Cymuned Policy Evidence for presentation to the National Assembly for Wales Culture Committee Evidence given by 72 individuals from all over Wales Efailnewydd, Gwynedd
Ann Thomas 7 Rhes Bodegroes Efailnewydd Pwllheli Gwynedd I have lived in Efailnewydd (about a mile and a half from Pwllheli) since 1986 in a terrace of ten houses (small cottages). When I first came here 2 cottages were holiday homes and the remainder were all Welsh speaking families. Now only three Welsh speaking families live here - 7 are holiday homes. All through the summer holidays and weekends nothing but English is heard. There is a caravan park on the outskirts of the village, and when I am sitting and relaxing at home on the weekend, I often see people passing the house on their way to pick up their papers in the shop, and again nothing but English is heard. Similarly when shopping in Pwllheli it is as if I were in the middle of Manchester. My friend and I had gone in to the local Spar at Abersoch, and we were chatting together and waiting our turn to pay at the till, when an English woman turned to us and said "Do you mind not speaking that stupid language in front of me." My husband and I have started to study our family tree, and by going back in time we have discovered the old family houses in Pen Llyn - all are now holiday homes.
Efailnewydd, Gwynedd David Alun Thomas 7 Bodegroes Efailnewydd Pwllheli Gwynedd 1. I live in a terrace house in a row of 10 traditional cottages, and out of the 10 houses only 3 families are Welsh speaking the other 7 cottages are holiday homes, and are empty more often than not. 2. I work as a Painter and Decorator (self-employed) and during the last three weeks I have been working in Llithfaen, Llangian and Llangwnnadl doing external work and in each of these villages I could hear nothing but the English language all day barely a word of Welsh was heard. As far as I could ascertain English people occupy all the houses. Pen Llyn's rural cottages have all gone to outsiders, only the farmers remain. 3. I see young Welsh people speaking English with their children I consider that to be scandalous because those children will then speak English with everybody.
4. My son has just graduated from university this year, but there is not much hope that he will find work in this area. 5. I have heard that planning permission granted in the 70s to build houses in Abersoch is still in force. 6. My daughter lives in Abersoch and I hate going there to visit her because I feel intimidated. They look at me in an odd sort of way because I have a Welsh name on the van as well as the red dragon. I look forward to seeing New Legislation being brought in to control in-migration to Pen Llyn, and to keep the language alive. Trawsfynydd, Gwynedd Dewi Prysor 57 Maesheli Penparcau Aberystwyth Ceredigion
Who said that "When Welsh dies in the Rhondda and Trawsfynydd then it will die throughout Wales"? I left Ysgol Bro Hedd Wyn, Trawsfynydd in 1979. At that time there were 128 pupils at the school (primary school) and only two of them, a brother and sister, had to receive special lessons to improve their Welsh, and that was only because they had moved away from the village to Hong Kong for a brief period when very young due to their father's work. The results of a review conducted by Trawsnewid the village regeneration agency reveal that only 75% of the population speak Welsh. Twenty years, more or less; what of the next ten years? Trawsfynydd is an interesting example. When the Nuclear Power Station was being built, many workers from all over Britain moved into the area. Some settled in Trawsfynydd, others in Blaenau Ffestiniog. However, this had little effect on the language of the area. This was natural in-migration to a healthy community that was not under threat. If marrying locally, the language of the parents at home would be English, but despite this, due to the strength of the language in the community, children such as these would be turned into fluent Welsh speakers. As things stand with the housing market and the terrible state of the rural economy, we have seen wave after wave of a new kind of in-migration, an unnatural kind of in-migration. In-migration of whole families with young children, in-migration of retired people and so on. In-migration for in-migration's sake. Incomers bringing their culture with them. Bearing in mind that this new kind of in-migration also deprives Welsh people of homes, in marked contrast to the old kind of in-migration which could result in fostering a household of proud Welsh speakers. 20 years - 25%. Those are the figures for Trawsfynydd. And with the current increase in the scale of the in-migration, the prospects for the coming ten years are very bleak. I believe that the example of Trawsfynydd shows that opposing the current wave of threatening in-
migration (as opposed to the natural in-migration of the past) is not a matter of being anti-incomers or of being hostile to variety. Welsh, Irish, Scots, English. They came from everywhere to Stiniog and Traws during the building of Trawsfynydd and Tanygrisiau Power Stations, as well as the slate quarries. Their children were all Welsh speakers, thanks to the underlying strength of the local culture and economy at the time. However, there are so many English-speaking people in our communities (and bilingualism as well) that the incomers do not have to learn a single word of Welsh. A new community is created alongside the native Welsh speaking community. An English language community. Real interrelation between these two communities is very limited, and the language of communication between those few individuals from both communities that do socialise is English. This is a natural result of the