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At the start of the First World War in 1914, society in Britain remained much as it had always been since the beginning of the twentieth century. Britain was rigidly class ridden, between the aristocracy. The middle classes who formed the professional and blue collar workers, doctors, lawyers teachers and scientists etc.
Then there were the working classes – manual and factory workers, miners iron foundry workers, dock workers and those who maintained the roads and the railways. Generally, these were the men who maintained the fabric of society. Skilled and semi-skilled workers who earned a living in the heavy industries with their hands and their strength.
Working class women and girls were mainly wives and mothers. Young, single women were employed in a selection of menial low paid work, in service working in middle class homes, dressmaking or shop work. Once married they were expected to look after their husbands and large families. Birth control was not generally used. It was common for families of ten or more children to live in one very small terraced house.
The practice of providing hot baths for husbands and sons who would be coated in coal dust at the end of their shift a few times a day affected the health of many women who also cooked and cleaned and provided for the poor quality of life lived by thousands of women and their families who lived in the South Wales valleys.
From the early part of the 20th century there was controversy over the provision on pithead baths which would enable the miners to bathe and wear clean clothes at the end of their shift. This would alleviate some of the strain on the women at home who daily provided this facilty.
Some companies did not wish to install bathing facilities. Sometimes the miners paid for them out of small weekly donations from their wages. Gradually throughout the twenties and thirties pithead baths became almost universal.
Nationally the self confidence of the female population expressed itself through the fashions they wore. Gone were the elaborate dresses of the Edwardian era. Clothes became more functional and practical as can be seen in this illustration of 1914.
Skirts were ankle length matched with jackets which reflected a more tailored style. Hats were still popular some were trimmed with feathers but a plainer, brimmed style was also popular.
The outbreak of war in 1914 meant that the demand for female labour to fill the millions of jobs left vacant by men joining the military forces finally forced the government to consider women for jobs traditionally filled by men. This became a national necessity which affected professional and working class women. Posters illustrating the recruitment of female labour became a commonplace feature of life.
Such posters appealing to recruit women into the nursing professions into the Land Army encouraged thousands of women to leave a very stifled domestic influence and seek jobs in the professions, factories, agriculture and every job filled by a man, with the exception of mining and active military service. They started find their independence!
Slowly fashionable women’s clothes also mirrored the practical uniforms which women were forced to wear in jobs such as the munitions factories in which thousands of them were conscripted to work in providing explosives for the military efforts of WW1 along the Western front and other theatres of war.
The Women’s Land Army recruited 23,000 women to work agriculture, in order to provide the country with food and look after the land in the absence of male labour.
Women were encouraged to join the land army in order to keep agriculture going. The need to feed the military and the civilian population and to fill the jobs that millions of men had left in order to volunteer or later to be conscripted for the military was vital for the survival of the country.
Drawing at the top of this page by John Peacock from his book Fashion Since 1900: The Complete Sourcebook (Thames & Hudson 2007).
'Into the Woods' is the follow-up to SERA's acclaimed 'Rabbit Hole' single which was released in June to acclaimed reviews, and extensive radio support. 'Into The Woods' is a continuation on the theme of twisted fairytales, and will be released digitally via CEG Records / Pyst Distribution on the 4th of October.
'Into the Woods' is a response to the reoccurring plot-line in stories and films, where women are often chased into the woods by bad men, pursued by monsters or face great peril amongst the trees. Into the Woods instead becomes a place to grow, gain strength and face your fears. SERA's new songs will continue to follow in this theme of the mythic-surreal rooted in very real experiences. The track is taken from SERA's collection of songs for 2019 and from her new collaboration with producer Andi Bonsai.
SERA hails from Caernarfon in North Wales and is a busy bilingual (Welsh and English) performer and songwriter, part of the CEG Records family. Earlier this year SERA was selected as a part of BBC Horizons programme, in which the BBC back a dozen of the freshest acts in Wales and provide them with festival showcases and industry opportunites.
Read More about SERA on BBC Horizons/Gorwelion Here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/profiles/ncQVrLc42RKXRWlrspzP67/sera
In addition to great support from Welsh media and festival such as BBC Radio Wales/ Radio Cymru, S4C and Focus Wales, support for SERA's music has come from Chris Hawkins BBC 6 Music, Claire Blading BBC Radio 2, Janice Long, Lisa Gwilym, Bethan Elfyn & Adam Walton BBC Radio Wales, BBC specialist shows, North American Festival of Wales, 'How the Light Gets in' Festival, Festival Number 6, Henley Festival and more and continues to grow....
