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I have heard some beautiful Welsh choral music on BBCCymru today, which I listen to on my Squeezebox on-line radio. Charles
Tân yn Llŷn (Fire in Llŷn) - 8th September 1936.
When the government decided to on establish an RAF bombing school at the historic and cultural site of Penyberth on the Llŷn peninsula, despite approximately half a million protests, there was intense anger throughout all of Wales.
Three Plaid Cymru members, Saunders Lewis, Lewis Valentine and DJ Williams, decided that the only course of action remaining was to set fire to the bombing school. this they duly did on 8th September 1936, giving themselves up immediately at Pwllheli police station,
At the trial at the Old Bailey in London, the three men were sentenced to nine months imprisonment in Wormwood Scrubs, but on their release they were treated to a heroes welcome at a pavilion in Caernarfon, by 15,000 people and the incident has attained iconic status among Welsh nationalists.
Born on this day 1922 in Swansea.
Harry Secombe , one of Britain's best-loved comic entertainers. Remembered for his high-pitched laugh and blowing raspberries, Harry also possessed a wonderful tenor singing voice.
Secombe began singing as a child in local church choirs, later performing in troop concerts, whilst serving in the army in North Africa and Italy during World War Two. He also met Spike Milligan during his army service, with the two teaming up after the war with Peter Sellers and Michael Bentine in the highly successful radio programme "The Goon Show", which helped launch their respective careers.
Secombe went on to have his own popular TV shows and to appear in many films, such as Oliver, The Magnificent Seven Deadly Sins and Starstruck. He was Knighted in 1981 and in 1983 became the host of the TV religious programme, Highway, which ran for nearly ten years.
In his final years, Harry battled with cancer and a severe stroke. He died on 11th April 2001.
Born on this day 1969 in Mancot, near Chester.
Gary Speed, MBE - former Welsh soccer captain and manager.
In his playing career, Speed played for Leeds United, with whom he won the English Football League First Division Championship in 1992, Newcastle United, Bolton Wanderers and Sheffield United, making in total 840 domestic appearances. He appeared for Wales 85 times and was captain on 44 occasions. Speed was appointed the manager of Sheffield United in 2010 but left the club after a few months to manage the Wales national team.
Speed was a versatile player but played mainly as a left-side attacking midfielder. He was captain of most the sides for which he played, described by team mates as an 'inspirational figure' who led by example and demanded the best from those around him. He was well known as a 'consummate professional' both on and off the field, hardworking, honest and self-critical. He had a reputation as an extremely fit footballer which allowed him to avoid injury and to continue playing until the age of 39.
Outside of football, he also had a reputation as a friendly and supportive person, who cared for and took an interest in the lives of the people around him, which made him a popular and well-respected figure. Speed committed suicide on 27 November 2011, aged 42.
For volunteering to go to the battle front, to rescue a wounded officer at Sebastopol on 9th September 1855 during The Crimean War, Cardiff born corporal Robert Shields of the 23rd Regiment of Foot (later the Royal Welch Fusiliers) was awarded the Victoria Cross.
The Crimean War (October 1853 – February 1856) was a conflict over the territories of the declining Ottoman Empire, between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the French, British and Ottoman Empire and the Kingdom of Sardinia. The conflict mainly took place on the Crimean peninsula of Ukraine located on the northern coast of the Black Sea.
The Crimean War is known for logistical and tactical errors, the lessons learned from which changed the future course of warfare. It is also famous for the pioneering work of nurses, Betsi Cadwaladr and Florence Nightingale.
The Crimean War was one of the first wars to be documented extensively in written reports and photographs. News from war correspondents kept the public better informed of the day-to-day events of the war than had been the case in any other war to that date, as with the advent of the telegraph it meant that by the end of the war, news from the war zone reached London in only a few hours. Consequently, public opinion played a larger role in this war than in any other war in history.
The outcome of the Crimean War marked the ascendancy of France to the position of pre-eminent power on the Continent and the beginning of a decline for Tsarist Russia.
The Severn Bridge spanning the River Severn and River Wye, between Chepstow and Aust, was opened on 8th September 1966.
1824 Thomas Telford, who had been asked to advise on how to improve mail coach services between London and Wales. proposed a bridge across the Severn, approximately in the same location as the one eventually constructed.
1879 As the railways became the dominant mode of long-distance travel, the Severn Railway Bridge at Sharpness was opened, followed by the main line Severn Tunnel in 1886.
1926 The growth of road traffic on the A48 passing through Chester led to a ferry carrying cars and passengers being set up.
