Barmouth Blog - John Pugh (webmaster)

A "Blog" is an abbreviated term for Web log, which is essentially a journal that uses "html" or web pages instead of pages in a book or diary. Blogs have become popular in recent years and are used by the news media in particular who publish news instantly from remote locations over the Internet. People who write "blogs" are referred to "bloggers".

I am in North Wales at the moment and visited Barmouth on Saturday, Sunday and Monday. The weather was excellent on Sunday on Monday and I was able to walk up to the peak and above the Tal-y-Llyn valley to watch the RAF take practice runs through the valley below us. Cader Idris was in plain view and I could see the reactor containment buildings at Trawsfynydd. I saw the Barmouth lifeboat being launched on Sunday from my vantage point on the peak.

I have taken approximately 500 pictures during my visit and I will be going home to North Carolina on Monday, 31st January. It was a good opportunity to see family and visit some of my old haunts. We had dinner in Tal-y-Don on Saturday night and lunch in Portmeirion on Sunday after the walk to the peak. Sunday night we enjoyed some Karaoke and Mark Stacey playing guitar at the Min-y-Mor hotel. Mark was excellent on the guitar! My Karaoke needs work however.

Lit and Deb

In a departure from normal the Society met in the Dragon Theatre on the Friday of last week. This was in order to take advantage of the grand piano, in a further departure combining a talk and a recital. It was given by Gwenda Clayton, the Society's Hon. Secretary, but also an accomplished pianist. Colin Havercroft, introducing her from the chair, noted with approval how much varied talent the Society possessed, this being the third week in succession that featured members.

Her talk was on "Beethoven, Brahms and Chopin" but she was thoughtful enough to start with a brief description of the workings of the pianoforte, an instrument which only appeared at the beginning of the eighteenth century and even then took about a hundred years to fully replace its predecessors., the harpsichord and the clavichord. This was a valuable enlightenment to at least one member of the audience (the writer), whose knowledge of chords, harmonics and the like had been rather vague.

A brief and rather poignant account of Beethoven's life followed. A precocious youth, he learned to play the violin at the age of five and was having keyboard lessons at nine. He published his first composition at thirteen, but was only thirty when he started to lose his hearing. It has been said that his influence on music is comparable to the influence of Shakespeare on literature and this was illustrated with the selection of his compositions that she then played.

Brahms came next, born a few years after Beethoven died. He, too, had a fairly early start, first learning to play the violin, teaching and playing the piano at thirteen and making a public debut at fifteen. several of his compositions were then celebrated on the piano, including the well known "Lullaby". Finally the spotlight was turned on Chopin, half French but very proud of and attached to his Polish nationality although he spent much of his adult life in Paris.  He has been spoken of as "the poet of the piano" and expressed thoughts and feelings not previously known in music and only capable of expression on the piano. He succumbed to tuberculosis when only thirty nine.  His work was, in turn, appreciated by both pianist and audience.

In another departure from normal, applause was given, with justification, at the end of each recital, rather than solely at the end of the evening. This expressed the appreciation of the audience for the quality of the playing. Member's collective appreciation of a most enjoyable evening was then expressed by Barry Rampton in a warm and congratulatory vote of thanks which was tinged with a humorous analogy, considering the various pieces played as items on a menu, music being the food of love.

Tonight the topic is "Why do we need nature reserves?" and the speaker is Neil Griffiths. Next week, in yet another departure from normal, the meeting will be on Wednesday, 2nd February, when Y Cymdeithas Gymraeg will be hosts for the Annual Inter-Societies Quiz   

Chapel action

Myfanwy Davies

Community Centre and Theatre

Samba Bands Bonus