A few years ago, Gruff Rhys, lead singer of fabulous Welsh pop oddballs Super Furry Animals (Cymraeg/English) set out to make a film about the search for his uncle, a 1970s Argentinian pop star called René Griffiths. The result is Separado!: part travelogue, part music film, and part history of how a small band of idealists set out to establish a Welsh colony in the Argentinian part of Patagonia. [more inside]
posted by Len on Nov 12, 2009 - 14 comments

Utopia Britannica is a collection of stories and a gazetter about utopian communes in the British Isles from the 14th Century up until the end of World War II. There are some incredible tales in here, such as 'Free Love' in 19th Century Somerset, St. Kilda, Death of an Island Republic, Percy Bysshe Shelley's attempted communes, Augustus John, the King of Bohemia and many more.
posted by Kattullus on Sep 25, 2009 - 10 comments

British Women Romantic Poets Project is a collection of poetry written by women from the British Isles between 1789 and 1832. Over a hundred female poets are represented. Women rarely feature in literary histories of the Romantic period but there is treasure if you search (some poems are, frankly, terrible). A few places to start are Charlotte Turner Smith's Elegiac Sonnets, and Other Poems, Christian Ross Milne's Simple Poems on Simple Subjects and Mary Robinson's sonnet cycle Sappho and Phaon. The oddest works to modern readers may be Elizabeth Hitchener's Enigmas, Historical and Geographical and Marianne Curties' Classical Pastime, which are collections of verse riddles (the answers are at the end of the text).
posted by Kattullus on Aug 26, 2009 - 5 comments

'We Three Cats' -- "telling tales, of walking in wild places, of painting, of sleeping in warm places and of mice and other things," as chronicled by children's book illustrator and artist Jackie Morris.
posted by ericb on May 23, 2009 - 15 comments

Coasteering is a sport that involves throwing yourself into a wave as it hits a cliff. [more inside]
posted by twoleftfeet on May 5, 2009 - 35 comments

Dylan Thomas, the wonderful Welsh poet, has been mentioned on the blue before. Now the BBC provide a Dylan Thomas Random Poem Generator. Bravo! [more inside]
posted by fcummins on Dec 31, 2008 - 4 comments

Apropos on Black Friday, Charles, Prince of Wales addresses the Foreign Press Association with a comprehensive lecture on the dangers of unchecked consumerism and the need for an increasingly holistic worldview in light of the global social, economic and environmental challenges. The credit crisis is a side effect of a throwaway society and consumerism is no cure for depression, he says, and we need to question the concepts of "Modernity" and "Economic Growth" we take for granted.
posted by infini on Nov 28, 2008 - 102 comments

Smuggler's Britain tells "the fascinating story of smuggling in 18th and 19th century Britain, when high taxes led to an dramatic increase in illegal imports. As the 'free trade'" grew, smugglers openly landed contraband in full view of the customs authorities: columns of heavily-armed thugs protected the cargoes." Includes a gazetteer with Google maps links so you can scope out some lonely cove to land contraband of your own in the footsteps of your forefathers and introduces you to famous smugglers like Isaac Gulliver, who never killed a man in a long career. Though of course, it was an enterprise where things often would turn ugly.
posted by Abiezer on Oct 9, 2008 - 7 comments

So brothers Barney and Daniel Jones, aka Jonba Hehol and Morda Hehol, Jedi Masters, started their own church, and began planning their moon base, but they had underestimated the power of the Dark Side...
posted by fearfulsymmetry on Mar 30, 2008 - 25 comments

Lyfrau o'r Gorffennol or Books from the Past is a growing online collection of books of Welsh cultural interest which have long been out of print. Some are in Welsh, some in English, all are available to download in a variety of formats or to read online. Found as the collection includes a book on the Adventures and Vagaries of Twm Siôn Cati, the famed bard, genealogist and bandit trickster supreme from Tregaron. It's one of a host of well-presented digital archives built using the multilingual open source Greenstone software suite.
posted by Abiezer on Feb 8, 2008 - 13 comments