1935 Monmouthshire and Gloucestershire County Councils jointly promoted a Parliamentary Bill to build a bridge over the estuary. However, the Bill was rejected by Parliament after opposition from the Great Western Railway Company.
After World War II, plans began to be made for a nationally funded network of trunk roads, including a Severn Bridge, However Government funding was prioritised for the Forth Road Bridge.
1961 Construction of the Severn Bridge commenced.
1966 The Severn Bridge was completed.
The Severn Bridge had been intended to carry 5 to 10 million crossings per annum, but in 1996 the figure was 18 million, causing up to 6 mile long queues at the. tolls. These delays along with others due to high winds and maintenance work showed the need for a second bridge, which resulted in the opening of The Second Severn Crossing in 1996.
On 8th September 2012, Buckingham Palace announced the death of Monty the oldest of The Queen's Pemrokeshire corgis. All of the Queen's corgi's are descended from Susan, the corgi given to her on her 18th birthday.
It is said that the Vikings brought the corgi to Pembrokeshire and that by the 10th century, Corgis were used as herding dogs for sheep, geese, ducks, horses and cattle.
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The rugby union based film "Old Scores" featuring many former Welsh and New Zealand international rugby players, was first screened on 8th September 1991.
The film tells of a fictional match between Wales and New Zealand, which is won controversially by Wales. One of the touch judges confesses on his death bed 25 years later, to not penalising an infringement in the build-up to the winning try, which leads to calls for a rematch. The WRU agree to replay the match with the same players, to set the record straight.
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Born on this day 1920 in Swansea
Harri Webb - Poet, Welsh nationalist, journalist and librarian.
Few poets in recent times have achieved the popularity of Harri Webb. Shortly after the opening of the Severn Bridge in 1966, Webb's "ode" to the new edifice was to be heard quoted widely throughout South Wales: Two lands at last connected Across the waters wide, And all the tolls collected On the English side.
Born into a working-class family, Webb was educated at Magdalen College, Oxford, studying medieval and modern languages. He joined the Navy in 1941, where he served as an interpreter for the Free French in the Mediterranean. After the war, he became politically active and was a vivid platform speaker, he joined The Republicans, a small group who enlivened the Welsh political scene of the 1950s by the burning of Union Flags in the towns of South Wales. He later joined the Labour Party, but became disillusioned with its attitude towards self-government for Wales and joined Plaid Cymru, becoming editor of the party’s newspaper. Webb's poetry came to prominence during the 1960s, with the theme of the social condition of the industrial valleys of South Wales.
Laura Mountney Ashley (7 September 1925 – 17 September 1985) was a Welsh fashion designer and businesswoman. She started making furnishing materials in the 1950s and expanded into the manufacture and design of clothing in the 1960s.
Her Welsh parents were living in London, but her mother returned to her own home at, 31 Station Terrace, Dowlais, Merthyr Tydfil to allow Laura to be born Welsh. She remained in Merthyr until 1932, when she was sent to the Elmwood School, Croydon, but she was evacuated back to Wales during World War II, aged 13 and attended the Aberdare Girls School.
She left school at 16, to serve in the Women's Royal Naval Service and met her husband, engineer Bernard Ashley in Wallington at a youth club. After the war, she worked for the Women's Institutes in London. She then began designing napkins, table mats headscarves and tea-towels which Bernard manufactured.
Laura's breakthrough came when she looked for patches of Victorian design to make patchworks and failing to find any at a display of traditional handicrafts by the Women's Institute at the Victoria & Albert Museum, she decided to make her own, which she used for Victorian style headscarves. The scarves soon became popular with stores and high street chains such as John Lewis, which encouraged the couple to move back to Wales in 1961 and go into full-time production, with the opening of the first Laura Ashley shop in Machynlleth (35 Maengwyn Street)
Monument to Blanche Parry, kneeling alongside Elizbabeth I (born on 7th September 1533), in St. Faith's, Bacton, Hereford.
Blanche was lady in waiting and confidante to Queen Elizabeth 1st for most of her life. A theory suggests that Blanche, who was Welsh and Welsh speaking taught Queen Elizabeth I to speak Welsh. Blanche died in 1590.
Some other of Elizabeth I's connections with Wales;
* Her chief adviser Cecil Lord Burghley was descended from the Welsh Cecils or Sitsyllts ( the Welsh spelling of the anglicised Cecil) of Monmouthshire, twice being Secretary of State as well as Lord Treasurer and founder of a dynasty which produced many politicians including two Prime Ministers.
