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2014 Is Time For CHANGE

Join us in 2014 as we aim to stop the rot and reclaim Carmarthenshire for the benefit of its citizens. Find out how you can help at RECLAIM CARMARTHENSHIRE

New Photographic Book On Laugharne

New Photographic Book On Laugharne

Some lovely images of Laugharne. Makes a lovely Christmas present. 

Bear On The Loose

Not every day you see a bear walking up your road. 

Dishwasher Tantric Yoga

Just spent most of the evening taking apart a dishwasher and putting it back together again. WHY? Because it wasn't working. Ah, did you fix it I hear you ask. NO! It needs a new part. A word to the wise. Don't take a dishwasher apart unless you have the body of a Yogi (not the bear). Ordering a part is easy yes? NO! you have to supply every serial number known to whatever you pray to and even then, it is not likely the part exists anymore. Bring back the manufacturing industry in the U.K. You must be joking. It is quicker for me to send to China for the part and have it sent courier within three days. All I need to do now is some yoga exercises to get into those dishwasher repairman positions. hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

• Ah, a fellow yogi.  Perhaps this is my alter ego in China taking the part from the machine of his unsuspecting wife to send to me. NO WAY! Turns out this guy is having worse problems than me and most of his appliances have packed up. Dude, I send my man love and sympathy to you. Look at what he writes. Brought tears to my eyes. 
  So, are we done w/ appliance trouble? No. Not by a long shot. we've been having washing machine trouble but that's a given w/ the amount of use we put it through. And, our dishwasher is dying a slow death. However, this may have just sped it up ten fold: We were cooking and turn around to see Max dismantling the dishwasher. URGHH!!! He put it back together but now it's a bit louder. We knew what was wrong w/ it before. Frustrating. And, as of this evening, now it's not working at all. But, there are plenty of dishwashers (aka children) in this house very capable. We'll all take turns & it will just have to be that way for awhile. No biggie.

  
  

  

  
  
• No Biggie dude! Max needs a clip or else to attend an appliance course. The worse thing of all is that I actually went online and asked an expert. I ended up answering HIS questions. He fleeced me for £10 and had the balls to ask me to rate him. I gave him an O.K. Hey, I am charitable and he is a fellow appliance yogi. Now we must do as Max and his family do and use the sink. MARIGOLDS PLEASE DARLING!

Archives As Stock Images

After a number of years working on the archives of Stanley Phillips and W D Evans we have started to place them online to view and purchase as stock images. This will make them available for many people searching for their family history but also for use in publications and on TV programmes. We have already supplied a number of media outlets with images for use on TV and in books. If you would like to view one of the collections CLICK HERE

RHYDAMMAN The New Kensington

Just back in from a trip to Ammanford. Called in to have Welsh Rarebit as usual in Jenkins Cafe. This time it was loverly (pic to follow). So many independent shops in Ammanford now. Very chic indeed. They were also putting up Christmas decorations. We managed to get a tree and loads of very old fashioned decorations for under £10. Popped in to the brick a brack shop and almost bought a hobby horse. There was an old Raleigh bike in there that must have been BBC issue at some point as BBC was stamped all over it. What a beauty, all chrome and racing green paint topped off with a Brookes saddle. They don't make em like that anymore. Visited the traditional butchers and got a load of home reared meat of sorts for under £10. Seems like the going price in Ammanford. I would recommend a shopping visit here for any self respecting shopaholic. A must visit is the old arcade with rows of indie shops. Album to follow. RHYDAMMANit is boys. PHOTO ALBUM HERE Ammanford In Pictures

Council Cuts Must Go Deeper

Reading the Journal this week and Madge states that hundreds of jobs must go. I do hope they start from the top down or is that too radical? It will ultimately be the people who work so hard in our communities working with the elderly, children, the youth and the sick. Can it be right in 2013 that so many councillors get so much money when the people they represent are losing their jobs and possibly their homes? There should be a proportionate axing of councillors. Let's be fair. Why do we need them in the first place? We pay enough taxes for the criminals in government. The people of Carmarthenshire have a choice and they have some power especially at the local elections. A sure way to register your discontent is not to vote for the councillor who has had it good for so long but to put forward someone from your community willing to do the job for half the cost IF the other half is given over to keeping some of these wonderful people who really serve our communities in employment. It can be done in every corner of Carmarthenshire. It just takes the will of the people rather than being dominated by a few cronies who have got away with murder for far too long. The people of Carmarthenshire can make a difference. COFIO!