Audio of Dylan Thomas reading his poem "A Child's Christmas in Wales". (real media and mp3)
posted by Brandon Blatcher on Dec 25, 2007 - 7 comments

Serein v3
posted by hama7 on Nov 9, 2007 - 50 comments

A Welsh Black Box to make biofuel whilst capturing car fumes
posted by ItsaMario on Jul 24, 2007 - 25 comments

adultsheepfinder.com
posted by thirteenkiller on Apr 12, 2007 - 49 comments

A week before Jimi Hendrix died in London he (probably) recorded the Welsh anthem "Land of our Fathers" (embedded audio). The eight-track recording languished in a corner of a recording studio until recently.
posted by Rumple on Dec 31, 2006 - 30 comments

Mapping Medieval Townscapes: a digital atlas of the new towns of Edward I For each town you will find maps and images, as well as historical interpretation, bibliographical information, and access through to a geographical database. (The fancy interactive maps are especially good.) Warning: you'll have to click to agree to some terms and conditions before you can view the site.
posted by jack_mo on Sep 6, 2006 - 6 comments

The tradition of the Regimental Goat extends as far back as 1775 and the Battle of Bunker Hill, if not earlier. Canada's own Batisse IX is said to be a direct descendant of Tibetan goats presented by the Shah of Persia to Queen Victoria in 1884. Ask any regimental goat and they will tell you they are well respected, but military discipline can be severe when the regimental goat steps out of line.
posted by furtive on Jun 24, 2006 - 13 comments

Cardiff Terrifies Me. Daily news-stand headlines from that bastion of quality journalism, the South Wales Echo.
posted by nylon on Dec 11, 2005 - 28 comments

Parallel Wales. They came from Wales, and settled in places called Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Delaware. They brought new contributions to the American fabric, but also old names that took on new meanings. Now, more than a hundred years later, what echoes remain? (via Projects)
posted by selfnoise on Nov 18, 2005 - 10 comments

Llareggub! Dylan Thomas reading Dylan Thomas and host of others (Shakespeare, Milton, Yeats, Auden, Hardy, and more). 11 volumes of mp3s on Salon, reached after watching a Salon premium ad. [via boingboing]
posted by carter on Oct 7, 2005 - 12 comments

Earlier this year the Labour run Welsh Assembly funded a web project to find 100 Welsh Heroes. The winner was Aneurin Bevan, a Labour politician. Now, the IT manager who ran the project says that he was instructed to fix the results. More inside...
posted by ceiriog on Sep 7, 2004 - 10 comments

Man Beats Horse, wins 25,000 pounds. For the first time, two legs triumphed over four in the annual Man Versus Horse Marathon in Wales.
posted by Frank Grimes on Jun 13, 2004 - 10 comments

The Digital Mirror: Treasures of the National Library of Wales. Online collections related to Welsh history and culture - the Mary Dillwyn Album (a Victorian family photography album), autobiography of a smuggler, Lloyd George's 1886 diary, witchcraft in 17th century Flintshire, the 'Black Book of Carmarthen', a letter in the hand of Ann Griffiths, hymn writer, the Book of Taliesin (14th century), and more.
posted by plep on Nov 18, 2003 - 5 comments

Gathering the Jewels. Welsh culture online. 'The goal of the project was to put the cream of Wales' cultural history, from repositories throughout Wales, on the Internet for people to learn from and enjoy. ' Politics, religion, sport, domestic life, emigration (the Welsh in Patagonia), the Welsh landscape etc. Via the 24 Hour Museum.
posted by plep on Oct 19, 2003 - 14 comments

Wales and sports. I'd not put the two together, being from across the Atlantic. But, as we approach next weekend's Mountain Bike Bog Snorkeling Championship, I'm amazed the sport isn't better known in the States. Though, after reading about it from the 2000 Woman's champion, I think I'd rather participate in their horse racing marathon (there's a big bonus for crossing the finish before the horse) or bikeless bog snorkeling events. What sporting events are there where you're from that haven't yet gotten the world wide audience they deserve?
posted by bragadocchio on Jul 4, 2003 - 1 comment

