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Bob Titley, The Robert Titley Consultancy

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2014 NATO Summit to be held in Wales, September 4-5th

Wales looks forward to welcoming the world

New York, NY July 16, 2014 -- Croeso! Or Welcome in Welsh. On September 4 ^th and 5 ^th , 2014 Wales will welcome leaders from across the globe to the 2014 North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Summit. Not only will this be the first NATO Summit in Wales, it will be the first time a sitting US President will visit this Celtic country. The Summit will take place at the Celtic Manor Resort in Newport, located just twenty minutes outside the Welsh capital city of Cardiff.

First Minister of Wales, Carwyn Jones said, “The NATO summit will bring Wales unprecedented levels of international attention and an opportunity like no other to advertise the benefits of our modern and dynamic country to the world. We pride ourselves in our great business investment potential and are already home to many international companies.

The summit will be the largest political gathering ever to be held in Britain. This is a fantastic showcase opportunity for Wales and we intend to maximise this to the full.”

Britain’s Prime Minister David Cameron said, “It’s a great moment for Wales to advertise its modern and economically brilliant face to the world.” He added, “We had the G8 in Northern Ireland, we had the Olympics in London, we’ve got the Commonwealth Games in Scotland - it is Wales’ turn for one of these big events, a great showcase for Wales and a great opportunity and I’m really pleased that we are going to be doing that.”

Situated in South East Wales, the summit is positioned at the crossroads of Cardiff, Newport, and a number of historic market towns in the region including, Abergavenny, Brecon and Hay-on-Wye. Delegates attending the summit will stay in and around the Celtic Manor Resort in Newport – home to the 2010 Ryder Cup. Host hotels include: Best Western Plus Maldron Hotel Cardiff, Novotel Cardiff Centre, Mercure Cardiff Centre, Park Inn By Radisson Cardiff City Centre, Hampton By Hilton Newport East, and Holiday Inn Newport. With about 60 world leaders and up to 1,500 media delegates due to arrive, Wales hopes increased media attention will inspire travelers to come and experience its warm Welsh welcome, award-winning countryside, budding culinary scene and distinctive Celtic history.

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The 2014 NATO Wales logo includes four icons of the country’s history and culture: a castle, the Welsh dragon, a Celtic knot, and the Newport Transporter Bridge. According to Anders Fogh Rasmussen, NATO’s Secretary General, the logo features, “strong symbols of Wales in a modern way – drawing on the past; looking to the future.” Icons of the logo include:

• The Castle : Wales is home to 641 castles with more castles per square mile than any other country in the world. Four of these fortresses – Beaumaris, Caernarfon, Conwy and Harlech – make up King Edward’s Iron Ring of Castles, a UNESCO World Heritage site in Wales.

• The Welsh Dragon: An image of a red dragon adorns the Welsh flag. The dragon does more than act as the face of the nation, it depicts the country’s mystical past from the legends of King Arthur to the tales of the Mabinogion.

• A Celtic knot: Celtic heritage runs deep through the heart of the Welsh people. Listen as they speak Welsh -- the unfamiliar dialect is the oldest living Celtic language in the world.  

• The Newport Transporter Bridge: One of only six transporter bridges left in the world, the Newport Transporter Bridge dominates the city’s skyline. The bridge represents Wales success in industry, from coal in the 1900’s to aerospace and alternative energy today.

A country with a 30,000-year-old history, Wales has proven itself as a leader in industry and achievement across generations. In the 1900’s Welsh coal powered the industrial revolution and the world's first million pound check was written in Cardiff bay. In 1927, the National Museum Cardiff opened and now houses the world’s second largest impressionist art collection; and in 2012 Wales became the first country in the world with a completely walkable perimeter.

Now, three million Welsh citizens drive a robust, growing economy with strengths in defense and aerospace, manufacturing, clean energy, tourism and media production. A vibrant Welsh economy attracts organizations from around the globe who choose to base their UK operations in Wales. With government-backed financial incentives, low commercial rents, and a talented and educated workforce, Wales provides a dynamic environment for precision engineering, cutting-edge technology and more.

Visit Wales is the Government tourism office for Wales, a country within the United Kingdom that is 180 miles long and 70 miles across at its widest point. Wales, England, Scotland and Northern Ireland are four distinct countries that make up the United Kingdom. For more information on travel to Wales, travel trade can visit www.trade.visitwales.com  and consumers can visit www.americas.visitwales.com .

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Today I got the back of the spoon about 98% finished. I've marked one area where I need to take off just a little more wood to get the symmetry I'm looking for. I'm probably going a little OCD on this, but that's me and spoon bowls. Once I move that wood I'll start on the horses, move on to the chip carving and do the inside of the bowl last.

Strata Florida Abbey, Ysbyty Ystwyth, Devils Bridge, Nanteos and the legend of the Holy Grail. 