Richard Gerver In Carmarthenshire

One of the World's leading educational reformers is paying a visit to Carmarthenshire next month. Richard Gerver is well respected and outspoken on education in the U.K. He is in demand and tours the world giving public talks. We are fortunate enough to have Richard attending Montessori Centre Wales on the 4th of November. You can book online at www.montessoricentrewales.com The day begins at 9.am and there is a buffet lunch with an opportunity to meet Richard and ask questions.

West Wales Archives

Check out this wonderful new page, which contains some of our archives. It will grow gradually as we continue to scan and upload images and documents.

Peace and Love

Scorching hot. No escape unless you go to the beach or dive in the paddling pool. Not complaining as this is one of the best summers for a long time so it seems. Taking lots of walks and actually losing a few pounds. We are still plodding on with the radio broadcasts in the hope that someone tunes in. www.facebook.com/radiowestwales Our main audience seems to be across the pond or else in Australia. The websites have been scaled down following the move and I am sure they are missed by many but celebrated by the hating few. I take comfort in knowing that they still read this stuff and their stomaches churn. Strange what envy does to people eh? We are still active with www.sanclertimes.ning.com which translates as World Wide Welsh Community. It is akin to the sister or brother site of Americymru, which is run by Ceri Shaw over there in Oregon. We have started the West Wales Archies Facebook page www.facebook.com/westwalesarchives It seemed to make sense to place all our archives there to share with the public. Many more irons in the fire, which we hope will come to fruition by the end of the year. Many thanks for your continued support in all of our ventures. As always to the haters we say Peace and Love!

CONGRATULATIONS

Congratulations to the Carmarthen Journal for joining the 21st century and going online with a great website. View it here Carmarthen Journal Online

Old Photos of West Wales

More Here On World Wide Welsh Community

EVEN CHILDREN ARE ON TO IT

CHILD'S PLAY NETWORKING

QR CODES WALES

Take a look at what can be done for your business in West Wales at QR CODES WALES

QR Codes For Businesses

If you are looking for a way to get viral coverage of your business we can help. Custom QR and NFC codes linked to hundreds of social networks. Multimedia content including photographs, blogs, videos, timelapse films and much more. Check out one of our codes at http://kimtag.com/alanevans

New Build Morriston Hospital

Work is well underway on the new build at Morriston hospital. I will update the timelapse as it develops further. I would like to have placed a camera at the hospital from start to finish as a timelapse record. Any new builds in West Wales interested in having it documented in this way please get in touch. 

Timelapse Crwbin

Timelapse Crwbin using Sony Xperia

Stone Circles and Wonderful Views

Stone circle at the top of the hill fort at Crwbin. Probably the best viewpoint in Carmarthenshire. From here you can see most of Carmarthenshire, Gower, Pembrokeshire and the Devon coastline. Well worth the walk. There is a path from the road which is easy to walk along. Take a flask of tea to sit and enjoy the view at the trig point. 

Geocaching and Photography

Paid a visit to the studio today and noticed that the trees in front of the church had been cut down. We have an old photo of the church before the trees were planted. End of an era as the St Clears Times website has been closed down. The good news is that it has been archived for the nation by the National Library of Wales. 

Travelling around West Wales is lovely at this time of year. Everywhere looks so lush and green. the farmland is a real patchwork of colours. There were plenty of young calves out in the fields and the farmers must be happy to see a warm spell at last. 

I will continue to experiment with a few gadgets I have recently acquired for photography. There are so many ideas and plans but time just whizzes by. We will be starting back filming the two boys two bikes series and uploading those to YouTube. 

I have started documenting exact locations of photos with GPS as this seems to be the way forward. I am also experimenting with geocaching so look out for some of the links to the treasure i place around West Wales. 