And death shall have no dominion.
Dead men naked they shall be one
With the man in the wind and the west moon;
When their bones are picked clean and the clean bones gone,
They shall have stars at elbow and foot;
Though they go mad they shall be sane,
Though they sink through the sea they shall rise again;
Though lovers be lost love shall not;
And death shall have no dominion.
Fifty years ago, Dylan Thomas - one of the greatest poets of our time - drank himself to death in New York's Hotel Chelsea at the age of 39. Swansea, his Welsh hometown, will be commemorating his life all year, culminating in a festival in the fall. [more]
posted by madamjujujive on Jun 18, 2003 - 58 comments

The Stone Pages. 'Over the last 14 years we have personally visited and photographed all 529 archæological sites you will find in these pages (117 in the six national sections and 412 in our Tours section), creating the first Web guide to European megaliths and other prehistoric sites, online since February 1996.'
Related :- Ancient Stones, a personal photographic guide to the stone circles of Britain; Megalithic Walks, diaries of days out visiting some of these places; the Prehistoric Monuments of Wales; the interactive Megalith Map. These sites also have great links pages to more megalithic resources.
posted by plep on Mar 28, 2003 - 13 comments

The Castles of Wales A very extensive site documenting castles, abbeys and the like in Wales. If you're fond of castles, be prepared to lose at least an hour.
posted by Mayor Curley on Feb 17, 2003 - 14 comments

"I've halved my motoring costs since I started running my diesel Subaru on cooking oil. The car runs just as well and even smells a lot better than diesel."

The police 'Frying Squad' are on the case and "home in on any car smelling like a mobile fish and chip shop". Other than the dreadful puns, are there other reasons why we shouldn't all run our cars on Mazola?
posted by niceness on Oct 10, 2002 - 42 comments

Evidence since the early 1800s hinted that Welsh prince Madoc ab Owain Gwynedd and a colony of Welsh settlers discovered America in the 10th Century and eventually became assimilated as American Indians. New discoveries using DNA from graves in TN and England could show Madoc was actually a relative of King Aurthur and sailed to America in 562 AD! The historians Wilson and Blackett who have a loyal and cult-like following were also commissioned to produce a detailed genealogy of the Bush family by former President George Bush (senior).
posted by stbalbach on Aug 29, 2002 - 25 comments

Rotating Ski Slope. This seems a little far fetched, if not dangerous. Skiers travel down the side of the revolving slope at the same time as it moves upwards. The result is that the ski run is effectively much further than the actual 300-metre length of the incline. It is in Wales though - which will be nice.
posted by Spoon on Feb 26, 2002 - 12 comments

ULTRa set for take off in Cardiff! Urban Light Transport is finally here, and trials are under way in Cardiff, Wales for these four passenger driverless cars. It is estimated that the cost of implementation ($60m) will be 1/3 to 1/2 of that of a comparable light rail system.
posted by Why on Feb 24, 2002 - 10 comments

9/11 Conspirators Stole Identities of Murdered Students: "HAD FBI agents bothered to ask college lecturers in South Wales about the terrorist bomber they supposedly taught over a decade ago, then security chiefs would have realised how Osama bin Laden had carefully created a generation of impostors . . . his agents stole the identities and life histories of at least a dozen Western-educated young men who were all murdered in 1990, according to a former head of the CIA."
posted by ryanshepard on Sep 22, 2001 - 15 comments

UK Govt. votes to ban hunting in England and Wales. Browsing the web last night, several national polls were showing that more of the British Public were against a ban than in favour. Will the MPs who turned up to vote but not to debate (not very democratic?) live to regret their decision as the debate turns from animal welfare to civil rights?
posted by nico on Jan 18, 2001 - 29 comments