Clogs

Listening to John Gray's lovely Welsh choir in his village and the enthusiasm expressed in it, I bumped into this 1959 video about Welsh clog dancing and  the making of  clogs.  Though they never get the excitement of the Irish 'River Dance', the clog after all is clumsy, they try so hard and do it so well.  There is something very beguiling about the film. But the the clog dancing comes towards the end of the 15 minutes so scroll forward.

I have always loved Wales since childhood.  It was our holiday spot from the 'Black Country' or the Midlands, the dark areas of Wolverhampton, Willenhall, Wednesbury and Walsall.  Driving out over the weekend, my grandfather would stop by the side of the road and cook breakfast.  Then we would arrive at the farm where he went shooting and fishing.  Down to the river for trout and eels and salmon, though I am not quite sure he got salmon from here.  And a terrible dark secret here, they threw dynamite in the river for their catch, how can I forgive him?  My brother and I would be left occasionally in the holidays at the farm, and we would go down to the river with the friendly farm pig, and lie on our stomachs and tickle trout.