When I lived in Switzerland, it was not unheard of for the first snows of the winter to leave people caught out and stranded with total chaos for a day or two…just like here….. but there it was accepted as normal…

When I lived in Spain and Portugal, Autumn downpours regularly caused enormous floods (no adequate drainage) and long power cuts….. everybody accepted it.

As we start yet another drizzly weekend in August, I was amused to read the following in ‘The Costa Blanca News’, an English Language local paper about the rain in Spain this week, and the accompanying chaos:

“BENIDORM town centre was brought to a standstill on Monday as a combination of bad weather and an influx of thousands of vehicles saturated the town’s access roads.

The unexpected rain meant many people from other parts of the province opted for a day out in Benidorm leading to a massive overload of vehicles coming into the town.

This led to parking problems in just about every part of the town, forcing many drivers to drive around in circles looking for a space.

Ongoing work on pedestrianising some town centre streets has taken away hundreds of parking places and all of the underground car parks showed they were full for most of the day.

In Dénia continuing roadworks and breakdowns in the water supply network saw thousands of motorists caught in traffic chaos also on Monday.

A combination of road closures, excavation work, rain and hordes of families looking for a parking place was more than enough to totally disrupt traffic flow and heat tempers to boiling point.”

Ah well! Time to get the wellies out again and take the dog for a nice long muddy walk along the estuary, I think! At least the gardens and the countryside benefit from the wetness.

Left to right, Chataway, Banister, Brasher

It is fifty five years since the young medical undergraduate, Roger Bannister became the first person in the world officially to break the magical barrier of the four minute mile.  As a child of a home which did not yet have the luxury of a TV set, I heard the news on the radio, and later watched the exciting event on the Pathe Newsreel at the local cinema.

A couple of years later when I was a pupil at Colwyn Bay Grammar School in North Wales, we had the honour of a visit from one of Roger Bannister’s pacemakers, Chris Chattaway.  It was a hot summer’s day, and Chris gave us a sort of ‘masterclass’ in athletics.  At one point, he asked me to be the timekeeper for a track race and handed me his own personal wristwatch to perform the task.

I idly turned the watch over and was thrilled to see the inscription on the back.  It was the very watch presented to him by Roger Bannister himself as a ‘Thank-you’ for the assistance in breaking that barrier!

Another of the pacemakers on that day was of course, Chris Brasher who later founded the London marathon…  which both my son & daughter in law have successfully completed. And, if I am not mistaken, I believe that my son actually ran in a half marathon alongside Chris Chattaway, and managed a reasonably similar time…. though of course, the one was quite a few years older that the other by then!

Once the barrier had been broken, more and more people were to break the four minute barrier, and I myself was present in the crowd at White City when it happenned in the early sixties.

©1996 – 2009 American Academy of Achievement. All Rights Reserve

Despite Wales’ unfortunate defeat by France two days ago in a thrilling rugby match in Paris, the flags are flying high today all over Wales to celebrate St David’s Day.

The sun is shining.

The daffodils are in bloom.

The spring has sprung!

Happy St David’s Day!

Today we saw the first gold medal of the 2008 Olympics to be won by a Brit.

As a member of Team GB she competes under the Union Flag and is not allowed to display her origins, so here is a Welsh Dragon to keep her company:

On a day when all the rest of news is sad or bad, it is great to hear some good news for once.

This Newfoundland is being trained to rescue people from the sea in Swansea.

The picture came from the Daily Mail and you can read more about this Super-Dog here

Hooray! I have to say that I for one am delighted that Formula One is to return to the BBC after twelve years of missed moves during lengthy adverts.

I have long advocated that ITV needed to insert a window into the adverts so that people could continue to watch the racing that they had tuned in to see, as is done on Spanish TV.

But this new announcement is even better.

All I hope now is that the Beeb has the sense and fortune to include Martin Brundle in its production team…. he was the one worthy asset ‘owned’ by ITV.

