The Future Of The Welsh Language Shop

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Today I caught up with some disturbing news on Twitter. The Siop Y Bont, the Welsh language magazine and bookshop in the Pontypridd arcade is to close down next month.

Now I don't know the background to the closure, and I do feel guilty having avoided it in my last visit to the town, when my time was limited before watching a rugby game, but it is a great shop. Like all classic stores of it's type it seemed disorganised. But then as you went through the place you discovered treasure after treasure. As a retail experience it was truly a pleasure. Here were people who loved the Welsh language and loved showing that love to you the customer.

It's future closure though set me thinking. Obviously this is the most unscientific of surveys. Still since I came to Wales in 1997 there were four Welsh language shops that I was aware of. Now all these years later there is just one left in Whitchurch (Cardiff).

Now the enemies of the Welsh language will say this decline is just another example of that the native tongue is dying. It's an easy argument, and of course wrong. It's just part of the general shake-up of the high street mainly due to the internet. After all does all the store closures in Mothercare mean that childbirth is on the decline?

But the question does need to be asked what is the future of the Welsh language shop in this webby universe? Well in truth I don't really know what the answer is because what no one knows what the future is going to bring to the world of shops as a whole. At the moment things just seem febrile with once mighty names going to the wall. The only certainty is the uncertainty.

For the moment two off the top of my head thoughts enter my brain. Probably people with more knowledge of the subject will shoot me down, and so they should. But here they are anyway.

1) The four Welsh language shops I mentioned were/are individual small businesses. Perhaps if remaining shops joined together as a cooperative it might help with economies of scale etc.

2) Perhaps in towns without a Welsh Language shop large supermarkets should be made to stock a small proportion of Welsh language books, CDs DVDs and magazines. Now note the italicised small in that suggestion, say a shelf or two. And it should be reviewed in say three years. But at least there would be a regular supply of Welsh language stock in mainstream outlets.

Putting the Welsh language in high streets is the easy statement. How is a much more difficult.

Until the next time.

Wanderings In Barry Town And Whitchurch (Cardiff)

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

For reasons I won't bore you with yesterday I found myself with time to wander around two different places in South Wales yesterday. I've already dealt with Barry Town a bit in this blog so won't dwell on it that much but Whitchurch (a suburb of Cardiff) is new.

So let's start then with Barry Town.

I call this "View From Barry Town Car Park"

Now I like Barry Town, and it doesn't have the death spiral feel of Bridgend Town, but (referring to the high street) it must be careful not to fall in the same trap it's near neighbour did. It's not easy to work out the extent, partly because a number of outlets are being renovated and some (closed when I was there) were sort of takeaways/restaurants open in the evening, but it's not immune to shops closures.

I still feel though that what happens to this place (which I mentioned in my last post) is a bell weather to what will happen to the town as a whole if no one is careful.

Still Closed

As I mentioned in the previous post this is the Filco convenience store which has been closed since December last year. All retail closures are obviously bad news for the town, but like Bridgend Town with it's McDonald's or Phones4U there is something particularly depressing when the shell of the previous owners is still there after a particular length of time.

You may remember that I had a go at Cardiff Councillor Russell Goodway for suggesting that Barry Town did not have a purpose. In it I mentioned that by his logic (which I didn't agree with) you could make the same argument for most parts of Cardiff.

Whitchurch is a case in point. By Councillor Goodway's argument it's just a purposeless suburb that should just be called "something on the outside of the important bits of the capital" and forgotten about. But places evolve into a character of it's own. And Whitchurch is no exception. Circumstances meant I had an hour to wander round the place so here we go.

The main high street in Whitchurch is a delightful throwback to the Seventies with amongst the established names there are also the quirky shops. Unfortunately some shops so embrace the seventies they actually closed at 1pm on a Wednesday afternoon. Including annoyingly the Welsh Language shop.

A settled place I think

And of course amidst the coffee shops, bars, delis, gift shops there are a few charity shops. This from The Cancer Society Shop is worth a mention.

Is it just me or does Tracey seem a bit demonic?

It does have an impressive looking church, even for an atheist like me.

St Mary's

No need to wear a watch here

What bothered me about this church was that there were some parts of the cemetery outside where the grass had been cut and some which were not. Have no idea as to why but surely this should done equally just to respect the dead?

Example One

Example Two

As I've said the church was impressive looking. This spoilt it.

Walked past the local High School when I saw this sign.

Thing Is...

What's wrong with this sign? Well it's the following year. So no pressure on the class of 2018 then.

Sometimes you know you turn a street not specifically looking for anything and you are caught by surprise. St Mary's Church didn't give me that feeling. This did.

As Unexpected As It Was Impressive

I have no idea whether it was a planned thing or not. But that was unquestionably the best bit of graffiti art I have ever witnessed personally.

Whitchurch then. Settled. Relaxed. At ease with itself.

Perhaps that should it's motto.

Until the next time.