NEWSLETTER Autumn 2013 Some Dates for Diaries Mon 7 Oct Sat 19 Oct Sat 26 Oct
2.30pm 1.30pm 7.00pm
Sat 2 Nov Sat 23 Nov Sun 24 Nov
7.00pm 1.00pm
Sat 18 Jan
7.00pm
Tues 4 Feb
1.00pm
Sat 15 Feb Mon 24 Feb
7.00pm 2.30pm
Sat 22 March 7.00pm Sat 29 March 7.00pm
River Tawe Boat Cruises talk Bernard Morris book launch Gerald Gabb talk on Old Swansea
Sketty Parish Centre Swansea Museum Sketty Parish Centre
Local History Book Fair Publications Evening Gower Society lunch
Swansea Museum Sketty Parish Centre King Arthur Hotel Reynoldston Sketty Parish Centre
South West Wales Wildlife Trust talk Talk on poet Vernon Watkins President’s Evening Talk on Wild Flowers’ names Talk by Gower Ranger AGM
Swansea Museum Sketty Parish Centre Sketty Parish Centre Sketty Parish Centre Sketty Parish Centre
The Pleasure of Unravelling Secrets This volume, subtitled Contributions to Swansea and Gower History, is due to be launched at Swansea Museum on Saturday 19th October, from 1.30pm to 4.30pm. It is a compilation of the best of Bernard Morris’ writings – a wonderfully informative and fascinating introduction to our local history. Come to hear Professor Prys Morgan introduce this evocative testimonial to the wealth of Bernard’s writings - be early to secure a seat! Illustrated in colour, this hardback book of 320 pages will be published in a limited edition at £15 for direct sales. Gower Society members can pre-order it on the form included with this mailing, and it will be available in some local shops, the Museums and at West Glamorgan Archives (albeit at a higher price). If you are not as yet a member but would like to purchase a copy at this special price, please contact the Society so that an order form can be sent to you.
Autumn/Winter talks You may notice that the first of our Autumn talks is a daytime one – at 2.30pm on Monday afternoon, 7th October! We appreciate that this will not suit those in full-time employment, but we are trying to accommodate members who would prefer a time other than a Saturday evening, which for decades has been our traditional meeting time. Another afternoon talk is in the New Year - on Monday 24th February at 2.30pm.
Sunday 24 November: Gower Society LUNCH The Spring Newsletter gave the date of our forthcoming lunch to put in your diary, so we hope many will be able to join us again on Sunday 24th November at the Avalon Suite at The King Arthur Hotel in Reynoldston, 12.30pm for 1.00pm. Full details of the menu choices, how to book etc, are on the enclosed leaflet/booking form with this mailing. The cost of £23 per head includes tea/coffee and mints afterwards. You should send in this form promptly to ensure your place (certainly before 25 October). If you wish to sit by certain persons, please ensure that they intend to come - in the past we have had requests to sit by people who have not booked! It would also help to have first names as well as surnames of guests. We look forward to meeting up with you then.
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Gower Volume 64 – Vernon Watkins Gower 64 comes out at our publications evening on 23rd November. With 2014 being the centenary of the birth of Dylan Thomas, it is appropriate that the latest journal will contain an article by Professor M Wynn Thomas, of Swansea University, ‘Vernon Watkins – Gower Poet’, from a talk given at Penrice church in June 2012. Those who were at our meeting about Vernon in January will recall that he was a master craftsman, who devoted a lifetime to poetry, writing in every known form, from free verse to sonnets and ballads. The poet, critic and scholar Kathleen Raine believed him to be the greatest lyric poet of her generation. The Radio 3 programme Swansea’s Other Poet from March 2012 can be downloaded from the website of Dr Rowan Williams – just go to www.archbishopofcanterbury.org. It has input from Vernon’s widow Gwen, his biographer Richard Ramsbotham, Mumbles poet Nigel Jenkins, and from Vernon himself. At the time of his death in Seattle in 1967, Vernon was being considered, among others, as a possible poet laureate following the death of John Masefield. Gower 48 contains Mrs Gwen Watkins’ article Taliesin in Gower about this Pennard poet whose working life was spent at the St Helen’s Road branch of Lloyds Bank. Furthermore, amid all the attention next year to Dylan Thomas, the Royal Institution of South Wales has a talk on Vernon Watkins on 4th February 2014 at 1.00pm, at Swansea Museum.
