A COMMEMORATION 1282 CENTRE: The Battle of Shrewsbury 1403 Centre as an example.

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From Shrewsbury to the 'Battle of Shrewsbury 1403 Centre'. A short walk from the Battlefield Travel Lodge and the Two Henry's Pub. Buses from Shrewsbury stop slightly further down the Road at the Red Lion Pub.

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Close view of Centre directions sign. Apart from the marvellous 'free to enter exhibition', the centre has a wonderfully laid out 'farm produce shop' at which the visitor can buy all types of meat produce, fresh vegetables and fruits and savoury and sweet pies as well as souveniers and books associated with the battlefield and the Shrewsbury, shropshire area. The shop leads you into the Sparrow cafe which is very light, clean and atmospheric. Everything on the menu is freshly cooked on the premises from the farm's home grown produce. General all round top marks for presentation and cleanliness and for charming and helpful staff.

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View towards Farm Shop, Exhibition Literature and Cafe.
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Battle of Shrewsbury Exhibition Centre.
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The Battle Field, Battlefield Church and Battlefield Trail.

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Photos above taken 19 - 03 - 2010. The below (taken December 2009) are of the closed down Tourism Office in Builth Wells. I would suggest that this closed down TIC centre would make an excellent permanant Canolfan Coffâd 1282 within which the story of 1282 and, in particular, the events of December 1282 ( which, of course, is of particular relevance to the Builth - Cilmeri - Aberedw - Llanganten Area) is interpretated and exhibited in a colourful and imaginative 'state of the arts' exhibition.

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The centre I propose would generally serve the same purpose as the 'Battle of Shrewsbury Exhibtion' and I am confident that such a Canolfan Coffad 1282, as proposed, would prove itself to be a major attraction for the Builth area as far as Internal and external tourism is concerned. Such a venture could also be linked to both an annual major Medieval 13th Century Re-enactment that could be staged at the Royal Welsh Showground and a major Autumn Medieval Wales & Battlefield Conference that could be held in the autumn at a local venue such as the Wyeside Arts Centre. So, I would like to suggest that Builth people and local Councillors would do well to think on the potential of the above and go for it fast!

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.Siân Ifan (MBA Tourism Management) Heritage Consultant.

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Services: Tailored Marketing Packages based on creative themes associated with a 'Sense of Place' to suit the needs of each individual client. Organization and Management of themed events. .

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Reply by S.Ifan to Strategy for the Welsh Historic Environment 22 - 09 - 09 Introduction by Minister of Heritage in Plenary Session at Welsh Assembly.

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Introductionary Statement:

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I have long believed our history to be the most crucial primary element of our heritage and that without a full and informed knowledge of this history, it cannot be possible to fully appreciate the other, cultural and material, aspects of our heritage which, i feel, is essential if we are to have a strong empathy with our roots as well as a strong sense of national identity. As a consequence of my beliefs, I have spent most of my adult life in the educating of and promotion of our history in ways that would appeal to all ages and abilities. I initially carried out this work through the 'Cofiwn' movement 1973 - 86 and, over the last decade, through Embassy Glyndŵr and although work carried out through both the aforementioned bodies has, in the main, been in association with our medieval history, I am eager to educate and promote in areas concerning all aspects of our peoples's history.

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I have the blood of both slate mining and coal mining people running through my veins so I instinctively have a keen personal interest in Working Class history and am currently working on a book on Lewis Lewis, of the Merthyr Rising fame (1831) and am also developing a project concerned with the struggle of the 'Scotch Cattle and their Black Domain (1831 - 1839) I am also aware that the anniversaries of the Tonypandy Riots (1910) the Llanelli Riots (1911) and that of the first Investiture of an English Prince, as Prince of Wales, at Caernarfon Castle (1911) is fast approaching and would suggest, that it is imperative, that all such historical anniversaries should be commemorated or other wise marked in earnest and with widespread promotion of historically accurate educational material as a means of educating our people - and others of the 'truths' in regards to these events in our history.

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I would hope that all published books concerned with Welsh history in the future - and especially school books, will fully inform on this period in our history, commencing with the 1905 Religious Revival as the prologue and ending with the 1914 - 18 Great War as a sad epilogue to a period which brings about great change in Welsh society.

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In present times, we are, again, witnessing a period of great change as Wales experiences the transitional development of a devolved government that is visually seen to be slowly, but confidently, moving towards a post colonial position. This is great news for our Welsh heritage for, apart from views that I've already aired about the need to promote our history and heritage as a means towards the recreation of a Welsh national identity, I have long held the view that our history and heritage is 'unique' from any other and can be utilised as a 'unique' commodity to generate much needed internal and external tourism if promoted effectively, with confidence and with pride.

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Signs are that the Welsh Assembly Government is moving towards a more mature self confident attitude to Welsh history and heritage; such is an encouraging and a welcome 'sea change' in Welsh heritage thinking' in regards to its promotion within Wales and as regards to its potential as a platform for promoting Wales abroad.

