Essays

Yma o Hyd in My Blood: What My DNA Reveals About the Welsh Story

When we explore family history, we often begin with parish registers, gravestones, and sepia photographs. Yet DNA now allows us to go far deeper, reaching back not hundreds but thousands of years. My own paternal line — the Davies men of Montgomeryshire — has recently been confirmed as belonging to a branch called R-L96. This…
A Tribute to My Uncle Glyn Davies (1943–2025)

From my earliest childhood memories, Uncle Glyn was a steady and inspiring presence in my life. I remember the many visits to see him in Corris, where he lived with my nain — visits filled with warmth, conversation, and a quiet encouragement that would help shape who I became. As I grew into my teenage…
John Davies of Erglodd (1821–1887): “Apostol y Plant” and the Quiet Power of Faithful Service

In the upland heart of north Cardiganshire, where the hills of Taliesin and Talybont cradle the Dyfi valley, the life of John Davies of Erglodd stands as a shining example of rural Welsh piety, service, and enduring influence. Known in his lifetime as “Apostol y Plant” – the Children’s Apostle – he was celebrated for…
Tea and Waterfalls: John and Jane Waters of the Llyfnant Valley

In the remote folds of the Llyfnant Valley in north-west Montgomeryshire—where waterfalls crash through ancient woodland and time seems to move at the pace of a farm horse—a remarkable couple forged a life of quiet industry, community service, and understated innovation. Jane and John Waters, my grandmother’s aunt and uncle, were not landed gentry or…
A Decade of Cuts, A Future Betrayed: Why Is Wales Starving Its Own Soul?

Wales is the land of song. Of poetry and myth. Of harp strings, painted hills, and voices that carry centuries. So why, after a decade of managed decline, is the Welsh Government allowing our culture to be starved of the very funding that sustains it? This is not hyperbole. A Senedd report published in January…
When the Last Prince Hid in Our Hills: A Family Legend That Still Haunts Wales

High in the forgotten uplands of Montgomeryshire, where bracken folds over ancient sheep paths and the hills roll unbroken into silence, there stands a farmhouse my family still speaks of in reverent tones. Its name is Esgair Llywelyn — Llywelyn’s Ridge. Even now, the place endures. Weathered, empty, but defiantly upright. Whitewashed stone walls streaked…
Why Plaid Cymru is the Best Choice for Wales in the 2026 Senedd Elections

Although I now live in England, my roots run deep in Welsh soil. My elderly mother still resides in the quiet heartlands of rural mid-Wales, where I was raised on a tradition of civic responsibility, cultural pride, and community resilience. Every decision I make, from the words I write to the policies I support, is…
Saving the soul of Wales: why we must act now to preserve our family and chapel records

It is hard to overstate just how close we are to losing the living memory of rural Wales. Across our hills and valleys — from the sheep farms of Montgomeryshire to the slate towns of Gwynedd and the quiet chapels of Ceredigion — traces of family and community life are disappearing at an alarming rate.…
Keeping the flame: Why I joined the Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion — and why it matters for Wales

Wales is a nation woven together by memory and identity. Its story is told not only through the slate quarries, chapel pulpits, and small farms of our landscape, but also through the societies and institutions that have sustained Welshness far beyond our own borders. One of the most remarkable of these is the Honourable Society…