Eisteddfod Yr Urdd Anglesey

FYI The Urdd Eisteddof for young people is on atm. It's live on S4C.

That's my oldest grandson in shot singing in the choir.

A Few Days in South Wales

Cardiff/Cwmbran

Last Monday we left London and headed for Wales. First stop, Newport and my sister's. Two of her daughters were there with their husbands and young daughters to that added to the interest and we had a short but enjoyable time. We then went on to Cardiff where we are staying in my son's house (they are all on camp in West Wales this week). In the evening, we had a lovely meal with Eleri's Cardiff based sister and her husband and son. Nice evening. Tuesday Eleri and I drove into town and had a little wander. We had a cuppa in the museum and then lunch at Shake Shack. Lovely time. In the evening I did some blogging and then we entertained some Cardiff friends who are getting married in November and that was a good time too.

Eleri has spent today and yesterday at the National Eisteddfod, which this year is in Pontypridd, half an hour from here by train. She is helping man the stondin for the Welsh school but it is also a great opportunity to catch up with old friends and she has been having a great time, I think, although today has been rather wet.

I have been spending my time mostly reading and drinking coffee. Yesterday I headed into Whitchurch on foot for a coffee then caught a bus into town. I don't know Cardiff and so I enjoyed little things like the way all the stops are announced bilingually on the buses these days. (The route took us past The Earl Haig Club where I saw Focus in 2022 and the Velindre Cancer Centre where my mother had been a regular back in the nineties). I wandered around town and had lunch in the Caffe Nero in the St David's Centre (Focus also once played the St David's Hall and had someone play the organ for La Cathedrale). I then bussed back here before picking up Eleri. We popped over to Eleri's sister again later.

Today I took Eleri to the station then met up with my sister for a nice breakfast in a nearby Harvester. I then headed to Cwmbran where I enjoyed another coffee and an undercover wander in the rain. I sat in the Library which I now notice has similarities to the Swiss Cottage Library. I had luch in a  MacDonalds on the way to Pontypool and then headed back to Cardiff. (Kept my eyes peeled for anyone I might know but saw no-one. I like hearing the local accents, especially hearing people say by here and by there for here and there). In t evening I did a bit more wordling and reading and we watched the news an a couple of episodes of The Turkish Detective. Tomorrow we are off to Aberystwyth.

Chairs E

Eisteddfod Chair (awarded to the winning Bard or Poet)

Seremoni Bryn Briallu

Eleri took myself and some of the boys off this morning to nearby Primrose Hill to see the unveiling of a plaque. The plaque is to commemorate the fact that on June 21, 1792, the first modern eisteddfod took place there. The BBC's Huw Edwards introduced proceedings and various others, led by the deputy archdruid took part, including Rhian Medi who unveiled the memorial plaque to the founder of the modern eisteddfod Iolo Morganwg that is now a permanent feature of the site. It has taken the work of many people to get this organised and thankfulness was expressed for all their efforts. One of Iolo's descendants was present as a guest of honour. Things bardic look a bit strange but then so do most such ceremonies and it was nice to be in on one and understand most of what was going on.

Poetry and pizza

Eleri and the youngest boys headed off to Wales on Friday afternoon (for an eisteddfod and to pass on 4 of our 11 rabbits - did I mention that there had been a second litter?) so when I came in from the GPT meeting it was just me and the middle boys here. (As I mentioned GPT very kindly gave us all copies of the newest books Frank Allred's brilliantly titled Just by believing and the new edition of John Hall's book of 12 Bible basic studies which I am hoping to get someone to study with me.) We sent out to Pizza Hut for a stuffed crust pizza - very nice. Then it was of to clubs at chapel which went off quite well despite a shortage of staff. I spoke on the lost sons.

On Saturday morning we had a clean up day which was quite well attended (thanks to our Korean friends and our two LTS men). We made good progress on lots of things. A chapel is lke ahome - always things to clean and tidy and fix. Then there was rugby all afternoon, which I kept coming in and out for in the midst of preparations for the Lord's Day. I watched most of the Welsh game. It's hard to begrudge the Irish their win after 61 years (our name is Brady so we must be part Irish anyway) and they were the better team. So we are forced back to 'as long as we beat the English' sadly. At least we were well disciplined and in with a shout.

Gwion returned in triumph. He had been reciting a poem (Un funud fach - see below - something about a child bored out shopping with his mam) in the Urdd prelims and was considered good enough to enter the national competition - he is the best for his age in the whole world at it (excluding Wales) - I guess that last bit is important to add.

The Lord's Day was good. I preached on the transfiguration. We had one of the deacons and his wife here for lunch. When we read the Bible after lunch it was the bit about deacons and their wives in 1 Timothy - ironic. They joined Rhods and I for a nice walk before the evening meeting (on Abraham in Hebrews 11). Eleri was beginning to go down with a cold by the end of the day. We'd marked Mother's Day with cards and gifts. I prayed for mothers in church but we don't mark it any other way.

Suddo i nyth clyd
y soffa hufen
a’m byd yn gartwnau gwyllt
ond daw llais Mam fel drudwen
i bigo’r lluniau o’m llygaid
‘Tyrd! Cwyd!
Allan â ni.’
Ac allan â mi
i siopa.

