arranger Mr Lyn Harry to recreate a Welsh choir in Ontario. Our 1st rehearsal was 23 potential members, and our 1st concert was March 1st 2002! How would you describe your repertoire? Is it largely traditional? We have a varied repertoire, usual choir line up of Traditional Welsh folk and hymns/spirituals; and opera choruses. We throw in different instruments when we can (guitar; flute; trumpets) to add colour. Are there songs that you frequently perform or are known for? That your audience requests? Gwahoddiad is a favourite of the choir and the audiences, if we dont do it, people always ask why! As a Welsh choir in Canada, people come expecting to hear that Welsh MVC sound and the traditional songs, so we dont disappoint - but we add in different elements as well to make it interesting How much time do you spend in rehearsal? How often do you practice together? We meet once a week on a Friday for 2 hours, then to the pub to welcome the weekend! Where do your members come from? Is there an audition process? There is a strong Welsh presence in the Golden Horseshoe around Hamilton/Burlington/Toronto, so word of mouth has led to significant growth as well as links to the Rugby Clubs and pubs! We are a very welcoming choir, we do not formally audition, but each new member is given a voice test to determine their range and which section they belong in (Tenor 1; Tenor 2; Baritone or Bass). How many performances do you do a year? We do on average 12 events between September and May Where have you performed? All over S. Ontario, Cayman Islands 2003; Wales and Royal Albert Hall London in 2006; Boston; Carnegie Hall New York and Pennsylvania in 2008. What is the largest audience you've performed before? What was your most memorable? As an individual choir we sang 2 songs at Carnegie Hall which was a great experience, as well as being part of the massed choir with Bryn Terfel this year. The Royal Albert Hall in 2006 was very moving as part of an 800 voice choir, ex pats coming home to sing! You have played several gigs with Jon Langford - how did that association come about? How would you describe the shows you do together? Jon and I know each other from our young lives in Newport, Gwent. He went on to great things with The Mekons * etc, our band split up! We meet up whenever he plays in Toronto,so we got talking last year about a project to put a choir vocal behind his band to do the Skull Orchard songs, so I got a subset of the choir engaged. We rehearsed and debuted it in Chicago in 2007 and wherever its been done its very well received. The cross genres of the hard hitting band and the choir harmony just works and strikes a chord . Hear The Burlington Male Voice Choir Performing with Jon Langford here:- Jon Langford & the Burlington Welsh Male Voice Choir on YouTube What other guest artists or other artists have you performed with? Don't tell Langford but we sang with Elvis Costello on his encore song at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass in San Francisco in October this year. Bryn Terfel in New York, Jason Howard and Rebecca Evans in London . You've got a cookbook for sale on your web site - how did that come about? Any favorite recipes in there? We need money! It was a fundraiser for our 2006 UK tour (we are self funding) how many would you like? Best Faggotts recipe known to man (dating back to 1773) . ( Hopefully the ingredient are of more recent vintage...Ed ). Purchase Cookbook HERE Have you released any recordings? Where can people buy them? We recorded our annual concert in the spring of 2006, available at concerts or through the website. We hope to record a new CD this year. Purchase CD HERE Where can people hear the choir online? There are some pieces on the website and some choir/Langford events on youtube . What are your plans for the future? We have just engaged a new music team, so our focus is on solidifying that relationship and growing musically under the new director - she is Canadian , very capable and understands the Welsh culture and loves the sound! We do a major tour every two years, so there is talk of West Coast USA / California in 2010. Where can people catch you live? Any tour dates coming up? Our Website has a calendar with all performances, we aim for 1 concert per month in season and have events in dec and through the spring. In discussions with Jon Langford for more events and eventual world domination. Left Coast Eisteddfod maybe?! Julian Murray Burlington Welsh "For those of you who are not acquainted with the work of the mighty "Mekons....Shame on you! Here are links to two of their classic numbers on You Tube:- "Millionaire" "Cockermouth"

( This is not an official press release but rather the personal observations of a Cymuned supporter )

**Two very important results for our work in law courts during November. You may remember that I told you about Gwyneth Green, from Caernarfon, in a previous email. She was sacked by Siemens after they refused to allow her to speak in Welsh in a disciplinary hearing. Her case was heard in Abergele, and it was found that the company had discriminated against her according to race equality law (which includes language). This is an important result for the Welsh speaking Fro, and congratulations go to her solicitor, Tudor William of Wrexham, for his work on this case.

In another case, the small claims court found against our ex-treasurer, Edward Wynne Jones, who was claiming that he loaned 500 to Cymuned some time ago. The judge agreed that there was no evidence that the money given to us was a loan, especially as Edward Wynne Jones, who was our treasurer at that time, had not noted any loan in the annual accounts. It will be good to be able to concentrate on protecting and promoting the communities of the Fro without having to worry any more about our ex-treasurer's financial accusations.

**Thanks to those who wrote to the Guardian about their forthcoming article "Let's move to...Caernarfon". The article printed on Saturday 29th November, discussed the area's Welshness and the problems of holiday homes. Read the article HERE

**The protest outside the National Trust's AGM was a success for impact and publicity. More importantly, the members who voted showed a majority in favour of the motion to scrap the NT's housing development at Rhostyllen. Despite over 14 000 votes supporting our motion, though, it was overturned by the chairman's proxy vote.

Watch the AGM HERE The debate starts at about 1 hour 41 minutes. Keep an eye on the Chairman, Sir William Proby, as his own arguments are used against the development...

**Congratulation to Wales on beating Denmark and Australia! It was great to see Aaron Ramsey singing the anthem at the start of the Football game. This has become so rare that one of our members has written to the Football Association of Wales asking them to improve the situation. We'll see what reaction comes, but Alun Ffred Jones (Minister for Heritage and Sport) answered straight away to a copy of the letter, voicing his support, and hinting that he might speak with officers of the Association to find a way forward.

**We have had a message from the dotCym campaign:

"dotCym has arrived at an exceedingly important point in its development, and the time has come for everyone who wants to win .cym for Wales to show their support by becoming a member at www.dotCYM.org . The more people who join dotCYm, the more chance we have of winning support from ICANN (who decide who can have which domain names), and practical financial backing from the Assembly. Become a member now for just 2 a month - your support will help us to win an on-line Welsh identity. Come on - join now!"

**And finally, for those who signed the official Assembly on-line petition calling for a Welsh team in the 2012 Olympics, the petition committee have discussed it, and have decided to contact the International Olympic Committee in order to clarify the situation regarding National Teams for non-independent nations. Although campaigning for a Welsh Olympic team is nowhere near to being Cymuned policy, I have decided to follow the process for two reasons. Firstly, that so many of you signed the petition, and secondly in order to show a democratic process which will be useful to us as a movement, and also to you as Welsh voters. I hope that you will bear with me, even if you have no interest!

The Yellow Brick Rd led straight to the Millenium Stadium in Kairdiff yesterday where a wizardly display left OZ looking emerald green by comparison.Warren Gatland was last seen heading for the dressing room after the All Blacks game with his trusty revolver glowing in anticipation of imminent executions. The threat of death or at least loss of earnings seems to have galvanised the Welsh side into producing some fine running rugby.The serious tone was set within the first three minutes when the Oz captain was offered a personal tackle which sent him up a gum tree for the duration. To add insult to injury the Taff scored a runaway try that had grown men crying in their beer wistfully recalling the heady days of the seventies. But to give the Wallabies their due they fought back like good 'uns and had many a Welsh fan changing his shorts just before no side was called.