I am perfectly happy for my TV licence fee to be used to allow me to watch what I want to see without interruption by long and often boring adverts. Meanwhile for this season, I shall have to do as I always do, and go and make a cuppa during the intervals

Dydd Dewi Sant Hapus Iawn

Happy St David’s Day

Because it happened to fall on a Saturday this year…….. schoolchildren all over Wales celebrated the special day a day early, though that will not prevent their celebrating all over again tomorrow. Most schools devote the day to mini Eisteddfodau, where children preform songs, both choral and solo,recitations and dramas.

One of the great things about being brought up in Wales is the traditional emphasis placed on culture and public performance which stands children in good stead for the future.

Most children wear Welsh costume for the special day (and this year they get two days).

Girls wear check skirts, red jackets , white blouses, red or check shawls, frilly white mop caps all topped off with either tall black hats or the prettier ‘cockle’ hats.

Legend tells that on one occasion this ‘uniform’ saved Wales from invasion from the French under the leadership of Napoleon Bonaparte .

With too few soldiers to defend against an invasion by sea at Abergwaun (Fishguard), the local women moved swiftly up and down and around a hill, giving the French the impression that the area was heavily guarded, so like the redcoats uniforms did the ladies’ costumes appear. The raiders took both fright and flight, fearing a massive army had arrived to quell them, and the instigator of the women’s rebellion, Jemima Nicholas has been a heroine in Wales ever since. She was known as Jemima Fawr (Jemima the Great), and I know of at least one school where her story was acted out as a drama today.

Towns and cities throughout Wales will be the brighter tomorrow when everyone will head for town in their Welsh costumes to show off!

When I was a child, little boys wore tweed jackets and voluminous caps, but these have  gone out of fashion and most little boys (and some girls too), now sport Welsh rugby shirts as their contribution to a happy and colourful day.

Of course everyone also sports either a daffodil or a leek.

Let’s hope the sun shines on them all!

He is a beautiful specimen , lively and strong, and he will surely not be with us long at Llys Nini. Somebody will very quickly fall in love with him (preferably a big strong chap, who enjoys long walks and who has a lovely big garden too!)

Apparently this dog was originally being trained as a sniffer dog, but he had other ideas and did not match up to the high sniffing standards required of him. However, this does not mean that this animal is a failure, his talents simply lie elsewhere.

He clearly decided that life is too short for all that hard work… and hard work it surely is, for all the working dogs and their trainers.

I was delighted therefore to receive my ‘First Day Covers’ of UK postage stamps this week, whose stars are The Working Dogs. They feature:

Assistance dogs,

Mountain rescue dogs,

Police dogs,

Customs dogs,

Sheepdogs and

Guide dogs.

It is great to see them being honoured in this way.

So when you go to the Post Office to buy stamps, don’t just buy plain old postage stamps!……. Always ask for the current picture stamps, especially the doggy ones! And to see a proper picture of how lovely this particular first Day Cover is, click here.

So get out the chocs and flowers and give somebody you love a hug

Happy St Dwynwen’s Day !

Stop Press News! Santa will be in the RSPCA CHARITY SHOP in Gorseinon this week.

Llys Nini Animal Centre in Penllergaer is delighted that Father Christmas has agreed to make a special appearance at its shop in Gorseinon’s High Street on Tuesday evening, 4th December.

He will be there from 6.30, both before and after the lantern procession.

A spokesman for Llys Nini Animal Centre said last night ” Father Christmas is always a huge supporter of Animal Welfare. This is not suprising considering he keeps a number of animals, including reindeer, himself.

He appreciates that animals need proper care and attention and he NEVER encourages people to give pets as presents.

In support of Llys Nini’s work in caring for so many sick and injured, abused and abandoned animals, he has agreed to spend some time in our shop in Gorseinon on Tuesday.

He also asks, if anyone can spare a tin of pet food, some blankets, bedding or even a small donation to drop it into him at the shop.

Everyone at Llys Nini is very greatful for his help in providing food and care for our animals over Christmas.”

The RSPCA and Santa both ask for people to spread the word.