Codi hediad a mynd
Dilyn y lli
yn un haid,
yn un dorf,
o un siop i’r llall.
‘Un funud fach fydda i,’
Meddai hi.

Cyfir’r craciau yn y palmant
a sylwi ar bapurach fel hen blu
yn hel yn y gwter.
Ceir yn ymlwybro fel pryfed genwair
yn y maes parcio –
a hen wynt main
yn gwneud i mi grynu
ar y silff ffenast oer.
Troi
Ac mae hi’n dal i bigo mynd
Heibio rêls y dillad
yn sbaena, yn cyffwrdd y defnyddia
yn codi’r hangyr, sbio
a’i roi yn ei ôl.
Mae bagiau plastig
sy’n barod i ddodwy
yn fy mhasio

a finna yn ysu ysu
am fynd ‘nôl
i’r nyth clyd hwnnw
ar y soffa.

(Gan Rhian Sanson)

Caerdydd

We've been staying with Eleri's sister in Cardiff for a few days. We came chiefly because the national eisteddfod is in Cardiff this year. Eleri and some of the boys went along on two days. She was helping on the stondin for the London Welsh School. I only went on the Thursday. We had glorious sunshine. It was quite enjoyable to walk around and see the different stalls and activities. I guess 90% of what you hear is in Welsh but you can't keep English out completely, at least on the maes. Part of the joy for Eleri and others is meeting old friends. You can't walk very far without meeting someone you know. I actually know a few myself such as parents with children at the Welsh School, relatives and old Aber connections. I enjoyed meeting again Gwyn Rhydderch (facebook here) and his wife (he's a national children's worker for the Presbyterians in Wales) whose reading my book on Proverbs, Dr Watcyn James (the Bible Society’s Welsh Development Officer), Meirion Morris (Presbyterian minister with the Presbyterians), Derrick Adams (minister of the Welsh church in Aber), Roger Thomas (an Aber based Welsh worker who works in fairs and shows round the country). I spotted but didn't get chance to talk to Hywel M Davies, Arfon Jones (who has this nice website for Welshies here) and Guto Harri (who I don't know at all but has a familiar face). I had a nice chat with Emmanuel Durand (A Welsh speaking Frenchman who I met originally through Alan Davey). On the Thursday evening Eleri, her sisters and mam went to a concert to celebrate Catin's recently turning 40. It was the C Ffactor concert featuring Cerys Matthews, Connie Fisher, Catrin Finch, Shân Cothi, Caryl Parry Jones and Cantorion. Very good apparently.

The day before I made a visit to the National Museum (I'd actually gone on the Monday but it was closed and so I just did some window shopping with Dewi. We particualrly liked Hawkins Bazaar). That was very nice. I looked at the current exhibition "Origins: in search of early Wales". It started badly with ridiculous dating and other horrors but got better, although my suspicious mind suggested a hidden agenda to sideline the gospel. After a nice coffee and bakestone I did the art gallery next. I really enjoyed that. They have works by Rubens, Reynolds, Gainsborough, Millet, one by Van Gogh (Rain - of course), Cezanne, Monet, one by Lowry, etc. I was interested in a painting by an artist I'd never heard of called Gerritsz Quiringh Van Brekelendam. A Duch interior, it looked a very innocent piece but the write up suggested the woman was a prostitute and the more you looked the more you could see that was so (I hadn't spotted the man's clothes hanging up by the bed for example!). It was a lesson in careful observation and (this blog's stock in trade I guess) discerning the heavenly and the worldly.

After lunch I met up with Rhodri and Sibyl who joined us from London by coach and then we all spent a sunny afternoon at the Bay, where national play day appeared to be taking place. The kids had great fun and so did we adults.

Tuesday was our only wet day and we spent half of it in Cwmbran seeing my sister and dad, etc. We played games and talked. I also took time in the week to read and chat and generally enjoy the time. Good stuff. Oh yeah, another joy was walking along the road in Cardiff that our road in London is named after and finding the house with our number. Little things .... Bigger fools ....

Museum Cinema

Ham II, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Rept0n1x, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Most of the family have been out today at the national eisteddfod in Mold (see here) but I stayed behind with the two middle boys and my father-in-law who was working on his sermons for Sunday. We three spent the morning in the museum (see here). It's very good. I especially liked the little religious section with pictures and memorabilia of Rowland, Elias, Spurgeon, etc. There was also a nice temporary exhibition of early 19th Century beach photographs. (The museum is better than the one in Newport).

In the afternoon we went to see the Simpsons Movie (see here). We were in two minds about this although in the end it turned out to be a not too offensive gag movie. It was quite funny, although I did nod of once or twice. A movie like this has no room for character development and the surreal approach means the plot lacks tension. The scene where the people rush from the bar to the church in a crisis and a vice versa was well observed though I did not quite appreciate the swipe at intelligent design. I think it is a mistake to try and analyse it too much. The boys enjoyed it.

On such a sunny day it was good to be out in the sun some of the time too. Any way they're arriving back from Mold must dash.