Dear Member
St Patrick’s Day. Do the Irish party better than us (they certainly seem to play better rugby these days) or are they just more confident about who they are? We have talked before about the Welsh narrative – or perhaps lack of clarity now on what that is.
You will have discerned by now that despite our precarious National finances I remain an optimist. In Wales we have a new opportunity, with a new First Minister, to change tack. At our dinner last week both Carwyn Jones, First Minister and Peter Hain Secretary of State for Wales acknowledged the critical need to expand and enhance the private sector in Wales. There might be differences in opinion between the political parties about how we achieve that but there seems now to be a consensus that this is the most important issue facing Wales.
It was a well attended and successful night – the venue, the Caledonian Club, earned high praise and perhaps gives us a sense of what we should aspire to. The contrast with the London Welsh Centre, where I watched the rugby on Saturday, is stark. Clearly the two clubs perform very different functions: it would be hard to see our choirs adapting well to rehearsal in the Caledonian Club. Equally it’s hard to see business people comfortably using Gray’s Inn Road as a venue to “meet and greet”. Is there a middle way?
I hope to summarise the main points of the evening in a separate note – hopefully later this week. If I manage that I will post it in the news section.
Tonight we are supporting Cymmrodorion for a lecture at The Institute of Engineering, 3 Carlton House Terrace, London SW1 (between the Mall and Pall Mall), when the speaker is Professor R T Shannon, Emeritus Professor of Modern History, Swansea University. Much to my surprise and delight I have been asked to Chair the session which I hope will further the linkages between our organisations.
Dick Shannon is an authority on Gladstone and his work has afforded him special insights into the history of Wales in the 19th century. His lecture is "Sir George Cornewall Lewis - Victorian Wales' Prime Minister that might have been". Details can be found under events on the web page.
If you have a space in your diary tonight be brave and come – a warm welcome and an interesting lecture. Although the event is free to subscribing Cymmrodorian members it would be helpful if those who are not (yet!) members could make a small donation when there - say £10. There will be a reception and an opportunity to meet the lecturer, after the lecture.
When I mentioned membership (details on its website www.cymmrodorion1751.org.uk) I forgot to mention one of the gems of the organisation – the annual publication of edited texts of a selection of the lectures with additional articles. Recent visitors of ours from Philadelphia were entranced by an article on Welsh life in 18th century Philadelphia. There was that and much more of interest.
One of the benefits of being Chair is that many members come to me with ideas/ suggestions. One of the points commonly raised was a wish to have slightly longer, at events, to mingle (dare I say network) than is possible at our dinners. That was the impetus behind organising Christmas and summer receptions and the drive behind running more “social” events - though no one could claim that the dinners are not “social”! We remain keen to provide these opportunities and to make them both enjoyable and affordable.
LAST DAYS FOR BOOKING. On March 24th we have “An evening with Frank Sinatra & Elvis Presley" (or should that be Elvis Preselli) at the Wine Tun, 2 - 6 Cannon Street, opposite the junction to New Change. It is an American themed evening with live music, delicious American food and lots of American drinks! Music for all ages and all this priced at only £35. We have had a good response to date but, as ever, we would be keen to see as many there as possible.
Helen Wakeman- Jones is organising this part of our itinerary so queries to her not Bridget hwakemanjones@aol.com or 07798 530691. We need to have a reasonable sense of numbers by this weekend so, if you are keen to come ,email Helen by close of business on Friday to let her know. To pay you can do it in the normal way either by applying on-line at www.walesinlondon.com: (click on events and either book online) or print an application form and forward as directed with payment attached.
July 14th is the date for our summer reception. Please diarise – we will provide details closer to the time but it promises to be another excellent evening.
I am conscious that I have several news items to post on the webpage but am anxious for this to go – so it will be updated over the next few days.
I look forward to seeing you tonight and next week
Robert
