IN his last interview before his death from last week, the teacher who inspired JK Rowlings unsettling potions teacher Professor Snape told NANCY CAVILL he was pretty proud...

TO the rest of the world she is the writer with the mysterious initials JK, but to John Nettleship she was always quiet Joanne.

Mr Nettleship had been head of science at Wyedean Comprehensive in Tutshill, Chepstow, for two years when he began teaching a timid young second year pupil called Joanne Rowling.

Back in 1976 he had poker-straight black hair worn in a severe centre parting just like Alan Rickman who plays evil alchemist Professor Snape in the Harry Potter films.

He already had a reputation among his pupils for being exacting and strict.

The gown will also be open to sealed bids registered to the charity by midnight of 6th April by those who cannot attend the event. To download bid info click HERE to be taken to Noah Ark's page and article.

The gown was worn by Dame Shirley at the 2008 Pride of Britain Awards and comes accompanied with an autographed picture of the Diva wearing the gown. (pictured)

Always a strong supporter of The Noah's Ark Appeal, Dame Shirley Bassey became Patron of the charity in 2008. It is not the first time the charity have benefitted from her generousity and fantastic wardrobe collection, in 2003, she famously auctioned 50 of her gowns at Christies to celebrate her 50 years in show business. The Noah's Ark Appeal was chosen as one of the charities to benefit from the auction and was presented with 125,000 to go towards the now complete Phase One of The Children's Hospital for Wales.

In 2004, The Noah's Ark Appeal held the 'Diamonds are Forever' Ball in Dame Shirley Bassey's honour, the Patron shocked everyone by spontaneously auctioning the dress she was wearing that evening for the chraities profit.

The gown will be auctioned at The Noah's Ark Appeal's forthcoming charity dinner. The event hosted by the Copthorne Hotel is set to be a fantastic night out with The Noah's Ark Appeal special guest Matthew Rhys, a three course meal, the Copthorne's famous theatre group, disco and prize packed auction.

To attend this spectacular Copthorne Hotel event, bid in the auction and show your support for The Noah's Ark Appeal call the Copthorne Hotel on 02920 599100. Tables of ten are priced at 450 whilst individual tickets can be purchased at 45.

If you are unable to attend the event The Noah's Ark Appeal are opening the auction of the dress to the General public. You can your bid by form below.

Once you have downloaded the form please fill in and send to dameshirleydress@noahs-ark-appeal.org . Sealed bids must be in by midnight of 6th April to ensure entry into the auction.

How the heck did I not know about this? I have a friend in Splott; I've slept in Splott! Anyway, there is a link to the first episode at the beginning of the second episode. The first episode mostly introduces the characters; the second episode is an actual case, albeit with a slightly anti-Welsh slant. I'll be interested in seeing the next installment. Here is a link to all the videos: CLICK HERE.

The Splott Division, a film series following three unlikely superheroes who warden the district of Splott , is set to become an internet smash later this month.

The trailer , which first appeared on YouTube last December, has already notched up nearly 2000 hits for independent start-up Trusty Sidekick Productions.

Directed by BAFTA Cymru award winner David Evans, the quirky web series follows three characters Aiden The Hearing Aid (Tim Howard), Jack The Iceberg (Jonathan Ash), and Mia Superosmia (Hanna Jarman) coming to terms with redundancies in Splott following cuts to the Superhero League Council.

Producer Jonathan Ash, a from the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, says the group developed the idea following the announcement the UK Film Council was to be axed.

The cuts inspired us to create a comedy series following superheroes in domestic situations going through the same problems and financial struggles that we are facing , he says.

The Splott Division comprises three four-and-a-half-minute webisodes which will be showcased on YouTube in monthly instalments between February and April.

Just interesting to see the Welsh connection--I hadn't heard about it before. (The Welsh angle.)

Bradley Manning, who attended secondary school in Pembrokeshire , faces scores of charges over the documents handed to the Wikileaks website .

More on this story from:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-12795170

THE 1st Battalion Welsh Guards has won the Army Premiership rugby trophy for the first time in almost three decades.

The regiment scooped by beating 2 Royal Welsh in Aldershot with a 28-9 victory against their rivals.

It is the first time the regiment has been crowned Army Rugby Champions since 1982.

The Guards have competed in the last three finals but were always the losing side.

Major Alun Bowen said: We lost narrowly to 1 Royal Scots in 2009 and also suffered a narrow loss to 2 Royal Welsh in 2010.

This win has been a long time coming and saw us take revenge for last year.

Oh, how I wanted to title this, "Scores of Welsh Volunteers Flash Each Other!" LOL!

A TEST to show how people in the Iron Age communicated using Welsh peaks was yesterday hailed a success.

Scores of volunteers flashed torches to each other from 10 hillforts in North Wales, the Wirral and Cheshire. The furthest link spanned 15 miles, between hills at Burton Point on the Wirral and Cheshires Maiden Castle.

The experiment was designed to see how easily Iron Age communities could interact from their hilltop homes thousands of years ago.

Not exactly in response to Swansea Jack's query about Christian Bale, but an offshoot.

The research supports the idea that Celtic Britain underwent a form of ethnic cleansing by Anglo-Saxons invaders following the Roman withdrawal in the fifth century.

Genetic tests show clear differences between the Welsh and English

It suggests that between 50% and 100% of the indigenous population of what was to become England was wiped out, with Offa's Dyke acting as a "genetic barrier" protecting those on the Welsh side.

And the upheaval can be traced to this day through genetic differences between the English and the Welsh.

Read the rest HERE.

Better late than never, Dewi and I drove to Chicago for a lively night of hwyl with friends in the Tafia and music by David Llewellyn, et al.

Dewi rests a bit when we hit the hotel--has to save his strength for the party!

Dewi is a hungry draig and this looks just about right. YUM! Note bottle of Moosehead.

Dewi purchased large quantities of raffle tickets--note shot glass of Penderyn. Later Dewi won an embarrassment of riches in the raffle.

Dewi has apple cobbler for dessert. Note empty beer glass.

No worries. Dewi never drinks and drives--we got a ride back to our hotel.

Until next year...Dewi says, "Diolch i Chicago Tafia!"