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Mametz Wood: three syllables that have lost none of their power to appal, after almost a hundred years. On 7 July 1916 the infantrymen of the 38th or Welsh Division, most of them volunteers and amateur soldiers, were ordered to…
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MOOCs and other animals: ‘open & online’ report published
The Welsh Government today published a major report entitled Open & online: Wales, higher education and emerging modes of learning. The report covers all aspects of courses and resources freely available online at higher and further education levels in the…
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Erlid ac alltud: Heini Gruffudd a W.G. Sebald
Does fawr o wirionedd yn yr honiad na all llyfrau Cymraeg ddod i afael â digwyddiadau mawr y byd. Ond os ydych chi’n dod i hyd i rywun sy’n ceisio ei honni, yr ateb syml yw ‘Darllenwch Yr erlid gan…
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Wales Coast Path, day 10: Dunraven from Porthcawl
By now we tend to see the Wales Coast Path as ‘our path’. We don’t expect to see many other long distance walkers, and having planned our routes we expect to execute them without hindrance. Imagine our indignation, then, when…
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Wales Coast Path, day 5: Rumney from Penarth
At last, a dry bright morning. C, J and I stroll down past Alexandra Park towards Penarth Pier. Bafflingly a woman with a small dog says we look like the Three Musketeers. She may be unaware that the only fences…
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An innocent abroad: inside Stadio San Paolo
In Sorrento the four of us walk towards the bus hired to take us to Naples for the Europa League match between Napoli and Swansea. Some of the more liquid Swansea supporters are already shouty. We’re met by a surprising…
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Postcard from Sorrento
Islanders, when they travel, feel a natural attraction to islands. So almost the first thing we do after getting to Sorrento is walk down the deep gorge from the town to the Marina Piccola and take the first available boat…
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Weddings, town halls and local democracy
Last weekend our daughter Catrin got married, in Islington Town Hall. It was a fine choice for a wedding. The Town Hall is a large neoclassical building facing the main street, opened in the mid-1920s. The exterior is plain and…
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On integrity
In writing a forthcoming book about the art of chairing I’ve found myself thinking about the idea of integrity. (Integrity, I maintain, is one of the essential characteristics that any good Chair should possess.) What is integrity? Does it mean…
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The overcoat
I was sitting reading in the front room yesterday when a sharp rap on the window made me jump. A man stood at the door. Only the sharp features of his face were visible; the rest of his body was…