* In 1549 Edward VI passed the Act of Uniformity, which required all acts of public worship to be conducted in English instead of Latin, the act seemed to signal the end for the Welsh language, but, in 1563 Elizabeth I introduced legislation which required all churches in Wales by 1567 to have Welsh translations of the Book of Common Prayer and the Bible alongside the English versions. Welsh therefore became the first non-state language of Europe to be used to convey the word of God after the Reformation. This was seen as a move to get the Welsh on side at a time of increasing Catholic threat from Europe to the English throne.
* Elizabeth is said to have worn a leek on Saint David's Day
Today is the feast day of Saint Dunod
Saint Dunod - was a late 6th - early 7th century Abbot of Bangor on Dee, who attended the meeting of Welsh Bishops with Saint Augustine of Canterbury at 'Augustine's Oak' and is the only Welsh ecclesiastic mentioned by name by Bede.
Saint Augustine and the meeting at Augustine's Oak;
Before the withdrawal of the Roman legions Britannia had already converted to Christianity and had been in regular contact with Rome, however after the pagan Anglo Saxons invaded c449 and the subsequent expansion of their Kingdoms in England, Christianity was mainly restricted to Wales and Cornwall and the Christian church developed in relative isolation from Rome, it was centred on monasteries instead of bishoprics, it had a different calculation for the date of Easter and the style of the tonsure haircut that clerics wore was different. In 595 Pope St. Gregory the Great decided to send missionaries to Britain (known as the Gregorian mission), to try and bring the Christian Britains back into the fold and also to try and convert the pagan Anglo Saxons. He chose Augustine, a respected prior of a monastery in Rome, along with thirty monks to carry out his mission and in 597 Augustine arrived in Britain and held a meeting with the Anglo Saxon King Ethelbert, who although did not convert immediately, was impressed enough to let them continue to preach, however, Ethelbert did convert later that year along with thousands during a christmas day mass, Augustine was consecrated Bishop of Cantebury, he is considered the "Apostle to the English" and a founder of the English Church. As Augustine mission continued successfully and more missionaries arrived from Rome, they consecrated pagan temples for Christian worship and turned pagan festivals into feast days of saints.
However Augustine failed to extend his authority to the Christians in Wales and Cornwall and as Pope Gregory had decreed that these Christians should also submit to Augustine, in 603, Augustine and Ethelberht summoned all the British bishops to a meeting, at Augustines's oak on the border between Somerset and Gloucestershire. These bishops retired early to confer with their people, who, according to Bede, advised them to judge Augustine based upon the respect he displayed at their next meeting. When Augustine failed to rise from his seat on the entrance of the British bishops, they refused to recognise him as archbishop and the old Church chose isolation over reconciliation. But perhaps the more significant factors preventing an agreement, were the deep differences between Augustine and the British church and the fact that Augustine's efforts were sponsored by an Anlgo Saxon king, whose Kingdoms were aggressively expanding to the west.
Sir John Powell (died 7th September 1696) from Llanwrda, Carmarthenshire and buried near Laugharne. was a judge who presided over the trial of the Seven Bishops in 1688.
The seven Church of England Bishops had been imprisoned for behaviour deemed to encourage insurrection in their opposition and refusal to read out James II's second Declaration of Indulgence. The Declaration had the intention of allowing freedom of religion and preventing enforced conformity to the Church of England in Britain. It granted toleration to both Catholic and Protestant but was greatly opposed by Anglicans who pointed to the fact that it also encouraged Islam, Judaism and paganism. The bishops were found not guilty.
Born on this day 1956 in Llanelli
Byron Stevenson - former Wales international soccer international who played for Leeds United, Birmingham City and Bristol Rovers. He was controversially sent off in Turkey in 1979 after he allegedly fractured opponent Buyak Mustafa's cheekbone. He was given a four-and-a-half year European ban, effectively ending his international career.
Following his retirement from football, Byron became the landlord of the New Inn public house on Elland Road, which also had been managed by another Leeds United and Wales international legend John Charles. Stevenson died of throat cancer in 2007.
The Troublesome Tudors and Sleazy Stuarts - Wicked Wales
Welsh history in all its gory glory!
Bring history to life with The Troublesome Tudors and Sleazy Stuarts , the first book in the Wicked Wales series, focusing on the gorier elements of periods of Welsh history.
Did you know that under the rule of the Tudors and Stuarts people were boiled alive in oil, husbands tried to sell their wives at livestock fairs, and over a nine year period, one bishop hanged 5,000 people, including one man who was already dead?
