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If you happen to be in the Pacific North West this autumn, come and see me at WORDSTOCK, Oregon Convention Center Portland - October 5th/6th
Good times guaranteed!

The National Health Service was created on July 5th 1948, an embodiment of the ideal that quality healthcare should be available to all, regardless of wealth or social status.

On the day that Aneurin Bevan, as Health Secretary, opened Park Hospital in Manchester it was the fulfilment of an enormously inspirational dream  to bring good healthcare to every Individual in the UK. For the first time in British history, the provision of doctors, nurses dentists, pharmacists, opticians and hospitals was brought under the auspices of a single organisation that was ' free for all at the point of delivery.'

The underlying philosophy was clear: the health service was intended to be freely available to everyone. It was to be financed in its entirety  from public taxation, which meant that everyone contributed to it directly from their salary and according to their means.  It was Aneurin Bevan's most famous achievement as Minister of Health , it was he who initiated it's establishment and he tendered his resignation when a subsequent government proposed to charge patients for eyeglasses and dentures. 

Today is the feast day of Saint Cenydd

Born in 525, Saint Cenydd  was a prince of Breton origin, born allegedly from an incestuous union,  at Lougher on the Gower Peninsula near the modern city of Swansea.

He was born with a physical disability, and as was customary at the time, was cast into the river on the orders of his father, Deroch. According to legend, he was baptised by a local priest before being placed in a willow basket and set adrift in the River Lliw, a stream which joins Afon Llwchwr ( Lougher River) before reaching the open sea. The story is that a sudden storm swept the makeshift cradle towards the Worm's Head promontory, Ynys Weryn, where the waves carried it onto a beach, where a flock of seagulls miraculously carried the child to a place of safety where they used their breast feathers to make a warm nest for him. The seagulls used their wings to protect the baby from the harsh elements until he was eventually discovered and adopted by a childless fisherman and his wife.

In adult life Cenydd chose to be a hermit, with only a dishonest servant as his companion whose unreliability was evident when he stole a spear from one of a party of brigands who had been offered hospitality by Cenydd. The servant escaped to the rocky outcrops around St Davids, where he lived like an animal, completely covered in bodily hair. For seven years Cenydd  prayed for his servant's well-being, and the man eventually returned in penitent humility to his master. It is claimed that in 545 Saint David cured Cenydd of his disability while on a journey to the Synod of Brefi but Cenydd chose to remain as God had intended him and begged David to restore his disability.

Cenydd's feast day is celebrated on 5th July (colloquially referred to as his 'Mapsant day', from the Welsh words 'sant' - holy, and 'mab' - son) The day was traditionally noted by displaying an effigy of a bird from a pole on the church tower. This was intended to represent the seagulls from the legend who rescued the infant Cenydd from the waves. A dish similar to bread and butter pudding called 'whitepot', made from dried fruit, milk, sugar and flour was also consumed  to mark the occasion.

Born this day 1755 in  the "Shoulder of Mutton" public-house (now called the Sarah Siddons), Brecon.

Sarah Siddons - best-known tragic actress of the 18th century.

Sarah was the eldest of 12 siblings born to Roger and Sarah Kemble, a couple who were actor-managers to a popular company of traveling players. She received a surprisingly broad education as a result of her mother's insistence on her attending school in the towns visited by the company.  In her teens, she fell in love with and married, despite the initial disapproval of her parents, William Siddons, who was an actor in her father's troupe.  

By 1774 she was assuming leading acting roles, and in 1777, she joined the company on a provincial acting tour. her reputation as an accomplished actress grew over the next six years, especially in the provincial capitals such as York and Bath. When she made her first appearance on the London stage at Drury Lane in 1782 she was hailed as a 'sensation'. This sparkling debut was the beginning of a twenty year career in which she was recognised as the 'queen of Drury Lane'. Her status as a contemporary celebrity has been called both"mythical" and "monumental," and by 1785, Sarah Siddons reputation was considered iconic.

She was most renowned for her presentation of Lady Macbeth,  a role which ideally suited her range of talent. She was, apparently, a tall and very striking beauty, with extraordinarily expressive eyes and a dignified demeanour, which enhanced and enriched her portrayal of tragic female characters, particularly Lady Macbeth.

