Shearing
On Saturday I helped with the shearing at Hafodty. Hafodty is where my dad lived when he was a boy, and when my parents moved back to the Vale of Clwyd just before I was born, the land at Hafodty happened to come up for sale.
Although I was also raised on a farm, I'm not really a farm boy at all, and would hate shearing day. I never thought I would, but I'm now missing the area I was brought up in and as my parents are nearing retirement, I'm thinking more and more about the future of the farm, and how I'll miss events like shearing and harvesting.
I not cut out to be a farmer (I'm not that good with animals), and my parents never pushed my into the industry, but I'm ready to leave Cardiff and move back to my roots. My girfriend and I are both keen on the move, but we're worried about work. We're trying to think of things we could do, possibly using the farm land - things we've been thinking about are alternative crops or cultural tourism centred around the Welsh language. We've got lots to think about!
If the above photo gives you the urge, there's more sheep picture's at the Flickr group Obsessive sheep photographers.
shearing, sheep, farm, farming, wales, cymru, llannefydd, denbigh, vale of clwyd
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posted by Rhys Wynne at 9:40 am
2 Comments:
If the weather at Hafodty is anything like it's been in Portsmouth I should think those sheep were jolly grateful to you all!
How about cultural tourism - Welsh language, & Green (like at Machynellth)? Though I hesitate anything which might turn another part of Wales into yet another tourist attraction. We got the Rhondda valley thing from the tourist board a few years back: - Mining - heritage, Valleys - heritage, the Celts - heritage, Welsh cloth - heritage. Talk about Theme Park Britain!
It's bad enough living in Portsmouth - Historic Dockyard, Royal Marines Barracks, D-Day Museum etc. As for the Isle of Wight . . . There's some farming, very little shipbuilding (Vosper mainly), some electronics, & a couple of prisons! But the majority is low-wage, for teenagers, jobs servicing holiday makers, & therefore people tend to be underemployed for about six months of the year.
I bet they are greatful, although they didn't show it by the way they kept running in the wrong direction.
Yes, there's plenty of places showing 'what was once here', but I'm thinking more about 'what's here now'. From working with learners from the south east valleys and going on a weekend tip with them to a festival in Bala, I think there's a limited market in attracting people where the Welsh language is not regularly heard on the street to a Welsh speaking area. Many have reached a certian level where they're fluent and there's no more classes left to attend, and they just want to use it. Nant Gwrtheyrn offers something similar, but as it's a language teaching centre it might put people off who think that it's only a place for teaching. I'd take people to local pubs, businesses and events.
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