For all social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Youtube, Soundcloud) go to @serasongs
Live Dates/Dyddiadau Byw
Sept 15th - Fresh on the Net Showcase, Edinburgh
Sept 24th - Live Session - Ysgol Syr Hugh Owen (Arts Council Funded)
Sept 26 - BBC Music Day - Wynne Evans Show - BBC Radio Wales
Sept 27 - Freshers Week, Cardiff
Sept 28th - Clwb y Bont, Pontypridd
Oct 4th - New Single 'Into The Woods' Release Date
'Into The Woods' i'w sengl newydd SERA yn dilyn 'Rabbit Hole' a nath gael clod arithrol gan y wasg a cymorth helaeth gan radio, yn cynnwys Chris Hawkins, BBC 6 Music. Bydd caneuon newydd SERA yn parhau i ddilyn yn y thema hon o'r swreal-chwedlonol sydd wedi'i gwreiddio mewn profiadau go iawn, a fydd yn cael ei rhyddhau yn ddigidol drwy CEG Records / Pyst ar y 4ydd o Hydref.
Mae SERA yn hanu o Gaernarfon yng Ngogledd Cymru ac mae'n berfformiwr a chyfansoddwr caneuon prysur dwyieithog (Cymraeg a Saesneg) ac yn rhan o deulu CEG Records. Yn gynharach yn 2019 nath SERA cael ei dewis i fod yn rhan o umgyrch BBC Gorwelion/Horizons 12, lle mae'r BBC yn cefnogi 12 artist mwya ffres Cymru a rhoi cyfle iddynt chware lwyfannau newydd. Ma'r trac yn cael ei gymerid o gasgliad o ganeuon gan SERA am 2019 ac o gyd-weithio a'r cynhyrchydd Andi Bonsai.
Darllen mwy ynglyn a SERA a BBC Gorwelion/Horizons fan hyn:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/profiles/ncQVrLc42RKXRWlrspzP67/sera
Yn ogystal â radio a'r cyfryngau yng Nghymru, megis BBC Radio Wales/Radio Cymru a S4C, mae cefnogaeth i gerddoriaeth SERA wedi dod gan Chris Hawkins, BBC 6 Music, Claire Blading BBC Radio 2, Janice Long, Lisa Gwilym, Bethan Elfyn A Adam Walton BBC Radio Wales, Rhaglenni Arbenigol BBC, Gŵyl Cymru Gogledd America, Focus Wales, How the Light Gets in, Festival Number 6, Gŵyl Henley a mwy ac yn parhau i dyfu...
Ar gyfer yr holl gyfryngau cymdeithasol (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Youtube, Soundcloud) ewch i @serasongs
Live Dates/Dyddiadau Byw
Sept 15th - Fresh on the Net Showcase, Edinburgh
Sept 24th - Live Session - Ysgol Syr Hugh Owen (Arts Council Funded)
Sept 26 - BBC Music Day - Wynne Evans Show - BBC Radio Wales
Sept 27 - Freshers Week, Cardiff
Sept 28th - Clwb y Bont, Pontypridd
Oct 4th - New Single 'Into The Woods' Release Date
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The most comprehensive study of Wales’ maritime history ever commissioned, taking over a decade to research and produce – sees publication this week. Entitled Wales and the Sea: 10,000 years of Welsh Maritime History , the volume delves into every aspect of Wales’ connection with the sea, from earliest history to the present day: from archaeology to paintings and poetry, from naval history to seaside holidays.
The volume was commissioned by the Royal Commission on Ancient & Historical Monuments of Wales working in partnership with the National Library of Wales, CADW, Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum of Wales, and is written by some of Wales’s foremost historians and archaeologists. Wales and the Sea contains archive photographs drawn largely from the vast collections of the National Monuments Record of Wales, the National Library of Wales and the National Museum of Wales, but also from libraries across the world.
Archaeological finds from Wales – including Bronze-Age boats, Roman ships and their cargoes, the medieval Newport ship and the seventeenth-century royal yacht Mary – all testify to the long history of Wales as a seafaring nation. Wales and the Sea brings to life the age of ocean-going liners, the cable-laying ships that connected Wales to the rest of the world, the pleasure steamers, racing yachts and the seaside piers as well as the busy docks that supplied Welsh slate, coal, iron and steel to the world.
Heroes and villains from the book include the buccaneer Henry Morgan, the smuggler William Owen and the infamous Bartholomew Roberts, known as Black Bart, who is reputed to have captured 400 ships in a two-year period before eventually being shot by the Royal Navy in 1722. There are also figures such as the red-cloaked Jemima Niclas, who, armed with a pitchfork, famously helped to see off the last French invasion during the Battle of Fishguard on 24 February 1797.
