Read our interview with Matthew G. Rees here

Not to be confused with the recent, wildly acclaimed Welsh language horror movie of the same name ( Y Gwledd ), this is Matthew G. Rees' third published anthology of short stories. You will find reviews of his other works here The Keyhole and here Smoke House & Other Stories

We have expressed the opinion that Matthew G. Rees is a major new talent elsewhere and this new collection confirms our estimation. The Feast is a deliciously dark and frequently amusing collection that leaves one in no doubt that Rees is a writer at the top of his game and destined for popularity and acclaim.

In so far as this collection has a theme, the author outlines it in his brief introductory note:-

" This collection of stories created itself over the course of two years in which I found that I seemed to be writing short fiction that possessed a connective tissue ."

The nature of this 'connective tissue' becomes clearer when we consider the accompanying quotation from Shakespeare:-

" Things sweet to taste prove in digestion sour. " William Shakespeare Richard II 

Indeed there is an element of - be careful what you wish for - in most of these tales. In 'The Twilight Maiden' we are introduced to Guiseppe Dellucci, an Italian restaurateur in search of a delicious legendary variety of tomato which only grows in the vicinity of the remote village of Collina Rossa. The atmosphere of suspense and thinly veiled threat are skilfully crafted until Guiseppe is finally inducted into the mystery of the fabled tomato plant.

These stories are set in a variety of locations and in 'Stone Cold' we meet Candice Canyons, an exotic dancer at The Southern Peaches Go-Go Club, somewhere in the American south. She dreams of a better life and opportunity presents itself in the form of Seymour Thrayle, an aged wealthy landowner who frequents the Club. His obsession with, and desire for, peach tarts leads to a  grim and humorous denouement.

In 'Fungal' the protagonist is distracted by a store front sign which reads:-

SELF-SUFFICIENCY

Enquire within

Having nearly exhausted a fortune he had inherited from his family he decided that there would be no harm in inquiring. Needless to say his life is changed forever in the most unexpected of ways.

If you are not acquainted with the work of Matthew G' Rees this collection provides an excellent introduction. His tales have the capacity to simultaneously delight and disturb and always stay in your thoughts for some time after reading. The Feast by Matthew G' Rees is AmeriCymru's selection for Book of the Month January 2022.

In this collection of bizarre tales from the Welsh master of the absurd we are introduced to a Professor with a small class and an unusual subject matter. Rhys explains thusly:

There are few students in my class. When one considers what the subject is, this isn’t surprising. I teach myself.

In other words, I impart to my students facts and fancies based on my life and ideas. It’s the least popular class in the university and I doubt it will be funded for another term.

As a homework assignment the students are asked to write an essay in which they must try and imagine how the Professor spends his spare time. Needless to say he has told them nothing of his personal life.

The eighteen essays which follow offer an extraordinary and hilarious variety of imaginings, some of which are, worryingly, partially accurate. Is the Professor being spied upon? Who is the woman waving from the street below, and which of his students is prowling around on the roof presumably watching him? Of course you will have to read the book to a conclusion for answers to the above questions. 

Meanwhile the 'homework assignments' on offer here will delight Rhys Hughes fans. There is the strange case of Professor Spark who we meet walking the corridors of the university thinking about the meaning of life. His musings are of little interest because:

It could be the case he was about to make a major discovery in his field, to prove that viruses have knees or that aardvarks are descended from dragons, who knows? I didn’t care much.

The situation quickly deteriorates, however, when Prof Spark returns from a local bookshop with a copy of 'The Pop-Up Book of Fire'. The consequences of his purchase are at once, tragic, absurd and hilarious.

Then there is the tale of Miss Diane Ra who loves labyrinths. The problem is that clothes have a habit of unravelling whenever she is accompanied on a walk through town. And who is the madman who prowls the city streets with the strongest lamp he can find looking for darkness?

Towards the end of the book the Professor is advised by one of his students:

You have taught yourself. Now teach others.

Is this further foreshadowing of Rhys Hughes forthcoming emphasis on non-fiction and essay writing?Readers may remember the following announcement in Weirdly Out West :

I will switch to non-fiction and start writing essays and articles. In fact I began last year to take my non-fiction much more seriously and I am hoping that my first book of essays will be out in the next year or two.

