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Outrage at Toilet Exhibition - Please Sign This Petition
We urge all our readers and members to sign the petition linked below
From the page:-
We, the undersigned, call upon Gwynedd Council to remove the Welsh history exhibition from the public lavatory at Abergwyngregyn.
We feel that both the quality and location of this exhibition degrade the history of Wales in a shameful way.
We cannot imagine any other country placing such an exhibition in a public lavatory.
An open letter to CADW from the chief petitioner:-
Open Letter to Cadw:
Re: your exhibition about the cartoon Princes of Gwynedd, located in a public lavatory just off the A55
How is it possible for an organisation charged with the preservation of a nations heritage to then treat it with such disrespect? As a patriotic Welshman with a developed interest in my nations history and culture, I am revolted and the frankly bizarre decision to place... an exhibition about the Princes of Gwynedd in .... a public lavatory! You have made our history, culture and indeed our nation itself into a laughing stock throughout the world. Browse the Internet and discover how people are reacting!
Your decision at Abergwyngregyn (to use the post-conquest name) is incomprehensible at the least level as a waste of public money and has made me deeply ashamed and angry. Please consider my long-standing life membership of your organisation void and terminated.
I hope one day soon that those responsible for this tasteless travesty and poorly produced vulgar farce will be made publicly accountable. Your badly produced, childish and ill-sited garbled cartoons have insulted Welsh people everywhere and devalued a proud heritage.
Yours with complete disrespect,
Dafydd Bullock
Gorsedd y Beirdd
I look forward to visiting an exhibition about Washington, Jefferson and Lincoln, located in a public lavatory and in grotesque cartoon format, on my next visit to the USA ....
Studied the form and my money is on the Dr!
I have not been ten stone five since Swansea Jack and I went clambering up the Welsh hillsides carrying 30 lbs of rocks and a hammer. That was some decades ago.Thank you SJ for the flattery.
The nationalflag of the United States consists of thirteen equal horizontal stripes of red alternating with white, with a blue rectangle bearing fifty small, white stars arranged in nine offset horizontal rows of six stars alternating with rows of five stars. The 50 stars on the flag represent the 50 states and the 13 stripes represent thethirteen colonies that rebelled against theBritish Government and Establishment,and became the first states in the Union. That flag is recognised throughout the world for what it is, and what it represents. It is flown with pride outside many American homes and businesses. Some things are symbols of national pride and must remain so.
Take for example the site of what was the World trade Center, 'Ground Zero', in New York. Would Christie say that respecting that site and what it has come tosymboliseimposes 'modern ideas of nationalism on the past'? The place will remain in people's memories for what it is.It is now special. And communal respectfor the place is only fair, right and proper.
There is one place in Wales that has been described as holding the soul of the Welsh Nation. All we ask is that that place andthe memory of thePrinces who lived there be treated with similar respect. Does the history of a Nation matter? I would say yes.
Is that the same Saunders Lewis who admired Action Francaise and hated the Jews?
Most of the Welsh 'patriots' at the time of his play Siwan were all too keen to inter-marry with the English elite.
To impose modern ideas of romantic nationalism on the past does not make sense.
I know the Aber Garth Celyn valley well. The visitors fall into two main groups. Ramblers and bird watchers heading for Aber Falls and the uplands come into the first one. For them the cafe in the Old Mill and the public toilet are aregreat and much needed. facility. For general visitors to the area an informativeexhibition providing a few key factson the walls ofthe cafe would have been a good start. Providing that that exhibition was prepared with care and due respect.
GARTH CELYN, ABER GARTH CELYNwas before the Edwardian conquest in effect the thriving, independent capital of Wales and the headquarters of resistance to domination by our powerful neighbour. Does that one basicfact come across in the exhibition? No.
On 11 December 1282 Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, Prince and Leader of the Welsh People, lured into a trap laid by Edward Longshanks, King of England, was murdered. In 1283 his brother Dafydd ap Gruffudd was captured at Bera (in the uplands above Aber Falls), taken to Shrewsbury, hanged, drawn and quartered. The Welsh royal children were imprisoned, and never released. They died in captivity. GarthCelyn was occupied by the invaders, and became property of the English Crown. A reign of terror followed, and our people suffered great brutality.
In 1284, he ancient kingdm of Gwynedd became England's first colony.
The second group of visitors are the ones thatcome toGarth Celyn. Into that group are students from all parts of Wales who are studying the play 'Siwan' by Saunders Lewis and 'Llywelyn Fawr' by Thomas Parry. Then there are the readers of historical novels that feature the medieval palace -'The Green Branch', 'The Brothers of Gwynedd (Edith Pargeter), 'Here Be Dragons'. 'The Reckoning'(Sharon Penman), 'Child of the Phoenix' (Barbara Erskine). There are people interested in the Celtic tales such as those in the 'Mabinogion'. These vistitors come from all parts of the world. Then there are Welsh Cultural groups including members ofthe Urdd. The later group want to learn something specific about the age of the Llywelyn's and the Welsh royal home. The new exhibition is not for them. It is neither educational nor informative.
In 1895 letters appeared in Welsh newspapers including the Herald Cymraeg, pleading for a memorial to the Princes to be erected on Garth Celyn, the site of the royal home. Garth Celyn was then owned by Penrhyn Estate, and Lord Penrhyn blocked the idea and prevented itfrom going ahead. In 1998, shortly before he died, the Welsh statesman Gwynfor Evans put forward the same suggestion. He said that Garth Celyn holds 'the soul of the Nation' and he described the site as being 'the most important place in the history of Wales'.Professor Caerwyn Williams agreed with him. The owners of Garth Celyn are more than willing to have such a memorial placed on the land. So where do we go from here? I for one would certainly support such a project. It is long overdue.
Dafydd Bullock's Petition lets the Welsh Assembly know that we care about how the history of Wales is presented to the world. Dr John Charles Davies
Was it in the gents or the ladies? Americans please note : in Wales the gents are marked M for Men and the ladies D for Dames.
In Scotland the men's room is denoted by a symbol of a man in a kilt
Helen didn't use any emoticons Jack! She got my attention but I'm happy for you to share the award!
Hello, Jack, I only saw your comment after I had posted my own. Definitely a case of 'great minds think alike' here!
Helen, if there were an Americymru award for "A Voice of Reason", you would certainly get my nomination. It is a total mystery to me why all the academics are getting quite so wound up. Instead of seeing this as a positive thing that might need some improvements more closely to reflect the rich history of the site. That is the way to win friends and influence people!