The days following an election are like no other. The frenzy, the mania and the sheer energy of the campaign is suddenly exchanged for the exhaustion, the solitude and the quiet contemplation that follows.
I was greatly proud to have been formally re-elected as the County Councillor for Rhyd-Y-Fuwch ward on Ceredigion County Council in the early hours of Friday morning to serve for a 3rd term. Since that declaration, I have spent a quiet weekend looking back at the campaign and looking at the results from across the country.
It has been a bittersweet experience because whilst I have been able to consider the great honour that has once more been bestowed on me, I have also spoken to many good friends who were not so fortunate.
A Local Campaign
Here in Cardigan, it was very much a local campaign. Having served for 8 years, I found it easier to speak to residents on their doorsteps as they naturally knew me better than before and the work that I have done on their behalf in that time spoke loudly through the 75+ posters that were displayed in windows on Aberystwyth Road, Maeshenffordd, Brynhafod, Rhos-Y-Dre, Bro Teifi, Heol Hafod, Maesyrhaf, Napier Gardens, Napier St, North Road, Feidrfair, William St and in Llys Owen.
Out of the 600+ houses that comprises the Rhyd-Y-Fuwch Ward (yes, it is a relatively small ward compared to that of those in more urban areas), I only received one virtual slammed door in the face due to the policies of the Coalition Government in London. Quite incredibly, on election day outside of the count, the same couple approached me and apologised for the manner in which they spoke to me having subsequently spoken to Mark Williams MP about their personal problems and made progress on them with his support. They were now voting for me once more they said. So there was certainly no sense that the bigger picture was having an impact on this local campaign - it was an election based around the calibre of the local candidates and in a local election, that is how it should be.
The campaign was a relatively quiet one in which my Plaid Cymru opponent also knocked on the doors in the ward and had himself a dozen or so posters up in windows. There was from what I can gather, very little negativity in the campaigning methods used and when the result was announced, it gave me 76% of the vote.
Around the county, as I had long suggested would probably be the case, the County Council remained in No Overall Control. Plaid Cymru made the gains necessary to gain an outright majority but then lost seats as well to leave them 1 seat down on 19 seats - 3 short of an outright majority. Our Welsh Liberal Democrat ranks sadly lost 2 of our 9 wards to leaves us with 7 Councillors going into the new Council. The Independents meanwhile saw an increase from 12 to 15 Councillors but this figure however hides the surprise loss of the Leader of the Council Cllr Keith Evans' seat in Llandysul which was certainly the shock of the night.
Not all of the Independents I expect will willingly serve within the formal Independent Group. How many of those will serve as 'Independent Independents', time will soon tell and it will play an important role in the discussions that will go on during the coming days as different groups discuss the possibility of working together to form a new administration.
Welsh Heartache
But whilst the long election night count saw the intrigue of wins and losses, the agony and the ecstasy and the whole array of human emotion, the morning just brought me dismay.
The relief of having finally heard my own result was replaced with the dismay of hearing of news of Council losses across Wales that are more than just figures, they are the personal circumstances of close and good friends of mine in areas such as Cardiff, Swansea and Merthyr.
They were unfortunate to represent wards where the first question asked was not of the quality of the candidate and their response to local issues, but of national concerns to which it wasn't their role to represent. Many of these friends have served in local government for the same 8 year period of time as myself. I have known them and have grown up with them in local government terms during this time and have seen how hard they have worked for their communities.
Such of course is the fickle nature of politics. But please remember reader that behind every headline, there's a human story.
But be it fair or otherwise, the inescapable fact is that the Welsh Liberal Democrats principal Councillor ranks shrank from 166 down to just 72 in the blink of an eye in the early hours of Friday morning. But, we shall dust ourselves down and carry on because that is the liberal way. We have a strong record of diligently serving our communities and that won't change.
Onward and upward for there is of course, no alternative.
Sunday, 6 May 2012
Sunday, 15 April 2012
Like F1 Father, Like Son
I'm absolutely delighted for Nico Rosberg after he secured his first-ever F1 win in China today.
This makes them, if I am not mistaken, only the 3rd father-and-son partnership in F1 history to have won a Formula One race after Graham/Damon Hill (left) and Gilles/Jacques Villeneuve (below).
It is also the first win for the pure Mercedes constructor since Juan Manuel Fangio's victory at Monza back in 1955 - when Ross Brawn was just 1 year old!!So looking ahead, this gives Nico the big break that his talent has clearly shown was there but as a connoisseur of F1 history, it's these historic milestones that make this a particularly sweet win for me. The sadness is that of the 3 above mentioned father-and-son double acts, this was the first where the father lived long enough to see the victory of the son.
