Woking Welsh Society

12/06/2026

Called “the archetypal poet of the south Wales mining valleys” Idris Davies (1905-1953) was born and died in Rhymney. He worked as a miner for 7 years (losing a finger during that time) but lost his job during the Great Strike of 1926, after which he trained as a teacher. He taught in various places in England before returning to Wales. This verse is number 34 in the long poem sequence he published in 1943 called “The Angry Summer, a Poem of 1926”. This version comes from The Collected Poems of Idris Davies edited by Islwyn Jenkins published by Gomer Press in 1972.

09/06/2026

Our next meeting is on Thursday evening, 18 June, and will be our AGM. This will be swiftly followed by a couple of talks on Welsh Legends - well worth coming along to hear! As always, big Thank You to everyone who has been working hard 'behind the scenes' to make sure our meetings run smoothly. See you on Thursday next week!

08/06/2026

Happy Birthday to Bonnie Tyler, 75 today!🎉 She was born Gaynor Hopkins in Skewen and, after leaving school and coming second in a talent contest, decided that she would follow a career in music - and what a career it has been, so many hits and so many awards and accolades including an MBE in 2022. We also hope that Bonnie gets well soon after her recent hospital stay. Enjoy listening to, arguably, her greatest hit ‘Total Eclipse of the Heart’ which is one of the best selling singles of all time!!

Bonnie Tyler - Total Eclipse of the Heart (Live on All Time Greatest Love Songs, 2005)Stream Bonnie Tyler here: https://bonnietyler.lnk.to/Streaming Subscrib...

07/06/2026

It is not surprising that this grave in Brookwood Cemetery has such magnificent mosaic decoration. Guilio Salviati, who was buried here in 1898, was the son of Antonio Salviati (1819-1890), founder of the highly esteemed Salviati firm of glass makers and, especially, mosaics. Antonio (a lawyer) was initially trying to save some Byzantine treasures in Venice when he realised that the techniques and skills required were in decline so, with Lorenzo Radi (a skilled glassmaker), he developed a new process of making and applying enamel glass mosaics and set up a factory in Venice in 1859. By 1866 he had an office in London, where his work was championed by John Ruskin and Edward Burne Jones, and the demand for his products to decorate the church building / restoration projects of the period rejuvenated the Venetian glass industry! The fine mosaics on the Albert Memorial and in St Paul's Cathedral are just 2 examples of the many buildings in Britain and around the world that still display his fine work.

05/06/2026

Happy 30th Birthday to the Second Severn Crossing, which was formally opened on 5 June 1996! The original Severn Bridge had been in use since 1966 but it was clear that a new, more aerodynamic, bridge was required to deal with the huge increase in traffic and cope better with inclement weather - especially high winds - strong currents, and the second highest tide in the world (14.5 m/ 48 ft)! Construction on the second bridge started in April 1992 and innovative construction methods (including 2,302 precast segments) and 3 m high ‘baffle plates’ (to reduce closures during high winds) were used. The total length of the bridge is 3.2 miles: the 2 access viaducts (English end 2,103 m long and Welsh end 2,077 m) were constructed from their own sides and joined to the central cable stayed “Shoots bridge” over the deep channel in the centre. The pylons are 149m above the river bed and the cables vary in length from 35 to 243m. The total cost was £330 million. In 2018 the bridge came into public ownership and was renamed the Prince of Wales Bridge, also, more popularly, the collection of tolls ceased in December 2018. The photos come from the severnbridges.org website - a fascinating read for all engineers with lots more detail…

04/06/2026

Sarn Helen is an ancient route which connects Aberconwy to Carmarthen and which has many other branches eg from Neath to Brecon, so the quoted length varies between 160 to 235 miles. The route, and its history, are both still highly debated- as you can tell from this map!. It was constructed in the 1st and 2nd centuries AD following the Roman invasion, partly, at least, to enable access to the only gold mine in Britain at Dolaucothi. Parts of the Roman way can still be identified but some has been incorporated into roads eg the A40 and A470 and some lost. The name comes from a later legend which attributes the construction of roads in Wales to Saint Elen in the 4th century. She was the wife of Macsen Wledig (Magnus Maximus) whose story is told in the Mabinogion. It has now become a popular walking, cycling and riding route so there's a lot of information online, and in print, if you want to explore further.
This map comes from a cycling website roughrideguide.co.uk

02/06/2026

Wow, this is fascinating! Click on the picture to read the whole article.

Mystery remains around the meaning behind the art more than 17,000 years later.

02/06/2026

A little reminder before the World Cup and the Commonwealth Games start ...... !!

31/05/2026

Great opportunity, why not have a go?!

28/05/2026

Another in our Lovelace Bridges series! This one is Briary Hill East and, a little further on is a near identical bridge called..... Briary Hill West! If you click on the photo of the plaque you can read more about the bridges and Lord Lovelace.