Many anecdotes testify to the power she had over her audiences. Once, while playing Aphasia in Tamburlaine, in the scene where she sees her lover strangled in front of her, her cries of agony as she fell lifeless on  the stage were so convincing that the audience believed she was actually  dead, and it took the intervention  of the theatre manager to persuade them that her collapse was make-believe!  During another performance, a member of the audience became so involved with the acting that he experienced breathing difficulties and went into paroxysms.

In 1802 she left Drury Lane and made occasional appearances at Covent Garden, where on 29 June 1812, that she gave her final public performance, aptly in her famous role of Lady Macbeth. At the end of the 'sleepwalking' scene, the applause from the audience was so intense and prolonged that the play could not continue. When the curtain eventually reopened it was to Sarah Siddons in her own clothes, no longer in the costume of her stage character. She delivered a highly emotional speech of farewell which lasted for eight minutes before the curtain closed on her for the final time.

Born this day 1934 in Merthyr Tydfil.

Philip Madoc - Actor.

Perhaps his most famous role was as the title character in the BBC Wales drama "The Life and Times of David Lloyd George". However, he had already achieved public acclaim in two television serials, firstly in 1969 as SS Officer Lutzig in the popular WW2 serial "Manhunt", and again in 1971 taking the role of the brutal Huron warrior Magua in a televised series of "The Last of the Mohicans". His acting style in both roles featured an understated, restrained sense of menace which was much more effective  than obvious aggression.

He revisited the character of Lutzig later in his career in an episode of the popular television comedy series Dad's Army, "The Deadly Attachment", where Madoc played a U-boat Captain held prisoner by the  Home Guard's Walmington-on-Sea platoon. His performance, alongside seasoned and experienced comedy actors, was considered masterly.

On 5th July 1952, six miners were killed in a mining accident at Point of Ayr colliery in Flintshire. 
 
Point of Ayr ( Y Parlwr Du) is the northernmost point of mainland Wales, ands sits on the estuary of the river Dee. There had been a colliery at Point of Ayr for many years, situated at the northern edge of the Flintshire Coalfield, and it was to become  one of the last deep mines operating in Wales.

The initial exploratory mining took place in 1865, under the direction of Lord Mostyn, owner of the Mostyn Colliery which was several miles away. The results were promising and the Prestatyn Coal Company was consequently established to find a viable seam Unfortunately the project was abandoned before a rich enough seam was found. Less than ten years later, further investigative borings  by a different company, the Western Mostyn Colliery again proved unviable, and it was not until 1890 that a third company, the Point of Ayr Colliery Company struck a viable seam.

Coal  was brought to the surface by a team of pit ponies at this time, and soon a second shaft was sunk. By 1896, 356 men were employed here, producing coal for both industrial and domestic purposes.  According to the Inspector of Mines records, in 1896 the pit employed 356 men producing coal for domestic and industrial uses. After the nationalisation of the coal industry in 1947, the mine was operated  by the National Coal Board, which sunk a third shaft which meant that the underground workings extended into the Irish Sea. By 1953, 738 men were employed here, producing 213,000 tons of coal each year. Point of Ayr colliery eventually closed on 23 August 1996

Focal View Digital ePublishing welcomes the opportunity to collaborate with Americymru because we have a shared aim to bring people together and find ways to make the most of interests and skills.

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Focal View

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Focal View aims to support creative photography of all levels through training, competitions, e-publishing collections and books, portfolio presentation and profitable collaboration with writers and poets.

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Who is Focal View?

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We are a business partnership with many years of combined experience

Brian has a long background in advertising and professional photography, is a member of the Royal Photographic Society, a photography tutor and also an international competition judge.

Adrian is a teacher trainer, ex-head teacher, environmental educationalist and computing trainer. He creates and manages the web-site, digital publishing and presentation of work.

Together, we have found a way to support all those with a passion for the creative image and to present their developing expertise to the world. We have a special aim to make pictures work. We do this by finding photographers through the competitions we run and judge, presenting photography through eBooks and portfolios and then going the extra distance to promote new authors work and then going on to find the opportunities for them to collaborate commercially with writers and poets.

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Now with Americymru

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We have the ideal opportunity to promote new authors and photographers together.

