December 09 Newsletter

You are in for a treat for this edition.  As well as details of coming events, the usual comings and goings, it has some very interesting articles, and other member's contributions.

Our next newsletter will be in February. Stories, Poems, Welsh recipes, news items are all wanted. See you all next year.

FAY

PRESIDENT'S CORNER

President Sylvia Williams has already flown over to the U.K. for a visit to her beloved Wales. We all hope she has a wonderful time, and comes back with some lovely stories about Christmastime in Cymru. She will be away until 16 January - back in time for our sausage sizzle on 20 January.

Olwen and Bryce Henley will be holidayinq away from Perth from 16 January for a week so they will not be at our sausage sizzle in January. Good wishes to John Roberts, who will be away in Queensland for two months on a family holiday.

On behalf of the Committee I wish all our members and families a very Happy Christmas and New Year.

 

Pat Price. Vice President.

 

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY

 

This coming Sunday 20^th December - Carol Service at Welsh Free Church, Trinity Church, St. George's Terrace at 3pm.

Sausage Sizzle - Wednesday 20 January 2010 S.Perth Bowling Club 7.30pm.

We start 2010 with our super sausage sizzle on Wednesday 20 January at our usual venue - South Perth Bowling Club at 7.30pm. We will need some willing helpers to help with the barbeque.

Trip to Mandurah - March 2010

This is a repeat notice that Bryce has made a block booking for 20 people on a Saturday in March (probably Saturday 20^th) with Mandurah Ferry Cruises, byo lunch or have fish and chips. Cost $20 per head. As most of us are pensioners or seniors, rail travel from Perth to Mandurah is free on weekends. Bus connection from the railway station to the Ferry Cruise boarding site is direct, free and frequent. Final details will be in our February newsletter.

Book Launch "Hiraeth" - A History of the Welsh Free Church of Western Australia (Inc.) Within the broader context of the Welsh Community in Western Australia

This took place on Sunday 22 November at Trinity Church at a special Service of the Welsh Free Church. The Hon. Liz Behjat MLC, Member for North Metropolitan Region, was present together with our Patron, Bob Kuchera and Mrs. Kuchera, and many other notables connected with the Welsh Free Church, the Welsh Society and members of the Welsh community in this State. The author, historian Or. Susan Hart and Dr. Jean Cherkovich of the Centre for Western Australian History at the University of Western Australia attended the Service and Book Launch. Copies of "Hiraeth" were available for purchase after the Service, and Or. Hart was kind enough to autograph copies on request.

The book has been published by the Welsh Free Church of Western Australia in association with the Centre for Western Australian History at The University of Western Australia.

Copies will be placed in libraries and other public institutions, but the Welsh Free Church hope to recoup some of their costs for this project, and "Hiraeth" is available for purchase through The Welsh Free Church at $20 a copy. Please contact Odwyn Jones for further information. Quite a few of our members, past and present, feature in "Hiraeth", and it is a fascinating and very moving book to read.

A CHRISTMAS POEM FROM WALES

Here is a Christmas poem from Wales that Odwyn found and translated for us. By way of introduction he says:

"The beauty of poetry is the imagery that a few words can evoke in the mind of the reader~ The following 'englyn' by R. Glyn Jones is a perfect example, and I can but hope that my translation conveys a little of its magic.   

Canwyll Nadolig	Christmas Candle
Ei gwer fu yn differ, - lawer pryd	Its tallow dripped, - often
Ar lawr pridd y teulu;	On our hearth's earthen floor.
Aeres fach yr oes a fu	Heiress of life's past lore
Eto heno'n tywynnu.	It shines tonight once more.

  

Thank you Odwyn for translating this beautiful poem for us to enjoy. Diolch!

Huw Bevan told me about an excellent newsletter put out by the Welsh Society of Wellington - Cymdeithas Gymreig Wellington. I quote one of the articles in the November/December 2009 issue because some of us were talking about the restored railway line linking Ebbw Vale with Cardiff last month. Thank you for this Huw.

 

One Million Train Passengers

A rail service linking Ebbw Vale with Cardiff has celebrated carrying its millionth passenger less than two years after it opened. The service linking the south Wales valley town and the capital resumed in February 2008 after a gap of 46 years. About half a million passengers were initially expected a year. But Deputy First Minister leuan Wyn Jones, who took the 08.40 service from Ebbw Vale.Parkway, said demand had 'outstripped all expectations'. Mr. Jenes, who is also the Assembly Government Transport Minister, said he was delighted that the landmark had been achieved less than two years after launch. 'Our original estimations said we would meet this mark after four years' he said. 'This goes to show what a worthwhile investment this has been and how it is bringing economic and social benefits to many people along this route.'

The Welsh ssembly Government funded a three million pound sterling refit of 18 miles of track to make the line - which was previously used for freight services from the old Corus steelworks - suitable for passenger trains. Six new stations were built as part of the project, complete with car parks and CCTV systems for improved passenger safety. The original opening of the service was scheduled for late 2007, but was delayed for a couple of months while infrastructure works were carried out. Representatives of Blaenau Gwent council and operators Arriva Train Wales joined Mr. Jones on Tuesday's celebratory trip.

Des Hillman, the Council leader said: 'After the closure of the steelworks, local people showed typical Blaenau Gwent spirit and began the work of regeneration. Calling for the railway to be rebuilt was part of this. The news that the railway is such a success is a boost for our confidence. And it has already strengthened our hand in bidding for more Heads of the Valleys programme funding and investment. We have an ambitious and exciting vision to regenerate our county borough - now we must all work together to seize the opportunity to win the investment that can make it happen.' Mike Bagshaw, commercial director of Arriva Trains Wales, said: 'We have been delighted with the popularity of this service from day one and it illustrates a wider trend of strong passenger growth in South Wales.' He said the success of the Ebbw Vale line illustrated the company's 'commitment to improvement and growth in the rail transport network.' .

