West of Centre

The only constant is change. That has to be the premise. The town of Corwen in North Wales has enormous cultural significance in the context of the Wales and the Welsh culture. It was just outside Corwen in 1400 that Owain Glyndwr declared himself the Prince of Wales. A statue of him remains in the centre of Corwen and he remains the last native Welshman to be Prince of Wales. For 14 years he was a thorn in the side of successive English monarchs and has since become synonymous with the Welsh Independence cause. So Corwen can justifiably boast to be at the epicentre of Welsh culture. The Eisteddfod is a Welsh festival of literature, music and performance. Although the first such event is reputed to have taken place in 1176, the first large national scale event is known to have taken place in Camarthen in 1451 just a few years after the death of Owain Glyndwr. By coincidence, it was in Camarthen in 1997 that the last votes were counted which ushered in the Welsh Assembly Government - ...

After our daughter had died from meningitis in June of 2006, my wife and I made the decision to escape to Europe to grieve. We have never regretted that decision because it gave us the space and the time to try and come to terms with a devastating life event. For me, it was my first long term exposure to French culture and I have remained a Francophile ever since. I have so many happy memories from that time but I would like to share one with you in particular. Before we left France and moved South and East to Italy, we spent a few days in Avignon. It really is a beautiful city with an atmosphere all of it's own. Sitting in the Place de L'Horloge during the famous festival d'Avignon, my eyes wandered to the impressive town hall which featured the large clock which gave it's name to the square. Underneath were written three words. Three simple words which can be found on public buildings throughout France. Three words which emerged in the aftermath of the bloody French R...

On the 27th January 2014, I started a facebook group dedicated to the growth of my local High Street in Denbigh in North Wales. Since that time, 460 local people have joined the group but I am more interested in the effect on our High Street. I am happy to say that since then, my local High Street has become progressively more vibrant. The site of the former Woolworth's still remains vacant but there has been much about which to become more optimistic. Initially, the facebook site became something of a talking shop in which local people cited those areas which were sadly missing fro our high street. The suggestions which came forward were a revelation as a wide variety of local people pointed to the types of shop they would support if such shops were here. On balance, it's fair to say that the independent retail sector in Denbigh has flourished in the last year with a number of new shops opening all of whom are catering well to a hungry market. The events organised by local...