Well yes, w is a vowel in Welsh, but i wasnt tongue-in-cheek explaining Welsh to Welsh speakers or people with a knowledge of Welsh (except, seemingly, yourself, well done).

Anyone remember reading a feature in FHM magazine about the time The Lush, I think it was, went out for the night in Neath? I have a vague recollection of two English journalist fellas asking me directions to the best pubs in Neath on a night out.
If my memory is correct, I think the locals took against them. Am I imagining all this?

Welsh is easy.
‘ch’ is the same noise you make trying to relieve an itch in your upper palate.
‘ll’ is just ‘L’ and ‘h’ said together. Not really but its the closest most English will get to the proper sound .DO NOT SAY ‘TH’,as in Bath, th is th in Welsh.
‘ng’ is the same Ng as in shopping.
‘Dd’ is the same noise as the ‘th’ in ‘the’
‘F’ is v, so its ****ing avan, not affan.
‘Ff is f, as in laugh. So Welsh is weird , but g and h make “ff”? Cheeky ****.
‘ee’ is ee, but so is U, which is also ‘uh’, and so is “i”, and so is Y when its not busy being ‘uh’,or ‘i’ as in the word ‘inn’, along with U which might also be ee, or ‘i’ as in ‘inn’.
‘si’ is ‘j’, but there is no j in Welsh, but loads and loads of Joneses, but no Sionses, unless some Deddf Iaith clown is trying to prove a pointless point. There are plenty of Sion though, which is pronounced shoooorn, very long ‘o’, not a w.
‘Si’ is also ‘see’ depending on if it feels like it.
‘c’ is ‘c ‘ as in crack. There is no K in Welsh so that would be spelled crac.
You can get by in Welsh by putting an ‘o’ on the end of most verbs, such as joio (enjoying), paintio (painting) , scetcho ( sketching), etc.
Words such as cwtch , which has no real English equivalent, but nominally means a great hug, or sometimes a hideaway, or to hide, has no vowels, it is not mis-spelled. You dont always need vowels where you’re going, so bring em only if you want to.
Freshly bestowed with this wisdom, go back and try out Welsh place names again. I reckon if you were paying attention they’ll sound much more accurate.
Oh, and sheep shagging jokes. You are not the first to say it, it aint funny anyway, we can be a fiery lot, just dont bother. If youre from the North or the Midlands you might get cut some slack due to the assumption that you are from a similarly skint ,working class area . If you have a Home Counties accent or are obviously well-to-do, just give it a swerve, we will feel like you are taking the piss too much and behave accordingly. Thats just how it is, I didnt make the rules.
Scots and Irish, crack on boys n girls, you can get away with mostly anything in my experience.
Now you’ve conquered Welsh , and never ever say THE Welsh here, even for a joke, you will be fought.

What is the local hospital name?
Welsh is a very old language and Wales is a very old Country, most of it is named in Welsh.
Trying to learn the correct pronounciations will go a long way to a) endear you to locals, and b) make it clearer exactly where it is youre asking directions for.
Dont fret too much , a lot of the locals cant pronounce the local area and features correctly either. My personal PITA is Swansea people who pronounce their local river Tawe (Tah-wear) as towie. There is an actual big river called the Towy (towie) not far from there. This kind of thing happens all the time between non-Welsh and Welsh speakers.

Ha! Llantwit is where I was born and raised, and its about half a mile from Neath town. See why I wont have people slag it off ?

Define a good area. The area I live in is classed as a shithole problem area but if you walk 100 yards off the main road I have huge mature Beech forests, badgers foxes and owls galore, reservoirs and rivers to fish and boat in, off road access to Afan, and the associated forest areas. I can literally walk 400 yards down the road, turn left then go offroad for miles in any direction except South . Cos I’d get wet, cos thats Swansea Bay.
So, if youre someone who likes spending as mu h time in Nature as possible, I’d say thats a good area to live, despite its reputation.

So again I ask, whats so wrong with Neath? I think it has a lot to offer people as long as you dont expect the full shopping experience from town, especially people who like a bit of hills and trees and that .What Neath and surrounding areas need is well paid manufacturing, processing and mining jobs like we used to have, like I used to have, instead of the bullshit exploitative jobs that abound nowadays.
And definitely what reluctantjumper says about traffic. If you like the Gower move there, because every one heads there on a nice day, you can be stuck in traffic for miles. Moving West to East is generally easier than moving East to West, all the big cities are relatively East and the undeveloped pretty places are relatively West.
Out of interest OP, wherabouts are you thinking of moving from, and what are you expecting from your new prospective location?

Haha, I’ve already got a ton of axes, and a BFO silky saw would probably be a better alternative as some of the logs I might or might not be removing may require a somewhat stealthy approach.
So, in order to get something half decent I’m looking at Makita, Husq or Stihl money then,is this the general consensus? Shit.

Oh and the Cofiwch Tryweryn thing has very little to do with remembering drowned villages, and lots to do with resenting the idea, real or imagined, that Wales is a commodity to be used and abused by the English for their own ends, and to hell with the locals.
If you drive through here, youll see it painted everywhere, along with FWA and their emblem, if you know what it is. How bitter the people who paint these things really feel is a different matter, but its definately alive down here.