bilingual nature of the Welsh speaking community. Nevertheless, it does show that the Welsh language and the native culture would be at a disadvantage from the outset, even without the terrible scale of the current inmigration. It is also disadvantaged due to the natural strength of the English language and culture. Welsh speaking communities therefore face several obstacles, even when incomers and native people communicate. Many areas have complained that the language of Christmas plays at schools and Sunday Schools, as well the language of school governing bodies and parish councils, has changed to English, due to the presence of English speaking members. If schools cannot successfully assimilate children in Welsh, then there is no future for the language. And if it is not possible to provide lessons, "Welsh welcome" evenings, culture classes, translation equipment and so on for those incomers who wish to take part in the activities of the community, then we need to take serious look at the credibility of our politicians. Trawsfynydd, Gwynedd Meleri Wyn Williams 29 Nottingham Street
Canton Caerdydd I was raised on a farm in Cwm Prysor near Trawsfynydd and educated at Ysgol y Moelwyn, Blaenau Ffestiniog, and Coleg Meirion Dwyfor, Dolgellau. I grew up in a close-knit Welsh speaking community, and was an enthusiastic member of the local branches of the Urdd and Young Farmers Club in Trawsfynydd. Nowadays there is no Urdd branch in Trawsfynydd and the membership of the Young Farmers Club is falling every year. It is 5 years since I left the area, and going back home is more often than not a sad experience. I am not sure of the statistics but more English is heard in the village and there has been an influx of incomers and their families from the large English cities over the last few years some have left but others have stayed. The same is true of Blaenau Ffestiniog where organisations such as Tai Eryri are unable to stop this. Unemployment is a serious problem at home, and I myself have moved down to Cardiff. It is doubtful whether I would be able to pursue my career back home in the North. The slate quarries are dying, the power station has closed down, the Plastics factory pays a pittance, tourism is a seasonal industry and the foot and mouth epidemic is another nail in the farmers' coffin. Economic prosperity must go hand in hand with any regeneration of the community. Opportunities and employment would stop the outward migration. Things must change. Llan Ffestiniog, Gwynedd Enid F Williams Onfa
Heol yr Orsaf Llan Ffestiniog 1. There are currently 75 pupils at Bro Cynfal (Llan Ffestiniog Primary School) - 10 of these are non-welsh speakers. The normal practice is for pupils such as these to attend Ysgol Cefn Coch at Penrhyndeudraeth for a term to be immersed in the language; this arrangement has proved effective. A further 5 non-welsh speakers will attend the school from September the largest group yet according to the headteacher. 2. Welsh is the language of Ffestiniog Town Council (which includes Blaenau Ffestiniog and Llan Ffestiniog), with both the agenda and minutes prepared bilingually. 3. Non-Welsh speakers run both pubs in the village. A young Welsh speaker, born and bred in the village, runs our only shop. A non-welsh speaking couple keep the Post Office, but the wife is learning Welsh and apparently, she is making good progress. A Welsh speaker owns the garage. 4. During the last few years a small estate of new houses was built along with a couple of individual homes; all these houses are occupied by Welsh speakers. 5. A number of houses are currently for sale (I have not counted them!). They vary in price from a very small house on sale for a reduced price of 25,500 to those priced between 30,000 + and 40,000. Two were recently sold for 80,000+ to non-welsh speaking families (the children of this family are amongst the 5 incomers expected to attend school in September). One house (a quite large old house) is on the market for
129,000 it is possible that this house will be bought by a couple, one Welsh speaking, the other non-welsh speaking. 6. There are 627 registered voters. Of these 164 are non-welsh speaking incomers, and 12 (to my knowledge) of these are making efforts to learn the language some making better progress than others. If some of the others are learning the language, then they are certainly keeping it under their hat! Strangely enough, the percentage of incomers on the voters register (26%) is lower than what it has been in the past - I have counted them previously and found the percentage to be around 33%. Bow Street, Ceredigion Esyllt Mair Dafydd 11 Maes Afallen Bow Street Aberystwyth Ceredigion A new housing estate was built opposite the primary school in Bow Street a few years ago. All the children from there were sent to the school opposite, and since then there s been a great increase in the anglicisation of the village. A little further down the village there s a field opposite our estate which has caught the eye of a number of people who want to buy it to build another estate!
When I left Ysgol Gyfun Penweddig two years ago there had been a big change since 1992. More things being done bilingually and less Welsh spoken. A number of my friends intend moving to Cardiff to look for work. Porth-y-rhyd, Carmarthenshire Megan Bevan, Y Blewyn Glas, Porth-y-rhyd, Carmarthen. I was born and brought up in Carmarthenshire. My parents spoke Welsh and Welsh was the language of the home. I have chosen to live in a Welsh-speaking community. My two children were educated through the medium of Welsh, to university level in one case; the other studied at the University of Glamorgan where his course was not offered through the medium of Welsh.