A blend of amusing text, gory facts and humorous illustrations bring the era of the Tudors and Stuarts to life, in an appealing and entertaining way. The text is interspersed with quizzes, fact panels, cartoons and games, making this the ideal book to engage childrens interest and get them involved in the history of Wales.
This week an author from south Wales is launching his second novel in the only existing WW1 series of detective novels. Demons Walk Among Us is Jonathan Hicks'' second book featuring military policeman Thomas Oscendale, and is the sequel to best-seller The Dead of Mametz, published in 2011 by Y Lolfa which received much acclaim.
Buy Demons Walk Amongst Us here
Read our interview with Jonathan here
The brand-new sequel, Demons Walk Among Us, finds Thomas Oscendale fresh from the horrors of war on the Western Front and on leave in the coastal town of Barry, where he is drawn into the investigation of the savage murder of a war widow. The novel paints a vivid picture of life in the trenches as well as life in the industrial towns of south Wales during the Great War.
Demons Walk Among Us is set one year on from the first novel in the series. As 2014 marks the centenary of the outbreak of the First World War, there has been a burgeoning of interest in its history of this period and reviewers have noted Oscendale''s potential to develop into one of the great literary sleuths.
Available from all good bookshops and via Amazon on the author''s website:
The Battle of Crug Mawr, near Cardigan in Dyfed, took place in September or October 1136. It was a significant setback to Norman expansion in Wales and was part of the Welsh revolt against Norman rule, which had begun on 1 January 1136 with a Welsh victory at the Battle of Llwchwr near Swansea.
In April of that year, Richard Fitz Gilbert de Clare, the Norman lord of Ceredigion, was killed by the men of Gwent, which encouraged the forces of Gwynedd and Deheubarth to ally and invade Ceredigion. After some fierce fighting, the Norman army was forced to retreat, with the bridge across the River Teifi giving way under the sheer weight of numbers. Hundreds drowned and the river clogged with the bodies of men and horses. Those who survived fled to Cardigan, but the town was taken and burned by the Welsh. The castle, however, was held by Robert Fitz Martin, the only one to remain under Norman control by the end of the rebellion.
Ysgol Gyfyn Rhydfelen (Now Ysgol Gyfun Garth Olwg), the first Welsh medium secondary school in South Wales, was opened in the village of Rhydyfelin near Pontypridd, on 6th September 1962. In 2006, the school moved to a new site in Church Village and today, has approximately 1000 students, ninety-two percent of whom come from homes where the first language is English.
Robert Jones (19 August 1857 – 6 September 1898), born at Penrhos between Raglan and Abergavenny, was a recipient of the Victoria Cross for his actions inside the hospital at the Battle of Rorke's Drift in January 1879.
Jones was posted in the hospital room during the battle and despite suffering four spear and one bullet wounds, managed with his colleague, William Jones, to defend his position against wave after wave of Zulu attacks and bring six of the seven patients to safety
After discharge, Jones became a farm labourer in Peterschurch, Herefordshire where he died from self-inflicted gunshot wounds in 1898 aged 41 years. The Coroner's court heard that he was plagued with recurring nightmares of his hand to hand combat during the battle and a verdict of suicide whilst temporarily insane was passed.
He is buried in Peterchurch churchyard with the gravestone facing the opposite way to all the others, presumably because he committed suicide. In 1998 a campaign was launched to have it realigned but as yet, this has not happened.
Born on this day 1920 in Gorslas, near St Clears.
Trevor Morris OBE - professional footballer, manager and secretary of the FAW ( the Football Association of Wales)
The son of a miner, Morris began his career with Ipswich Town. With the outbreak of World War II, Morris' playing career came to an end when he served in RAF Bomber Control and piloted the lead aircraft in a squadron of 40 Lancaster Bombers on D-Day. He flew over 40 missions over enemy territory and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Coss.
Morris returned to football and became manager-secretary of Cardiff City in 1954 and the following season, took over at Swansea. In 1971, he was appointed the secretary of the Football Association of Wales, where he remained until 1982. One of Morris's long-term achievements was the acceptance of the principle that footballers could play for a country with which they had blood ties but which was not the country of their birth.
Born on this day 1869 in Oswestry.
Sir Henry Walford Davies - composer,
* Davies was appointed Master of the King's Musick (a post comparable to that of Poet Laureate), during the reign of King George V.
* Upon the creation of the RAF he was appointed its Director of Music and composed the well-known RAF March Past.
