Since I saw any of you lot, my car has been off the road and all my best laid plans of lots of interviews I had managed to set up went out the window – I am gutted and my project will be cobbled together from the two weeks we had on trips!  However the day after the exams, I did manage to get one interview in.

That was with a lady called Loraine who ran a Goat Farm.  The Goat Farm was called Kid me not…  I kid you not!
I prepared my interview, and spent half hour – going on 3 hours with her, time flew by!  On the eve of a show day, she was wonderful.

I discussed all sorts of things from her title as Top Woman Entrepreneur 2010, to why she had come to Wales, and even about “Welshness” of her product.  She preceded to show me round the farm, where I saw all the newborn goat kids, saw through the window of the manufacturing areas (going in would have caused a lot of red tape so we skipped this), checked out the older goats and showed me her new refrigeration area, where I came out with a child’s story book she had written, goat milk chocolate lollipops, fudge and cheese.

As a goat keeper myself, I was veryimpressed and rather envious with how much she had created in the ten years she had been working, she really did deservee the title of Top Woman Entrepreneur 2010.
I was amused that someone in her Masters in Lampeter had also chosen Loraine as an interviewee, and I hope I at least did the first years justice in interviewing techniques.   I must say, it was very interesting.

Carole

Hi everyone,

I didnt know if everyone had access to the farming survey we made so I thought i’d post it here just in case. It’s the questionnaire from when we split into groups and created surveys according to our research.  UWL_Farming_Survey[1]

Hope it helps,

Lucy

Hi all,

I was wondering what’s happening with the recordings of the interviews we had – are we still planning to post them or not?

- Ben

Somewhat overwhelmed by this research report I decided to return to the place where it all began, Tregaron Mart. On my approach there I happened upon Judith who was travelling in the same direction. We spoke some and I explained to her my reasons for this trip.

Turns out Judith is well informed, having lived there most of her life. I listened as hard as I could of the noise of the bus 585′s engine as Judith recalled to me days spent on a North Wales Farm, helping with the shearing and be reciprocated with the kind of cultural education only A widowed Sheperds wife can give. Judith was and remains a permanent part of the furniture in the National Eisteddfod.

Anyway I asked Judith if she’d go on the record and she said she did’nt mind, so long as I helped carry her shopping home for her-reciprocity! Having obtained a Degree in Agriculture she new well my intented sample, the Tregaron farmer.

Judith’s appreciation of the mart is far more extensive than mine and she often referred to it as a hinterland which attracted buisness from all around due to the subsequent closure of numerous marts in cardiganshire. In fact Tregaron no wtakes pride of place on the calendars of most farmers and has proved, for decades, to be a lucrative industry for the local inhabitants.

My informant claimed that should the mart go then the infrastructure within which many of the “Tregaronians” are employed in anddepend upon would follow in its wake. In fact it is the mart’s prominence and centrality which preserves that sense of antiquity and tradition among its people; justifies the presence of two banks, not to mention the various other chains which are a by- product of its clients needs. Directly opposite the mart there is a rather outdated retail store which serves the older clientale, peering through the window pain was like looking back into 1950.

Tregaron has a deep and historic story to tell and I dare anyone with the slightes interest in Welsh identity to look it up some time. So completely independent were these natives and so extensive were their lands the Tregaron farmer relied heavily upon the markets which existed in South East England. From here a great many drove their cattle and other livestocks to the English markets, and probably over that barren and desolate landscape, the cambrians.

Tregaron mart is a place of buisness, no doubt; but it also serves social interests aswell. Tregaron is a majestic place if only for the true reality that it displays, the demise of a cultural identity, a living museum……..Rhodri.

Today I had my first real interview..it was a bit nerve racking..somehow this week just flew by! I found myself revising (or at least with the pretense of revising) all day monday. Tuesday I fell asleep after my exam and took the day off from work, feeling that an early morning exam warranted at least that, and Wednesday I spent in Oxford at the Pitt Rivers museum. it was only today that I really knuckled down to my work.