ETO brings together new writers and poets in the biennial compendium of stories which in turn provides excellent collaborative opportunities for photographic illustration. This leads to an illustrated version of ETO as well as individually published new collaborative eBooks which form strong beginnings to what we hope will be long and successful careers in both writing and photography for a purpose.

We have another strong link. Focal View began as a business based in Wales and most of the photographic contribution has come from new photographers in Welsh clubs and societies. Our word has spread through kind recommendation and we now take in work from around the world. It was through these connections, that we discovered Americymru and in particular, the American Welsh Bookstore and Ceri Shaw.

Americymru is all about Wales abroad and provides cultural ties with what to many is their home country even though these connections might sometimes be through past generations.

This shared interest in the culture of Wales and the opportunities that working together affords, enables modern connections through writing and photography, which will bring people together and make for new friendships and understanding.

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The Focal View Americymru International Salon

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We are expanding this process now by inviting photographers at all levels, anywhere in the world, to enter the Focal View Americymru International Salon competition.

The competition is free to enter. There is a two month cycle and the top five images are awarded prizes that include publishing opportunities. The current competition cycle will also provide the front cover of the next edition of ETO

We publish all images by permission and so new work can be seen all over the world. We undertake to look for collaboration opportunities as well.

Visit http://www.focalview.co.uk/americymru_international.html to learn more and to find out how to submit your entries.

The competition is open to anyone anywhere and to maximize the commercial potential of your winning images, we recommend you purchase the latest edition of ETO and use this as your base material to illustrate. ETO is included in the fees for the Focal View Photographic Course. The competition winning criteria are based upon the likely value of the image for commercial collaboration.

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Focal View Photographic Course

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For all those not sure about your skills and potential for collaborative illustration, we provide our training course which specifically sets out to enable new photographers to know where and which images to take and how to fit them into writing.

The Focal View Photographic Course runs for ten weeks from enrolment and includes individual tuition and image critiquing as well as a full copy of ETO. All tutorial and learning resources are included as well as entry into the international salon. Images are chosen by the Course Tutor and a selection panel of professional photographers.

A feature of the course is the opportunity for literally anyone with a reasonable camera, from whatever background, to learn more about commercial photography and to start bringing a hobby and a passion into a financially rewarding business opportunity.

Experience is optional but enthusiasm is essential.

Visit this url - http://www.focalview.co.uk/fv_photo_course.html to enrol on the Focal View Photographic Course

Focal View is a photographers website. We offer training, we support and present excellent images through our portfolio exhibitions and we look for commercial opportunities. We are a limited business in that we focus only on photographic excellence. We critique and judge to the highest recognized standards and we present exhibition images to other photographers. This means that criticism of new work is constructive and detailed. We know that serious photographers would expect nothing less.

Machynlleth

Summer-tinged songbirds Howl Griff take time out from recording their fourth album this weekend to play a rare London gig ahead as a warm-up for festival season.

The 6music-approved Welsh-Anglo-American three-part-harmonisers have been holed up at their Cariad studio it translates as love, strong affection or darling recording tracks for the follow-up to the critically acclaimed Fragile Diamond LP (BBC Radio Wales Album of the Week, BBC Radio Wales Single of the Week, etc). But they're emerging into the sunshine to play in Richmond on Saturday night.

The good-causes gig, at The Basement Door on The Vineyard (TW10 6AQ), starts at around 7.30pm with Howl Griff playing an extended set from around 9pm before hitting the festival fields later this summer. Catch them while you can, London...

PRAISE FOR HOWL GRIFF

A new band we love... bloody lush.
Lauren Laverne, BBC 6music

Pop/folk, rock-flavoured life-affirming songs, well worth a listen. It's an album that'll put a spring in your step despite the November rain.
The Independent

They deal in lush, gorgeous harmonies and warm 60s melodies, and the result is quite lovely.
Stuff magazine

PRAISE FOR THE FRAGILE DIAMOND LP

"HG sprinkle cuteness where it fits into the compositions but leave them alone when it doesnt... This careful equilibrium carries over into the lyrics... clever puns push the song beyond aww-shucks novelty... further validating Howl Griffs way with cuteness that their peers seem to lack... effortlessly marrying indie rock and the endearing songwriting. In other words, you can be adorable without descending into hipster irony."
The Line Of Best Fit