Beautifully illustrated with over 300 images, the 348-page large-format book also looks at the impact of the sea on the artistic imagination through naval paintings, seascapes, poetry, song and popular seaside souvenirs. It aims to raise the profile of the Wales’ maritime heritage in the public consciousness and celebrates the hard work of those who safeguard this legacy for the nation, through recording, site protection and museum curation.
In his foreword, Dafydd Elis-Thomas, Welsh Assembly Minister for Culture, Tourism and Sport, congratulates the contributors to Wales and the Sea for “reminding us that Wales has a proud maritime history” and that the Welsh seas cover a greater area than our land area (marine area 32,000km² / land area 20,375 km²).
“ Wales and the Sea is an incredibly comprehensive and accessible history of every aspect of Wales’ connection with the sea, from the creation of land mass to the present day,” says Nicola Roberts, Public Engagement Officer at the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales.
Wales and the Sea is rooted in scholarship but written to be enjoyed, and is packed with stories and pictures that remind us of the vital role that the sea has played in Wales’s distinctive history.
Wales and the Sea will be launched at the National Waterfront Gallery in Swansea, at 2:30pm on Thursday 24 th October 2019. For further details, please contact Nicola Roberts: Nicola.roberts@rcahmw.gov.uk
Wales and the Sea (£24.99, Y Lolfa) is available now (also available in Welsh-language version: Cymru a’r Môr: 10,000 o flynyddoedd o Hanes y Môr )
The sun returning after churlish paltry rain
people wearing cagoules in humid heat
the end of summer tiding with the advent of autumn
the shortening days of strengthening shadows
the perpetuation of the population
is the bar going to open?
a radio is on but I can't quite make out the voices
though I recognise Walking in Memphis
the sea is close
I can see it through and over railings
why do they have to culminate
so often in spear points?
a hotel employee vacuum cleans
after a lunch or an afternoon tea
the sky a faint blue cloud
seagulls glide about
their cries remind us
that we are on the threshold
of the kingdom of the gods of the sea
three hoplite-helmeted cyclists pass
pumping their legs
as the sun makes one of its final showings
taking a bow on the roofs of cars
in the hair of women
on the silver ever attentive sea
a child is being carried on his father's shoulders
both striding purposefully ahead
the time of his life
the time of the day
the time of the year
the pale faces the pale ale
Right Hand Left Hand share details of explosive new single 'Chacabuco' feat Taliesyn Kallstrom (Estrons)! From forthcoming album 'Zone Rouge'
By Ceri Shaw, 2019-09-23
Right Hand Left Hand' s new single 'Chacabuco' released on the 27th of September 2019, features former Estrons front-woman Taliesyn Kallstrom on vocals. A simmering, brooding post-rock dark cloud full a gathering menace, the taught rhythms and an extraordinary vocal performance swirling into explosive crescendos. ‘Chacabuco’ is a Chilean ghost town set up to house workers for a nitrate mine, but was abandoned 14 years later as synthetic nitrate became widespread and decimated the industry. Decades later, Pinochet used it as a concentration camp and surrounded it with landmines that are still there. It is in the process of being restored by its sole inhabitant.
Right Hand Left Hand are back with a brand new album. Following on from their self-titled, Welsh Music Prize-nominated second album, their third offering, ‘Zone Rouge’ released on the 15th of November, tells the story of humanity's contempt for the earth beneath us, the air above us and the people around us.
Our fractured planet lays the groundwork for the 11 new tracks on 'Zone Rouge'. Each referring to a location on Earth where something bad has happened: An act of corruption against the planet, an act of evil against fellow humans and occasionally both.
Recorded and produced by Charlie Francis ( Future of the Left, REM, Robyn Hitchcock ) at Cardiff’s Musicbox Studios, Andrew Plain (drums/
’Chacabuco' is available to buy and stream digitally on 27th September. The album will follow on 15th November, 2019. It will be available digitally, on CD, and on limited edition double clear vinyl.
VOICES FROM WALES – THIRTY OF FIFTY-TWO, Introducing The 'Tin Shed' Experience
On June 4th, 2011 after 18 months of hard work by a small team of enthusiasts, an old derelict zinc garage in Laugharne was transformed into The Tin Shed Experience and opened to the Public. In a short space of time the museum became number one attraction in Carmarthenshire and at one point, number two museum in Wales.
Run by Seimon Pugh-Jones and his partner Meinir (Min) Evans, its popularity and reputation grew. It became a much-loved venue for music, the arts and history, with its unique and quirky style.
Its charm was based on the concept of being the opposite of most museums. Recycling and low carbon footprint was a major aspect of its development and also its low-tech approach, with interaction and visitor care a priority.