Whatever the truth of that, 'Students of Myself' is another triumph from the pen of Rhys Hughes and will delight both fans and new readers alike. If you are not familiar with Rhys's work this would be as good a place to start as any. If you are, you will need no further recommendation or encouragement. 

An extremely comprehensive, fully illustrated guide to the history and evolution of the castle under Wales' native rulers (c.1066-1283). Spectacular aerial photography, plans and reconstruction drawings examine the various architectural designs and layouts that created the distinctive form of the Welsh castle. 378 pages, full colour, fully illustrated.

Canllaw cynhwysfawr dros ben, wedi'i ddarlunio'n llawn, i hanes ac esblygiad y castell Cymreig yng nghyfnod ei thywysogion cynhenid (c.1066-1283). Ceir ffotograffau trawiadol o'r awyr, cynlluniau ac ail-luniadau o'r adeiladau gan archwilio'r dyluniadau a'r amlinelliadau pensaernïol amrywiol a greodd ffurf arbennig y castell brodorol Cymreig. 378 tudalen, lliw llaw, llawn lluniau & darluniau gwych.

Wales is known as ‘the land of song’ and the Welsh are renowned for their love of hymns – perhaps no other nation has sung them with such fervour. This passion is celebrated in a new comprehensive history of hymn writing and singing in Wales and amongst the Welsh diaspora in North America.  A Nation of Singing Birds: Sermon and Song in Wales and Among the Welsh in America  by Ronald Rees looks at the time between the Protestant Revivals in the late 18 ^th  century until the present day.

Described as “Lively, entertaining, and valuable – a real gem” by the journalist, presenter and newsreader Huw Edwards, the book considers the influences of key figures such as William Williams Pantycelyn and Ira Sankey also examines rhythmic elements in Welsh preaching.

Author, Ronald Rees, said:

“Two particular incidents led to the writing of this book. The most recent was my reading of Barbara Ehrenreich’s  Dancing in the Street . Her book is about the need, manifested throughout human history, for communal expressions of feeling – in dance, parade and song. The other incident was a combined concert and  cymanfa ganu  held at St David’s Hall, Cardiff about forty years ago. The concert performers were members of Rhondda’s peerless Pendyrus Choir, led by the late Glynne Jones. The singing was hair-raising. As the final repeated chorus died, a deeply moved Glynne Jones let the hall grow silent and said quietly and reverently: ‘This is who we are.’”

Painstakingly researched in libraries and archives in both Wales and America, and encompassing information from emigrant letters and diaries and local newspapers of the period, this definitive history tells how hymns and the religious movements and revivals spread via Welsh emigrants to religious communities of the USA. For example, it was a group of Welsh migrants to Utah, led by John Parry, who formed the nucleus of the famed Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

“To engage their audiences, Welsh preachers at home and in America often delivered their sermons with a discernible cadence or rhythm in which sound could be as important as meaning. By combining the persuasive power of the word with the emotive power of music, assemblies could be brought to states ranging from spiritual readiness to hysteria. In our own times there are echoes of the mesmerizing, cadenced style in the recorded speeches of Dr Martin Luther King and the poetry readings of Dylan Thomas. Thomas’s great-uncle, Gwilym Marles Thomas, was a Welsh Congregationalist minister.”

“My objective was to explore how hymns, and the religious movements and Revivals of which they were part, fired the Welsh imagination. The chapels may have emptied but hymns remain our tribal songs,” said Ronald Rees.

In 2020 the people of Cwmbwrla came together in the face of an unprecedented health crisis to put smiles on each other’s faced and food on each other’s tables. Neighbours became friends, and together they showed Swansea at its best. We believe their stories are worth telling, and contributors including Brynhyfryd-born Mal Pope, local author David Brayley, MP Carolyn Harris and Councillor Peter Black agree.

“ Circling the Square: Cwmbwrla, Coronavirus and Community” tells the stories of individuals, families and groups whose acts of kindness and quiet courage have improved the lives of those around them, year after year. In particular, they’ve improved people’s lives this year, just when it mattered most. The book introduces readers to women and men who stocked up an emergency food resource, created art and craft packs to keep children entertained, cooked, shopped and cared for their neighbours and provided vital medical and social care no matter what the barriers or risks. It introduces readers to the best of Swansea, the best of Wales and the best of people.

