~meoralis~
Slow down for #MotoringMonday 🐌

Finally I've got a space for all my passenger POV photos – thanks for the hashtag, @Jess.Stetson! πŸ˜„ In your honour, here's one from #Wales (probably quite close to you too) 😌


#road #Straße #Landstraße #countryRoad #araf #slow #roadTrip #landscape #landscapePhotography #NorthWales #Cymru
Mar 2 at 9:41pmWeb
Show threadπ™Ήπšžπšœπš π™ΉπšŽπšœπšœMar 2
Ahhhhh! You're amazing! Yay!! Credit to @Sideprojects3.0, too. Also, Aled's dad was a legend in Blaenau because he taught there for 40 years and was headmaster of the primary school until his retirement only a few years before he passed. He used to take the eldest year students to London to see a musical every year. He was a special dude.
Show thread~meoralis~Mar 3
Apologies and thanks for letting me steal the hashtag, @Sideprojects3.0! πŸ˜…
Wow, your father-in-law does sound like an absolute legend, what an amazing treat!
(BTW, this photo was taken on the A496 near Tanygrisiau, but Blaenau was the closest location Pixelfed had to offer. 🫣)
Show threadπ™Ήπšžπšœπš π™ΉπšŽπšœπšœMar 3
Yeah, it doesn't give me a lot of options around here either. And don't worry about the hashtag it was a joint effort! I just wanted him to see that it got used. And with such an awesome photo. I felt the same when he posted a road pic. I know I have loads of shots from driving around so now there's a day for them. 🀘
Show threadSideprojects3.0Mar 3
@meoralis the more the merrier!!!
Show threadPeter HendersonMar 3
@meoralis @Jess.Stetson Now there's a coincidence! Article in today's Guardian about the struggle to protect the Welsh language, and the accompanying photo is of the bilingual road markings!
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/mar/03/welsh-language-revolution-required-hit-target-million-speakers-2050
Welsh β€˜revolution’ required to hit target of 1m speakers by 2050, says report

Welsh language commissioner calls for β€˜transformative’ intervention, amid Reform UK threats to undo new powers

The Guardian
Show threadPeter HendersonMar 3
,,,not as good as this photo, though...
Show thread~meoralis~Mar 3
How cool is that! πŸ˜€ Well, not the topic obviously, that's worrying (especially with Reform fucking around). As a tourist, I found the Welsh language alive and well back in October. Not just on the signage, but there were loads of Cymraeg speakers in the pubs and cafes we popped into. I really hope they hit their target, even if it means relying on non-native learners to get there. It's such a fascinating language! I've got tons of photos where I tried to capture the ARAF signs on the roads ... this was the best one. πŸ˜…
I also managed to capture a "Beware of the badgers" sign on the motorway back to Manchester. I'd spotted them on the way in and thought they were so charmingly quirky, but by the time I wanted to photograph one, we'd already left that area. But I got it on the way out. πŸ’ͺ
Show threadπ™Ήπšžπšœπš π™ΉπšŽπšœπšœMar 3
The Welsh language is very much alive in North Wales. @meoralis, you were mostly travelling around Gwynedd and that's the highest population of Welsh speakers for sure. It's the first language here for most people and little schools are all Welsh. Down south most people don't speak it at all. But there's definitely been an interest in keeping it alive. The English did their best to try to eradicate it so it's an uphill struggle. And it's so f-ing hard to learn! πŸ˜…
Show thread~meoralis~Mar 3
Yeah, I heard about the North/South language divide (with Bangor as a university city being the exception?). I've never been to South Wales myself. I assume the signage is bilingual, but people aren't? (Anyone remember that "I'm not in the office" Welsh sign translation fail πŸ˜†)
I watched a few Cymraeg YT tutorials a while back, and yeah, I can't wrap my head around it either. πŸ˜… As a German speaker, I can produce a lot of the sounds in theory, but at the speed required, my tongue just refuses to cooperate. πŸ˜΅β€πŸ’«
Show threadπ™Ήπšžπšœπš π™ΉπšŽπšœπšœMar 3
As long as I've been here I still can't. I know the alphabet and the pronunciation but, yeah, stringing the words together is like trying to whistle with peanut butter in my mouth. πŸ˜…
Show thread~meoralis~Mar 3
Weirdly, this comparison makes so much sense!! 🀣🀣
Show threadPeter HendersonMar 3
Sorry, just wrote a comment citing that exact translation fail!!
Show thread~meoralis~Mar 3
Whoops, sorry, I saw that comment just now! Too many threads for Pixelfed's very limited comment feature πŸ˜…
Show threadPeter HendersonMar 3
@Jess.Stetson ..."The English did their best to try to eradicate it"... Yup, they did the same with Scottish Gaelic: the language was banned, Celtic music was banned, wearing the kilt was banned... Covert cultural genocide... Anyway, on a lighter note, there was a case a few years ago when the Welsh Roads Department had to put up a sign about the weight limit for a bridge. The person in charge (from the south, who spoke only English) contacted a colleague in the north for the translation into Welsh, then had the sign printed and put up with the English version giving the weight restrictions for the bridge, while the Welsh translation said: "I'm not in the office, will reply as soon as I return"!!
Show threadπ™Ήπšžπšœπš π™ΉπšŽπšœπšœMar 3
πŸ˜‚ πŸ˜‚ πŸ˜‚ I saw that! That was when I first moved over here!
Show threadDorineMar 3
Ha, ha, another new one: moteringmonday πŸ˜‚ nice shot!
Show thread~meoralis~Mar 3
Yeah, I just learned about that one yesterday 🀭