Delightful days at National Eisteddfod

MY daughter Ella-Sioned and I have just spent a delightful few days at the National Eisteddfod in the beautiful setting of Cardiff Bay.

It’s an event we look forward to every year and there is so much for everyone to enjoy, whatever aspect of our rich culture and heritage you most enjoy. As usual we mixed it up and enjoyed so much, including some wonderful singing, dancing and reciting competitions, as well as the spine-tingling poet-chairing ceremony, for which the Donald Gordon theatre was packed to the rafters!

In the evenings we could not believe our luck to be able to enjoy two of our favourite bands, Al Lewis and Yr Ods, perform outside on the BBC Wales stage and then, back

at our hotel each evening, enjoy the best of the Babell Len with our inspirational poets and literary greats, courtesy of S4C.

We were encouraged by Archdruid in waiting Myrddin ap Dafydd’s thoughts that maybe this year’s experiment with not charging for entry to the outer maes should be continued in the future because, as he said, our beautiful language and rich culture belongs to everyone in Wales. Whatever can be done to encourage more to learn more about both is to be welcomed.

As Nigel Owens reminded us in his excellent opinion piece in Saturday’s WM Weekend, “A country without its language is a country without its heart. It’s the beating heart of Wales.”

O bydded i’r hen iaith barhau! R Terry James