Welsh in the Workplace Although I have chosen to live in the 'Welsh heartlands', the language is no longer heard regularly on the streets of Carmarthen. It is true that one can join several organisations that conduct all their business in Welsh but we now have to go out of our way to do things Welsh. It is no longer the language heard naturally on the streets of the town. There has been a marked deterioration during the past two years. In chain stores such as Currys, Gilesport etc, I have not come across any member of staff who could speak Welsh, although I always request a Welsh speaker. Can this be a coincidence or is it policy? Equal opportunities are important in all spheres of life these days, but not as far as the Welsh language is concerned. Equal Opportunities legislation should be amended to give Welsh speakers in Welshspeaking communities the same rights as English-speaking in-migrants. Employers should have to ensure that the percentage of Welsh speakers employed by them should reflect the percentage of Welsh speakers in the local community. I believe that that is a very reasonable expectation. It was most encouraging to read in the current edition of Golwg that the new Chief Executive of the county believes that Council staff should reflect the 55% of Welsh speakers in the County. I was interviewed for a post with an organisation that has a robust Welsh language policy. I know that this is so because I translated the policy. The chair's opening sentence at the interview was, 'You don't mind this interview being conducted in English, do you, Megan'. I was utterly floored. I felt that I had been insulted as had my language. I wrote to complain later and received a letter which said that interviewees would in future be allowed to opt for an interview in English or Welsh. This brings me to another point. I know of many cases where, although it was claimed at interview by the interviewees that they had a sound knowledge of Welsh, on appointment the ability to speak and write the language disappeared into thin air. And it would be invidious to refer to those who promised before being appointed that they would learn Welsh who later conveniently forgot to keep the promise they had made. I was shopping at Leekes one day. I failed to find a member of staff who could speak Welsh in the
particular department I visited that day. There are Welsh speakers but I have the impression that the number is declining and they are cleaners rather than sales people. Since the assistant was having difficulty in writing my address, I offered to write it for her. She had a fit of giggles when she saw my address. She had never seen Carmarthen written in Welsh, or so she claimed. And she lives in Dre-fach, ten miles or so from Carmarthen! Housing A small estate of some twelve houses was built in this village recently. There is only one Welsh-speaking family living there. What chance does the Welsh-speaking child have of keeping the language when there is so much English around? Why build houses if they are not needed locally? Most of the in-migrants are retired. My daughter and her partner wish to buy a house in mid Wales. House prices rose 110% in the town over the past year; I have seen no reference anywhere to this fact. They tried to buy a farm but although they increased their offer above the value of the farm, the farmer decided he would prefer to advertise the farm in London. Needless to say he has no previous experience of farming. No doubt his successor will also fail to become a farmer. To sum up: 1. Equal Opportunities legislation needs to be amended to include equal language rights for Welsh speakers. 2. Employers should ensure that the percentage of Welsh speakers in their workforce reflects the
percentage of Welsh speakers in the local community. 3. In-migrants need training to help them to settle in Welsh villages courses need to be provided to help them learn Welsh and to understand that we have our own separate culture. 4. Housing must be provided for local people at a price they can afford. 5. The services provided should be of a similar standard in both English and Welsh. 6. Employers should be able to check the ability of potential employees to utilise the Welsh language in their work. Newcastle Emlyn, Carmarthenshire Gwen Jones Cwyn y Gwynt Ffordd Penlon Newcastle Emlyn Carmarthenshire The Welsh language in declining in the town, in the schools and the shops. People insult the language without attempting to learn or understand it.
Rhiwlas, Gwynedd Gwenno Fflur Roberts 4 Caeau Gleision Rhiwlas Bangor Since there s no shop or pub in Rhiwlas, and only some of the old people attend the two chapels (one of them has just closed and the land and the building have been sold cheap), there s no community outside the primary school here. You rarely hear Welsh spoken by small children on the streets even though it may be that only a minority of them are non-welsh speaking, I m not sure. Most of the people of my age (22) have left the village. Gwernmynydd, Flintshire Gwyn Hughes 19 Padeswood Road
Buckley Flintshire In the 1950s, Welsh was the language of my village, Gwernmynydd. A big housing estate was built there in 1971 and the village was anglicised by incomers from Liverpool. The same thing happened to us in Mynydd Isa, Broughton, Shotton, Connah s Quay. Beware, Gwynedd, the same change will come to you unless you watch out. Boduan, Gwynedd Hafina Pritchard Tyddyn Cae Boduan Pwllheli I ve got three children between 6 and 3 years old and ever since the eldest was born I ve had to make a point of asking for a Welsh-speaking Health Visitor every time the children need assessing. Since the Nursery Units have been set up in the primary schools, I feel that 7 years of age is too late to send the English speakers to the language units peripatetic teachers should be used to involve these children at 3 years of age.
Pwllheli, Gwynedd Heledd Bowers Min y Don Ffordd Caerdydd Pwllheli Gwynedd I ve had a monolingual English health visitor at the Pwllheli clinic to give an 8 month assessment to my daughter. Dolanog, Powys Heledd Jones Y Glyn Dolanog Welshpool
Powys Since an English speaker took over the ownership of the post office, the language of conversation and gossip in that important centre in the village has turned to English. At one time, 15 years ago, only two of the seven families in the council houses were English-speaking today, only one Welsh-speaking family lives there. The meetings of the women s institute used to be all in Welsh until seven years ago: because so many non-welsh speakers attend them, they ve become bilingual. Abersoch, Gwynedd Helen Roberts 59 Cae Du Abersoch Pwllheli Gwynedd I m a Pen Llyn girl with a generation of my family here. I believe very strongly in the Welsh language, and that local people should have their own homes.