We concentrated on the period between 1914 to 1945.
The Tin Shed was just not a museum, it was also a venue for music events, its exhibits were used in film and TV and regularly loaned to theatre groups and other historical events/displays, some of which provided funding for the upkeep of the museum.
We achieved the Hall of Fame with trip advisor with amazing reviews. We've appeared in national newspapers. Our exhibits along with myself have appeared in a number of TV shows, TV dramas and radio shows.
In addition to normal daily visitors we worked closely with a number of schools and various groups including:
- Womens Institute
- Charitable Organisation
- Dementia Support
- Alzheimers
- local businesses in bringing over 40,000+ visitors to the area. We helped create a feel-good factor within Laugharne.
Future Plans
Due to the success of the previous museum our aim is to relocate the 1914 - 1945 museum to a new site. To integrate the museum into the community, to work with people with similar historical interests, schools and various charitable organisations.
VOICES FROM WALES – TWENTY NINE OF FIFTY-TWO, CILGERRAN CORACLE RACES
The Coracle Races are part of the Cilgerran Festive Week, an annual celebration bringing together the whole village in a number of activities from children’s sports to fancy dress and carnival. The main event is the traditional coracle racing which took place on Saturday August 24th 2019 on the River Teifi not far from the Castle ruins in Cilgerran.
The coracle is a small, rounded, lightweight boat traditionally used for net fishing of Atlantic salmon and sea trout known locally as sewin in the rivers of Wales. The tradition is kept alive by fisherman on the River Towy and Teifi.
The races give opportunities to novices and experts throughout the day
Super Marine release debut single 'Decadent Flowers' a super charged pop-rock anthem on the 4th of October!
By Ceri Shaw, 2019-09-10
Super Marine are a four-piece band from Blackwood, South Wales. Their music incorporates gutsy guitar-driven melody lines infused with classic vocal hooks. In the spring of 2019 they started working with notable music producer Rich Jackson (Pretty Vicious, Future of the Left, SFA) and will be releasing their first single 'Decadent Flowers' on Friday 4th October 2019.
Currently working with the Forté project this ambitious young band are cutting their teeth in the studio perfecting their sound, and playing a run of shows this autumn including a hometown single launch at the Blackwood Miners’ Institute and a slot at Swn festival in Cardiff, that will prove they are a coming force in Welsh music.
Super Marine say: "We’re extremely happy with how this track turned out and can’t wait for people to hear it. Working with Rich Jackson was fantastic, he really helped us bring this song to life. We’re excited to get out there and play this track at our upcoming shows."
TOUR DATES
10 Feet Tall, Cardiff – 26th September
Cwmaman Festival – 29th September
Blackwood Miners’ Institute (single launch) – 5th October
Hardies Merthyr – 13th October
Swn Festival – 19th October
Fuel Rock Club, Cardiff - 27th October
Hangar 18 - Swansea - 8th November
McCann’s Newport - 22nd November
The Patriot, Crumlin - 29th November
SOCIAL MEDIA
https://www.facebook.com/supermarineband/
https://www.instagram.com/supermarineband/
https://twitter.com/supermarineband
WEBSITE
Doesn't it ever stop raining? thought Mali as she gazed through the small kitchen window. The mountains were covered in a grey wet mist, and the rain trickled miserably down the window pane, grimed with the black coal dust that was everywhere. There was a bucket placed in the middle of the lean to they called a kitchen, a steady drip could be heard filling the rusty bucket. The roof was leaking, and there was no money to repair it. She was on her own, left while Owen her husband had swanned off to Spain on some brainless socialist ideal to fight in that bloody War.
She had waited for hours, sitting in the sparse kitchen with Beth. There was a small fire burning. She could no longer keep the house warm on the pittance she was receiving from the Parish. Mari still wore the baggy old cardigan under her wraparound pinny for extra warmth. Her hair once so beautiful was dull and lank, her mother said due to malnutrition.
“Leave him” said Mam.
“I love him” replied Mari. but now it was too late.
The evening meal was spoiled. Bethan was upset her Dudda was absent again. That bloody Union Lodge all they ever talked about was Revolution. And now this thing in Spain, some sort of peasant uprising. But with heavy political overtones, that's what Owen had told her. Just what they had been waiting for so they could save the bloody world, What about the peasants in the valley who were being starved out by the coal owners? If it wasn't for Mam they would have no tea today.
Finally Owen appeared.
“Where have you been?” she snapped.
“Oh don't start again Mari. I've had a long day.”
“Yes, arguing the toss with that lot at the Lodge. You need a job not ideals. Owen you are useless.”