A Reminder For the first time in many years subscriptions are going up in January 2014, so new Banker's Order forms will be included with the journal mailings in late November. This will give plenty of time to forewarn your bank. The new subscriptions of £20 (already great value) are reduced to a modest £15 if you pay by Banker’s Order!
Gift Aid Update Thank you to many members who returned one of the new Gift Aid forms. These forms can now be downloaded from our website, so if your details change you can complete a new Gift Aid Declaration at any time and send it to the Society so that we can update our records. If you are no longer eligible to Gift Aid, or you wish to withdraw, please let us know so that we can remove your name from the Gift Aid list. Catherine Jones
Planning: Oxwich Bay Hotel serviced marquee In mid-June, the Society learnt that permission had been given for the marquee to remain in its position all the year round, until the end of 2016. In view of past debate, it is strange that this decision was made by Officers only, and that the local councillor chose not to call it in. Previously, the local planners had refused the application for the winter period because the proposal ‘by virtue of its siting, size, design and appearance represents an inappropriate form of development at this countryside location that results in significant harm to the rural character of the landscape and high scenic quality of this coastal area, to the detriment of the natural beauty of this part of the Gower AONB landscape and the character and setting of the Oxwich Village Conservation Area and Grade II* Listed Church of St Illtyds, contrary to 10 national planning policy guidance and UDP policies.’ In the press the owner admitted that he had not removed it in the winter period as he had been required to do. Even more surprising is that the previous decision, with all its stated reasons, should suddenly be thought of no consequence. In our view, any development that contravenes national planning policy guidance and ten specific Unitary Development Plan policies should not be allowed to remain in the AONB. The local planning authority has attached some conditions to the permission in terms of its colour, reinstatement of land afterwards, landscaping/screening, amplified sound and that there be no external lighting.
MEMBERS We need your assistance! If you think that there has been an exceptionally good piece of building work carried out on Gower, or within the Lordship - please let us know. We are preparing a short list for our 2013 design awards and we cannot cover all the area ourselves. Let any committee member know your views or contact Gordon Howe mewslade@aol.com or telephone 01792 390560.
Gower on TV In the Spring Newsletter we discussed the series of four BBC programmes on Gower and the unfortunate message they portrayed. ITV currently plans a series on the All-Wales coastal path and wishes to include at least one programme featuring Gower. We have no programme dates or times as yet - so watch this space! BBC’s recent Countryfile programme on 1st September showed fine aerial shots of the coast, especially of Pennard and Rhossili cliffs, and focussed on measuring water quality in Swansea Bay, beach cleaning at Rhossili, mussel fishing in the King’ Dock, and underwater diving off Mumbles to remove debris from the seabed. This was a most positive programme, and from our feedback was appreciated by many people.
Back numbers of the Gower journal Ruth would like to thank those members who have recently donated unwanted copies. Several members have now happily completed their sets. Currently all back numbers are in stock, with the exception of volume 15. There is only one copy in stock of volumes 11, 12 and 14. Please let Ruth know of ones you are looking for (her contact details are at the end of this Newsletter), or of ones you no longer need.
Apologies for phone impasse! The Chairman and Secretary would like to apologise to anyone who has been frustrated by trying to phone them. Their BT line has been out of action for considerably long periods this year and - despite promises - for many weeks calls were not transferred to their mobile (and when they were, reception was far from perfect). This has been just as frustrating for them as they hear no phone ringing, so cannot access any messages.