* Davies became Gregynog Professor of Music at Aberystwyth University in 1919 and later, Musical Director of the University of Wales.
* He became chairman of the National Council of Music for Wales and helped greatly with the promotion of Welsh music.
* Prior to the outbreak of World War II, Davies was a well-known and popular radio personality.
Draw the blackout curtains, put on your gas mask, take cover under the stairs, and settle down for a good read
Do you enjoy reading about fighting and killing, bombing and burning, gassing and ghastliness? If so, this is the book for you.
Woeful Wales at War is the second book in the Wicked Walesseries published by Pont Books. Following on from The Troublesome Tudors and Sleazy Stuarts, this new publication by Catrin Stevens focuses on Wales during the First and Second World Wars, and as is customary in the Wicked Wales series, the humour is often of the grim variety.
Fascinating facts, witty text and humorous illustrations help bring history to life in a light and entertaining way that engages childrens interest.
On 5th September 1927, Kathleen Thomas from Penarth, became the first person, as well as the first woman, to swim the Bristol Channel. Many men had attempted the challenge and failed.
She had announced her intention to swim the treacherous 11 miles of chill, grey water between Penarth and Weston-super-Mare in the South Wales Echo, and no one believed that "a mere woman" would have the strength or stamina to go the distance
That part of The Bristol Chanel, which has the second highest tidal range in the world, has a fearsome reputation due to its lethal tides, caused by scattered headlands and islands funneling enormous volumes of tidal water through small spaces and the distance Kathleen swam was considered closer to 22 miles once the perfidious currents were taken into account.
'Crowds lined the beach to watch Kathleen wade into waters, accompanied by a launch containing representatives from the Welsh Amateur Swimming Association and a rowing boat carrying her uncle Jack in a bowler hat and 7hrs 20mins later, fortified by Bovril and chocolate, Kathleen arrived on the shores of the West Country. The terrific struggle against the currents had called on all her reserves of energy and the final 100 yards had demanded every last ounce of her strength.
She was taken to a nearby hotel after the swim, where she had both a warm and cold bath, took half-hour rest and ate a fish lunch before returning to Wales a hero.
Jasper Newton "Jack" Daniel - founder of Jack Daniel's Tennessee whiskey distillery was born on September 5th, 1850 in Lynchburg, Tennessee, his grandfather Joseph "Job" Daniel, was born in Wales and had emigrated to America. Jack Daniel died from blood poisoning in 1911, which was allegedly caused when he kicked his safe in anger when he could not get it open — he always had trouble remembering the combination.
Was the original recipe for Jack Daniel's legendary American whiskey discovered in Wales.
Mark Evans was researching his family history when he discovered a recipe, the ingredients of which match that which goes into making the in the world's best selling whiskey. It was written in 1853 by his great-great grandmother who was called Daniels and who was a local herbalist in Llanelli. Her brother-in-law John 'Jack the Lad' Daniel left Llanelli at about the same time to move to Tennessee, where the Jack Daniel distillery was opened three years later. The assumption being that he made contact with his namesake and introduced him to the Welsh recipe.
Born on this day 1962 in Cardiff
Peter Wingfield - television actor, well known for his television roles in Holby City, Queen of Swords and Cold Squad. But he is best known for his role as the Immortal Methos in Highlander. In addition, Peter also played Simon Pemberton on the BBC radio drama The Archers.
In 2011, Peter put his acting career on hold, to return to medical school and subsequently qualified as a doctor. Peter was Welsh National Trampoline champion at age 15.
Born on this day 1959 in Blaina
Mike Ruddock, OBE - former Wales Grand Slam winning rugby coach, who won the Welsh Coach of the Year in 1992 and 2005. Ruddock is currently coach of the Ireland Under 20 rugby team. As a player Ruddock made 119 appearances for Swansea, scoring 43 tries and played for Wales B. before his playing days were ended prematurely in 1985. Working as an electricity linesman, he fell from a pole, suffering serious injuries including three compressed vertebrae and a fractured skull.
Born on this day 1792 in Llanddewi-brefi, Cardiganshire.
Sir David Davies - Royal physician to king William IV and Adelaide. Davies was knighted by Queen Victoria soon after she ascended the throne.
Born on this day 1888 at Blaencaerau farm, Caerau, near Maesteg
Sir Rhys Hopkin Morris, Liberal MP, who was a fierce opponent of Lloyd George throughout his political career and later became the first Regional Director of the BBC in Wales.