Flooding in Pontyates

Torrential rain and a high tide contributed to flooding along the high street in Pontyates on Tuesday evening. Michelle Pitson of no 10 Heol Y Meinciau Pontyates told us that the water began rising quite early on in the evening but it only got as high as her front door step. The rain continued into the early hours of Wednesday morning sending water into local homes. Michelle said, “I have been here 12 years and I have never seen anything like this.” “I am not sure what will happen now, we have suffered a lot of damage and lost a lot of our belongings.” Her elderly neighbour was too upset to speak to us as she brushed out the water from her home.

The local garage and supermarket was also badly flooded. Workers spent most of the day cleaning the shop floor, which had been covered with a layer of mud. The local fire station and the telephone exchange were also flooded. Telephone and Internet connections were disrupted as the exchange building had taken in around 3ft of water. At some points along the road the water rose to a level of a foot and a half. Emergency services were on hand during the night but they too were stretched as flooding gripped other parts of Carmarthenshire.

A Grand Day Out

How about this for a place to live? Cold, windy, boggy and infested with rabbits. It is truly a beautiful location and well worth a visit. Take a drive and head for Carmarthen then take the A484 road towards Kidwelly and turn left onto the B4309 at the fork in the road. Carry on a short distance and take a left onto the B4306  through Llangyndeyrn and you climb steeply up the mountain. Just as you come to the top you will see the open land to your left. Park somewhere safe along the road and there is a gate which takes you onto the path up to the standing stone. Take a picnic and take in the spectacular views. 

Ancient Stones & Chambers

A Link To Our Ancient Past

Mynydd Llangyndeyrn  may have been a centre for ritual and funerary activity from at least the Neolithic period  to the late Bronze age. There are two Neolithic   cairns.

Bwrdd Arthur and Gwal Y Filiast  which may have shared a common covering stone cairn. A large 3m tall standing stone represents the Bronze Age.

There is also a smaller companion stone, and a variety of round barrows of differing designs including ring cairns and ring cairns with cist burials. 

There are stone field boundaries and a cist burial to the East but these are hard to find. 

A Village Tour

Pontyates

Named after the man who built the bridge it dissects the river Gwendraeth Fawr. Today was the first time I have stopped to take a look at the river. It always seems very low in fact the recorded depth this week was 0.28 metres. I did spot some fish jumping and the water looked clean. There seems to be a lot of shale built up on either side of the bridge but even so the river was quite fast flowing.Apparently this shale is as a result of the colliery using the river water to wash the coal and an interesting story unfolds (see link) Hansard/Commons/1945/mar/29/flooding-pontyates-carmarthenshire There are meadows either side with some lovely wild flowers coming into bloom. There is also a walk along the banks and it is well used by dog walkers. The river eventually finds its way down to Kidwelly and out into the estuary. The river has it's source up at Llyn Llech Owain in Gorslas (blue bog), we also resided near there for some time. Pontyates has an elevation of 15 metres above sea level so the river does fall on its way down to the estuary. Imagine the benefits for tourism if one were able to take an indian canoe from Pontyates down to Kidwelly through al that lush meadowland. One can only imagine what could have been had the honourable gentlemen of the time had their way and had the river dredged.

St Clears Boating Club

St Clears Boating Club.From the W D Evans collection.

Phil Bennet

Phil signing an autograph for some local boy. More mages like this on www.facebook.com/themezzaninestclears

Measles Epidemic

66 years ago the measles epidemic was here.Image ©Alan Evans from the W D Evans collection

Sideburns and Flares

The Queen arriving in St Clears. More like this on www.facebook.com/themezzaninestclears

PLEASE SIGN

GIVE THANKS

With almost 100,000 children homeless in the U.K. today we have to give thanks for a roof over our head, food in our stomaches and the people around us to help and care. The statistic may not move some or shock but it is an absolute outrage. The media and the Government have jumped on the Derby case and demonised the poor yet again. The middle classes and wanabee upper classes are being whipped into a frenzy of fear and loathing of the poor. Meanwhile the TV execs and newspaper journalist allow the parasites and criminals to get away with more and more choosing to ignore the real stories of corruption and greed. 

 It is a world we see changing and one familiar to the likes of Charles Dickens. It is no coincidence that the largest pockets of poverty in England are in the familiar location of Limehouse and Poplar. Of course the media scoff at this or they wheel out someone to analyse some statistics but never the real people.