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During recent months, the aforementioned repositioning has been, gradually, divulged within statements and articles produced and presented by the WAG'S Minister of Heritage and a further statement, accompanied with an action plan, was revealed at an Assembly Plenary Meeting on the 22nd September this year. I have read this action plan which, incidentally, can be found on the 'Cadw' website and, in theory, it appears very thorough and very promising but, theory will need to be put into practise - and if the Welsh nation and its economy is to really benefit from the proposals laid out in the 'Action Plan' then, I would suggest that it is imperative that the infrastructure for the strategy to be implemented is well constructed and placed from the onset. I will conduct a full evaluation of the 'Action Plan' in the next post on this 'Welsh Heritage Watch' blog but, in the meantime, I will suggest the following initial 8 proposals as the 'basic' infrastructure that will be needed as a 'sound' foundation to carry out the Minister of Heritage's Action Plan in order to see it through, to a constructive and successful conclusion.

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My initial Proposals:

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1. Ministry of Heritage. In my view, the Ministry of Heritage's portfolio, as it stands, is too diverse and cumbersome and for this reason, I feel that the Ministry would prove to be much more effective, if its duties were solely concentrated on the safeguarding and promotion of varying aspects of our heritage.

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2. Welsh Heritage Council. The study of websites and documentation produced and published by various bodies such as Cadw, The National Trust and the RCAHMW etc has bought me to the conclusion that there's a lot of 'stepping on each other's toes' taking place- and especially so as far as built heritage is concerned so, for that reason, I would suggest that a 'Welsh Heritage Council' be set up similar to that of the Irish Heritage Council. This 'Welsh Heritage Council' I envisage would be a 'one stop shop' and would be made up of partners such as the RCAHMW, Cadw and the Historic Environment Network (as has been proposed by the Civic Trust) and would be under the umbrella and control of the Ministry of Heritage.

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3. Treftadaeth Cymru. Taking on board much deliberated on and put forward in the Mathew Richards/Civic Trust Report of May 2009, I would like to propose that a 'Treftadaeth Cymru' public membership based Welsh History/Heritage Trust, similar to that of the National Trust and the Civic Trust, be set up immediately and that this 'Treftadaeth Cymru' henceforth be responsible for organising an annual continuation of the 'Treftadaeth conferences (rather than a private consultancy) and that these annual 'Treftadaeth' conferences should alternate around the regions of Wales.

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4. Tirwedd Hanes Cymru. I propose that a 'Tirwedd Hanes Cymru' body be established, this body's ethos would be based on bodies already in existence such as the National Parks, Council for the Protection of Rural Wales, The Rambler's Association etc. The main purpose of such a body would be to launch projects aimed at the promotion of 'History in the Landscape' for educational and tourism purposes and, as the body's remit would be to focus entirely on the promotion of Welsh history in the landscape, I believe that it could achieve much more than is currently achieved by Cadw - that's mainly castle focused, the RCAHMW - that's archeology focused, and the Civic Trust - that's 'Urban Built Heritage' focused.

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5. Antur Tywysogion Cymru. I propose that an 'Antur Tywysogion Cymru' be established. Such a body would have a remit to do for 'Medieval Wales' what Herian is doing for 'Industrial Wales'. I note that Cadw are to launch two initiatives that are concerned with the native Royal Dynasties of Gwynedd and Deheubarth but, for reasons only known to themselves, not for Powys or Glywysing? Therefore, I would suggest that the initial task of the 'Antur Tywysogion Cymru' would be to latch on to the two aforementioned initiatives and advance the other two important areas so as to make the Cadw initiative package more balanced and complete. The 'Antur' could then concentrate on other associated 'national' project areas with medieval themes.

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6. The 660th Anniversary of the birth of Owain Glyndŵr. I see the commemoration of the 660th anniversary of the birth of Owain Glyndŵr (28th May 1354) in 2014 as an opportunity to really advance the 'confident nation' by the advancement of the concept of 'Cenedl' - a 'Sense of Nation'. I also see this as an opportunity for the various official bodies mentioned throughout this document to rise to the occasion - and to collaborate, to really commemorate Owain Glyndŵr, his live and times. There is ample (five years) time to organise for this Owain Glyndŵr celebratory commemoration but, both myself, and Embassy Glyndŵr, will be monitoring the situation very carefully to ensure that this opportunity to capitalise on the Owain Glyndŵr history is not, once again, ignored by official bodies in charge of our history, heritage and nationhood.

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7. Champions of Heritage. I propose that it would help to advance the Minister's strategy, if all the local authorities in Wales appointed 'Champions of Heritage', similar to the one appointed by Merthyr Tudful Town Council, and developed Heritage Strategies of their own within the terms of reference of the Minister's new Welsh Heritage Strategy. I further propose that the preservation and promotion of local battlefields should be part of the remit of such Local Authority 'Champions of Heritage'. They would work with other local based 'heritage' interests groups in the community. The Somerset Local Authority Heritage Strategy can be viewed as a good example of how such an arrangement works successfully.

8. A Welsh History Month. I propose that a 'Welsh History Month' be organised annually and held in September - 'Mis Glyndŵr'. At present, the 'Heritage Open Days Initiative', a European Union promoted and funded initiative held and organised under the auspicies of the Civic Trust, is focused, in the main, on 'built heritage'. Personally, I consider such should be much broader in substance and content as is the 'Black History Month' annually held in October. I would further propose that the remit and responsibility for moving such a 'Welsh History Month Initiative' forward should be that of my proposed 'Welsh Heritage Council' working within 'Treftadaeth Cymru.

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Siân Ifan (MBA)