An article in today’s Daily Post has left me completely bemused:
THE Welsh Dragon flag will fly from Conwy Castle on St David’s Day despite ongoing problems with health and safety and seagull droppings.
Historic buildings and ancient monuments body Cadw, who took the flag down at the end of the summer tourist season as usual, say the castle has a particular problem with seagulls
Spikes were placed on its flagpoles to deter the birds, but fluttering cloth gets snagged on the spikes and rips.
A Cadw spokesman yesterday said it is costly to get specialist contractors to climb up and detach the remnants of the flag.
He said: “The flags are getting tangled and soiled and we are still working on a solution.
“But the Welsh Dragon flag goes up on important occasions and it will be up on St David’s Day.”
Plaid Cymru Conwy County councillor Phil Edwards is baffled why Conwy is a special case. “The Welsh Dragon can fly from other gusty landmarks like Caernarfon Castle and Harlech Castle. It’s ridiculous, given the brutality of Edward I towards the Welsh, that health and safety steps in 800 years on to prevent us pulling a flag up a pole.”
I really can’t understand the nature of Cllr Edwards’s gripe. Cadw appear to be saying that the Red Dragon will be flying from the castle, despite the best efforts of the healthansafety brigade.
Fair play to him, however, for managing to get the obligatory anglophobic jibe in, no matter how abstruse the grounds. Plaid will be proud of him.
Be careful of your headlines, David I thought that you were going to despair about Llyr doing so much better than you, him being up in a poll and you being down. Some may have come to the same conclusion without clicking the link!
The Daily Post story is obviously a case of poor journalism. The Post had heard that the flag wouldn’t be flying in Conwy and got a quote from Phil on that basis. They then found out that their story was wrong, but didn’t want to waste a good quote.
It couldn’t happen to a nicer bloke, but the same thing might happen to you. Beware Crumps after Quotes!
I think such confusion would only arise if the reader’s command of spelling was particularly shaky. But do I detect some divisions in the nationalist camp, Alwyn – “couldn’t happen to a nicer bloke”? And what are you doing reading my blog at 2.33 a.m.?
I wonder what the anglophobic remark was? Its simply a matter of fact that Edward the 1st was brutal to the Welsh. The point being that given the level of brutality enacted to stop a Welsh flag flying over Conwy in the distant past it is ironic in modern Wales that the flag cannot fly for Health and safety reasons.
if the comment had been ” all english people are or were brutal to the welsh” then that would be anglophobic. To accuse Phil of being Anglophobic or making an anglophobic remark is in itself quite offensive and you should substantiate/explain why it was anglo phobic or apologise.
Edward the 1st was unique in that he once spoke a few words of english (according to historian Norman Davies) a matter so unusual that it was recorded at the time. He was a “Norman King” speaking french on a day to day basis as removed from ordinary english people as he was from ordinary welsh people.
Phil Edwards makes a perfectly good point that, in the context of the bloody history of Conwy Castle, it’s slightly ‘bemusing’ to borrow your word, that there is such difficulty in flying the national flag.
Keep a sense of proportion, Mr Jones. As for anglophobia…..get back to reality.
I would disgaree with Alwyn ap Huw. I don’t think the Daily Post has got it wrong at all.
Division in the nationalist camp from me? As if!
And your blog is worth reading at any time of the day or night.
I don’t attempt to speak for David but my interpretation was that to bring up something that happened 800 years ago in a relatively obtuse manner was a transparent political maneuver.
It seemed like a pretty poor attempt to garner support by affirming his “Welshness” with a reference to some past wrong that we, as a nation suffered.
Of course, it reveals that this man is as racist as any BNP member – he believes he is more Welsh than you or I because he can speak Welsh, has “ap” in his name, or his grandparents lived in Llansannan all their life.
Having being born in Wales and lived there until 19, being treated as “not a proper Welshman” by valley-bred bigots purely because I don’t speak like an extra in Gavin and Stacey is the most insulting thing any person can do.
RL which man are you saying is a racist? I assume you mean Alwyn? Utterly ludicrous. if you mean Phil then you should realise his wife is English as are some of his camapign team.
If you had a bad expereince when you were 19 perhaps it matches mine as a child in England. As you dont live in Wales now perhaps you should avoid claiming people you have never met are racist…
For goodness sake RL, what is racist about saying that I misread David’s headline?
What is racist about being baptised with a Welsh name? (Even if though name before the ap is Anglo-Saxon).
For your information I have never claimed that I am more Welsh than anybody else because I can speak Welsh. English is my first language, I taught myself Welsh as an adult. My mother is a non Welsh speaking Welshwoman, I wouldn’t dare suggest that she is somehow inferior!
And if it is important, or in any way relevant to this discussion I have no family connections with Llansanan, my grandparents came from Dolgellau, Barmouth and Pontypridd.
The country is in such a mess, and many important issues need attending to by the incoming polititians after the election. That this matter can generate so much heat (8 comments) when there are so many other fires to stoke, amazes me. I am as proud of Wales and it’s flag as anyone, but let’s have some discussion on matters of more urgence as we lead up to the election before we start fulminating about flying flags, please.
Like Gordon Brown announcing there will be no cutback in services days before cutting central funding to local authorities who will have to, of course, cut services ? If the country were properly managed, we could afford to fly flags everywhere.