You see we have just taken his parent's home away and Nick is working out how many more homes on the street can be flattened to make way for a wind farm. That is what we need in the U.K. 

 

THE SWING IS BACK

The swing has returned to the lives of our boys. We have had a swing at every home we have owned apart from the last one, which did not have so much as swing but nasty bees. The oak tree in the garden is perfect for the new addition and the boys are already out and enjoying it. 

The new course starts next week and I am looking forward to meeting the new students. We are as usual based at Montessori Centre Wales and the wonderful location along the river in St Clears. 

Baby Theia is continuing to develop and is sitting up and making loads more sounds. I still have a few more rooms to paint in the home. I am also sorting out all my images and picture frames for the walls. There is only so much one can do in a day. 

Got my book back from Amazon today. Looking forward to a good read. Richard Gerver is the author of Creating Tomorrows Schools Today. He also turned around the fortunes of Grangetown school through a hot management programme. Anyone in teaching should read the book. 

Recently judged the Easter Bonnet competition at the Ty a Fi Cylch Meithrin St Clears. What a task. The bonnets were fantastic. So much hard work must have gone into each one. The children looked wonderful. It looked like the whole community of children had turned out. Great disco, hot dogs, tea, pop, sweets and of course Easter eggs. A massive thank you and congratulations to the organisers, the Cylch committee. Great to chat and meet with friends too. Thank you for inviting me and I look forward to the next event.

The next relaxation project is to transform the riverbank at the bottom of the garden from a derelict and overgrown heap to a lovely flowing tribute to Feng Shui. It is easy in my head but my back might be a different matter. 

Reading some interesting blogs including more legal action for libel from a bunch of sharks who call themselves solicitors. My advice is IGNORE them because they have nothing but bullying tactics in their favour. I speak from experience of someone who beat them many times. 

Another relaxation project is also underway and I am hoping that people will send me their unwanted Cd's and DVD's as long as they have images or colour on the discs. You can post them through the door at the Mezzanine, St Clears, next to the Santa Clara pub. 

EUGENICS

Ah, another year. We are meant to get wiser with age but alas I believe that a lot of people lose the plot.  Try as I may I just can't get some things out of my head. I just look and wonder what drives people to do some things. Today we hear of the new training for nurses. One year of bathing, washing patients etc for them to base themselves before embarking on a degree. This is what the Government comes up with after soul searching no doubt at considerable cost to the tax payer. Now I have been in hospitals lately and I have seen good and bad. It does seem that the good is reserved for the young but if you are old, it starts to go down hill. Perhaps this is not the case and what we experience is in isolation.

We are facing tough times and now we hear that 6 councils in Wales have their education department in special measures. I have worked in private education for most of my career. What astounds me is that so much money can be ploughed into state education and it is still horrendous for the children in these 6 councils. Why else would it be in special measures? So what is the answer? Pundits are rolled out on radio and TV. Angry parents call in and experts debate the pros and cons while politicians deflect the question and blame the other party. It seems that the solution is to carry on and keep calm or keep quiet and it will pass.

It now looks as if almost every household in the county is handing over more than a thousand pounds per year in council tax alone. Calculate the number of households and you get an enormous amount of money. Schools sold off to developers, cuts, cuts and requests to take cuts while the fatted calf is wheeled in on a gold tray each lunchtime for the masters. Surely it is time for this to stop and for every householder to hold the masters to account. I watched a short film on the fluoridation of the water supply. Did you know they put fluoride in the water? Sure. Do you know why? Sure, for healthy teeth or No, I don't. Did you know that fluoride is a poison? No, really? The final statements were most worrying. THERE IS NOTHING WE CAN DO. This seems to be the mantra of young and old. The fluoride has indeed done its job of dumbing down the masses in the easiest exercise in eugenics the world has ever seen unless of course you know different.

NIGHT RAIDS

Whadda you know pardners. No sooner is we settled in to our new life on the prairie Sandy water park that that there possy shows up. They served us with  sommit called cowsiltax. darn nappit, looks like to me it is some sort of ransom demand. Has the sheriffs mark on it too. Now i'm a peaceable man but when I gets a note like this I wanna say.