“ We believe the people who’ve breathed life into these streets through wartime and peacetime and made their neighbours feel safe and valued throughout the coronavirus crisis have made their own history.”

Royalties will be reinvested in the community that inspired the book, with all revenue going to Cwmbwrla Community Events , a nonprofit group that funds entertainment and sports activity for children and adults across Cwmbwrla, Manselton, Brynhyfryd, Gendros and Landore.

“ Circling the Square: Cwmbwrla, Coronavirus and Community” is available in paperback ($7.95) and ebook ($3.99) from Amazon and also at a discounted rate from selected local retailers. Be a part of the Welsh community success story of 2020 and buy this book.

BUY IT HERE -

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Circling-Square-Cwmbwrla-Coronavirus-Community/dp/B08NDXBFTC

Central Russia, 1919, a sanatorium cut off by the chaos of the Russian civil war. The murder of the chief doctor sets in motion a nightmarish series of events involving mysterious experiments, the secret police, the Tsar’s double, an enigmatic ‘visitor’, giant corpses, possessed cats, sorcery, and the overwhelming madness of war, in this fantastical and wildly exuberant historical novel. BUY HERE

                                                                Commendations

A bold and confident n ovel that throws us into the deep end of post-revolutionary Russian life with fervour and wit. There are knowing  no ds to Gogol and Bulgakov but the voice is entirely original, with a gem of a phrase on every page. I love the quizzical, querulous, dry voice and it’s a satisfying whilst sometimes disorientating experience... the characters are larger than life, but the mud is real. Alan Bilton has a real talent for the unexpected l eft-ha nd turn, with lines that turn on a sixpence and surreal narrative twists. It reads like a very modern translation   of a 19th century Russian classic – if that sounds like your kind of thing, you will lov e this book.

Mark Blayney

A brutal, but often witty and tender tale, The End of the Yellow House is a twistedly brilliant emotional
rollercoaster. In experiencing its expansive vistas and claustrophobic tunnels, we learn to distrust the vibrant characters here, as well as the very landscape which they inhabit. A delicious mystery on every page –

David Towsey

Genre: Literary Fiction, Historical Fiction, Magic Realism, Surrealism.

Wales is known for its stunning scenery and beautiful coastline. Created from several existing coastal paths – such as the Pembrokeshire Coast Path National Trail – the Wales Coast Path has attracted thousands of tourists and walkers since its official launch in May 2012. This week sees the publication of  Weatherman Walking – The Welsh Coast , the book accompanying BBC Wales’ beloved weatherman Derek Brockway’s twelfth series of the popular BBC programme. Originally broadcast on BBC Wales, all eight episodes of the series are now being shown on the BBC and are available on BBC iPlayer.  

Wales is the first country in the world to have a continuous footpath stretching along its entire coastline – 870 miles or 1,400 km long.  Weatherman Walking: The Welsh Coast  contains 15 guided walks along the Wales Coast Path, each between 4 and 8 miles. They cover a good geographical spread of the coastal path around Wales, with walks in Pembrokeshire, the Llŷn Peninsula, Anglesey, Gower, Glamorgan Heritage Coast, Denbighshire and Ceredigion. [Full list of walks to be found below].  

“I am so lucky to present a programme like  Weatherman Walking . Not only do I visit many beautiful places but I also get to meet and work with lots of wonderful and talented people! Wales is such as beautiful country and each area has something unique to offer – from the light of Anglesey to the spectacular Pembrokeshire coastline, each section is full of history, myths and the wildlife. I hope you enjoy the book and the walks featured!” said Derek Brockway.  

“This is the first time I have worked with ‘Derek the Weather’ and it’s been an absolute joy. His passion for Wales and walking has been infectious, and it’s been wonderful to see the great affection the Welsh public has for him,” says Julia Foot, the Series Producer of  Weatherman  Walking: The Welsh Coast  for BBC Wales. “I have personally walked every one of the walks in this book, often with locals or path rangers who have given me a real understanding of the particular identity of that section of Coast Path, including the wildlife, history and secrets they hold. These people have helped bring the various coastal stretches to life, so they are no longer just 2D sections of an OS maps.”    

