Cwmardy and We Live by Lewis Jones

I bought the combined volume of these two books solely because of the brief mention it got in that excellent drama series Pen Talar on S4C. I read fiction in bed and I did not sleep so much in the few days it took to finish it. I was rather apprehensive at first not knowing whether to expect Socialist Realism (or Communist Party propaganda). The first page made me doubt further. The language seemed a little flowery and stilted. But of course language is the product of its era, in this case the 1930s, and reading Dickens is a little strange for the first page until you get into the flow of it. Then the key characters developed especially Len, Mary and Ezra and came across as complicated individuals facing real dilemmas. Even Lord Cwmardy, the coal owner, was not a cardboard cut out. They were real characters in that everything was not neatly tied up. To me Lewis Jones was describing people he knew, warts, ambiguities and all. The setting is Cwmardy, the pit with its horrors and inhumanity alleviated by the camaraderie of the miners, Cwmardy the pit village with its bustling, tumultuous life and the terrible but inspiring political and social events of those times. Lewis Jones was not a Stalinist apparatchik as the introduction makes clear. These books reveal his deep humanity which is truly inspiring.

Burns Night (also Dydd Santes Dwynwen)

This is the cranachan. Not all the Glenkinchie went into it. Rest of menu:
Haggis from Ramsay of Carluke. This year I made neeps and tatties by boiling and mashing the swede with about half its weight of potato. Blanched some cabbage in the microwave and mixed with the mash. Then fried in goose fat like a bubble and squeak. Cheeses, Gruth Dhu and Caboc. Shortbread with assortment of malts. Attempt to recite Tam o'Shanter.
Never mind, I'm in good books as I had made the in-house editor a Santes Dwynwen card.

Carrot and Coriander Soup Recipe

I made this up not knowing what I was really doing and it turned out not bad. Nice and sweet. May be improved with some beer as most things are.
1kg carrots peeled and chopped to chunks
1 tbspn coriander seeds.
2 tspn black cumin seeds.
1 tbspn light olive oil.
Heat olive oil in pan. Put in carrots and cook until a bit caramelised. Heat a dry frying pan and toast seeds until aromatic. Grind in mortar. Put in pot and add some water to make a fairly thick soup. Boil until carrots are soft. Blend in Magimix and add some salt to taste.

First Post

I thought I would start off by posting a letter I sent to the Rochdale Observer on Tuesday:


As an ex-GP and a satisfied Rochdale Infirmary surgical patient, I have been moved to comment on the coalition government's "reforms" to the NHS after meeting a Pennine NHS Trust patient who has been refused a knee operation. This is because the operation is considered not to be essential although he is considerably disabled and has a sick wife to care for. I notice that in our area attempts are being made to save money by not providing many types of operation that would alleviate considerable suffering such as joint replacements, cataracts and hernias. This is at a time when a reorganisation of the NHS costing £1.7 billion is being undertaken which was not in any manifesto. Power and cash is to be diverted to consortia of GPs who will commission treatment for their patients.  GPs, as I well know, are not trained for this and are not particularly skilled at it either. As is widely acknowledged, this will inevitably lead to private firms increasingly taking over the treatment of NHS patients and profit being put before patients. Let us save our hospital and our NHS.