Sunday, 8 April 2012
Martletwy Church - Easter 1962
It is taken from the collection of his photographic slides dated 1961-1976 that we are transferring to modern media.
Martletwy is a small village in south Pembrokeshire near the Cleddau Estuary. Many of my relatives are buried in the graveyard there and I as a child, attended Sunday School at the nearby Baptist Chapel.
Dad would've been 25 when he took this photo in 1962.
Saturday, 7 April 2012
Loveston Church - Easter 1962
It is taken from the collection of his photographic slides dated 1961-1976 that we are transferring to modern media.
It is quite incredible, but wonderful at the same time, that this photo taken by my father a full 50 years ago can now, with the help of modern technology, be viewed as fresh, all over again.
Loveston is a small village in south Pembrokeshire. Mine and my father's home of Hungerford Farm was located just a mile to the north. My father was a pupil at Loveston Primary School before he left aged 14 in around 1950/1951.
Dad would've been 25 when he took this photo in 1962.
Friday, 6 April 2012
My 2012 Classic FM Hall of Fame Top 3 Choices
Back at the end of February, I blogged here about the impending 'Classic FM 2012 Hall of Fame'. I was torn then as to what my final 3 choices would be from what was and is a wealth of wonderful music.
Well dear reader, as promised then (albeit slightly later than planned), here I am reporting back with my top 3 choices. Although later than planned, it is in fact apt that I do so now because this year's Top 300 countdown begins this morning at 9am and will run throughout the Easter-long weekend between 9am-9pm, concluding with the No.1 on Easter Monday evening.
So here, in advance of that imminent countdown, are my Top 3 Classical composition choices that I submitted on the Classic FM website in advance of the February 29th deadline.
No.3 - Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite
Whilst my top 2 choices were assured of their place in my Top 3, the final choice was an open contest between a number of compositions.
In the end, this wonderful piece won the nod because of the many and varied wonderful suites that make up the whole.
We begin, with the wonderful opening 'Prelude' - Suite 1...
We then move into the stirring March - Suite 2...
Next is a famous section though one that I personally, find rather over-rated! It's the Sugar Plum Fairy - Suite 3...
Next by contrast is an absolute favourite of mine! For those of my generation, it'll be synonomous with the 1990 film Home Alone! Yes, it's Trepak - Suite 4...
Next is the slower Arabian Dance - Suite 5...
Next is another short but wonderfully sweet section, the Chinese Dance - Suite 6...
As the Suite nears its conclusion, it continues to increase in intensity with the infectious Reed Flutes - Suite 7...
We then reach the final and without doubt in my mind, the best of the 8 suites. A delectable selection of sounds as heard above, all coming to a crescendo of volume with the romantic, beautiful Waltz of the Flowers - Suite 9...
It's this final piece that for me, makes Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite so delicious and wholly worthy of its place in my Classic Hall of Fame Top 3 selection.
No.2 - Rossini's William Tell Overture
Again for me, it's all about the wonderful climax and there's no better conclusion to a classical piece of music than here.
It begins in a desperately melancholy manner and indeed is such, that you couldn't likely realise what is to follow. But follow it does, as it launches into a loudly dark section before we move into the glorious Finale. Suddenly, from the dark, comes the light and the light is blinding!
When those 'galloping horses' arrive on the scene, there's nothing going to get in the way of what is one of the finest pieces of classical music I have ever had the pleasure of listening too!
An absolute joy and delight and likewise wholly deserving of its place in my Classic Hall of Fame Top 2 selection.
But as an extra treat, here is that wonderful finale once more in the conclusion to that wonderful, gritty film, Brassed Off!
Wow!
So what can trump these 2 majestic choices? Well, there is one that can do just that...
No.1 - Beethoven's 7th Symphony
It was on my return from a visit to the wonderful, captivating city of Berlin in 2006 that I watched a DVD of the Fall of the Berlin Wall that I had purchased at Checkpoint Charlie whilst there.
It was a harrowing, traumatic but an ultimately joyous and uplifting experience and no matter how many times I watch it, it reduces me to tears. If the DVD was memorable enough just through the true story that it told, what made it even more so was the soundtrack that was played to segments of the story. What I hadn't realised at that time was that the stirring, moving music that I was listening too and which so aptly could have told the story of that Wall was in fact Beethoven's 7th Symphony.