BOOK REVIEWS Kilvert’s World of Wonders - Growing up in Victorian England by John Toman £25 This is the third book of a trilogy evaluating Francis Kilvert and firmly placing him in the context of his age. It explores the changing scientific and industrial elements of the age, and the dilemmas faced by the populace as they tried to adapt to massive changes. The author’s prologue bears the closest references to Gower as it shows the links between Lewis Weston Dillwyn of Penllergare to Kilvert; also referred to are Christopher Rice Mansel Talbot (of Margam and Penrice) and Calvert Richard Jones of Verandah, Swansea. Each chapter benefits from detailed references, making this scholarly volume an excellent documentation of Kilvert’s questioning wonder at evolving ideas, encompassing Tyndall, Darwin and evolution (though not Wallace), railways, steamships, etc. This is a book to read if you want to examine the man behind the diary, and to understand the tensions engendered by the dimensions of progress and tradition. A Journal of Sir Henry De La Beche Pioneer Geologist (1796-1855) written in his own hand Sir Henry wrote a journal when he was fifty so that his grandchildren Harry, Minnie and Amy could learn about his early life up to the time he went to military college (from which he was later to be expelled). His grandchildren were the offspring of Henry’s daughter Bessie and Lewis Llewellyn Dillwyn. We must be grateful to Richard Morris who edited the journal, to Tom Sharpe who provided an extensive introduction, elaborating on all of Henry’s life, and to The Royal Institution of South Wales who published this enlightening slim volume. Henry’s father and uncle considered their surname ‘Beach’ not grand enough; George III granted permission, at a price, to its change to De la Beche. Henry was to hold his uncle largely responsible for this vanity which lightened ‘the weight of the modern family purse’. Henry’s contribution to geological knowledge and understanding was huge – so this further insight into his life is greatly to be welcomed. South Wales from the Romans to the Normans – Christianity, Literacy and Lordship by Jeremy Knight £19.99 This is the most recent book by Jeremy Knight – a respected former Inspector of Ancient Monuments, English Heritage and Cadw – which takes the reader from late-Roman Caerleon
in 244 to the medieval 11th and 12th centuries. Black-and-white diagrams and photographs (some in colour) carefully illustrate the archaeological evidence, and the documented changes in religious life and settlement. Villages today owe much to the saints and monastic founders who gave them their names. This very readable journey through radical change remains based firmly on historical evidence. The pages on Burry Holmes are very pertinently illustrated. The book’s 192 pages include substantial supplementary notes and an extensive bibliography.
The Gower Show The weather forecast did not mislead – the morning of Sunday 4th August greeted us with torrential rain which perpetuated for much of the day. The organisers of the Show worked tirelessly to try to deal with the numerous problems of the deluge – leaking marquees, cars that got stuck. What we must applaud is the large number of paying visitors who braved the elements. It was a day to admire the variations of ‘how to keep dry’ – some outfits more sartorially elegant than others! The committee is grateful to all the volunteers who transported displays, set them up and manned our large marquee on the day. We met many very interesting visitors, were able to answer most of their questions, enrolled some new members and made some sales. There may have been fewer visitors than in recent years, but those who attended were keen and enthusiastic about the area. A few had only just arrived on the peninsula for their holidays.
Atlantic Array A team presenting the argument against the so-called ‘Atlantic’ Array (it is actually in the Bristol Channel) were given space in our marquee to mount their display. They encountered an amazing lack of knowledge from local people about this proposed wind farm and its potential impact on the seascape.
Culver Hole There is a bone cave called Culver Hole near Bluepool on Gower’s west coast, but this concerns the eerie structure beneath the cliffs to the west of Port Eynon Point. It can be accessed from the beach with a scramble over the rocks up to half tide. Culver Hole is in a gulley, a 60ft masonry wall that is ten feet thick at the base. It has two rectangular openings or lookout windows at the bottom, with two (formerly three) smaller circular ones at the top. In August 1920 a ladder facilitated admittance through the lowest opening for over ninety visitors, when the Cambrian Archaeological Association visited Swansea. Inside a flight of stone stairs leads to a series of narrow ledges, for the wall is honeycombed with niches that may have provided nesting places for pigeons. The word ‘culver’ derives from an Old English word meaning pigeon or dove. As the ruined Penrice castle has a stone pigeon house adjoining the south-east wall, and another stands by the entrance to Oxwich castle, so Culver Hole may have been a large pigeon loft or dovecote. From medieval times it would have supplied a long-vanished castle, for a 1396 document alludes to a castle at Porteinon (as Port Eynon used to be spelled). Supplies of fresh eggs and pigeon meat would have been welcome during the winters in those days. Near Port Eynon Point is the Salt House, the ruined fifteenth century fortified mansion of John Lucas, who engaged in piracy and smuggling. Some have speculated that Culver Hole was once a pirates’ lair, though this seems highly improbable since it is clearly visible from the sea, and thus would have been known to the authorities.
A photograph of Culver Hole is on the cover of the colour edition of ‘The Caves of Gower’, while the book of Mary Wood’s illuminated paintings shows what it looked like in 1861. Culver Hole is a Scheduled Ancient Monument and within a Site of Special Scientific Interest. Its eerie atmosphere is captured in the Vernon Watkins poem ‘The Ballad of Culver’s Hole’.