"Trust me on this, you should hear this band. Its an album you should have for the car for that interminable drive to work, it should be playing as you look out of the window on a cold winter's day holding a mug of tea. Its there for you to hear, and your life will be a tiny bit shinier for hearing it."
Louder Than War

"Brandishing more hooks than Abu Hamza, Captain Hook, Peter Hook and a massive cloakroom, you could be forgiven for thinking that Howl Griff are the result of some genetic experiment in a laboratory undertaking pioneering research into the creation of the perfect melody."
Western Mail

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The Declaration of Independence is a 'statement' adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, which announced that the thirteen American colonies, then at war with Great Britain, regarded themselves as independent states and no longer a part of the British Empire.

According to the Welsh Society of Philadelphia, 16 of the signatories of the Declaration of Independence were of Welsh descent:

George Clymer, Stephen Hopkins, Robert Morris, William Floyd, Francis Hopkinson, John Morton, Button Gwinnett, Thomas Jefferson, John Penn, George Read, John Hewes, Francis Lewis, James Smith, Williams Hooper, Lewis Morris, and William Williams.

This represents the largest ethnic group of signatories on the original document. Thomas Jeffersons' family originated from Snowdonia and were fluent Welsh speakers.

Born on this day 1790 in Crickhowell.

Colonel Sir George Everest  - The man that Mount Everest is named after.

In 1818, Sir George was commissioned  into the Royal Artillery. At that time known simply as Lt. Everest, he was appointed as assistant to Colonel William Lambton, who had inaugurated the Great Trigonometrical Survey of the sub-continent in 1806. When Lambton died in 1823,  Everest replaced him as superintendent of the survey and was responsible for its completion.  In recognition of this monumental achievement he was  appointed Surveyor General of India  in 1830, and in 1865, the Royal Geographical Society named Mount Everest  in his honour.

Today is the Feast day of Saint Peblig.

Peblig ( born c.363 ) or Publicus in Latin,  was the third son of Magnus Maximus ( Western Roman Emperor from 383 to 388) and his second wife Saint Elen Luyddog (Helen of the Hosts). Lacking in political ambition, he relinquished his right of succession which enabled his brother Dionotus II to later become the Roman ruler of Britain. Instead, he entered the ministry, establishing the church of Llanbeblig just outside the town of Caernarfon. He served there as abbot until his death. He is said,  along with his mother and brother Cystennin, to have introduced into Wales the Celtic form of monasticism established originally in Gaul.

Llanbeblig Church (pictured) is associated with the "The Llanbeblig Book of Hours" which probably dates from the period 1390-1400 and contains the illustration of Magnus Maximus (pictured).

Books of Hours were very popular texts during the Middle Ages in Western Europe. Many thousand of these were created for religiously devoted lay people, who used them to enhance their programme of private  prayer and daily devotion to God.  The Books of Hours  were intended to echo the liturgy of the contemporary Church, in which  the day was divided into eight distinct  sections or 'hours'.  There were specific prayers  for each of these designated hours, with an elaborate calendar of feast days and religious celebrations. Many of the pages in these treasured volumes  were painstakingly and richly illuminated with colourful  images of Christ,  the Saints and the Virgin Mary.

Born this day 1872 in Plymouth Notch, Winsor County, Vermont (of Welsh descent)

John Calvin Coolidge, Jr . - 30th President of the United States ( pictured being made a Sioux Chief by Henry Standing Bear)

A Republican lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge made an increasingly positive impression in Massachusetts state politics; so successfully that he eventually became governor of that state.  He was elected as the 29th Vice President in 1920 and succeeded to the Presidency of the United States following the unexpected death in 1923 of Warren G. Harding.  He was elected in his own right in 1924, and went on to gain  a reputation as a small-government conservative, and also as a man of very few words.

Coolidge succeeded in  rebuilding public confidence in the White House following the scandals of his predecessor's administration and ended his term of office enjoying significant popularity.

On 4th July 1862, noted soprano Sarah Edith Wynne - Eos Cymru (The Nightingale of Wales) made her London début.