I live in Abersoch on Cae Du estate, and the housing situation here is terrible houses for sale at prices which are out of the reach of local people, houses empty for long periods, and on top of that more houses are being built. Throughout the winter, the estate is as if it s hibernating; as soon as the children s summer holidays come, you d think that Christmas had come early lights in every window in the evening, people everywhere. These should be houses for local people, not second homes for visistors. My son is at Abersoch primary school which has an average of 25 pupils. Out of that total, only four families speak Welsh as a first language at home. Most of the lessons are spent teaching Welsh to the majority of the new children who ve arrived. All credit to the head teacher who keeps the language strong her work gets more difficult every year. Just a word about the shops: during the summer they raise their prices in the food store, until the number of visitors goes down. How does this help local people? They have to go to Pwllheli to buy the same things more cheaply. Unfortunately, I can only count a handful of shops which have Welsh-speaking staff. Two new clothes shops have opened during the last two months, in addition to the nine others that are here, which make the point that you shouldn t enter with less than a 50 note. What comfort is that to us on the wages we have in this area? These aren t shops for us. The local pub no luck here. I ve never heard a Welsh song on the juke box or a Welsh band singing here. Who wants to be in the middle of a crowd who stare at me as if I was in a foreign country? I prefer to go somewhere else and be able to speak my own language with someone from the area. What enrages me more than anything is the empty houses which are used as second homes, their attitude towards us, as if they were looking down on us and wrinkling their noses. The visitors favourite saying at the moment is "We own this house and property" and it s becoming ever more popular amongst them. The words which would be music to my ears would be "Fi yw perchennog y ty yma". ("I m the owner of this house.")
Something must be done about this flood of visitors who come here to buy houses as second homes, and about maintaining the Welsh-speaking community. Llanbedrog, Gwynedd Ieuan Evans Refail Llanbedrog Pwllheli Gwynedd Until the 1960s Llanbedrog was a village full of life and activity but today there isn t a single Welsh society left except for some half dozen members in the three chapels. Two thirds of the village are holiday homes or houses of in-migrants from England, and the prices of these houses are over 100,000 for a two-bedroomed property. A large number of houses were built in the 1970s and 1980s for incomers and these houses are far beyond the reach of any local person. In granting permission to build these houses, our local councillors were completely blind to the problem and until very recently were not willing to do anything about it.
There s no work here so the local youngsters leave to go to Cardiff and the south in search of work. If nothing is done about the situation in the next two years, Llanbedrog will be a completely dead village for eight months of the year. Caernarfon, Gwynedd Lari Parc 2 Bro Arfon Y Fron Caernarfon A number of new people with no wish to speak Welsh are moving into the cheaper houses. Oppressive attitudes, aggressive looks in the street as you greet people in Welsh.
The eternal stress of having to see cultural damage done every day without a care in the world. The distaste of knowing that the main parties in the Assembly have agreed not to mention the murder of a culture which is going on under their noses. Help! Llwyndyrus, Gwynedd Llio Meirion Ysgubor Plas Llwyndyrus Pwllheli Gwynedd 1. The village hall at Y Ffôr, Pwllheli used to hold a Welsh community carol service every Christmas until three years ago. It is now totally bilingual. 2. Pwllheli chamber of trade was monolingually Welsh until 18 months ago. It is now monolingually English.
3. Five village post offices have closed in the Llyn Peninsula during the past two years it s a reflection of the decline in the local economy which means there s outward migration. Llwyndyrus, Gwynedd Myrddin ap Dafydd Ysgubor Plas Llwyndyrus Pwllheli Gwynedd I ve been travelling around primary and secondary schools to hold poetry workshops for eight years. Children s ability to handle words is crucial to their ability to take part in such classes. I m now revisiting some of the schools in Llyn, Môn, Dyffryn Conwy and Ceredigion schools which used to be naturally Welsh-speaking. The decline in the standard of spoken Welsh in these areas is atrocious, in a short period. This decline is not reflected in the SATS statistics. Ten years ago the Christmas concert at Capel Garmon school was monolingually Welsh. There are a number of non-welsh speaking parents in the village now, and a proportion of the concert has turned to English.
The annual parents and governors meeting of the same school is now bilingual and the Welsh tend to speak in English as there is no translation service available. The behind the counter service in the post office in Llanrwst has been monolingually English for the past three years, since it was privatised and lost the bilingual staff who used to deal with the public. Cwmystwyth, Ceredigion Meredydd Evans Afallon, Cwmystwyth, Aberystwyth, Ceredigion Here is a brief resume regarding the state of the language here in Cwmystwyth and some general observations on the influx of in-migrants. At the end of the nineteen fities there were only two or three houses here where English was the language of the home. The floodgates started to open in the sixties and by the beginning of the eighties homes where Welsh was spoken were in a minority. Since then the situation has changed little. A further slight deterioration.