He graduated from U.C.N.W. Bangor in Philosophy also serving as student President and taught in Bargoed for a few months after leaving College. He enlisted in the Royal Welch Fusiliers on the outbreak of war in 1914. He was twice mentioned in dispatches and awarded a medal for action in which he was severely wounded and carried shrapnel in his leg for the rest of his life. He was called to the Bar in the Middle Temple in 1920 and practised in the South Wales circuit, before becoming interested in politics.
Morris was a Gladstonian Liberal and as such believed in limited government expenditure, low taxation, free trade and little government intervention as opposed to Lloyd George, who was an Interventionist Liberal. His characteristic independence of mind twice contradicted expectations and saw him elected to parliament, he ran as an Independent Liberal against a pro-Lloyd George candidate and was elected in one of the most surprising results of the 1923 General Election. He returned to Parliament after the 1945 election, when he won Carmarthen from the Labour Party despite the rest of the country experiencing a Labour landslide. Hopkin Morris was to hold this seat for the remainder of his life.
Born on this day 1885 in Aberaeron
Reverend Jenkin Alban Davies - Former Wales rugby captain.
Davies served during World War I and was later appointed vicar of Hook in 1924. But he is best remembered as captain of the Terrible eight, the Welsh forwards that got the better of their Irish opponents in an extremely physical encounter in Belfast in 1914.
This match is remembered as 'The Roughest Ever' and the niggling had started the evening before the match when the Irish came to the Welsh hotel and their pack leader, Doctor William Tyrell told Welsh forward Percy Jones: 'It's you and me for it tomorrow.' Jones, a miner replied 'I shall be with you, doing the best I can.' Another Wales forward asked: 'Can anyone join in?' And so they did! It was one of the all-time best punch-ups, with players continually fighting during the match and the referee, a Mr.Tulloch, from Scotland, taking little notice.
Ater the match Jones and Tyrell signed each others menu-card and then in 1951, the two sat together to watch the match in Cardiff. Tyrell at that time being president of the IRU and Jones an hotelier.
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Christian Saunders is an author from New Tredegar in South Wales. He has worked as a freelance writer contributing to several international publications and a regular column to the Western Mail newspaper.
His short stories have been anthologised in numerous horror publications and his latest novel is: Sker House and a definitive account of the history of Cardiff City Football Club: From The Ashes: The Real Story Of Cardiff City FC
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AmeriCymru: Hi Christian and many thanks for agreeing to talk to AmeriCymru. When and why did you decide to become a writer? What was the first work you submitted for publication?
Christian: I guess I always wanted to be a writer, but to be perfectly honest I wasn’t the brightest at school, so most people thought it was beyond my capabilities. I wasn’t stupid, exactly. I just had no interest in the things I was meant to be learning at school. I much preferred reading books by myself. I always remember being 16 and the deputy head asking me what I was going to do with my life. I said I wanted to be a writer, and he laughed out loud. Well, the joke’s on you now, Mr Richards!
I didn’t have much confidence in my ability at that stage, though. I left school with no qualifications, went to work in a local factory in the south Wales valleys, and wrote stories in my spare time for my own amusement. When I was in my early twenties I thought it wouldn’t hurt to send a few stories out, just to see if they were as bad as I thought they were. This was the late 1990’s, pre-internet, and the small press was flourishing. There were thousands of genre magazines on the market. One, called Cambrensis, specialised in Welsh fiction written in English and was run by a sweet old guy called Arthur Smith, who sadly isn’t with us anymore. By some unimaginable stroke of luck he accepted the very first short story I sent out, which was called Monkeyman.
Looking back, I think I got the sympathy vote from dear old Arthur. I submitted the entire story in BLOCK CAPITALS! But he would do anything he could to give writers a start. He saw it as his life’s work. He re-typed the whole thing, and sent me a few encouraging letters. The payment was a subscription to the magazine.
AmeriCymru: You write mainly horror fiction. What attracted you to the genre?
Christian: It’s just what comes naturally to me, I guess. For me it’s by far the easiest genre to work in. I wouldn’t know where to start with a love story! I’ve always been a fan of horror movies and books, though ‘horror’ is a very broad genre and can encompass most things.
I’m a jack-of-all-trades, really. I’ve also written non-fiction about the unexplained and supernatural, some music journalism, I do a lot for men’s lifestyle magazines, now I write mainly about sport. It’s strange, though. People only ever notice my fiction!
AmeriCymru: Can you tell us which anthologies your work appears in and where they can be purchased online?