I had my first interview today with Janet Burton, a wonderful lady in the history department. she knew what she was talking about, and was more than happy to deal with my poorly formed questions. I felt however that a voice recorder would have been amazing, she gave me a large wealth of information, and greatly contextualize the Cistercians in my mind, as well as answering all my questions beyond and above my expectations. so riveted I was by the stories she told me, that I felt like I would miss something if I used some brain power to write things down..so it was between sips of coffee I wrote down words I hoped would sparked my memory. it was after the interview that I practically ran to the library so I could write down everything I could remember…writing almost three pages worth of information..including a really interesting story about Conwy castle and abbey cwm hir.. apparently its at abbey cwm hir that the last native Welsh Prince was buried, and Janet claims that this abbey, though not particularly important compared to strata florida in the medieval, is now an icon in the Welsh psyche. every year they have a gathering on the sunday closest to the death of the last prince there is a gathering and a service in memory of him. I thought this was very interesting when looking at what remains in the Welsh psyche and how cwm hir has gained more importance in the modern sense then when it was thriving in the medieval period.

after that I decided to really get down to work, spending most of the day in the library, combing through Janice Triers incredibly hard to read thesis on holy wells in Pembrokeshire and their relation to holy pilgrimage. I think I have narrowed down my project to three thousand words now, which is really good. I don’t have anymore interviews planned though, but I think that tomorrow im going to really think through where I am going now that ive narrowed it down. just so I can have it clear in my head.

next friday is approaching to soon…im really glad I only had one exam as well

Selina

Yesterday I went to a little village called Llanafan, near Strata Florida to visit an informant, well, I call her an informant to sound anthropological but really she’s a good friend and also a archaeology student. I’d asked Debbie to let me interview her as she was born and bred in the area we have been looking into and I wanted to know how she felt about the red kite, tourism in the local area, English incomers, farming, the national assembly,  Welsh culture and the Welsh language.

I found it really interesting how we found it so difficult to talk with the voice recorder on, we were both giggling and doing the “errr…ummm”  thing, not knowing what to say and where to start! We did eventually get into the swing of things and I feel I got some really important and interesting information, I just need to work out how to edit out the bits where we wittered on about very unrelated things! (I think I need to re-install the software for the voice recorder)

When I’ve managed to do that I’ll try and post some of the interview on here (if that’s possible) as I think Debbie had some really valid points, you’ll just have to excuse how many times she swore, every other word!

All in all, it was a really good way to conduct my first solo interview, as it was a none intimidating atmosphere and we were both really comfortable with each other. I’m hoping it will have given me a good base to continue interviewing other people in the future…baby steps!

I am feeling relieved now that my exams are over (both of them in the same day), and I can focus on my research project on Welsh identity in the local area. I have been spending most of the day dissecting Fiona Bowie’s article Wales from within: Conflicting Interpretations of Welsh Identity and The Dragon Has Many Faces by Richard-Michael Diedrich, both very useful books on the subject.

Mihail

It was all here before us and never more so than when Mathew was joined by his parents in the barn. Suddenly I saw that it was’nt merely a question of spring water with an apparently distinguishable “acidic flavour”, but the whole deal, from the family ties to the area, right the way through to the involvement of the community. This is what fetches mathew’s high prices in the savoy and good luck to him. Nine pound a bottle speaks not only of the social conotations which these people are eagre to express but also of their idealistic fantasies of what was once, but is no more; a sense of belonging, belonging to something bigger, better than the commercial products which have taken their place today.

You can paint it how you like, employ the best designer, stress the acidity of the water and chill it to bourgoisie standards, but at the end of the day the flavour is in the story and the story is community, locality and heritage. 

For my own part you won’t find a better cup of water than the tap water on my uncle’s farm and i have often been left exaggerating the fressness and coolness of it, but this is tap water right? The same water as what I’d get anywhere else in the county, why then is this water so alluring and refreshing to me? It’s because of what it represents. From the context in which it is drunk right the way through to the history which surrounds its production. Even the old china jug from which it is served. It all adds to the taste of a universally tasteless product, water!

It was particularly fascinating to see that mathew still kept livestock on his farm, even though this at times proved difficult to justify to the powers whom now sanctioned his bottling buisness. I wonder however, if the eradication of these animals from the production sight and the subsequent conversion to a kind of factory environment would damage his buisness. Indeed, no doubt it would and for my part I think he knows this. These animals were as essential to his enterprise as the water itself, because they complete the image that he is promoting.  The health and safety officers may hate this, but his buyers can’t get enough of it, it just remains to be seen whether LS will be able to maintain its exclusivity in the market.

