Back To The Seventies/Eighties In Wales? Nuance And The English Owned Holiday Home

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

 "Nuance" is not a word that you often hear in political debate. Particularly now.That you advocate one policy does not necessarily mean that you automatically support methods used to obtain it. Or that you might disapprove of an action but understand the motives behind it. The mainstream media just wants you to pigeon hole you into a set of views and that's it.

When I was much younger, less left wing and more politically neutral. I still looked at a map of Ireland and knew then by sheer geography that it should be one nation. That did not mean however I supported IRA bombings. Nuance you see.

Now I say all this because I've read an article in the Daily Post which suggests a rise in second homes in Wales bought by English people who (I presume) are unable to buy such homes in [insert EU country here] because of Brexit.

The consequences to the local communities of people from England coming down for the holiday seasons and then leaving homes otherwise empty would be immense. Young people in particular would be unable to start on the property ladder as prices rise.The Welsh language could in some places also suffer.

Here again let me point out that there is a fundamental difference between those people who move to Wales and those who buy a second home here (as I mentioned in an earlier post). If you move into a community then your intention is to be there for life not just for Christmas (Easter, Summer etc).

Now the article has an estate agent giving the contrary argument. Stating that bars etc spring up specifically because of the money the second home dwellers could provide. Point is however that's only during the holiday season. Outside the holiday season what then? Have you ever seen a seaside town in the off season? I rest my case.

Clearly what is needed is a combination of higher council tax for holiday homes (which some councils are doing) coupled with the replenishment of the housing stock for local people. Unless this happens there will be a social timebomb awaiting Wales.

Which brings me to the seventies and eighties. When faced with a similar issue some Welsh nationalists set fire to (uninhabited - that fact cannot be stressed enough) English owned second homes. Which led to the rather amusing joke "Come home to a real fire....Buy a holiday home in Wales".

Should no action be taken for the local communities affected then I can see history repeating itself. I personally wouldn't approve (Violence will not help and the mainstream media would smear the whole nationalist movement with a "violent" brush) I find myself remembering the words of then Hibernian manager Alan Stubbs on being asked to condemn a pitch invasion during the game by Hibs fans celebrating their likely (and eventual) victory in the 2016 Scottish Cup.

The Hibernian manager said he did not condone....but he understood.

Now there's a man who understands nuance.

Until the next time.

How Alan Stubbs Surprised Me And Olivia Manning Didn't

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

One of the advantages of working an afternoon/evening shift is that you don't have to sit and watch your team being knocked out of European football competition. I had recorded West Ham's defeat to Astra Giurgiu but on turning the television noticed the result in that ticker thing they have on the news channels. This has happened before but for the first time I was grateful.

No doubt tomorrow whilst travelling along the M4 to pick up my daughter I'll be treated mokked at by Astras (I've not spelt it wrongly by the way as that's in Vauxhallian).

Anyway let's chat about football by beginning with a book of jazz critism written by a poet. I know that sounds odd because it is, but bare with me.

Many years ago I bought a book of jazz articles by Philip Larkin that was originally in the Daily Telegraph. Don't remember what attracted me as I'm not really interested in poetry or jazz but suspect it was bought out of cheapness.

Well having read the book I can say that it made not a blind bit of difference to my view of either subject. But something he said about Louis Armstrong, one of the few exeptions in a good way to my jazz indifference I can recall even now.

Larkin wrote that Armstrong was not an experimenter or an innovator. He did what most jazz musicans did at that time, just a thousand times better. Alan Stubbs' 2013 autobiography How Football Saved My Life (written with Tom Bromley) is in many ways no different to most other football autobiographies except that it's the best one I've ever read.

What you realise when you read this book as it details his career and of course his battles with cancer is that Alan Stubbs has,when compared with other footballers, a quietly remarkable life. It's one of the few autobiographies I have ever read where I adnired the subject more once I'd finished it. I cannot recommend this book highly enough.