She was probably the first Welsh woman to become and internationally-renowned singer and her tours outside Wales and helped build the country's reputation as a "land of song". 

Wynne had showed a special talent as a singer when a child — she was only 9 when she joined the Holywell choral society.  When she was 12 she went on a concert tour to various parts of Wales and went to Liverpool at 14 to receive lessons in music, staying there five years.  Her first appearance in London as a soprano was in June 1862, where she then settled and was soon became one of the best vocalists in the country. She also had a successful American tour in 1871.

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Born this day 1962 in Syracuse, NewYork.

Tom Cruise  (Thomas Cruise Mapother IV ) - Star of many Hollywood blockbusters, including Top Gun, The Last Samurai, A Few Good Men and Rain Man, has made Cruise, Hollywood's highest paid actor.  His Welsh connections were revealed to him on an American TV show which investigates the family trees of the rich and famous.  A stunned Cruise heard that his great-great grandfather had emigrated from Flint in north Wales in 1850 and that his middle name Mapother had come from many generations of Welsh people with the same name.

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Robert of Rhuddlan - the hated Norman Lord of much of north-east Wales was killed by a volley of Welsh  arrows on this day 1093.   The raiders then sailed off with his head attached to the mast of one of their vessels.

Twthill castle was erected by Robert of Rhuddlan in 1073 at the command of  William the Conqueror.  It remained in use for two hundred years until Rhuddlan Castle was built, on adjacent territory, on the orders of Edward I.

Robert was the cousin of Hugh d'Avranches one of the first Norman Marcher Lords, who was appointed Earl of Chester in 1070 by William the Conquerer after The Norman Invasion of 1066 

1072 .  Robert was appointed Hugh's "commander of troops" and immediately began hostilities with the Welsh, capturing land in the cantref of Tegeigl (North East Wales), where he built a Motte and Bailey castle at Twthill near Rhuddlan to consolidate his advances into the north of Wales.

1075 .  Robert assisted Gruffudd ap Cynan in his attempt to recover the throne of Gwynedd from Trahaern ap Caradog.  Gruffydd was eventually forced to flee to Ireland where he sought temporary refuge. Robert took  advantage of the local conflict to seize the cantrefs of Rhos and Rhufoniog and to build another castle at Deganwy.  He, therefore, ruled most of northern Wales to the east of the River Conwy.

1081 .  Trahaearn  was killed in the Battle of Mynydd Carn by the now returned Gruffydd ap Cynan, who claimed the throne of Gwynedd, but shortly thereafter he was captured by Robert and imprisoned by Earl Hugh in his castle at Chester.  Robert claimed Gruffydd's lands, and went on to build further castles at Bangor, Caernarfon and Aberlleiniog.

1087 .   On William the Conquerer's death, war broke out between his sons. Robert gave his support to Robert Curthose, the elder son,  but they were eventually forced to surrender to the forces of  William Rufus.

1093 .  Robert's career was brought to a sudden and not unwelcome end at the beginning of the great Welsh revolt. He was indulging in a midday nap in his castle at Deganwy when a message  was brought to him that Welsh raiders had landed in three ships underneath the Great Orme and were in the process of pillaging his lands. Some sources claim that these audacious  raiders were led by Gruffydd ap Cynan, who had managed to escape from captivity in Chester. The raiders had landed their ships and were loading their plunder. Robert sent urgent dispatches  to muster his troops and made great haste  to the Great Orme, where he was dismayed to discover that the rising tide was allowing the Welsh raiders to float their vessels and make off with the loot before Robert's troops could reach them. Furious, Robert rushed down the slopes to attack them, supported only by his armour-bearer. He was killed by a volley of Welsh javelins, and the raiders made their escape with Robert's head displayed triumphantly on the mast of one of their vessels.

1094 .  The Welsh revolt led by Gruffydd ap Cynan resulted in the loss of most of Robert's former territory.

Died on this day 1749.

William Jones (1675 – 3 July 1749)  - was born in Llanfihangel Tre'r Beirdd on the Island of Anglesey(Ynys Môn). Jones became a mathematician who is most remembered for the introduction of the symbol π  to represent the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter. He was a contemporary and close friend of both Sir Issac Newton and Sir Edmund Hally.  He became a Fellow of the Royal Society in November 1711 and was later to become its Vice-President.

