Oral History

Bev and I recently spent an informative morning with Ivor Williams of Treboeth Historical Society where we discussed the origins of the Society and Ivor's involvement, personal and local history and of course Daniel James.  This was the second oral history we have completed plus we have some written memories from Alan Beddoe highlighting aspects of life at Mynyddbach.  In due course we will spend some time transcribing and summarising this information along with that provided by Miriam Evans.  There are also some other people who we are going to speak to and who knows what we may find out!

Oral History Interviews

Bev and I have started our oral history interviews and last Wednesday 13 February, we spent a delightful afternoon in the company of Miriam Evans.  Miriam was born in Treboeth and has lived there all her life and before she retired she was the Headteacher of Gwyrosydd Infants School.  This interview was very special for me as Miriam was my Headteacher when I was an infant!

Miriam recalled a variety of memories about the Treboeth area from her life as a child and up to more recent years.  Areas that were covered included:

• the role that the Chapel in Welsh life and Welsh culture
• living conditions - including memories of the thatched cottage that Daniel James lived in
• the geography of the local area in times gone by
• education of children
• warm memories of her father and grandfather

Her grandfather was an acquaintance of Daniel James and she explained that Gwyrosydd had written a poem about her father, entitled Y Baban ar fin y Dibyn (which roughly translates as 'The child on the edge of a precipice') which relates to a time when her father would have been playing in a quarry area just behind Miriam's house.  This is a very personal memory and a direct link to Daniel James!

Over the coming weeks we have a more oral histories lined up  - so watch this space!

Calon Lan tops Official Classical singles chart

Calon Lan reached the top of the classical singles chart in December!  Its fame spreads...

"Only Boys Aloud’s reworking of traditional Welsh hymn Calon Lan has knocked Luciano Pavarotti’s Nessun Dorma off the top of the Official Classical Singles Chart.

The World’s Biggest Boyband, Only Boys Aloud, have gone straight to Number 1 on the Official Classical Singles Chart with their re-working of Daniel James and John Hughes’ traditional hymn, Calon Lan.

The Official Classical Singles Chart was launched in May of this year to reflect the growing interest in individual downloads of classical tracks. The past two years have seen a surge in individual classical track download sales in the UK – up 46% in 2011 compared to 2010 (from 834,000 to 1.2 million). This trend has continued in 2012, and in the first quarter of this year, some 284,000 classical downloads were sold, a 34% increase on the 212,000 sold in the first three months of 2011"

Click here for full article by Dan Lane - Only Boys Aloud top Official Classical Singles Chart

Only Boys Aloud sing Calon Lan

I admit, I didn't watch Britain's Got Talent and therefore didn't see the Only Boys Aloud choir sing Calon Lan early in 2012.  I only came across a recording of it by chance as a result of searching for research stuff on-line but when I finally watched it I was blown away!  It makes me cry every time I watch it!

If you haven't heard it yet, here is a link.  It is sensational!

Only Boys Aloud sing Calon Lan