At the moment (and I have made use of the electoral roll to obtain the names of the houses) this is how things stand: Homes where English is the language spoken: 30 Holiday homes (only one belongs to Welsh speakers): 20/1 Homes where Welsh is the language spoken: 13. Six of those in the third category are farming families (1 farm only in the first category) and three other families are involved in agriculture. If it were not for the farms, Cwmystwyth would be an English village. I do not have details of Pontrhydygroes, Ysbyty Ystwyth, Pontarfynach, Trisant and Ponterwyd, but I understand that there is little difference in the percentages there. And now for three general remarks on the influx of in-migrants a word which engenders great fear amongst political parties, unfortunately: 1. It is this influx that is killing the language. Economic factors and outward migration are familiar fare. They were discussed ad nauseum by politicians throughout the last century, with the efforts made to improve the situation being intermittent and inadequate. There is no reason to believe that things will be different this time. Yet in-migration can kill a Welsh community within twenty years, or less. In the 7th August edition of the Western Mail the following words were attributed to Cynog Dafis: "It is largely a problem of economic weakness and economic outmigation." Incorrect. 2. In places such as Cwmystwyth, it would be quite unreal to speak of controlling the housing market. There are scarcely two or three houses here that would not fetch at least 100,000 at present. They are all well beyond the means of workers in the area with a normal wage. From the point of view of the language, here and in similar places, the focus must be on setting up a formal adult education system with the aim
of providing two types of courses, namely Welsh Studies (which would provide general information about Wales) and courses for learning Welsh. They should be based in a Community School which would serve a cluster of villages (here, for instance, Pontarfynach would serve Trisant, Pontrhydygroes, Ysbyty Ystwyth, Cwmystwyth and Ponterwyd) with a Tutor and an assistant, both members of the Community School staff. This would be operated on a voluntary basis, of course, and the students would be expected to contribute something towards the provision. The term 'areas of linguistic regeneration' would have to be defined, and substantial funding obtained from Europe and the National Assembly, as would college training courses for tutors. 3. The situation is different in communities where the Welsh language is under threat but remains a force in people's lives. Here job creation, managing the housing market and favouring local people as far as work and housing are concerned are all necessary. This is a challenge to the creativity of politicians and all the experts they are able to call upon. And there is a particularly pressing need for controlling in-migration. As a result, priority must be given to controlling housing; ensuring conditions that would allow local people to buy houses. Far more substantial financial obligation are involved here than in case (2) but this has to be addressed if the country's government wishes to defend and strengthen Welsh-speaking communities. What is the cost of preventing genocide? Ffestiniog, Gwynedd Nesta Evans Awelon Ffestiniog
Gwynedd Seven houses sold to incomers with three being next door to each other. As far as committees are concerned, one English speaker can change the language of a committee. Bethel, Gwynedd Sian Harris Tyddyn Andrew Uchaf Bethel Caernarfon Gwynedd A Welsh family from Bethel have exchanged a council house with a monoglot English family from Manchester. They in turn drew family and friends and these stayed. It's unbelievable that Cyngor Gwynedd allows this kind of exchange.
Ysbyty Ifan, Sir Conwy Helga Martin Hafan Ysbyty Ifan Betws y Coed Sir Conwy [Second-hand Welshwoman, so to speak, as I was born in Switzerland, brought up in Germany and lived in England for thirty years; here since 1984.] Here, in Ysbyty Ifan, we are fortunate that until now everything has been Welsh and in the medium of Welsh. But how much longer I do not know. The shop has closed since 31.7.1999; supermarkets rather than in-migration killed it. To alleviate the problem of being without a shop and therefore without a suitable place to meet and have a chat every day, a local girl who owns a dressmaking shop opened a post office for four hours a week. This is indeed a blessing. Until recently, in-migrants from England had little impact on the ethos of the community. But more arrived last year, and they are now 'gelling' increasingly. There will be two communities before long if things continue to move in that direction, and the fear that this will happen has begun to grip local people. The percentage of houses with English people living in them or being used as holiday homes has increased since last year. Until now, one only of the holiday-home owners has shown an honest interest in tackling the Welsh language. I had quite a shock when I heard him greet me with bore da, bore braf!, having learnt a little from tapes in England.
Pwllheli, Gwynedd Sarah Marion Jones Llwydiarth Cae Capel Pwllheli, Gwynedd I have just graduated, but there is no employment /salaries that correspond to my qualifications in the area. It appears likely that I will have to move to another area to get a job. I feel that all my peer group are leaving and moving to Cardiff and other cities. We do not even have the option of staying in our areas. Mynytho, Gwynedd Name and address supplied I work for a company that has been one the major employers in the town for 26 years, recently the company received a grant from the Welsh Development Agency to move to a new building. We moved
to the new location some twelve months ago. In that time, the company has made several new appointments, but the majority of these have been given to monolingual English people, some of whom have been helped by the company with their relocation costs. One or two of them have retired to the area or their partners have retired here. Promotion within the company is an infrequent occurence, and no Welsh people are in a managerial position in the office; instead those of us who have given the best years of their lives to the company are pushed to the bottom of the ladder. As a single person living in a council house there is no hope that I will be able to afford to buy my own house. A small three-bedroomed terraced house has just come on the market for 75,000 and on my salary I would never be able to get a mortgage for it. I would be more than happy to move from here, because the estate has deteriorated terribly over the last few years. The rent of private housing also costs between 50 and 60 a week, which is out of the question. A few months ago a local house became vacant and it was let by Gwynedd Council to a couple that have just moved here from the Midlands and are running an old people's home in Abersoch. How on earth did these people get enough points to be given a council house? I believe it is high time that something is done before it is too late, and before the Cheshire Set takes over and the area becomes a place for them to escape to at weekends or permanently. Waunfawr, Gwynedd
John Glyn Garmon 2, Stad Ty Hen Waunfawr, Gwynedd I believe that the Housing Associations practice of locating non-welsh speaking families in Welsh speaking villages is something which should be looked into as a matter of urgency. (For example, Cymdeithas Tai Eryri in Trefor in Gwynedd). Statutory requirements are the probable reason for this, but bearing in mind the fragile nature of Welshness in our villages, is it not be possible to change the rules, or to prevent this from happening in particular circumstances such as this in order to safeguard what remains of our heritage? Caernarfon, Gwynedd Helen Gwyn Dwylan
