My first primary school was Bont Primary School. I was taught a range of subjects predominately in Welsh. One of the ‘subjects’ that I excelled at was singing and I became an accomplished boy soprano. I learned Welsh hymns such as ‘Cwm Rhondda’, the most famous version of which is the English version ‘Bread of Heaven’.
Each spring there was an annual singing and recitation competition at Cwmllinau village, near Machynlleth. I was usually entered in a few categories including those for boy sopranos. I am proud to say (boast!) that I often came first, second or third and was awarded a coloured ribbon for each award. I also sang in duets, usually with my good friend Alwyn Pryce. I was also entered into classes in recitation, but didn’t succeed as well in that. One matter that concerned Mum and Dad was that other parents, whose native language was Welsh, might have felt aggrieved that their own children may have ‘lost out’ to an English-speaking competitor. Well, if they were, they never showed it and usually congratulated me on my success.
So far, I've written around 2150 words and I've covered less than ten years of my life. That's approximately 240 words per year and, looking ahead, a prediction of 16,250 words for my life so far (I don't think so!). I'm going to have to write it in 'stages' indispersing it with writing articles for magazines.
I found a brilliant image of a dog and boy on board a narrowboat in 1954. I would have liked to have used it in my article on dogs who lived aboard boats but the copyright owners would not release it without a fee, which was too high.
However, onwards and upwards. The article has to be written, so I'll continue my research.
Watch this space!
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