WhineryJan 1, 2025

Will Hayward #Guardian
I’d moved around many places but never found the place that spoke to my heart.

“Be careful, it’s really rough up there,” responded several people not from the area. While I tried not to judge, I won’t pretend I wasn’t nervous. My accent is #English though since arriving in #Wales it is more often described as “posh”. Was I about to get eaten alive in these former pit villages?

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/dec/30/wales-english-cymru-journalist-home

CC: @jaz

#Llynfi #LlynfiValley #UK #GB #England

A brimming biscuit tin and a warm welcome – this is how an Englishman found his home in Wales

I’d moved around many places but never found the place that spoke to my heart. In Wales, I felt I’d met a friend, says Guardian columnist Will Hayward

The Guardian
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿Stuart BainJun 9, 2024
Enjoyed exploring the disused Llynfi railway line stretching into the village of Aberkenfig alongside the River Ogmore as part of my Pyle Sarn Slow Ways adventure. Had the wait for the very protective and aggressive swans to saunter across the path to the nearby pond. #Llynfi #Aberkenfig #Ogmore #Pyle #Sarn #SlowWays #Cerdded #Nature #Swans #Wales #Bridgend #Cymru #Railway
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿Stuart BainJun 9, 2024
Another Slow Ways completed from Pyle to Sarn running primarily along the old Llynfi to Porthcawl train/tram line. Route surveyed and 5⭐️ review given. It’s perfect for wheels as it’s flat, mostly tarmac and squirrels running everywhere! #Wales #Cymru #Sarn #Pyle #Porthcawl #Llynfi #SlowWays #Squirrel #Tram #Train
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿Stuart BainFeb 12, 2023
Maesteg to Sarn Slow Ways walk today. Fantastic views across the Llynfi valley and Bryngarw country park. Perfect planning on my part as I managed to get home on time for the rugby! #SlowWays #Maesteg #Sarn #Bridgend #Bryngarw #Bettws #Walking #LlynfiValley #Llynfi #Cymru #Wales
GosunkugiDec 18, 2022

Reading A History of the #Llynfi Valley by #BrinleyRichards and I'm struck, or confused, by a line he writes about #racism in the area, He makes mention that we've never had an anti-Semitism problem, and I trust that to be true, at least up as far as the book was published in 1982.

But he also says that "we've never had a colour problem." I don't know quite what to make of that wording, and unfortunately, my first instinct is not that we didn't suffer acts of racism...