Ffordd Bangor Caernarfon Until now the town of Caernarfon has been one of the strongholds of the Welsh language (in all its varieties!) and is heard naturally on the street, in shops and in pubs. I am a town councillor, the meetings are held in Welsh and the minutes are bilingual. This is an improvement on the past in some senses but some of the Councillors continue to consider the Welsh language and its survival as something irrelevant to them. Tai Eryri are blamed for the houses built on the Maesincla Estate (Cae Llwybr) and all the tenants come from outside the area. This has created serious bad feeling. Unemployment, empty shops, crime and the strike at the old Ferodo factory are the current problems. These topics are, for the moment at least, discussed on street corners in Welsh. We need employment to keep young Welsh speakers in the town and to raise their standard of living. Y Groeslon, Gwynedd Mary Hughes
Llwynpiod Y Groeslon Gwynedd Relatively few new houses are built. The area is still in good heart a number of successful meetings held over the winter months by the WEA, Merched y Wawr, Literary Society, Drama Festival and the Urdd. A lack of young people to take over the reins when our generation (50+) becomes weary. Too many houses are let to temporary tenants (6 months or so). No identification with local society. Several villages nearby are significantly worse off Bron-y-foel, Nebo, Cwm y Glo, are examples of social exclusion. Dinas, Gwynedd Meryl Davies Nyffryn Dinas
Pwllheli Every house that goes on sale in the area is bought by English people. The resources of social services and the health authority are used heavily by old people who have retired to the area. No shops or schools within three miles. Local families are unable to get grants to renew their homes or to build new homes in their own areas. Y Rhiw, Gwynedd Helen Wynne Jones Ty n Lôn Fawr Y Rhiw Pwllheli Gwynedd
Housing prices are dreadfully high in this area, making it impossible for local young people to buy them. Why doesn t the County Council buy some of these houses and let them to local families? Why are there no grants available to enable young people to buy these houses? Why doesn t the National Assembly do something urgently? Blaenporth, Ceredigion Emyr Hywel Cnwc yr Onnen Blaenporth Cardigan Ceredigion Local school, with around 80% of the children from English speaking or mixed language homes. Aberporth Community Council, English is the main language, the minutes are kept in English English people run the local pub. English people run the majority of businesses in Aberporth. New housing is appearing in all villages in the area Blaenporth, Aberporth, Tan-y-groes, Beulah, Blaenannerch, Penparc, Brynhoffnant. English people live in the majority of these houses. Now it appears that Ceredigion Council is thinking of expanding these villages again in addition to the increase foreseen in the Local Unitary Plan due to the intention to develop Aberporth airfield. A development which, it is falsely claimed, would solve unemployment in
the area. But the aim is to increase the in-migration, and to deliver our grants (such as Objective 1) into the hands of outsiders. Trefor, Gwynedd Siôn Amlyn Angorfa Trefor Caernarfon Gwynedd Due to the nature of the village (quarrymen's cottages, 2 bedrooms at most) local people do not buy vacant houses because (i) they are either too small or (ii) renovation work and costs are too high e.g. installing a toilet, bath in the house rather than outside. This means that Housing Associations buy the houses (I know of 6 houses in a street of 9) and repair them and then let them to people with social problems from the area and beyond. The effect of this is that the street deteriorates immediately, forcing people living on either side to move. So in a very short space of time a street that was Welsh speaking turns into a street full of accents from Liverpool, Cheshire. Waunfawr, Caernarfon
Jên Rowlands Angorfa Waunfawr Caernarfon All my family's ancestral property (where my aunt, grandmother, grandfather etc. used to live) in Pen Llyn have been sold to non-welsh speaking people for an extortionate amount. My 4ý year old daughter came home from school one day (some two months ago) saying that she did not understand the other children talking at school they were speaking in English. She had been made to feel a foreigner in her own village. Cilian, Gwynedd Wendy Maglonia Lloyd Jones Ceiriad Cilian
Pwllheli Gwynedd There are 16 houses along the road (Lôn Groes - a byway according to County Coucil vocabulary). Our family is the only Welsh family that live here permananetly now. 5 English families live here permanently. 7 houses are holiday homes owned by English people. Three houses are owned by Welsh people homes where the older generation have died and the younger generation have inherited the houses, and these houses are let to visitors in the summer. Our family is one of these. The local shop (in Bwlchtocyn) which used to be Post Office has also by now been sold to the English people who ran it. Dinas Mawddwy, Gwynedd Wyn ac Olwen Jones Ty nybraich Dinas Mawddwy (Wyn's Family have been farming the area for nearly 1,000 years) The strongholds of Cwmwd Mawddwy are its valleys. Dinas Mawddwy village has become quiet, as many English people have bought houses [as holiday homes]. The shop has closed, Menter Cymad's offices are located there nowadays. The Post Office is in the Village Hall, thanks to the efforts of the Committee before Post Office Counters had an opportunity to close it down completely. Chapel
membership has fallen as the older members have died, and not many young people attend. Over ten years ago a family of incomers came to live here, and many followed in their wake, bringing their problems with them. Many of these people have not even tried to learn the language or tried to mix in with the life of the community. The beginnings of drugs problems can also be traced back to this time. Farmers exist by diversifying into tourism etc. But there are limits to this. It is difficult for sons to follow their fathers into the industry because more often than not there is insufficient income from the farms for the parents, let alone the sons and daughters. Incomers can afford to buy our houses, with change to spare that they then live on, as well as building and altering buildings, and only after doing so do they ask for planning permission from the National Park! If a Welsh person did that s/he would be punished. Llandysul, Ceredigion Anonymous Here are some facts about my future in the Fro Gymraeg (Welsh heartland). It should be emphasised that the circumstances that I shall describe are not relevant to everyone, but they will be relevant to many. I'm not sure how to begin, but I hope that you can make sense of what I have to say. 1. I graduated from University some two years ago. According to research by the NUS the average wage of graduates in their first years after graduation is 16,000. It must be remembered that this figure is inflated because the average includes a significant number of graduates looking for work, and finding it, in the capital (Cardiff), English cities and south-east England. This figure therefore is certainly not applicable to Ceredigion and Wales. It is probable that the figure for Ceredigion is closer to 13,500, but it is difficult to confirm this.