Born this day 1958 in Maesteg.

Siân Lloyd  - Best known as an ITV Weather Forecaster.

Sian is the daughter of two teachers and attended Ystalyfera Bilingual School, before graduating with first class honours from University College, Cardiff. She then gained a meteorology distinction from the Met Office College and won the Television and radio Industries Club  (TRIC) award for the best TV weather presenter in 2005 and 2007.

Proud of being Welsh, she set up a Welsh networking group, SWS (meaning "kiss", and standing for "Social, Welsh and Sexy") in partnership with entertainer Stifyn Parri in the Groucho Club in London. Bryn Terfel and Sian Phillips are now patrons.

 In 2007, Lloyd won the UK Rear of the Year competition, making her the oldest woman to date to win the title. 

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Today is the feast day of Saint Gurthiern.

Saint Gurthiern (c. 500) - is said to have been a Welsh prince who became a hermit in Brittany and founded the abbey at Kemperle.  Legend says that insects once threatened to destroy the region's crops, so Gunthiern blessed some water and had it sprinkled over the fields. The insects fled, and the crops were saved. 

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In what has become an annual event, The Wales Swim takes place in Tenby.

Up to 2000 competitors take to the water at Tenby's North Beach in a mixed gender race over either a 1.2 or a 2.4-mile course depending on ability. The event draws many spectators, both local and tourist alike. 

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Celticos , in partnership with Golygfa Gwydyr , are today launching a new tourism service in North Wales.

This bespoke tour is designed to give visitors a true taste of Welsh rural life outside of the hustle and bustle of the current major tourist destinations. Tourists will have the opportunity to experience first-hand how people live and work in Snowdonia and find out about traditional local skills and what gives the people of this area a sense of connectedness to the land, a pride of place and cultural heritage. The life of Welsh hill farmers is unique and challenging, a tradition that has been passed on from generation to generation for hundreds of years.

The two day tour will include pick up from designated accommodation providers in Llandudno, Conwy and the Lower Conwy Valley and the services of a local personal guide. A highlight of the tour will include a visit to meet celebrity farmer Gareth Wyn Jones on his hill farm, this will give our guests an excellent insight to both the beauty and hardship of hill farming in Snowdonia; a way of life where agriculture, livestock and the cycle of the seasons are ingrained.

Welsh Hill Farming Experience - two day event

Date 31st Aug & 1st Sept

Day 1 -Conwy Valley, Snowdonia.

Heavy Horses - you will have a chance to witness a demonstration of the skill in handling heavy horses, tacking up and harrowing.

Sheep Dog Handling - this amazing skill with dogs will remain a talking point long after your visit.

Welsh Hill Farming - an introduction to traditional fencing, hedge laying and gate making.

Barn to Table - sample Marylyn's pies and meats at a buffet lunch. The tour will make a quick stop by Marilyn's original family home and shop at Tal y Bont where they had a turnkey operation, raising and hand picking all livestock locally, processing and selling to the community

Day 2 -A guided scenic mini bus tour of Snowdonia, Anglesey & the Menai Straits.

The day will provide a comprehensive overview of the contrasting farming methods of the area followed by a visit to Llanfairfechan the coastal gateway to the Snowdonia National Park.

High in the mountains we visit the hill farm of celebrity farmer Gareth Wyn Jones. This will be an excellent opportunity for our guests to experience for themselves the harsh and demanding life style of Welsh hill farmers. Gareth will join us for a personalised tour and enthral us with his many interesting stories.

The tour ends with a fantastic opportunity to visit the Bodnant Welsh Food Centre located at Furnace Farm. Set in beautifully restored 18th century farm buildings, this centre celebrates Welsh local produce at its finest.

Hylo! Thank you for making me feel so welcome here on Americymru. I am a Welsh textile artist. I hand make a range of items and sell them on line and in shops in Penarth and Swansea. Also, I am very excited about my upcoming exhibition in the fabulous Atlantic College, St Donat's Castle in Llantwit Major Much of my work is available to see here: www.rhianeleri.etsy.com - I hope you like it. Keep in touch! Hwyl! Rhian