Nitten Field - the Eleventh Year of Conservation We have taken a big decision this year and revised our whole approach to this conservation exercise. For the last five years or so we have seen a decline in seed productivity, and an increase in thistle and other non-desirables. So in order to mitigate our situation we have this year: 1. Sprayed the central field in the second week in May with glyphosate to kill off the thistle and docks that were showing. Regrettably this kills off everything else, but a quarter of the field is left untouched around the edges. 2. Left the edges of the field with natural colonisation and planted strips of 'stand and deliver' or chicory as well as a broad strip of clover (on the seaward side) planted last year, which is growing very well. This is fixing nitrogen and is attracting insects. 3. Sown the rest of the field in two parts: the east side with nitrogen fixing plants consisting of two types of clover - altraswede and alsike red, sainfoin and birdsfoot Trefoil; the west side is sown with small seed-producing plants made up of white millet, buckwheat, fodder radish and mustard. We may add a small amount of agricultural fertilizer to help it along The minimal cultivation and sowing was carried out on 22nd May Our big problem is that the dreaded sow thistle has grown prolifically, despite the application of the mass spraying with glyphosate! We think this is because the sow thistles had not all germinated and have come through since application. In hindsight we should have left the process for another month. Two days spent pegging strings out in 6m strips and careful hand application of weed killer from a backpack spray may have hit the bulk of them. The trouble is that it also takes out the other plants close to the thistles that leave bald patches. We have not seen the last of them! The good news is that there are masses of insects and bees in the outer edges, centre footpath area and established clover on the sea side of the field. The bad news is that another two days were needed to hit the stillemerging thistles! Our target bird species are all of the smaller farmland birds that are in decline. In addition to the insects referred to above, we have a well above average population of slow worms, adders and grass snakes around the field perimeter. I was reminded by a naturalist friend that despite our own reservations as to the success of this project (in recent years) it is an 'oasis' in a comparatively sterile farming landscape. Funding is this year provided solely by The Gower Society, and without their help it is doubtful if the scheme would have continued into this, its eleventh year. Conservation is not easy, or cheap, and it can involve a lot of work. For more information contact Gordon and Beryl Howe - telephone 01792 390560 or email mewslade@aol.com
Summerland House, Caswell – info, please! Our Thursday evening walk on 7th August visited the ‘Secret Garden’ in Caswell. Can you help John and Carol Powell in their investigations: (1) Was it formerly a quarry, or if not, how was the valley formed? (2) Is the name ‘Single Pit’ for a field on the Tithe map 1844 significant? If you have any information on the (now demolished) Summerland House, or the Dingle Garden in Caswell, please ring them on 01792-520540, or email johnpowelloystermouth@gmail.com
Gower as a Watering Hole A letter in ‘The Cambrian’ newspaper, 30th Sept 1880: Sir, your correspondent Incognito has given a glowing description of Rossilly (sic) and its neighbourhood but has left unmentioned scenes in Gower actually as beautiful and as grand. The beauty of the Bay of Oxwich has been appreciated by the many excursionists who have visited it, and the ivy-mantled walls of its castle have won the admiration of both the tourist and visitor. Reynoldston, situated on the side of Cefn Bryn, near to King Arthur's Stone, is a spot full of charm for the visitor from town; and Penrice, situated amongst the woods, with its Castle and old Roman encampment, is a fine field for antiquarian studies, and the botanist will find among the woods choicest specimens of ferns and wild flowers. Horton and Porteynon possess the sands for bathing, and the scenery is grand. The reason these places have not been the resort of health and pleasure seekers is that there is but little accommodation, and for the present there seems to be no remedy for this defect, as the land being left to the present holder entail he is unable to sell the freehold and no one cares to build on another's land, and so Gower remains almost unknown. But the Gowerian looks forward to the time when the law of entail shall be abolished and the ground landlord can sell the freehold of his land – when stately dwellings shall be reared and Horton and Porteynon be extended to meet each other, forming a grand crescent and promenade in front of the beautiful bay - when a magnificent pier shall extend from the centre, and pleasure steamers find regular employment in conveying the crowds of visitors who shall resort thither to breath its salubrious and health giving air - when the bay shall be crowded with pleasure boats and the sands be covered with merry children building sand castles for the rising tide to wash away. When, instead of the solitary pillar box, a grand post office shall be reared and the telegraph flash their wants to every part of the land - when the whistle of the railway engine shall rouse the drowsy cattle, in their meadows, and a station illuminated with gas from Porteynon gas works be erected on the slope of Moorcorner hill. Hoping their expectations may be realised, I am, Sir, A Constant Visitor. A recent comment: So what has changed? The Gower Society was not formed until 1948 and we must, therefore, thank the Penrice Estate for holding back the barbarians (at the gates) until the 1950s - and then not by choice but by necessity. There are many analogies today within this Constant Visitor’s ramblings in 1880, and we can still marvel at the fact that his wishes have not been totally realised. This letter had been hoarded since 1977 when discovered while researching Lower Lliw Reservoir. Further research may find Incognito’s letter that instigated the above reply in 1880. GRH