2. I am very fortunate to have found work in Ceredigion that pays 16,000 a year. This is higher therefore than the perceived average for Ceredigion. 3. I have been advised by my mortgage adviser that as an individual graduate with a HSBC bank account, I could get a mortgage nearly 4 times my salary, namely 64,000. This sounds very generous and quite a lot of money. 4. The only houses I can afford in Aberystwyth within this price range, (that is houses available from Morgan Jones and Evans Bros) are very small houses or flats. If I was married and looking for a joint mortgage, I could get a house to the value of 80,000 maximum at today's prices. Again this sounds good, but there are no family houses available at this price. There are family houses available (3 bedrooms) in Cwmann, near Lampeter, for 125,000, but the family would have to receive an income of 50,000 in order to obtain a mortgage on such a house. Basically, income like this is not available to most families in Ceredigion, including myself. These banks also offer amounts such as the above on the premise that the individual's career will lead to an improvement in their annual salary, but this is not the case here in Ceredigion. There aren't many openings for such a career, unless one works as a teacher or as council officer, and general teaching staff do not receive much more than 23,000 a year. 5. Take one of the National Office of Statistics' web pages. No reference is made on the page I saw to Ceredigion, but it does refer to Carmarthenshire. The average Gross Annual Earnings for Carmarthenshire is 18,730, (compared to 25,376 for Milton Keynes - and people in Milton Keynes are far from being the most well off!). This statistic takes into consideration professional people who have been working for years to reach the highest grades in their posts. The G.A.E. in Carmarthenshire permits a potential mortgage of 56,217. Carmarthenshire is not all that different to Ceredigion, if anything matters are probably worse in Ceredigion in fact, a letter in the Teifi-Side [newspaper] today suggests that the average salary in the south of the county is 10k! Again, enough to buy a small flat in Aberystwyth.
6. What of those people who have not received a university education, and who won't get the pleasure of being offered a mortgage four times their salary by the bank? What if these people are a young family? Let us err on the generous side in our consideration. A young man receives an income of 15,000 (a generous salary for the County). A young woman is trying to raise the family's first child, but is working part time. Add around 7,000 to the family's income (that is the income for mortgage assessment purposes). This comes to 22,000. Suppose a maximum possible mortgage of three times this amount = 66,000 including legal costs. And in common with every other mortgage and family is in addition to the costs of running a car and feeding the family. There are no family houses available in Ceredigion for 66,500. If we place another burden on the shoulders of this young family, rent costs are currently higher than a mortgage. At the end of the day it is currently cheaper to buy a house and obtain a mortgage than to pay rent. How then is this young family expected to put down a substantial deposit on the house of their choice if a significant percentage of their income has to go towards paying an inflated rent while waiting to buy their house? It is impossible. Llanddeusant, Ynys Môn Inward migration - Around half the pupils at the school cannot speak Welsh. When I was a pupil there (1988-1994) everyone at the school could speak Welsh fluently. Outward migration Welsh speakers move to the towns to look for work. The number of Welsh speakers falls each year. Llangwnadl, Gwynedd
Simon Jones In a rural area like this, with no village nearby, only scattered houses, the effect of non-welsh speaking incomers is dreadful. Inward migration People from afar move in to the area with plenty of money to set up a business and buy a house. They get every support in the form of grants etc. from the county council, 'Business Connect', ELWa etc. in order to set up their business. Usually there is no consideration of local indigenous businesses. The number of customers remains the same, but the 'cake' has to be divided between more people. I have evidence of this in the printing industry in Llyn. There are three printing works in Llyn (family business or self-employed) they have not increased their number of workers for 10 years. During this period three different printing businesses have 'settled here' from over Offa's Dyke, have used all the grants, have damaged local businesses and have moved away from here after failing to make a living. This represents a misuse of resources and damages the local economy. Outward migration - Local business people are not able to employ new young people, for the above reason. Some say that we need an influx of money, people and ideas but not at this level of the economy. Tele-working etc. should make it easier for people to work in rural areas, but from my experience of running communities facilities in Llyn what happens is that people moving into Llyn are already in work, but do not maintain any contact with the local community. Nanhoron, Gwynedd Rhian Glyn,
