Welsh Club Preston

Llongyfarchiadau i bawb!

We had a great afternoon at The Harris, taking part in World Poetry Day.  Beryl, Betty, Gwynfor, Jenny and Pat read and talked about their chosen poems and Gwen and I chimed on on the triumphant final claim of Colli Iaith .

We’re delighted that The Harris Museum and Art Gallery gave us this opportunity to read and translate some of Wales’ best loved poems and share some of the richness of the Welsh poetic tradition.  We’re also grateful to Lorna Smithers for letting us flow on from her session about Brythonic/Cymric poetry and mythology.

Preston.fm (103.2)  has been covering this week’s poetry events and will be reporting and playing recordings on their Arts Show.  The programme broadcast this Sunday, 22nd, from 9.00 am covers the earlier part of this week.  We hope to feature in the 9.00 am programme the following Sunday, 29 March.

Lorna talked a little about early Welsh poetic tradition.  For anyone interested in the intricate sound patterns of cynghanedd , which is still emphatically alive in modern Welsh,verse, the best introduction is Singing in Chains by Mererid Hopwood (who herself has won all Wales’ top literary prizes).  It is written for English speakers and comes with CD.  Its updated edition (published by Gomer) comes out at the end of May and costs £9.99.

Hwyl fawr nos Fawrth (3.3.15) yn Hoghton!  Cawson groeso ardderchog, roedd pawb mor gyfeillgar ac yn hapus i’n gweld.  Doedd y dawnsio ddim yn rhy gymhleth, chwaith.  Diolch i Beryl am y teisennau cri a’r bara brith, ac i Eve a Thomas am y caws Cymreig.  Great fun in Hoghton on Tuesday night!  We had an excellent welcome, everyone was so friendly and happy to see us.  The dancing wasn’t too complicated either.  Thanks to Beryl for the Welshcakes and Bara Brith and thanks to Eve and Thomas for the Welsh cheeses.

Cawson amser braf yn Pizza Express, roedd y bwyd, yr awyrgylch a’r cwmni yn ardderchog. Edrychwch allan am yr erthygl yn yr “Evening Post” wythnos nesa. Diolch i bawb oedd yn medru dod i gefnogi’r achlysur ac i fwynhau’r ŵyl.
We had a great time in Pizza Express, the food, atmosphere and the company was excellent. Look out for the article in the Evening Post next week. Thanks to everyone who was able to come to support the occasion and enjoy the day.

Three of us made it to Glover’s on Sunday, even though the weather was vile and Sarah had had to drive back from mid-Wales.  Margaret and I showed the flag (literally).  Welsh and Italian were the new groups this month, making 6 languages present.  I found I was very rusty to begin with, and worried that I’d lost what I’d known, but it started coming back (Margaret was very patient) and by the end of the couple of hours I’d stopped worrying and was enjoying myself.

The next language cafe is on Sunday 29 March from 4-7 and I certainly intend to be there.

Come and celebrate St David’s Day with us!  You don’t need to be a member of our Welsh Club, just happy to join us for lunch to celebrate Wales’ National Day.  The 1st of March falls on a a Sunday this year, so hopefully we can make it a really family-friendly get-together.

We’ve provisionally booked for between 20 and 30 of us, though these numbers are quite flexible, to have lunch at Pizza Express in Winckley Street, Preston,

Winckley Street is a turning off Fishergate and roughly mid-way between the bus and train stations.  Parking on Sundays in Preston is usually cheap and easy (the multi-storey car park by the railway station charges just £2 for all-day parking).  Cars can only come up Winckley Street to unload, but they can be parked at meters around Winckley Square (which is handy green space if you need to run children).

The restaurant was refitted last summer and is on two floors.  Downstairs is fully accessible for wheelchairs and has a disabled toilet.   I’m assured leeks already feature on the menu and, if notified in advance, they’ll do their best to accommodate dietary preferences, but, of course, you can just order what you fancy from the menu after you’ve arrived.:  http://www.pizzaexpress.com/uploads/menu/pizzaexpress_menu.pdf.

We’re planning to arrive at 12,30 and to start eating at 1.00.  (For Rugby fanatics, the Ireland v England game doesn’t kick off till 3.00 and you’ll be within reasonable walking distance of O’Neill’s.)  Please let us know as soon as possible if you’re interested in coming so we have a better idea of numbers.  We’ll be needing firm yeses and noes later – probably by Monday 25 February, since we have to give numbers to Pizza Express.

You can contact us by commenting below, or by email to clwbsiarad@gmail.com or by phoning 07594094803

PART 2

Great game, sad result for Wales supporters.  However, it was a really enjoyable evening and a good get-together.

5/02/2015:  Y GÊM FAWR  – CYMRU yn erbyn LLOEGR – 8.05 yh

Come and join us at O’Neill’s in Friargate and enjoy your Friday evening cheering on the first match of the 6 Nations    Singing Calon Lân and Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau will be encouraged.

Kick-off is at 8.05, but expect the pub to be pretty full by then.  Arrivie 7. o’clock onwards and you’ll have a choice of set dishes or sharedplatters.   (http://www.oneills.co.uk/preston/food-and-drink/)

Look forward to seeing you there!

Dewch i ymuno â ni yn O’Neill’s yn Friargate (agos iawn i’r Brifysgol a llawer o feysydd parcio).  Cefnogi Cymru a chodi hwyl.

Bydd y gêm yn dechrau am 8.05 ond bydd rhai ohonon ni yn cyrraedd yn gynnar, i gael seddi a phrydau hefyd.  (http://www.oneills.co.uk/preston/food-and-drink/)

Gwelwn chi yno!

Four of us went to Llanelwy/St Asaph for Bangor University’s Welsh for Adults Day School on Saturday 22nd November.  It was well worth having to get up early for the journey, even though I was feeding chickens just before dawn, Darren was out catching the first train to Preston, while Anne had the really wide awake job of picking up Jon and then the rest of us on her way from Lytham.  The sun broke through as we came within sight of Wales and lifted our hearts for a bright and cheerful day.

We’d recommend everyone learning the language  to try getting to the University’s day schools.  They are well worth the money: our course fee was only £12.00 for the day, reduced to £8 for the workless like me.

The 2015 courses are listed here: http://www.bangor.ac.uk/cio/school.php.en