“Is it my fault they've offered us starvation wages?” he replied.
“Mam is feeding us. Me and Bethan would go hungry if we depended on you.
You know you won't get a better offer, than the one on the table.”
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“The Union will back us. We'll stay out until we get what we want.”
“Thats all bravado. What about that bloody useless Mining agent. He gets fatter by the day. He's in the pocket of the owners. Until you get rid of him you can pass as many resolutions as you like, while the children in the valley starve, and you lot form committees. We used to be so happy before this all started.”
In a moment of resignation Owen looked at her
“ Mari do you think I like this? With thousands of us out. Our kids going hungry and the soles of their shoes getting ever thinner? The valley is on the bones of its'
arse. Because of those overfed bastards at the big house squeezing every penny out of us. The only recourse we have is with the Union.”
“The bloody Union, is that all you ever think about. Committees and resolutions, its' a bloody full time job for you. We used to be so good together.” She said softly as she moved towards him, but he pulled away. “Another pregancy won't solve anything.”
“Don't you want me anymore?”
There was no answer. The silence chilled her bones. It was an answer in itself.
“Is there no future?” asked Mari quietly.
“Not while we're in this state. I'm a free man, who can make his own decisions.”
“And me and Beth are free to starve. Are we? You are free to scavenge the tips for coal. Where is the dignity in being free?”
He moved further away from her. His face became pale.
“Why did you go there ? She said. Was it a 'man' thing? Because you were the Lodge secretary? Did you feel you had to? Peer pressure? Were you afraid you had to prove yourself a man? Tell me .“ she screamed.
“There were people being oppressed, starving, massacred. They needed our support.” replied Owen.
Dont talk such rubbish. There are hundreds in this valley being starved and oppressed, and you have the solution. Negotiate. But out of male chauvinist pride, you won't give yourselves the opportunity to get around the table. Then you go off to that bloody war. You left me and Beth without a word. Some bloody hero.”
He stared as though not seeing her. It was as if she was'nt there. He looked at her strangely
“What the hell is the matter with you Owen David? Her voice rose in anger.
“Why don't you answer me?”
He just sat there as if neither of this world or the next.
“I want to know why you did it Owen.” said Mari.
“Were'nt me and Beth enough for you? You left us in the middle of the night, man!
How could I explain it to Bethan?” The tone of her voice betrayed her hopelessness.
Owen replied almost as if in a dream.
“You know I loved you and Beth. It all happened so quickly. I knew the call would come. We had to meet at Cardiff at 6.00 the following morning to get the boat train to France. We walked over the Pyrenees into Spain, where we were met by Manolo.
“You left me and Beth penniless. There was no note. We didn't know where you were. Then of course, there was Manolo.”
“But Beth I was injured pretty early on. Manolo looked after me.”
“Bloody Manolo” snapped Mari..
“Why do you talk so negatively of him?” asked Owen.
“If it was'nt for that man hundreds of us would have died. You didn't know him Beth.” replied Owen.
“I know what he was” she said bitterly.
“He loved me.”
“It was obscene. You were lovers.”
“They came for him Beth, he would not tell them about me – about us, or where we were hiding. They tortured and finally shot him. Such a beautiful human being.
Owen became ever more distant.
“The Brigaders who came back gave me the news that tried to rescue him. On your own of course. You bloody fool Owen. Now I'm a widow and you are buried god knows where..................”
Sonny Winnebago is the moniker of Welsh-Australian troubadour /musician Harvey Jones, who's spent the entirety of 2019 living out of his battered suitcase and beloved camper van, all whilst feeding other people's cats and dogs. He was born with hypermobility syndrome which allows him a heightened flexibility, creating a very dynamic and unusual performance style. His infectious music embodies a 'melody is king' approach to pop writing, drawing inspiration from 1970s figures Harry Nilsson & Cat Stevens .
Following a string of profiled support slots, including Michael Kiwanuka & Joel Baker, Sonny Winnebago will be releasing his anticipated debut single 'Take Me For A Ride' . It is one of four tracks he'll be releasing with the support of Welsh artist development scheme 'Forté Project', enlisting the skills of producer Charlie Francis (R.E.M, The High Llamas), featuring session musicians Davey Newington (Boy Azooga), Matt Evans (KEYS) and Steve Black (Sweet Baboo).
Harvey says that Take Me For A Ride was written from a place of restlessness, following the event of a long-term friendship going south."It's a true story, and a relatable one too, with strong themes of detachment and self-empowerment" Backed up by an uptempo rhythm section and bright, choppy chords, 'Take Me For A Ride' ultimately engulfs the listener with feelings of summer abandonment and child-like joy.