There are of course points which i have negated to mention and for good reasons, mainly because they counter what i have spent the last half hour emphasising, that is a sense of community. While those people far and wide are enjoying this product, it remains inaccessible to you and I-the make up of that community.

As for heritage he has this in abundance, stretching all the way back to the gentryfied Lloyd’s and Lewes who was ruled supreme throughout this area. Some of you may remember these from our last term and the connection with llanyrchaeron was keenly felt once in the courtyard of the 19th century house.

This got me thinking about another connection which still seems vague but is worth a mention all the same. Prior to my introduction to this degree I was generously given a book on the Azande people of the Sudan in Africa. (thank you Sam) for a long time I was unable to relate at all to the material before and even those universal phenomenons, such as society and its make up proved completely alien to me. The delineation of the settlements within Azande society were so different to my own that I wondered if I had any buisness at all applying for such a course. As time wore on I became increasingly aware that this alien environment was not so after all and resembled much of my own. llanllyr and llanyrchaeron made that connection possible, but I will not trouble you any further with that, good night and good luck. Rhodri.

The Cambrian Mountain Society presentation managed to get quite aggressive reactions from some people, particularly after the subject of nuclear power was brought into the discussion. It seems like the majority of the people in the room thought that the presentation was biased and manipulative, and I agree with that to a certain extent.

The subject of wind power in the Cambrian Mountains is highly controversial and political. The Cambrian Mountain Society did not claim to be representing the views of the general public, or to be addressing the matter in a completely objective way. The purpose of the presentation was to explain the views of the society in an attempt to gain the sympathy and support of people, and I thought it did that reasonably well. I was personally influenced by the romanticised and sentimental depiction of nature, and it wasn’t difficult for me to sympathise with this view. I am sure that many people in the room felt the same way, until the “nuclear bomb” was dropped. Nuclear power is a much more controversial subject than wind power, particularly in the context of an area of natural beauty, and I think that the majority of people are likely to react negatively and passionately towards it. I didn’t think that the presentation was trying to promote nuclear power over wind power, or compare the two in any way and it wasn’t until the subject of nuclear power was mentioned by a student that the discussion took a negative turn. I personally don’t agree with the idea of a nuclear power plant in the Cambrian mountains at all, but that is not what the discussion was supposed to be about.

Once again, speaking from a very pragmatic point of view,I think that it is just a matter of politics. In this particular case, it is about a group of people with shared beliefs and interests who are trying to get more people on their side, and they failed by allowing their presentation to go off track. Nature preservation and nuclear power don’t seem to go well together.

Mihail

Added a little late as I forgot to do this one, but this is a reflection on our walk at Cors Caron,  aka Tregaron Bog to us all.
I met the gang at Cors Caron as I am local, but I have never been to the place.  The fact its on your doorstep makes you think well its always there, so there is always time to see it.  Anyway, it was a very moody day, which over the bog, was electric. 
We entered Cors Caron through a community gateway, wooden posts and an arch carved into little animals which can be seen on the bog itself, snakes, kites, horses, rabbits, et cetera.  They reminded me of the symbolic carvings of the totem of the American Native Indian, each bit representing a particular aspect which has a meaning in the culture of those people.  I did wonder if I was reading too much into this and it was simply decorative, but do we strive as humans to record what we see?  Who we are? and why we have been there, making a mark?  Are we, in carving these posts, creating an identity for ourselves in which we feel comfortable?

The boardwalk wasn’t very wide but stable, almost floating on the bog, and metal rails, the walk was long with minor rises and falls on the raised areas and the scenery was beautiful.

I tried to project my thoughts into the land understanding the land and trying to imagine what it would be like to live and work there.  I felt the land could be harsh, cold, certainly wet, but at the same time, perhaps a comradery of workers all working in the same conditions.  Underfoot the ground is boggy, no Wellington boots for those workers, would they have worked partially naked or totally protected?  either way the conditions would have soaked them to the skin, was it seasonal work, did anything prevent them from working on the bog, was it dangerous, was illness due to the conditions of the bog common.  I visualised a time line of activity how people changed the landscape, trying to stop fantasy thoughts it was easy to immerse yourself in what could have been as opposed to what actually happened.