Forum Activity for @john-berry

The "Image" of Wales

Promoting Wales in the USA

I'm with you on that, although I felt truly welcomed last summer in North Wales, on a deeper level than the rather superficial American treatment. I found the south a little less warm a few years ago, but I spent most of the time in Cardiff then, so it's understandable.

You're absolutely right about emphasizing what doesn't exist in the US, and also on "self-belief". Over the years I've read many comments on the supposed Welsh "wish to fail", especially in pieces on Dylan Thomas and Richard Burton, but also on others who nearly reached the top and then flamed out. Those kinds of statements tend to be self-fulfilling, in that when you try for something and then cock up, if you've read enough of that stuff you tend to wonder whether failure is in your genes, and from there it's a short step to using your genes as an excuse!

The "Image" of Wales

Promoting Wales in the USA

Alwyn:

I'll get right on that!

John

The "Image" of Wales

Promoting Wales in the USA

Alwyn:

Interesting comment - I'd never heard the symbology of the flag before, but that's perhaps because of my expatriate life. You have a valid point about whether the image of Wales should be dependant on the country's history or should look more to the future. Looking at the other countries around the world with strong national identities, I would say that a large part of them all is their history, but an important part is always the strength of the current culture and economic structure.

By the way, where do I get "The Quarryman's Son"?

John

The "Image" of Wales

Promoting Wales in the USA

Graham:

You're absolutely right - the one-word thing we're missing is "aura" - for our history, our famous people, and our culture as well as for our history.

Those are lovely photographs, too, and one tough person surfing in winter!

Diolch

John

The "Image" of Wales

Promoting Wales in the USA

Swansea:

That's as good as the "Are you Chinese?" response to my bumper sticker! Now I have "CYM" next to it, and I'm expecting "What does that stand for, 'Cover Your Messes?'"

But seriously, a nation of singing coalminers is where the current kluge of partial images points to but, apart from the fact that Walt Disney appropriated that particularone for the dwarves in "Snow White", I don't think it is quite what we want! Perhaps a beautiful young thing in a traditional becwn playing the harp?

John

The "Image" of Wales

Promoting Wales in the USA

Hello all,

I had some discussions while at the National Eisteddfod about the need for a coherent, instantly recognisable image for Wales: one that would compete with those of Scotland and Ireland, or even those of Sweden,say, or Italy. I've had 3 weeks now to mull it over, so I thought I'd raise the issue here.

Why does Wales need an image?

Well, there's always the matter of trade and tourism - a recognisable image can be considered a "brand" that helps to sell things. Then there's the matter of communicating to others: it would be nice not to have people say "Wales - isn't that part of England? Welsh - isn't that a dialect of English?" Or, in the case of the Red Dragon on my bumper "Are you Chinese? You don't look Chinese!"

However, what are other peoples' thoughts on this?

What is the image of Wales now?

Here in the USA it's probably Richard Burton and Tom Jones: Dylan Thomas if you're lucky. The USA is Wales' largest customer, but most of the exports are unlabeled commodities: energy and steel. Our local "Things Celtic" shop sells only Scottish and Irish products, and the only Welsh product I see in the grocery store is Caerphilly cheese, whereas I can buy Scotch whisky, marmalade, etc., etc. It would be interesting to hear from members in Australia, NZ, Canada, etc., which probably have more people with a closer connection to Wales, what our image is in those countries.

What makes an instantly recognisable image?

cabers, shamrock, I tabulated about 20 features that comprise the Scottish, Irish and other nationalimages, and we can get into detail if necessary, but it seems to me that the top ones are:

1. a National Dress (kilts, lederhosen, etc.),

2. recognisable last names (all those O's and Mac's, Swedish names in -sson, etc.);

3. an attractive and well-publicised folklore (Leprechauns, Selkies, Trolls, etc.),

4. distinctive musical styles or instruments (bagpipes, reels, jigs, polkas, schottisches);

5. a national drink preferably exported (Whisky, Guinness, lager, snaps, vodka, and so on),

6. distinctive scenery & buildings,

7. a national flower, and

8. a heroic history, preferably one that is anti-English.

No country has every one of these - for instance Ireland has no national dress. I would guess that in some way all the features of an image have to reinforce each other: in other words the image has to be coherent. There were probably lots of effete Scotsmen living in those castles, but if there were they have conveniently sunk from sight in favor of the hirsute, kilted, bagpipe and claymore-wielding tough guy striding through the heather. Two-handed swords and tossed cabers go together, as do Leprechauns andhappy-go-lucky slightly tipsy fellows with the gift of the gab and a lucky shamrock on their lapel.