(Our acknowledgment and thanks to the Welsh Society of Wellington. NZ Inc.)

 

JOKER'S CORNER

I think Pat Price told me this one:

A man takes his Rotweiler to the vet.

"My dog's cross-eyed, is there anything you can do for him?"
'Well", says the vet, "let's have a look at him".

So he picks the dog up and examines his eyes, then checks his teeth.
Finally, he says, "I'm going to have to put him down".

"What! Because he's cross-eyed?"

"No, because he's really heavy!"

WILLS ON LINE

Also reported by the Welsh Society of Wellington. NZ Inc was a five year project to make 190,000 wills available on line. More than 3 million pages have been digitised and placed on the National Library of Wales website. They date from the 14th Century until 1858, and many of them were written in Welsh.

In the collection is the will of Twm Sion Cati, known as the Welsh Robin Hood. He was from Tregaron in Ceredition. As a youth he was a highwayman but was famous for his kindness to his victims. Later on he became a magistrate.

Also among the wills is that of hymn writer William Williams, Pantycelyn, and Howell Harris, the famous Welsh religious reformer .:

For those into computers - have a look at the National Library of Wales site - it is full of information and I have done a great deal of my own family history research, both at the Library itself when I was in Aberstwyth and also on line from WA.

ARTICLE BY JOHN ROBERTS

A very interesting article by John about a very heartwarming story from the Collie area about two Welsh lads, David W Jones, Bill Davies and a pretty girl called Nellie.

 

Reading Dr.Odwyn's narration about early Welsh settlers in the May 2009 Newyddion reminds me of a tale that I heard whilst doing some research in Collie some time ago.

The story goes back to 1885 when two adventurous young Welsh pals from Pontardawe emigrated to Melbourne. Neither lad knew or spoke anything but Welsh.  They were David W. Jones (Dave to his mates) and Bill Davies.  The years advanced during which time the pals had moved to WA to look for work. Whilst in Melbourne, Dave had fallen madly in love with a girl Nellie (Ellen) Heath, born in London.  Ellen, being so much in love followed Dave to Western Australia by sea, to land in Albany.  In those days, voyaging by sea was the only means of reaching WA from the eastern states.  Certainly no recognised connecting road existed at all.

Even as recently as 1966, when the writer and his family made the journey overland from Melbourne to Perth towing a 22 feet long caravan over the Nullarbor Plain. About a thousand miles of unsealed dirt track existed.  Only three or four vehicles a day used that one and only route, mostly commercial vehicles.  The track had been upgraded during the 1939/45 war to accommodate military vehicles but had by 1966 been allowed to fall into disrepair because WA even, as late as then, had hardly any commercial contact with the eastern states by road.  To meet another vehicle along the Nullarbor was a signal for travellers to stop for a chat with each other, more than likely brew up a billy of tea, and pass on information to one another about the conditions of the road ahead for each other.  Our leisurely journey took a whole month; we were in no particular hurry; but that's another story.  

Now then.   Back to Dave and Nellie.  Head over heels in love.  Crazily missing her sweetheart Nellie had got a berth on a ship to Albany where the couple had a romantic reunion.  They married in October 1892 in that city. (By now, Dave's pal Bill had disappeared from the scene.  No record of his continuing life exists.  

Dave was by now anxious to find work.  He learnt of the discovery of coal in the region of Collie.  He rushed there where he joined a team of prospectors to look for coal in the area. He'd left Nellie in Albany in a domestic job.  However she missed Dave so much that she made a supreme effort to join him.  Dave's work was deep in the wilderness.  The only tools he had with him were an axe, a shovel, a needle and twine.  Nellie opted to join her darling new husband.  The lad chose a clearing in the bush and cut some saplings to erect the framework of a shanty.  Nellie sewed bags (sacking) together for walls. Dave gathered the bark of trees to construct a door and roofing to protect them from insects and the weather.  They used calico for windows and worked together clay and saplings to form a fireplace and chimney.  The finished 'mansion' sported a treated earthen interior floor; Nellie lined the walls with cretonne.  She was by this time proving to be an expert needlewoman. The surprisingly comfortable weather and insect-proof humpy was given the name 'Carnarvon Castle'. (Note the Australian spelling.)

A record of Dave's recollections of the time showed his concern particularly about his love having to live in such isolation; having to rough it in that virgin, untamed bush. He regarded her as a 'Brick. Never uttering a word of complaint'. Their nearest neighbour in an emergency was a distance of twenty five miles away. To reach the closest doctor in an emergency would have entailed a journey on foot of forty miles. The only other human contact they had was a blackfellow who routinely brought them provisions once a month.  

In 1924 Dave wrote, paying tribute to the thousands of courageous women who like Nellie pioneered alongside their menfolk under trying condition.  Dave also wrote 'The only way to get on in this country is by industriousness, perseverance and economy'. He continued 'If two men emigrate together, they must be true to themselves and true to the country where they intend to reside and should always bear in mind that money isn't everything.  To be worthy and useful citizens of their adopted country is far more precious than all the gold in Australia'.  

The couple stayed in Collie until their retirement.  Dave had given Collie the benefit of his organising skills having served as Mayor for several terms of office. Nellie gave valuable and honourable services in the Collie community throughout her life.

Let us salute our womenfolk fellows. We all have, or have known a Nellie in our lives, without whom we would have been utterly stranded. Aint love grand! (Writer’s comment).    JOHN ROBERTS:          Mehefin 2009