Farewell to Brunel’s Timber Viaduct Loughor railway bridge was until recently the only remaining timber viaduct built to I. K. Brunel’s design – others having been gradually replaced by masonry structures. In April a new 220-metre-long railway viaduct was opened at a cost of £48 million, which included redoubling a five-mile section of single track between Gowerton and Swansea. But Network Rail has confirmed that a section of the original bridge will be preserved, with a number of timber trestles, alongside the new bridge, and a plaque installed. The original 1852 bridge was 750ft long, with a 40ft wrought-iron swing bridge in the opening section (the Swansea end) to allow river transport through. A week after the new Loughor viaduct was opened to traffic, the statue of Isambard Kingdom Brunel in Neyland, which had been stolen in 2010, was replaced by one recast from the same mould. Gower 57 contains an article about Brunel’s visit to Swansea in 1850, following the completion of the Landore viaduct and the opening of Swansea’s Great Western Railway station. GCG
The Tidal Lagoon – Gordon Howe reports There was a presentation in May in Rhossili Village Hall promoting the Tidal Lagoon (Swansea Bay) plc. The promoters are pushing this and talking it up to seduce any opposition into thinking that it is the most wonderful thing that ever happened to Swansea. Indeed there are many aspects that are very good and overall I find it far better than any wind farm or solar panel farm. However, the scheme is small for a huge outlay, i.e. 250Mw capacity for a £650 million outlay, but there would be a lot of fringe benefits that could be increased if there was a will to do this. I for one think that the money should be ploughed into a Severn barrage, or numerous small hydro schemes on many of our rivers. Recreational water sports/triathlon, sailing/running around the perimeter, visitor/tourism/visitor centre, cheap electricity (that the Government - i.e. us - subsidise by the increased rate), marine farming of oysters, sea weed, etc, better use of an underused area are all positives. The negatives are the enclosure of 11.5 square km area of eastern Swansea Bay, construction of a 10km-long breakwater that will be 2.5m above sea level using dredged materials from within the lagoon area, with stone to protect the bund possibly from North Wales (I estimate at least 1m tonnes). The possible impact upon marine wildlife is being investigated by Swansea University who will hardly be an independent voice. There is also talk of an electric train (that Swansea Bay type possibly!) running on the top and lighting all of the way around the perimeter. Some will find that intrusive and a waste of electricity. Giant art works are envisaged, including a submerging dragon. The long-term effects of changes in currents, sewage outfalls (there are four in the bay), sand and silt movement, flooding, navigation are all being studied. It only generates for 16 hours per day but does do a push-me/pull-me generation, i.e. in and out with the tide. The prime mover behind the company is a Mr Mark Shorrock whose profile can be dug out from the numerous Google hits that come up when you type in his name. We had to drag this information from the presenter. In short he is a millionaire entrepreneur enthusiastically chasing the feed in tariffs with tide and solar panels (not much wind!) that the Government is paying.
All of this construction could recover a lot of land from the sea to create additional homes for Swansea East and take pressure off other sensitive parts of the city. The engineering is by consultant W.S. Atkins who has an enviable reputation in the civil engineering world and has offices in Swansea and Cardiff. I think that the west facing arm of the lagoon will need much more than 2.5m freeboard above high water mark because I have witnessed in detail the impact of waves on the Port Talbot deep water harbour that has a much higher freeboard, and was constructed of pure rock core from Connelly and thousands of pre-cast interlocking concrete armour blocks. Waves regularly crash right over and I lost a contractor in the 1980s who had gone out in a van for a regular daily check but was washed over into the harbour and drowned, though two others survived. Atkins knows what they are doing, but I do wonder what their final design will be for the end section furthest out into the bay? Finally, in part of the ‘big sell’ promotional video, with harps and pretty pictures, there were shots of Rhossili Bay and The Worm. What has that to do with generating tidal electricity in Swansea Bay? This view was expressed to the two lady presenters by the Rhossili audience. It is potentially a good scheme that we in The Gower Society should not be too worried about (apart from subsidising the Feed in Tariff), yet there are serious potential flaws in promoting Utopia!