Each walk has its own chapter and includes an OS route map and essential information for walkers as well as directions. Most walks can be paired, meaning that they can either be done separately or as one long continuous hike. Each chapter presents lots of interesting information about the landmarks that can be seen on each walk, as well as about unusual local activities or people that Derek came across in the related episode.

Derek Brockway

Derek Brockway was born in Barry, South Wales and has been passionately interested in the weather ever since he was a young boy. A qualified meteorologist, he was employed by the Met Office for 20 years and became the main weather forecaster for BBC Wales in 1997. He now presents a number of radio and television programmes, including  Derek's Welsh Weather  and  Weatherman Walking . His leisure activities include walking, squash, skiing and leaning Welsh.

Julia Foot

Julia Foot has worked for the BBC for over 20 years as a researcher, Assistant Producer, Director and now Series Producer, and on a whole range of programmes, including with Ray Mears,  DIY SOS , and for Comic Relief. In 2018 Julia was nominated for a BAFTA for an  Antiques Roadshow  special that she produced about the Holocaust.  

List of walks

Where the walks are paired, they can be done together as one longer walk if preferred.  

Abereiddy to Whitesands (Pembrokeshire)

Abersoch to Llanbedrog (Llŷn Peninsula)

Llanbedrog to Pwllheli (Llŷn Peninsula)

Beaumaris to Trwyn Du (Anglesey)

Trwyn Du to Red Wharf Bay (Anglesey)

Fall Bay to Port Eynon (Gower)

Port Eynon to Oxwich Bay (Gower)

Porthcawl to Merthyr Mawr (Glamorgan Heritage Coast)

Merthyr Mawr to Southerndown (Glamorgan Heritage Coast)

Saundersfoot to Amroth (Pembrokeshire)

Amroth to Pendine Sands (Pembrokeshire/Carmarthenshire)

Talacre to Prestatyn (Flintshire/Denbighshire)

Prestatyn to Rhyl (Denbighshire)

Ynyslas to Borth (Ceredigion)

Borth to Aberystwyth (Ceredigion)

“I don’t expect everyone to agree with everything in the book – it will be too radical for some, and for others it won’t be radical enough,” says author Llywelyn ap Gwilym about his new bilingual book,  Llyfr Du Cymru Fydd / The Black Book of the New Wales  (Y Lolfa), which is published this week. 

The organiser of the AUOB Cymru rallies which attracted thousands to pro-independence marches in Cardiff, Caernarfon and Merthyr pre Covid-19 has written his vision of an independent Wales. Llywelyn ap Gwilym, who is also on the Central Committee of YesCymru, said: 

“I’ve supported Welsh independence since I can remember, but without questioning why. Since the birth of my children and moving back to Wales, I’ve thought more deeply about the politics, economics and sociology behind it: I’ve thought more about the ‘why’. Whilst writing  The Black Book of the New Wales,  I started to think that perhaps I could encourage the discourse to develop.” 

The book is an exploration of what a future independent Wales could look like. It is written in the spirit of utopian thinking: its purpose is to question what is, and to envision what could be. Some of the ideas presented are a radical departure from the status quo, while others are becoming part of orthodox leftist thinking. Similarly, there are some precedents in terms of current or former organisations and institutions, others have only been trialled, while some have not yet existed. 

The book has been described as “an exciting blueprint for building a better society” by Dan Evans of Desolation Radio and Leanne Wood, Plaid Cymru has said, “For the Indy curious, this is a must-read.” 

The percentage of people in Wales supporting independence has almost tripled over the last six years from 12% in 2014 to 35% in 2020. The Welsh Independence movement is gathering momentum, with membership of YesCymru growing from 2,500 to 17,000 during 2020, and now gets regular attention in the UK media as well as further afield. 

