My plane was set to fly out of Cardiff (Wales's capital) at 6am on Sunday... so I emailed my Rotarian friends Gareth and Jan Cheeseman, who live in Cardiff, and asked if they would mind if I stayed at their home Saturday night so I was closer to the airport to catch my flight the following morning. Rotarians never seize to blow me away with their kindness and hospitality. Gareth and Jan not only opened their home to me for the evening, but provided transportation and took me out for dinner Saturday night (an absolute treat for college students who mainly live on cereal and pasta).
Gareth and Jan are a wealth of Welsh knowledge! One of my courses at Swansea University is an Intro to Welsh History class, so while Gareth and Jan were inquiring about my studies, we ended up delving into a world of Welsh trivia. Did you know that 16 of the 56 signatures on America's Declaration of Independence are Welshmen? Thomas Jefferson, James Monroe, Abraham Lincoln, Calvin Coolridge, and Richard Nixon all have family roots in Wales. We also discussed the Welsh resiliency in the face of oppression. My family surnames... Edwards, and my mom's maiden name, Jones, are both Welsh in decent!
I am developing a genuine respect for the Welsh nation and their history the more I learn. English Parliament established Penal Laws against Wales in 1402. These laws were infamous. The Welsh weren't allowed to gather together, to hold any sort of office, their children were denied education, they weren't allowed to carry arms or to live in any of the English cities or towns. This code applied to any Englishman who married a Welsh woman as well. Talk about oppression! The Welsh were treated by law as second-class citezens.
The Penal Code was lifted in 1535 by Henry VIII's Act of Wales, but a 130 years of oppression is hard to forget. That's one of the reasons I am coming to admire the Welsh. Even though they occasionally have their friendly banter directed at the English, they haven't let it ruin them. Most of the natives that I have had the chance to discuss Welsh history with speak of overcoming the adversities, taking to home education and realizing that they simply needed to work harder and press on. They didn't comprimise their integrity or let the labels the English placed on them set them back. They maintained hope, waiting for a leader to restore Welsh dignity. The leader they found was Henry Tudor, the first King of England with Welsh ancestry. He was the one who set things in motion to get the Welsh their equality back.
Gareth and Jan picked me up at the airport after my trip (pictures from Copenhagen to come in next blog) and delivered me back to Swansea, but not before taking a detour to see and tour St. Donats castle. The castle was so cool. At least part of one of the remaining walls dated back to the 1100's, but most of the castle was from the Tudor era, around the 1500s. The castle was renovated and opened as Atlantic College in 1962. College as in what would be grades 11 and 12 to us Americans. The set up and education is top notch. Gareth retired two years ago after working for eleven years at the college, but still has the priveleges of bringing guests to show around the grounds and castle. The College itself was impressive, with 70 countries represented and only 320 students.
The pictures included in this post are from the castle. The first is of the inner courtyard. This is where the wall dating back to the 1100s is. The second picture is looking through to the main entrance. The castle is the central hub of the college's campus. The presidents office, the dining hall, and some of the classrooms are in rooms in the castle. I have to say that a lot of it reminded me of the Harry Potter movies- especially the dining hall. They even renovated the dungeon down in the basement into the women's restroom. Each cell had a toilet in it! The last photo is of the view from the dining hall down to the church. Getting to see castles and things like these is so unreal sometimes-- nothing like history we have in the States!
Copenhagen to come in my next post...
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