I was truly captivated by this piece of music and in particular, the haunting 2nd Movement - the Allegretto. If I had to choose one movement from any piece of classical over all others, then this 2nd Movement would be it.
Yet, on finding out where this sound came from and realising that it made up a part of Beethoven's 7th Symphony, I quickly came to know and likewise fall in love with the remaining 3 movements. The joy of the 3rd movement after the melancholy of that wonderful second and then the wonderful, zestful 4th and final climactic movement gives the symphony a life of its own. It's as if it is speaking out on all of the the differing human emotions that we feel.
As a complete symphony, it cannot in my mind be beaten and I adore it. It has to be my No.1 choice.
So where will these 3 choices end up in the 2012 Classic Hall of Fame Top 300? Well, we're about it to find out!
Well dear reader, as promised then (albeit slightly later than planned), here I am reporting back with my top 3 choices. Although later than planned, it is in fact apt that I do so now because this year's Top 300 countdown begins this morning at 9am and will run throughout the Easter-long weekend between 9am-9pm, concluding with the No.1 on Easter Monday evening.
So here, in advance of that imminent countdown, are my Top 3 Classical composition choices that I submitted on the Classic FM website in advance of the February 29th deadline.
No.3 - Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite
Whilst my top 2 choices were assured of their place in my Top 3, the final choice was an open contest between a number of compositions.
In the end, this wonderful piece won the nod because of the many and varied wonderful suites that make up the whole.
We begin, with the wonderful opening 'Prelude' - Suite 1...
We then move into the stirring March - Suite 2...
Next is a famous section though one that I personally, find rather over-rated! It's the Sugar Plum Fairy - Suite 3...
Next by contrast is an absolute favourite of mine! For those of my generation, it'll be synonomous with the 1990 film Home Alone! Yes, it's Trepak - Suite 4...
Next is the slower Arabian Dance - Suite 5...
Next is another short but wonderfully sweet section, the Chinese Dance - Suite 6...
As the Suite nears its conclusion, it continues to increase in intensity with the infectious Reed Flutes - Suite 7...
We then reach the final and without doubt in my mind, the best of the 8 suites. A delectable selection of sounds as heard above, all coming to a crescendo of volume with the romantic, beautiful Waltz of the Flowers - Suite 9...
It's this final piece that for me, makes Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite so delicious and wholly worthy of its place in my Classic Hall of Fame Top 3 selection.
No.2 - Rossini's William Tell Overture
Again for me, it's all about the wonderful climax and there's no better conclusion to a classical piece of music than here.
It begins in a desperately melancholy manner and indeed is such, that you couldn't likely realise what is to follow. But follow it does, as it launches into a loudly dark section before we move into the glorious Finale. Suddenly, from the dark, comes the light and the light is blinding!
When those 'galloping horses' arrive on the scene, there's nothing going to get in the way of what is one of the finest pieces of classical music I have ever had the pleasure of listening too!
An absolute joy and delight and likewise wholly deserving of its place in my Classic Hall of Fame Top 2 selection.
But as an extra treat, here is that wonderful finale once more in the conclusion to that wonderful, gritty film, Brassed Off!
Wow!
So what can trump these 2 majestic choices? Well, there is one that can do just that...
No.1 - Beethoven's 7th Symphony
It was on my return from a visit to the wonderful, captivating city of Berlin in 2006 that I watched a DVD of the Fall of the Berlin Wall that I had purchased at Checkpoint Charlie whilst there.
It was a harrowing, traumatic but an ultimately joyous and uplifting experience and no matter how many times I watch it, it reduces me to tears. If the DVD was memorable enough just through the true story that it told, what made it even more so was the soundtrack that was played to segments of the story. What I hadn't realised at that time was that the stirring, moving music that I was listening too and which so aptly could have told the story of that Wall was in fact Beethoven's 7th Symphony.
I was truly captivated by this piece of music and in particular, the haunting 2nd Movement - the Allegretto. If I had to choose one movement from any piece of classical over all others, then this 2nd Movement would be it.
Yet, on finding out where this sound came from and realising that it made up a part of Beethoven's 7th Symphony, I quickly came to know and likewise fall in love with the remaining 3 movements. The joy of the 3rd movement after the melancholy of that wonderful second and then the wonderful, zestful 4th and final climactic movement gives the symphony a life of its own. It's as if it is speaking out on all of the the differing human emotions that we feel.
As a complete symphony, it cannot in my mind be beaten and I adore it. It has to be my No.1 choice.
So where will these 3 choices end up in the 2012 Classic Hall of Fame Top 300? Well, we're about it to find out!
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