Christian: So far, I’ve been lucky enough to have had stories published in nine or ten anthologies. The most recent was The Delectable Hearts in Legends of Urban Horror on Siren’s Call.
I have stories in two other anthologies, which will be available in the coming months. The Elementals & I in Dark Visions 2 on Grey Matter Press.
And Altitude Sickness in the first anthology by DeadPixel Publications, which is basically a collective of independent writers.
When I write fiction, I use the pseudonym CM Saunders.
AmeriCymru: Is there a horror fiction writer that you particularly admire or would like to recommend? Are there any that strongly influenced your writing?
Christian: Sorry I can’t give a more original answer, but I love Stephen King. He’s a master storyteller, and his story is inspirational. He used to work in laundry in the days and write in the nights. Apart from SK its good to see his son Joe Hill continue in the same vein. He’s a great writer. Credit to him for not taking his dad’s name for the commercial value attached to it, but if anything he’s trying a bit too hard. Let it go, dude. Just write. I also like Dean Koontz (though he’s been wheeling out the same formula time after time for the past fifteen years or so, some of his earlier works are stone-cold classics), Richard Matheson, Graham Masterton, Richard Laymon, Ramsey Campbell, and Joe Lansdale. I’m more of a contemporary horror fan, though I did read and enjoy a lot of Poe, Lovecraft, M.R. James, Jules Verne and Robert Loius Stevenson when I was younger.
I think everything you read, and everything you see and hear, influences your writing to an extent. As I get older I find myself reading more autobiographies. I am currently reading American Sniper by Chris Kyle and Waiting to be Heard by Amanda Knox.
AmeriCymru: We learn from your bio that you are are currently living and teaching in China. Is this a permanent relocation and how are you enjoying your experience there?
Christian: Actually, I’m back in the UK now! Maybe I need to update that bio. I came back in January to work for a magazine in London. I eventually went to uni as a mature student, after that 9-year factory stint, then when I graduated I went freelance. I was living in Southampton at the time, and I just had the urge to travel. I’d always been drawn to Asia, and China in particular. It’s a vast, mysterious country. The kind of place you can get lost in. I taught English to university students there in Beijing, Tianjin, Changsha and Xiangtan, and stayed for five years altogether. It can be a bit surreal but all-in-all, it’s a great life. I had a lot of time to travel, think and write. I did very little journalism out there (you need special accreditation from the government, and a license) so that was when I went back to writing fiction after a long gap. I was never a teacher. I was always a writer in disguise!
Looking back, I’m glad I had the experience, and I feel lucky. It’s important to explore other cultures. I’m from a very small village in the Rhymney valley called New Tredegar, which has a large percentage of narrow-minded people who very rarely (if ever) leave the place. I didn’t want to be one of those.
AmeriCymru: You have also recently published a novel Rainbow''s End Would I be right in saying that it is partly ''autobiographical''?
Christian: Yes indeed! I would say it’s around 90% autobiographical. I made up the other 10%. But of course, I would never tell anyone which 10% I made up! It’s about a young guy growing up in south Wales who wants to be a writer and travel, but various things hold him back. Until, eventually, he finds a way out.
AmeriCymru: Which brings us to From The Ashes How did you come to write it and how long have you been a Cardiff City fan?
Christian: I’ve been a Cardiff fan for about 25 years, I guess. The first game I ever went to was a 1-1 draw with Barnet when we were in the old fourth division. Every club has a lot of history, but the Bluebirds have more than most. We remain the only club to take the FA Cup out of England, and won the Welsh Cup that same year, making us the only club in history (as far as I could tell) to hold the national cups of two different countries simultaneously. That FA Cup was the first to be broadcast on live radio, and the Radio Times published a numbered grid to help listeners follow the game. That, allegedly, gave rise to the popular saying ‘back to square one.’
I started writing the book about ten years ago, using mainly the microfilm newspaper archives at Cardiff library. I got a publisher interested in the book, but they pulled out saying, basically, that the club wasn’t big enough to justify costs. After that I moved on to other things, and only when it looked like we might win promotion last season did I start offering it around. Luckily, Gwasg Carreg Gwalch expressed an interest so then it was a mad rush to bring the book up to date, which I managed in just a month or so. The hardest thing was sourcing the pictures. I contacted the club, who were no help at all, and ended up buying a load from Getty.
So far the book is doing very well!
AmeriCymru: OK I have to ask...can Cardiff City cut it in the Premier League and where do you think the Bluebirds will be in the League table at the end of the season?