Coed Anna, Nanhoron, Gwynedd. Garnfadryn Area 21 houses are owned by Welsh people 2 are empty 27 houses are owned by English people 6 houses have been sold in the last five years all of them to English people. There is no village hall, so activities are centred around the chapel all of these are conducted through the medium of Welsh at the moment. Most of the houses cost over 80,000 smallholdings that now have planning applications with the Council for a swimming pool!! No new houses are being built. I am 40 years sold and when I was 10 I remember two shops here (none nowadays) and Welsh people living in 39 of the houses with another 10 houses either holiday homes or in ruins. Nant Peris, Gwynedd
Llinos H Jones, 6 Nant Ffynnon, Nant Peris, Caernarfon, Gwynedd. I live in a very small village which has experienced a number of economic and social down-turns in the last few years. Most of the houses are empty throughout the year, or are holiday homes or mountaineering hostels good houses that would make ideal homes for local families. But once again, the prices of houses that are on the market are hopelessly high and a number of young local families have had to leave the village in order to buy a home. Very few Welsh-speaking Welsh people live here today compared with, say, a decade ago. There s nowhere for the Welsh to meet except for the local pub, which is full of tourists/mountaineers/campers for most of the year. The village shop (which forms part of a large 8-bedroomed house) was closed because the (English-speaking) owners decided to go and live in Africa! The building is empty for 50 weeks of the year. There are a number of Welsh-speaking children in the village but they tend to speak in English if there s just one English-speaking child with them! I d like to buy a house here but the prices are beyond my resources even though there are so many empty houses here. This is a disgraceful situation. There are 85 houses in the village: 36 are owned by Welsh-speakers, or those whose children have learned the
language. 13 are English homes; in-migrants from England. 23 are holiday homes which are empty for most of the year, including the former shop. 7 are hostels owned by rambling/mountaineering associations from England. They come here during the holidays usually. One hostel near the church has received a substantial grant from National Lottery funds in order to renovate the building! 2 are second homes owned by local people 2 are ruins 2 are empty throughout the year. * One house has been bought by Manchester social services to accommodate young people with behavioural problems they are now a continuous cause of trouble in the village. Blaenau Ffestiniog, Gwynedd Eirian Jones, 9 Brif Heol, Blaenau Ffestiniog,
Gwynedd. As you see, I live in Blaenau Ffestiniog and have always lived here. I would say that things have started to change here during the last ten years. English-speaking people are moving here, even young people with problems. The houses here are very cheap, about 14,000-30,000. I and my friends have remained in our local area after leaving school and returning from college. We all have jobs in the area, thank goodness, and speak Welsh. But there s one thing that concerns me very much, which is that there are some here living in the area who rent out loads of houses to English-speaking people, and refuse to let to local Welsh-speaking people. This calls for our attention and it must be stopped now! It isn t fair. Porthmadog, Gwynedd Gwynne Wheldon, Llanerch, 42 Maes Gerddi, Porthmadog, Gwynedd Although I live in Porthmadog town, I am a member and elder at Ebeneser chapel, Borth y Gest, not far from the town. There s been no growth at all in the membership of Ebeneser because there are no Welshspeaking Welsh people moving into the village. There are a large number of holiday/weekend homes in Borth y Gest, owned by monolingual English people who have no interest at all in religion or culture through the medium of Welsh. It s true that some English people who have moved there are learning the
language, or have learned to speak it, but they are in the minority. Thanks be for the teachers in the village primary school who do tremendous work teaching Welsh as a second language to the children. Waunfawr, Ceredigion John J Jones, 8 Maesceinion, Waunfawr, Aberystwyth Ceredigion As a supply teacher who travels to teach in some of the traditionally Welsh-speaking rural schools in the villages of Ceredigion, I now notice more and more the effect and influence of the children of newcomers, some of whom have now learned the language but do not choose it as a natural medium, on the Welshness of the communities. The saddest effect is that these children have such a strong influence on Welsh-speaking Welsh people, so that the native Welsh people now speak English to each other! Penmachno, Sir Conwy Siân Rhun Griffiths, Bryn Salem,
Penmachno, Conwy. Our family s farm is located in a wonderful area. Fantastic views in the heart of the countryside, and a short drive of about three quarters of an hour to a large town, Llandudno. Ideally, I d love to live on the farm, but there s one problem. The area is so popular that it attracts rich English-speaking people to live here. In the local primary school the only children who speak Welsh are my two cousins. So I won t live here because I don t want my children to grow up in an English-speaking community. Llangynnwr, Carmarthenshire Amanwy, 13 Golwg Tywi, Llangynnwr, Carmarthen, Carmarthenshire. Although I m from a Welsh-speaking family, I went to an English-medium high school because the school is opposite our house. Many of the teachers spoke Welsh, as did many of the pupils. There was enough opportunity to speak Welsh with the teachers, but not usually with the Welsh-speaking pupils because all their other friends were English-speaking.