Mair Williams's blog

Pen Dinas is the name of a large hill by the village of Penparcau, on the coast of Ceredigion, Wales. It is the site of Pen Dinas Iron Age Celtic hillfort which overlooks the sea from a ridge between the Rivers Rheidol and Ystwyth, and stands above the town of Aberystwyth. Enclosing an area of 3.8 hectares, defined by massive rampart and ditched defences, this is one of the largest and most important hillforts in west Wales. Excavations of the site, between 1933-37, pointed to intermittent occupation during the Iron Age.

Alun Hugh Cairns is the Member of the UK Parliament (MP) for the Vale of Glamorgan (Welsh: Bro Morgannwg) in South Wales and is also Secretary of State for Wales. Given his level of responsibility he is expected to be accountable and as the saying goes is someone you need to 'keep on their toes'. Its always good to know that a politician takes this seriously, but maybe not quite as seriously as Alun Cairns cleary felt pressurised into doing a couple of days ago.

Wales has over 70,000 hectares of peatland and most of these are blanket bogs in the uplands. Now it has been announced that important peatlands across the whole of Wales are to receive £1m in funding to help restoration and protection. The Mawndiroedd Cymru scheme is a joint venture between the Snowdonia National Park Authority, the Brecon Beacons National Park Authority, Natural Resources Wales and the National Trust, along with other strategic organisations. 

Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Party of Wales) Member of the UK parliament for Arfon has condemned the actions of the Spanish state and criticised European political leaders for their slow or lack of reactions to the events in Catalonia last Sunday. Travelling back from Catalonia, where he had been acting as an international commentator, he described the actions of the Spanish state against peaceful voters as “reprehensible.”

Frances Crook, chief executive of the Howard League for Prison Reform, has claimed that Wales has become a dumping ground for English prisoners. She pointed out that the HMP Berwyn super prison in Wrexham, has less than 10% of the current inmates who are Welsh. A large 1,600 capacity category C prison on Baglan Moors, Port Talbot, South Wales is  also now also planned. As reported in the Welsh newspaper the Daily Post she said: "If there is going to be this money spent in Wales it should be spent on social issues and crime prevention.”

Scientists in Wales and Ireland are taking part in a new £4.8 million pound (€5.5m) project to study the effects of climate change on the Irish Sea and Celtic Sea. The project known as Bluefish will study the health of fish stocks in the Irish Sea over the next three years. It will also study the migratory movement of commercial fish and the risks from new non-native species.

Plaid Cymru - Party of Wales leader Leanne Wood has condemned the Spanish Government repression in Catalonia, saying: “In a democratic country it is crucial that citizens are able to debate the future of their nation.

"The Catalan people are asking only for a vote on their nation’s future and for the Spanish Government to respond with threats and repression falls far short of modern democratic standards.

According to the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF): "On average around 55 elephants are poached every day in Africa, that's one every 25 minutes. This appalling slaughter continues due to the global demand for ivory, with the majority of elephant tusks smuggled by criminals to Asia, despite an international trade ban." 

Celebrations to mark Owain Glyndŵr Day took place throughout Wales last week. He was the last person to legitimately hold the title Prince of Wales. Owain Glyndŵr (c.1349-c.1416) was the leader of a Welsh revolt against English rule between 1400 and 1409. He created the first Welsh parliament at Machynlleth in 1404 and 16th September 2017 marked 617 years since he raised his standard against the English invaders.

With thanks to Gwyn Richards for drawing our attention to the City of London first film in the Welsh language (Dinas sy'n Ffynnu: Wyneb newidiol Dinas Llundain) on its Youtube channel. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FkzBAbU060&t=16s