Two Gower Chapels Bicentenary 2013 is the 200th anniversary of two Gower chapels – one in the north part of the peninsula, and one in the south. In the village of Burry Green stands Bethesda, the first of six non-conformist chapels built by Lady Barham, the former Diana Middleton, who settled at Fairy Hill in 1813. The churchyard contains the grave of Rev. William Griffiths, known as ‘The Apostle of Gower’, who built up the congregation in those early days. He preached throughout the peninsula, and lived at the Manse attached to the chapel, having responsibility at various times for the chapels in Penclawdd, Cheriton, Pitton Cross (now a private house) and Oldwalls. William Griffiths was a Calvinistic Methodist, though the denomination is now known as the Presbyterian Church of Wales. Burry Green’s 150th anniversary service in 1963 was held in a marquee to accommodate the large number who came to hear the famous Welsh preacher, Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones. John Wesley was the founder of Methodism, which seceded from the Church of England after Wesley’s death. Between 1764 and 1771 he made five visits to Oxwich, where he used to stay at the thatched cottage called ‘The Nook’. In south Gower there are Wesleyan Methodist chapels at Mumbles, Murton, Horton, Pitton and Reynoldston, and there used to be others at Oxwich Green and Port Eynon. But it is Horton chapel that celebrates its bicentenary. Meetings were originally held at William Tucker’s thatched farmhouse ‘The Beeches’, as Horton became the centre of Wesleyan Methodism in Gower. William Tucker donated land on which the chapel was built, and it opened free of debt two hundred years ago. It was later extended, with a manse being erected around 1868. Burry Green still has two services each Sunday, while at Horton the Sunday services alternate with Pitton chapel. Amid all the changes over two hundred years, these rural chapels of different Christian denominations still resonate to the worship of God. GCG
Without trying to be political, or pretending that this is particularly relevant to Gower, we trust that what follows entertains:
Old King Coal Old King Coal was a very old soul, Who left this land when he lost his role. Off he went across the sea, Banished by the fiddlers three. They are the ones who rule this land – Cam, and Clegg and Miliband. ‘No more coal’, they all do say, They all agree that Wind's the way. So Old King Coal left our shores, And off he went on his Asian tours To China, India and Vietnam – They want coal and don't give a damn; To Pakistan and Korea's South, Where those in charge speak from the mouth. So off he went, that Old King Coal, Off he went to live in Seoul. They don't want him on British land! That Cam, and Clegg and Miliband. Once he ruled this land of Wales Where he employed a million males, We sent our coal out far and wide, In many ships on every tide, The best steam coal and anthracite, When South Wales was at its height. Coal was sent around Cape Horn, From Swansea docks on many a morn; Chilean copper returned to Wales, To smelting plants in Swansea's vales. More coal left the port of Barry, Sailing in ships that did not tarry, And even more from Cardiff's docks, Removed by sweat from Rhondda's rocks. Now as we look around South Wales, No coal is deep-mined from its vales. All we see are toy-town mills, Sprouting all across our hills, ‘They will soon power this land’, Claim Cam, and Clegg and Miliband. Are they bereft of common sense? How can our rulers be so dense? Two thousand equal one coal station, That’s... sixty fold to power this nation, But they all stop on windless days,
Or stormy nights in windswept bays We'll still rely on coal and gas, To power the lives of Britain's mass. That mass resides 'cross Offa's Dyke’, Where giant turbines they don't like. They won't have monsters in their vales, They want them here... in little Wales. Who lives in neighbouring unspoilt land? Why - Cam, and Clegg and Miliband! So Old King Coal has gone to Seoul, Leaving miners on the dole. He now sends coal to British ports, Where imports now replace exports. We bring in coal from way ‘down under’, Which we once supplied - it makes you wonder. The answer lies with Old King Coal, Who moved abroad to escape the dole, He left behind a Wales in sadness, Ruled by those displaying madness. So please speak out....and make no bones – Tell it straight to Carwyn Jones: We won't let wind destroy this land – Tell Cam, and Clegg and Miliband! Lyn Jenkins, Cardigan Island Coastal Farm Park, Gwbert, Cardigan