Exciting concert in Edinburgh! That is what is on offer from the Affinity Choir, a ladies choir from Cardiff, who are on tour, and appear next weekend in Edinburgh. Their concert is at 4.00pm on Saturday 7 October at Augustine United Church, 41 George IV Bridge, Edinburgh EH1 1EL.

“Join us as we trade one Celtic Capital for another! Affinity Female Voice Choir, the largest female-only choir in South Wales, is bringing a concert packed full of the best songs from their repertoire over the last 5 years. With show hits from Les Miserables, Cats and Hairspray, beautiful choral favourites by John Rutter and Eric Whitacre and of course, some of the fabulous songs of both our great countries, we’re sure there’s something for everyone in this afternoon delight. The 40-strong choir will come to you direct from Edinburgh Castle where they will perform the previous day, and with experience of perfoming in some of the most prestigious venues in Wales (and on BBC television!) you are promised a high-quality showcase event. If you think only Male Voice Choirs from Wales can hit the heights, then think again, as these ladies know how to entertain!”

Tickets are £6 (concessions £5) and are available on-line at www.eventbrite.co.uk, by emailing affinitychoir@gmail.com, or by phoning 07837 088199. Eventbrite suggest that limited seating is available, and encourage you to book now …

Clifford Evans has asked us to publicise a petition on behalf of those who don’t live in Wales for S4C’s funding to be maintained:

“We, the undersigned, are all learning or have learned the Welsh language. We all live outside Wales, so are not counted in the audience figures for S4C, which we all want to watch. Some of us have real trouble doing that and are willing to pay a fee! We have heard there is a threat to reduce the channel’s budget … ”

The full text of the petition to the UK Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport is at this link, and there is a simple form through which you can make your views felt.

Derek Gray, Director of Operations for Press Data Ltd, has written to enquire if any of our members would be interested in a part-time position with Scotland’s largest media monitoring company?  Press Data are looking for someone proficient in the Welsh language to assist with some of their press and broadcast monitoring requirements. This would involve engaging with a variety of Welsh language media, and feeding back relevant information to their Edinburgh-based team.  There is a possibility that the work could be undertaken from home after an initial period, and they envisage that this position will require around 10-12 working hours per week spread across Monday-Friday. Full training will of course be given.  Reply direct to Derek at 9-10 St Andrew Square, Edinburgh, EH2 2AF, telephone 0131 718 6587, or e-mail derek.gray@pressdata.co.uk.

John Evans sent this e-mail…

I’m sure you remember the TV sketch about the creation of the Welsh Assembly … “Welcome to the Welsh Assembly… we’re going to have a vote on the nuclear deterrent, but first of all there’s a nice policeman here to talk to us about road safety …”!

Anyway, the Welsh Assembly now has a rugby team and will play the Scottish Parliament on the morning of the Scotland v Wales game.  This is a parliamentary event where ‘SNP’ stands for ‘Sorry,  No Props’, ‘Brexit Article 50’ is a line-out call, and a ‘reshuffle’ is a back row move. (I had others but wasn’t allowed to use anybody’s name!) We even have a Welsh referee in the shape of Hywel Williams (our committee man himself).

If you would like to pull on the boots again and play in a very gentle game in the name of the Welsh Diaspora (even if you have a tenuous Cambrian connection) let me know and we’ll add you to the squad.  I hope you can make it. I’ve sent this to those of you who remain in exile or those who may be up for the international.  Please let others know – Morlais – allwch chi hal i Gwyndaf hefyd?

Ymlaen!

You can contact John via ewsccd@gmail.com

Having been passed the information by a friend, Martin and Myra enjoyed a recent Radio 4 programme in which poet Mab Jones explored the concept of hiraeth in the poetry of Wales and further afield. It’s still available on BBC iPlayer Radio at http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b083m307 until early January, and as an MP3 download at http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p04kk8mg.

Martin later discovered that one of the interviewees, Pamela Petro, has written an amusing blog series “Hiraeth for beginners”, the individual blogs of which are linked here.

And he found that the concept of hiraeth isn’t limited to Wales – see http://tinyurl.com/jxr48hs.