Which is more than I can say for The Rain Forest by Olivia Manning. A bickering couple arrive at a outpost of the British Empire in its twilight years. I feel I've read,watched or listened to this sort of thing all my life. Readable but not remarkable.

Unlike my next football book, which I won't be able to get until at least Tuesday. The next Penguin book I'll read is.

Fatima Meer - Nelson Mandela

This authorised autobiography was written, it should be remembered before he was released from jail. So it should be interesting.

Until the next time.

Of Books Borrowed And Bought

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

As night yesterday (Monday) fell my wife suddenly noticed the pile of books on the coffee table (which in this house should be called a tea table but I digress).

"What are they?" she asked.

Clearly darkness and impending sleep had clouded the obvious in her brain. I was happy to help.

"They're books I've bought today".

"Well there's no shelf room left"

She is actually wrong. There is shelf room. And when the shelves are full then I will create more room. That is what collectors do.

As it happened for other reasons I had not actively sought out books for a while. The last Penguin paperback I bought was the collection of J B Priestley plays, and that was only because the nearby village was holding a fete. The last non Penguin/Pelican I'd bought was The American by Martin Booth which as I've explained in an earlier post is worth the read. It was time to buy more.

Things seemed to coalesce themselves into buying books on Monday. I needed to go to Porthcawl library anyway. My daughter in her "I'm a teenager and it's a summer holiday so don't wake me up" mode didn't actually get out of bed until 10:45am (so a trip to Neath/Ebbw Vale etc was pointless). Porthcawl it was then. Lunch,shopping buying books and then the library. Such is the glamorous life this family leads I was surprised that we were not tailed by paparazzi.

The weather in Porthcawl amounted to acceptable this summer. That is to say cool and cloudy but dry. We had lunch on the seafront. I gazed at the relatively calm sea. My daughter just ate her sausage rolls. Bored you could tell. Suspect that true appreciation of what at first glance seems like a nothing view happens when you're older.

Anyway after lunch we went to the best charity shop in Porthcawl for books (Porthcawl Animal Welfare Society - PAWS) which has a whole floor devoted to them. I was in my element. Unfortunately I was with a daughter who wasn't in hers. Quickly she suggested every Penguin paperback she could see. It appeared to be helpful but in fact was to get me out of the place as quickly as possible. There would be no time to make a considered decision. I'm the adult.Knew it was a bit selfish of me to be here in this shop whilst she stood around watching Dad indulge his hobby as she just hung around so decided to choose promptly.

So five books were quickly picked. They were as follows:

1717 - Jamaica Inn - Daphne Du Maurier

This is the only pre ISBN numbered book amongst the five. I've only ever read one other book of hers before (not a famous one) but it had such an effect on me can't even remember it's title.

Jill Tweedie - Eating Children

This orange spined Penguin is on the face of it the most intriguing of all the books I bought. Written by the late Guardian writer this is an autobiography about her troubled childhood. 

Now in the spirit (as explained in an earlier post) of my position as the slight hypocrite comes the next book.

Penguin Plays - Four English Comedies

This is as shown a collection of English Comedic plays by Ben Johnson,William Congreve,Oliver Goldsmith and Richard Sheridan. 

Albert Camus - The Plague

You know all true readers will say that there are certain writers that they have not got round to reading purely because life interferes and/or there is already a pile of the great unread to go through. For me Albert Camus is one of those writers. I'm happy I got this book.

And finally.

Dirk Bogarde - Great Meadow 

Towards the end of his life Dirk Bogarde became just as known for his writing as he was for his acting. This is part of his autobiographical series of books.

Five books for just £2. As they would say in Cardiff. Barrgain,

Before we went home we went to the library so that I can pick a football book. This was the one I chose.

Alan Stubbs - How Football Changed My Life

Alan Stubbs, ex manager of Hibernian and now manager of Rotherham was also a useful player in his own right. This is his autobiography (written before his managerial career) which also includes his battles with cancer. Suspect it'll be worth a read.

I enjoyed getting these books. Both as a reader and a collector.

Until the next time.