“I hope that the book will help expand further discussions so that more people start sharing ideas on what our values are, what kind of society we want to live in, and how independence for Wales is the most realistic path in order to achieve these changes. It would be tragic to lose the chance to ensure a better future for all who call Wales home and, on winning independence, just to recreate the inequality and unjustness that’s rife in the UK.  The Black Book of New Wales  is my contribution to ensuring a better future.” 

The Black Book of the New Wales by Llywelyn ap Gwilym (£4.99, Y Lolfa) will be available by 1 ^st  March.

Praise for  The Black Book of the New Wales

“Concise, challenging, doable! There are radical ideas for the kind of Wales we can be, but we need independence, and independence of mind, to unlock that potential. It can’t come from Westminster. Better a Good Wales than a ‘Great’ Britain.”

Siôn T. Jobbins, YesCymru Chair

“… a cracking piece of work. Very clear thinking. Good, sound values base. I love the references you draw on – some of my favourites – Raymond Williams, Gramsci, Bookchin, Bell Hook, Malcolm X, Maya Angelou, the Preston stuff and Mondragon. And the way you bring all the thinking together… Your book outlines why it is not tenable for people in Wales to carry on as we are and offers an inclusive vision of real independence. For the Indy curious, this is a must-read.”

Leanne Wood, Plaid Cymru

“A small book with big ideas! A welcome addition to the independence debate.”

Cian Ciarán, musician (Super Furry Animals), composer and YesCymru Vice-Chair

“Llywelyn ap Gwilym’s The Black Book of the New Wales doesn’t claim to have all the answers, it weaves together an empowering series of concepts and initiatives that are ready and willing to form new institutions and structures.”

Ben Gwalchmai, Founder of Labour for an Independent Wales

“An exciting blueprint for building a better society.”

Dan Evans, Desolation Radio

“Llywelyn ap Gwilym’s  Llyfr Du  is an essential contribution to the vision that will liberate Wales from the decaying British state.”

Sam Coates, Undod

I have often been exasperated by the way booksellers classify my books. They tend to work to set parameters and the Reso can easily fit into several categories, so in some book listings it appears as fiction, young adult, in others as general fiction. I've even seen it in a section on social issues, young people!

In truth, all of these are technically correct. Others would be equally appropriate such as : fiction: Wales, fiction: historical (it is disconcerting to realise that what appears to you as your short life to date, is now generally considered as an historical timespan!) fiction:the sixties.

Unfortunately the way a book is classified can also have an impact on sales because readers tend to concentrate on the sections they know and will never find books in other sections, unless by recommendations. This is what makes recommendations so powerful and valuable. Thank you so much to all those people who took the trouble to write something on a website about how they enjoyed the books, it is biggest compliment you can pay to an author and keeps me positive and writing.

A back handed compliment which really frustrates me is the reader who tells me that they enjoyed the book immensely, and that they have passed it round the family and everyone enjoyed it immensely as well! I'm not looking to make my fortune from writing, so few people do, but I would like some recompense for the hundreds of hours spent researching, writing, re-drafting and publishing the books. If you love a book, any book, try and encourage the author a little more by buying a couple of copies for birthday or Christmas presents.

Regarding making my fortune from writing, a few statistics will soon disabuse that notion. If you take all the fiction books published in the UK in a single year it amounts to almost a million. The average number of copies sold per book is 18! That means from JK Rowling, who sells millions, down to me who sells a few less, 18 is the number of copies that the average book sells.

There are few fortunes to be made in publishing your writing - so it is best to write because you enjoy doing so or because you think you have something important to say about humanity. I am in the first camp.

The top selling books tend to come from established writers with agents, big publishing houses and massive marketing budgets. There are also the best sellers from 'celebrities' ghost written for them to give them another income stream and promoted shamelessly on television chat shows. Not that I'm bitter!

For the rest of us, it is rather like the lottery... you have to be in it to win it, but the chance of making a living, let alone a fortune from writing, is very remote indeed. I console myself with the thought that when I die, something will live on beyond me and will consistently fail to provide an income stream for the beneficiaries of my Will.

Having originally gone through a publisher to have a professional endorsement of my writing, I made the decision to self-publish through a company called Lightning Source, part of the Ingram Group. This allowed me to cut costs and to take out the publisher from the trough. Even so, I receive about 1.40 in pounds sterling for every book I sell, the rest is accounted for from set up and production costs.