Wales and Welsh culturehave unique features in most of these areas, but they do not seem to hang together to create an instantly recognisable, coherent, image: Welsh ladies' National dress does not augment the image of its Male Voice Choirs; the harp is most definitely not a bagpipe and is the Welsh harp is a rather refined instrument (not to say immobile). Merlin and Glyndwr the magicians (according to Shakespeare) do not quite fit with all those hyms by John Hughes and Joseph Parry.I do not think that a grimy coal miner has quite the romantic appeal of a kilted crofteror a yodeler in lederhosen, but our legacy of early industrial and civil engineering monuments (Pontcysyllte, Menai Suspension Bridge, Amlwch harbor, and all our little railway lines) to my mind should be an essential part of the image.

Is it honest to fashion an image?

This is a difficult question. Obviously it canbe dishonest if the image is not true to the people and land, but I thinkit is valid toemphasize those things that are most unique in a culture and de-emphasize those things that are not. Allhuman cultures are too complex tobe grasped easily in detail - there are lots of Irish people who have neither been near a bognorcomposed a poem, by far the majority of Scotsmen have always lived in the urban and sophisticated Lowlands rather than the Highlands, and few Bavarians actually live in the Alps, never mind yodel - so I think it is a valid and valuable thing to present to outsiders a simplified and, if possible, flattering view. The key thing is that it be simple and coherent enough to be easily remembered, and it should be instantly recognisable from one small part(e.g. - kilt: must beScotland. Alpenhorn - must be Switzerland).

What should the Welsh image consist of?

I'm a retired Geologist, not a PR person. Also, I'm both too close to, and too far away from Wales, having spent a lot of my childhood there but having been an exile for 50-odd years. My suggestion would be to ask the people of Wales and the Welsh diaspora what they think are the most unique things about themselves and Wales, and then have the Welsh Assembly, the Federation of Welsh Industry (if there is one) and a good PR firm spend a good deal of effort honing it.

So what are YOUR thoughts?

updated by @john-berry: 01/11/18 09:54:27PM

The Welsh Highland Railway

Promoting Wales in the USA

Diolch, Gaynor and Ceri:

I was fascinated by this railway as it was a footpath with no tracks and no sleepers when we used to stay in Beddgelert in the 1950s: everything had been torn up for salvage as part of the war effort. I used to dream of it being a railway again. I was amazed and fascinated when the train pulled into Caernarfon to find that it was hauled by a doubly-articulated mini Beyer-Garratt loco - I lived in Zambia from 1966-1972 and used to watch the full-scale ones hauling 80 80-ton wagons of coal, TNT, etc. up to the mines in Kitwe. I have a lovely picture of onecrossing the bridge atVic Falls.

The bike in the picture was rented in Manchester and I used it to do an 800 miles fully-loaded tour around the IoM (Ynys Manaw), Ireland and North Wales in July, ending with a week at the Eisteddfod in Wrexham. The best day of the whole trip started inCaernarfon, from where I took the early train to Beddgelert,where Igot on the bike and cycled up Nant Gwynant to Pen-y-Pass, stopping off at Sygun Copper Mine for a couple of hours on the way (I'm a connoisseur of old copper mines!), and then took the Miner's Path up to the summit of Snowdon, arriving at 6.00 pm after a hard 2 1/4 hour push. My legs were a bit jelly-like so I took the Snowdon Railway down to Llanberis, and from there a very kind family gave me a lift back to the Youth Hostel at Pen-y-Pass, where I had left the bike. Ended up camping in a little campground two miles short of Capel Curig.

The whole day was a wonderful, wonderful experience. There are more photos on my Facebook page - e-mail me if you are interested.

The Welsh Highland Railway

Promoting Wales in the USA

BikeTrip North Wales 2011

Cymro yn Austin, Texas

Promoting Wales in the USA

That's about the only thing I miss about boring old Ipswich - the 21 pubs between our house and the town center. They're either gone or coffee shops now. In Wrexham I had an even bigger advantage - my Nain and Taid were the managers of the Wynnstay Arms.

Cymro yn Austin, Texas

Promoting Wales in the USA

Mark:Yes, thanks. Not only do I have a bicycle, but I just did the CapTex Tri on it on Memorial day - I'm still recovering! When I did three years ago I trained a lot on the Veloway, but these days I train by riding down to Deep Eddy and back or up to church and back, as well as hill rides in the NW Hills neighborhood. For other bicycle stuff go to my web site www.johnlberry.com and hit the BikerBerryBlog button (trip to Labrador 4 yeears ago) or go to www.johnlberry.com/blog/blog.html for the report on a trip from Alaska to Austin last summer.