Christian: Sure, I think we are more than capable of staying up. Malky Mackay has made a couple of great signings this summer. Both Gary Medel and Steven Caulker were wanted by much bigger clubs and ended up buying into the dream and moving to the CCS. There are much worse teams than us in the Premier League! I’m under no illusions, I don’t think we’ll qualify for Europe, but we won’t finish in the bottom three, either. Somewhere in-between, I’d say. After the move from Ninian Park, last season we turned CCS into a bit of a fortress. If we can continue that home form, and it’s looking good so far with that win against Man City and the draw against Everton, two of the better clubs in the league, we have every chance of staying up. The win against Man City, when we came from behind to win 3-2, gave the players, fans and the local media a massive confidence boost and hopefully we can build on that.
AmeriCymru: What''s next for Christian Saunders? Do you have any new publications planned?
Christian: At the moment I’m working full time for Sports Direct magazine, so any new fiction will have to take a backseat for a while. Saying that, I’m always working on something, and I have lots of projects at various stages of development. I’ve decided to go independent with regards to fiction, and early next year I’m putting out an ebook compilation of short stories called X, most of which have been published before in various places. It’s all ready to go. If I don’t go through a publisher I’ll be able to sell the book a lot cheaper and hopefully reach a wider audience. I’m also re-writing my first book, Into the Dragon’s Lair – A Supernatural History of Wales, which will be reprinted by Gwasg Carreg Gwalch hopefully sometime next year. When that is done I’ve been thinking of doing a follow-up to Rainbow’s End, about a valley boy and his experiences of living and working in China!
AmeriCymru: Any final message for the readers and members of AmeriCymru?
Christian: You only have one life, so follow your dreams, do what makes you happy, and don’t let anyone hold you back!
Thanks for reading, and feel free to drop by my blog:
http://cmsaunders.wordpress.com/" target="_blank"> http://cmsaunders.wordpress.
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Sir Clive Granger (September 4, 1934 – May 27, 2009) was a Nobel prize-winning economist, born in Swansea whose work on analysing economic data was credited with improving the forecasting performance of the Treasury and the Bank of England.
Trained in statistics, Granger specialised in research that helped to demystify the baffling behaviour of financial markets, pioneering different ways of analysing statistical data which have since become used routinely by civil servants, bankers, economists and academics.
Granger once wrote that a teacher had told his mother that he would never be successful adding that the comment illustrated the difficulty of long term forecasting based on inadequate data.
In 1947, John, the fifth Marquess of Bute, inherited Cardiff Castle on the death of his father and faced considerable death duties. He sold the very last of the Bute lands in Cardiff and on 4th September 1947, he gifted the castle and the surrounding park to the city. The castle is now run as a tourist attraction and protected as a grade I listed building and as a scheduled monument.
Thomas the Tank was first broadcast on television on 4 September 1984
In 1943, Reverend Wilbert Awdry, whilst a curate in Kings Norton, Birmingham, invented stories about Thomas the Tank Engine to amuse his son Christopher during a bout of measles. Afterwards, Awdry was encouraged to write the book "Thomas the Tank Engine", which was released in 1946.
Then in 1952, Awdry volunteered as a guard to help preserve the narrow gauge Talyllyn Railway and turn it into a museum. It had originally been used for hauling slate from the village of Abergynolwyn in the heart of Snowdonia to the coast at Tywyn. Working on Talyllyn Railway inspired Awdry to write into the stories, the fictional Skarloey Railway Line, whose history closely parallels that of the Talyllyn Railway and whose purple landscape of hills that Thomas was invariably shown puffing through, was inspired by the countryside of Snowdonia.
The Talyllyn Railway now carries thousands of tourists and fans of the children classic each year and Reverend Awdry remained a supporter until his death in 1997.
Born on this day 1969 in Bangor
Sasha (Alexander Paul Coe) - world famous DJ and record producer, who has produced many UK-charting singles and has remixed tracks for artists such as Madonna and The Chemical Brothers.
Born on this day 1911 in Pwllheli
John Robert Jones - philosopher and political activist.
Jones studied philosophy at University of Wales, Aberystwyth and Balliol College, Oxford, then in 1952, he was appointed Professor of Philosophy at University of Wales, Swansea, where seeing the decline of Welsh in the south Wales valleys, he became more politically active, as his interest turned to what he saw as the crisis of Wales and of Welsh. He strongly opposed the 1969 Investiture of Prince Charles and resigned as a member of the Gorsedd of Bards in protest.