I often wondered why Ysbyty Ystwyth was so called, was there once a hospital there? Something to do with the mining industry and injured miners perhaps?

Strata Florida translates as the valley of the flowers, Strata Florida Abbey is a former Cistercian abbey situated just outside Pontrhydfendigaid, near  Tregaron in the county of Ceredigion, Wales. The abbey was originally founded in 1164.  http://cadw.wales.gov.uk/daysout/strata-florida-abbey/?lang=en

Devils Bridge.  Its always amused me that the construction of the Bridge is attributed to the Devil in the local story, (see www.devilsbridgefalls.co.uk) but was built by Monks in the 11th century - the date quoted is 1087. This pre-dates the founding of Strata Florida by about 80 years, but the Bridge would have been used by monks from there to reach ranges at Ystumtuen, which later became part of the Nanteos Estate. This suggests Monks were influential in the area from the time of the Norman conquest.

Ysbyty Ystwyth gets its name from the Yspytty – run by the monastery, which was a place of hospitality, shelter and entertainment for visiting strangers when other houses of accommodation were unknown. The monastery was affluent enough to provide this, but there were restrictions upon who could stay there so they provided places for travellers – pilgrims perhaps- to rest on their travels. It is also possible that the name derives from the Knights Hospitallers who had extensive lands in the area.

Cwpan Nanteos, - the Nanteos Cup.

Legend has it that the Holy Grail found its way to Strata Florida via Glastonbury Abbey where Joseph of Arimethea took refuge fleeing persecution in Jerusalem. Centuries later when King Henry VIII waged war on the Catholic Monks, they fled the Abbey with the Grail to Nanteos Mansion where the cup was hidden for many years. 

(The Nanteos Cup when examined was found to be a 500 year old kitchen cup made from Rowan wood, which is native to Wales. However, many still believe the legend, and it adds an air of mystery to the place).

Nanteos mansion is now a rather wonderful Country house hotel. http://www.nanteos.com/ 

Cambrian Safaris are developing a series of tours with Nanteos Mansion to explore the delightfully varied countryside of north Ceredigion and the Cambrian mountains along with the wonderfully varied history of the area.. These tours will explore the extent of the old Nanteos estate as well as the other former gentrified estates of the area which acquired huge tracts of upland at the disillusion of the monasteries by Henry VIII in 1534. The tours can include visits to Strata Florida Abbey, Devils Bridge and an old Lead mine and will feature snippets of history from Bronze age times to the present day.  

Today was a light carving day. That off-side thumb was demanding a day off, but what I did today didn't put much of a strain on it. It kept its complaints to a dull roar. The first photo shows the transition from the medallion to the ridged stem on the back. 

I did this a day or two ago, but never posted a photo of it. I spent today working on the back of the bowl. I'll often spend as much time working on the bowl as I spend carving the entire rest of the spoon. To me, the bowl is the most important part of the spoon. Without a bowl a spoon is just a stick. I've been smoothing and shaping the bowl with the knives shown. 

The two on the left were made by Ralph Long, and the one on the right was made by Allen Goodman. I normally rough out the outside of the bowl with my Regular Sloyd from Del Stubbs. I like the longer blades for bowl work because they allow longer slices and I can control the transition from one curve to another better. Shorter blades leave me with a choppy feel. Once the rough-out is done I change to a much thinner blade, though still long. 

I lay the blade almost flat on the wood and use it like a plane or spokeshave. Using this technique I can get a surface that on anything other than a lovespoon would be considered finished. 

It only requires a couple of minutes work with sandpaper to get it baby-butt smooth. Any technique that lets me minimize the use of The Devil's Paper is worth the time it takes. 

I use the short bladed knife to do the short-radius, scooping cuts at the transition from the stem to the bowl. Now that I've removed more wood and smoothed out the surface the figure of the wood is becoming more apparent even in my poor photographs. 

This variation in color is what I love about poplar. You can get all shades of brown, greens, yellows and even purple. It's a terriffic looking wood and easy to carve.

I do all my carving with hand tools, 99% of which are knives. I do it this way for two reasons: 1) I try to emulate the traditional way of working. The young men of rural Wales (or Scandanavia) who began this tradition didn't have elaborate shops with lots of tools. They worked from the heart with what they had. That's the feeling I want to put in my spoons. 2) I hate power tools! They are noisy, dirty and dangerous. The only concession I make to modern tools is the use of a battery-powered hand drill to start the piercings on my spoon, and the only reason I do that is that it allows me to hold the piece in my hand while I'm drilling. A hand drill requires the use of two hands, and since my wife and I live on a 28-foot sailboat we don't have the room for a bench I can clamp the piece to while I drill.

I'm still trying to figure out the stem-bowl transition. I cut a little and stare a little. Cut a little more and stare a little more. It's time to do a lot more staring and thinking.