Jackie Wesley

That straight road through the village is actually called Roman Road. It’s part of the old Roman road from Neath to Brecon.

I do actually have an idea of what Banwen used to look like when the mine was open, because in the corridor in the Dove Workshop (an adult education and community centre, just visible in the opening shot among the trees, top…[Read more]

Yes, and not least among its attractions is that those houses in the terraces can still be had for less than £100,000.

The Valleys have always been famous for community spirit, though anyone who was alive when the mines were open will tell you that it’s not what it was. The mine at Banwen closed as long ago as 1964 (that pretty pond was once an…[Read more]

Thank you, Ath. Your assessment of my efforts in very pleasing. I did worry that it might be too long, but there are so many interesting facets to the subject, and I didn’t want to leave any of them out. Also, I didn’t know that there was anyone in my potential readership who actually knew and liked Johnson’s music.

I came to the blues by a very…[Read more]

It did, but not by very much. I went looking for info on this, and found three post-nationalisation disasters with forty or more killed. Not quite slaughter on nineteenth century levels, but you have to take into account that the industry was being steadily run down.

Though I’m old enough (I was born in 1950) I don’t remember where I was or what…[Read more]

And thank you too, Seagreen.

For those of you who are interested enough to look up that song lyric, I should explain the significance of that line ‘Down there in the dark they are lying.’ On the grounds that conditions were too dangerous for any further rescue work, the controversial decision was taken to permanently seal the affected part of the…[Read more]

Thank you one and all. I’ve had a good feeling about this story ever since I knocked out the original version for last winter’s challenge in three days flat, but never in my wildest dreams did I envision it would do this well. Well, in my wildest dreams maybe, but not anywhere else.

The result has bolstered my faith in my writing ability, though…[Read more]

Thank you, Kate. Yes, it is. Once again I seem to have missed the boat to be the first to announce it, but hey, who cares? After writing and submitting two novels and getting 60% form rejections and 40% no reply at all, it does feel rather good to have got some validation at last.

Bitter, moi? Not just at the moment.

Oh, it’s gone live all on its little ownsome.

For a start, you could try Jericho Writers, which is what the Writers’ Workshop, sponsors of the old Word Cloud, morphed into a few years back.

Editorial Services

Sorry, I can’t make the kink go live without the entire post vanishing. You’ll have to copy and paste.

Ah. Forgot to check for new posts (not often necessary here, sad to say), hence the duplication with Ath’s post.