There is a line of reasoning that suggests you should set the book cost level as low as possible so as to maximise sales. 5 pounds is often seen as a critical price point for fiction books, which is why so many retail at 4.99. However, this assumes that you have a budget to promote your book so that it can compete in the crowded 4.99 market. I don't have a marketing budget. I am in the Catch 22 situation of knowing that to maximise book sales I need to market the book but I can't market the book until I have generated enough sales to justify a marketing budget, which I can't do until... round and round it goes!

That leaves this blog and sites such as Linked In on which to promote the books. The secret here is to segment the market by exploiting the different categories a book will appear in. My books are timebound to the sixties, the seventies and the eighties respectively so I would do well to find niche markets for such writing. Similarly my books have a Welsh setting and there are active Welsh communities overseas to which my writing is recounting their youth, or making a wider cultural connection.

In this context, no-one has been more helpful than Ceri Shaw and the team at Americymru and Eto magazine for bringing my work to a large expatriate community in the United States and Canada. The Welsh appear to be great networkers so that the Americymru connection has led to Australian, New Zealand and South African sales - just leaving the Patagonian market to crack!

There is support for Welsh writers in the form of bursaries and writing camps under the auspices of Literature Wales, but these, quite rightly, focus on writers writing in Wales and debut authors. I wish I had known that when starting out on my debut book!

For the most part this has been a dismal article of trials and tribulations, so I feel I muse end on a positive note. Nothing quite prepares you to have people share their memories with you and tell you that you brought back to life things half-remembered or forgotten.

My favourite reader comment was from a Principal of a Welsh primary school. He could not have pleased me more when he said, 'I see a lot of young Dylan Thomas in your writing.' I assumed he was referring to stylistic qualities and not plagiarism!

Hi all, Beryl Richards here.. As you know I live in South Wales, in the heavily industrialised town of Port Talbot. I have long been interested in Welsh history, but the early Bronze and Iron age, I sort of dismissed as being a 'long way off' and probably not relevant to me or where I live. I had seen pictures of iron a forts or enclosures but in no way were they associated in my mind with smokey ol' Port Talbot. Which in a roundabout way brings me to the subject of my new novel which has a working title of 'The Mountain', and the thought process which led to writing it.

I picked up in a second hand bookstall a copy of a slim volume entitled “Antiquities of Margam Mountain” which immediately aroused my attention. It is written by a gentleman called Bill Howells and sponsored by the Llynfi Valley Historial Society. It is a very interesting book illustrated with some airial photos of the mountain and some taken by the author. There are illustrations of prehistoric tracks burial mounds ancient farms and forts all over the mountain. The realisation suddenly dawned on me that outside my own front door were the vestiges of an advanced urban society. Further research led me to another book written in the thirties by Cyril and Ailen Fox entitled “Forts and Farms of Margam Mountain' documenting the same information that Bill Howells so graphically highlighted with new technology.

A frail little book called Tir Iarll (The Earls Land) which I again found in a thrift store seems to have been published as a child's textbook on local customs also gave some account of the site of Margam Mountain, I wrote to the Glamorgan and Gwent Archaeological Trust on various statements in this book but some of it was discredited as Iolo Morgannwg's (a self styled Bard of Glamorgan) rantings. Apart from the old Ordnance Survey maps which confirm a lot of the evidence I have found for Iron age inhabitation on Margam, this is about the only written evidence I have been able to find on this subject. But the actual site speaks for itself.

There is no direct evidence of the Roman influence on Margam Mountain. The Glamorgan and Gwent Archaeological Society give no credence to this. As the site has not been excavated there is according to them no direct evidence that the Romans trod Margam Mountain. However other sources state that the Romans had a presence there and some indications of this can be found in the old place names such as Mynydd Ty Talwyn, and further west at Rhyd Blaen y Cwm. One of the locations is named Cwm Lladfa, Valley of the Slaughter where it is claimed that the last battle between the Romans and the Silurians was fought locally.

