Entertaining Strangers as Angels – Chilean Refugees in Wales, 1974-2024

‘Forget not to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.’ ‘Peidiwch ag anghofio llety-garwch, oherwydd trwyddo y mae rhai, heb wybod hynny, wedi rhoi llety i angylion.’ Y Llythyr at yr Hebreaid/ Letter to the Hebrews, chapter 13: 2. Introduction – Providing Sanctuary: In recent weeks and months, there has been much discussionContinue reading “Entertaining Strangers as Angels – Chilean Refugees in Wales, 1974-2024”

The Peacemakers/ Y Tangnefeddwyr

The recent confluence of several events, from Donald Trump’s announcement of the renaming of the US Department of Defence as the War Department to the Last Night of the Proms at the Royal Albert Hall, featuring the Kanneh-Mason family playing their favourite Welsh folk song, Ar Lán Y Mor (‘Along the Seashore’), also mine, promptedContinue reading “The Peacemakers/ Y Tangnefeddwyr”

‘Out of Darkness Cometh Light’ – Seventieth Anniversary of Floodlit European Football at Wolverhampton II.

Part Two: 1965-2024. Sadly, in the season they lost the guidance of the great Stan Cullis and were relegated, 1964-65, Wolves also lost the silky skills of inside forward Peter Broadbent after fourteen years when he joined Shrewsbury Town in January 1965. Stan Cullis had signed him from Brentford in 1951, calling it one ofContinue reading “‘Out of Darkness Cometh Light’ – Seventieth Anniversary of Floodlit European Football at Wolverhampton II.”

‘Out of Darkness Cometh Light’ – Seventieth Anniversary of Floodlit European Football at Wolverhampton I.

Part One: 1949-1964 – The Cullis Years ‘They Wore the Shirt’: At the end of July 2024, my son and I, both fans of Wolverhampton Wanderers (the ‘Wolves’) visited their stadium, Molineux, and their new Museum chronicling the history of the club and the stadium dating back to 1877. The museum itself dates from theContinue reading “‘Out of Darkness Cometh Light’ – Seventieth Anniversary of Floodlit European Football at Wolverhampton I.”

British Labour Leaders, Palestine & Israel, 1929-2019.

Recently, Labour leader Keir Starmer (pictured above) has been urged to quit by people within his own party. The immediate source of the discontent has been the Labour leader’s refusal to back calls for a ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hamas. What is the problem facing the Labour leader? The calls for StarmerContinue reading “British Labour Leaders, Palestine & Israel, 1929-2019.”

Terror as a Tree Without Roots: The Origins of the Arab-Israeli Conflict – A Short Documentary History, 1941-76.

Berlin, 1941 – Genesis of a Genocide: Over these past three weeks, there have been many attempts by jihadi propagandists, followed sheepishly by their international apologists and extremists, to excuse or ‘explain’ the pogrom of 7th October by reference to the events of the past seventy-five years of the Arab-Israeli conflict. However, in checking throughContinue reading “Terror as a Tree Without Roots: The Origins of the Arab-Israeli Conflict – A Short Documentary History, 1941-76.”

Sudan – Legacies of Empire: The Causes & Consequences of Imperial Conflicts in North & East Africa, circa 1865-1965 – Part Two; 1905-1965.

It’s now just over a month since the paramilitary civil war began in Sudan. In this second retroreflective article, I will be concentrating on the role of the two world wars and the role of imperialism, fascism, nationalism and communism in the conflicts of the twentieth century within the region of North and East Africa, with special reference to Sudan.

Old Gold, ‘Golden Team’ & Ballon d’Or: The Globalisation of Football & The Legendary Career of Flórián Albert, 1953-93.

The ‘Magical Magyars’: As I was born in June 1957, I have no personal recollection of the Hungarian national ‘Golden Team’ (Aranycsapat) of the early fifties that began a new era of football with their famous 6-3 and 7-1 victories over England, never before beaten at home in the ninety years of the Football Association.Continue reading “Old Gold, ‘Golden Team’ & Ballon d’Or: The Globalisation of Football & The Legendary Career of Flórián Albert, 1953-93.”

Ukraine from Askold to Zelensky: Language, Culture, Art & Architecture, 862-2022.

“The British have not forgotten how the Nazis wiped out Coventry, … bombed forty-one times. They have not forgotten the Luftwaffe’s so-called ‘Moonlight Sonata’, in which the city was under contant air-raids for eleven hours. They have not forgotten how Coventry’s historic centre, how its factories, how St Michael’s Cathedral were destroyed. When they see the missiles hit Kharkiv and damage its historic centre, its factories and the Assumption Cathedral, they remember. … when they recall how Birmingham was bombed, and they see its sister city Zaporizhia under attack, they remember.”

Majesty & Grace X: The Reign of Elizabeth Windsor – Winter of Discontent to Golden Jubilee, 1979-2002; Part 2 – The Peace Process & The People’s Princess.

The Sectarian Divide in Belfast & the Peace Process, 1980-98: After the Provisional IRA assassinated Lord Mountbatten on his boat off the Western coast of Ireland in 1979, the mainland bombing campaign went on with attacks on the Chelsea barracks, then Hyde Park bombings, when eight people were killed and fifty-three injured. With hindsight, the emergenceContinue reading “Majesty & Grace X: The Reign of Elizabeth Windsor – Winter of Discontent to Golden Jubilee, 1979-2002; Part 2 – The Peace Process & The People’s Princess.”