Welsh pride in RCT

Another damp and cloudy day. After breakfast I walked under my brolly to the Eucharist at St Catherine's. We were nine at the service, anticipating tomorrow's Feast of the Death Blessed Virgin Mary. After coffee and a chat, I went to collect this week's veggie bag from Chapter Arts. On the way I called into the phone shop on the corner of Severn Road to get a diagnosis of its condition. A replacement screen will solve the problem after all I was told, so I left it with their expert repairer, the same guy who replaced the screen eighteen months ago, and replaced the screen on a Samsung phone I had several years ago. I didn't mind the fact that it would take until the end of the day for the job to be done. Six hours off line. A mini holiday.

Then I went to Tesco's to buy food bank groceries and took them to St John's, open Wednesdays midday for the Eucharist instead of Thursday now. The service was half way through, so I slipped in, deposited my offering in the collection basket and left pleased to see that congregation numbers are undiminished by the change of day. By the time I got home Clare had lunch ready. Tofu burgers today.

I started making next week's Morning Prayer video slideshow after lunch, but didn't record the audio until later, as I needed to go out and collect my phone. It wasn't ready when I arrived, as the repair guy was waiting for a screen he ordered to arrive. The Moto screen 6.5" specification is slightly different from the more common Samsung one it seems. I went home and carried on with recording and editing audio to fit with the slide show I prepared earlier. I collected my repaired phone just after six, and was only charged £65 for the job, the same as I paid 18 months ago, would you believe it?

After supper, an impressive and diverse programme on S4C reviewing the activities of the week at the Eisteddfod in Pontypridd. Such a rich diverse celebration of Welsh culture and creative arts. The first ever female Archdruid, Meredydd Hopwood, made a big impression inhabiting the role with creative confidence, tweaking traditional ritual formalities in the way that won approval. Several literary prize winners turned out to be Rhondda Cynon Taff locals, one of them the youngest chief bard in the history of the Eisteddfod. 

It's a traditional all age festival in every sense. What's amazing is the high proportion of young people attending as well as participating. Thanks to fifty years of developing Welsh language education and schooling, Welsh language pop music culture has a big enthusiastic following and the future of the language in everyday use more secure than it has been in more than a century of rural depopulation and decline. Something to be proud of. We may well see that decline reversed with so many Welsh speakers now living in urban areas.