There is physical evidence of a Roman Fort at Neath (Nidum) and remnants of what is known as marching camps is strewn across the uplands. The Old Ordnance Survey Maps indicate some of these geographical features as scenes of battle fought between the local tribesmen and the Romans. As there is not yet archaeological evidence of any of this we can only wait until the whole mountain is excavated properly. Its all shrouded in Celtic mist!!!!

The Silurian tribes or familial groupings range from Eastern Wales down as far as Loughor in the West. A well organised rural/urban system stretched across these hills. It was thought by many early historians, that the iron age celts did not have the ability to build such a complex system of roads/tracks settlements on the mountain tops and the thinking was that they were Roman. But archaeological excavation has proven that these were Bronze/iron age sites built and engineered by the indigenous population, who also had codes of religion law making and customs particularly their own. The term 'forts' is a label for the many enclosures found scattered across the West Walian hills and also throughout the British Isles. Many of these enclosures were of obvious strategic importance and could also have been used as enclosures for cattle and people in times of strife.

Much emphasis was placed on the oral memory of history and of healing techniques by the Druids, who had a great influence over Celtic Society. They were priests, law givers, healers and were often used to negotiate in times of war between two or more rival clans. The Celts loved to fight and argue, today this takes place on the Rugby field. Celtic myth propagated by the Victorians portrays them as blood thirsty human sacrifice fiends. Human sacrifice,was practiced but to a much lesser degree than the popular celtic hocus pocus will have us believe. Although they used the innards sometimes of animals for divination (ugh!!!)

Celtic dress was flamboyant and colourful. Men would wear homespun trousers, a simple tunic and sometimes a cloak held by an ornamental pin, the more decorative indicated a higher social status. Women wore a long robe which was also homespun and dresses were secured with a sort of a celtic safety pin, very often beautifully decorated. They loved jewellery and ornaments. The ruling classes often wore huge intricately decorated gold torques and arm rings. They loved colour, bangles rings and much of what has been internationally excavated such as the golden cauldrons found at various locations place them in the realms of high art, and not the ignorant savage portrayed by the Romans. (Early racism??). Tribal chieftains and kings were often elected by the clan. Often there was a familial line from which they were elected.

There were many festivals held at the quarters of the year, which also acted as an agricultural calender were used to foretell the advent of winter, summer, autumn. Festivals such as midscummer and the advent of winter played a huge part not only in the gathering of crops but fertility rites, the drinking of wine of which they were very fond and the really spooky time when it was said that the veil between the dead and the living was the tiniest, today celebrated as Halloween.

The Silures were a tribe which lived in familial and village groupings in South Wales and fought off Roman occupation for some 25 years longer than in other parts of Britain. The Romans recognised them as worthy opponents. Their method of guerilla warfare locally continued until early medeavil times as was documented in the annals of Kenfig Castle, now covered by sand, but thats another story!

I am trying to answer the question of the underestimation of the Silurians. They seems to have had a quite sophisticated urban society with laws and customs which did not die easily with the onslaught of roman occupation. The remains on Margam Mountain which as I have mentioned contained the traditional enclosures or hill forts at strategic points along the hilltops, have not been archaeologically excavated but further east there are many sites which have yielded a definite identity, which did not seem to have been undermined by Romanisation. The end seems to have come unfortunately with the advent of Christianity when the Celtic identity was melded into what we now recognise as the Celtic Church with numerous monasteries, and hermitages being established along the South Wales coast and also inland.

I like to think that the spirit of the Celts remains in the gritty character of Port Talbot as it exists today. The realisation that such a society existed here has prompted me to write another novel which is a work in progress.

Every so often I get fascinated by something I read, or an aspect of local history of which I was not aware (which are many) prompted me to write a novel entitled 'Golconda' which is in part based on the facts about the early copper industry based in Castell Nedd (Neath) West Glamorgan. The story concerns a young American woman named Holly Darby who attempts to find her Welsh roots. I created a real stinker of a villain named Edward Hawksworth who seduced, cheated and plotted his way to achieve wealth. Holly and her friend (with benefits) trace the story from Castell to the states of her Welsh heritage. I have endeavoured to draw on a number of historical facts and blend them in to this story, in order for Holly to find closure in what can sometimes be quite a fast paced but rather sad story.