In fact, I was talking to a fella from Oop Noorth yesterday, and he commented how South Wales is actually a well kept secret. If you come only 5 mins away from the M4 youre likely to be surrounded by mature woodland and healthy rivers and friendly people like me. He said to get a comparable house in his part of the world would cost 50% extra without the benefits of biking, climbing, fishing, hiking, kayaking, etc.

Out of interest, OP, what have you heard against Neath that has turned you against it? Im Neath born and bred, black blood in my veins, and I know it has a bad reputation, but I for the life of me dont see why? There are people on here speaking as if South Wales is some violent aberration in the normally peaceful idyll that is mainland Britain (except South Wales).
Face it, Britain is rough as guts top to bottom, East to West, and standards have eroded enormously since I was a kid. Youre as likely to get a leathering down here as anywhere else in Britain, but not especially so, unless youre the type of person who deserves one. Dont be scared mun, we’re only people just like you.
Also, the anti English thing is very definitely a thing, but only due to the supposed class system that abounds in places like the affluent South East of England. I have plenty of Northern and Midlander acquaintances who are liked and accepted here because they havent got a BFO born -to – rule attitude, as if Wales was put onto England as some sort of coastal, hilly playground populated by adorable little folk who speak a funny little language and farm sheep, not a proud and skint Nation of its own who sometimes balk at being patronised by wealthy Southerners in their own country.
Just an insight, based on experience, for you. Not in any way aimed at OP by the way.

Thanks for the replies so far, but its got to be cordless as it will be used miles from a socket, in all probability. Im not adverse to using a handsaw, in fact Im very partial to hand tools in general over power tools, so if anyone has any suggestions for a handsaw which could cut up to about 16″ diameter trunks, that would be much appreciated.
Cheers.

For looks and fashion points, then its something like Danners or Redwings,
But for everyday wear, such as kicking logs, stamping out fires, walking through streams, etc and sheer value for money, I can recommend Ex Issue Altbergs on ebay. Think I payed about £35 for a pair, flawless and kindly broken in by someone else so I didnt have the never-healing achilles blisters this time.

And has anyone ever seen a barsix, except for in a vending machine? Are there vending machine -specific treats, like those pack of 16 ciggies you could only buy in nightclub vending machines back in the 90s?

Oh, and does anyone even eat rich teas and butter anymore? That behaviour is unacceptable and should be reported to the authorities.

Right,
Those biscuits with oats and raisins and butter and bits of apricots? So extravagant and exquisite and indulgent that they could only really be justified as birthday fare.
They are the best.
Not as an everyday biscuit, but as a pound for pound best biscuit, these reign suoreme.
And anyone preferring the chocolate coated biscuits, just grow up, we’re not kids anymore.

The resin fixed bolts is what i was think ing of, and you could use a track pump or similar to blow the holes out, unless youve got a compressor, which is a much better idea really. Chuck a rag over tge top if youre using a compressor though, you dont want tbat in your eyes.

How close to the edge of the slab are you drilling? Any danger of the slab blowing away? Are you talking about Thunderbolt -type bolts over Rawlebolt -type fixings? are you fixing metpost type fittings to the slab?

Radiolab, especially the rhino hunter and octopus episodes
The Unexplained with Howard Hughes, sometimes full of shit but his voice and manner still draws you in
Stuff You Should Know
History of Rome
The Just Interesting Podcast
The Conspiracy Show with Richard Syrett, mostly nonsense but its fun innit.

Bit leftfield maybe, but what about the biker cafe / van in the layby , just past Pen – Y – Fan?
Lovely cup of tea and cheese sandwich last time I went.

Verdis in Mumbles or Castella Mare ( think thats right) in Bracelet Bay?

Learn Gaelic or Welsh.
I plan on learning Gaelic and Norwegian when I get my arse round to it

In my opinion, what you want to weld will determine what set you need to start off on. Have you got thin panels or thicker section stuff like plate or box section? If its the thicker stuff I would get a MIG set, easy to use, cheap to run, etc.Also arc sets are good for this, but its 25 years+ since i did any arc welding so I would stick with MIG. Something to consider though is the filler rod issue.
If you want to weld a variety of materials then you will need to have a variety of rolls of MIG wire to accomodate. This can get expensive ,especially if theyre sitting around rusting most of the time. Rusty filler wire gives shit welds .In this scenario, arc or tig is better better because you csn buy small amounts of rod, just enough to do the job you need doing, without having a useless surplus.
If you have a need to weld very thin section material or do things like put hard edges on tool edges, etc, then TIG is the way to go, its more versatile as it will do both but as mentioned, getting hold of argon shielding gas at a reasonable price might be tricky. And, if you want to weld aluminium, you will need an ac/dc set which pushes the price up again.
As far as learning resources go, I have taught people to tig weld to a reasonable standard in as little as an hour, and I’m not particularly experienced. Its not difficult to pick up if you have someone half decent supervise you.
If youre learning alone, I can recommend Welding Tips and Tricks, hosted by Jodie on Youtube. Produces some very decent videos which helped me a lot with little things here and there.

😉

@verses,
Went to Cardiff, best I’ve ever seen em. Just kick back and relax, if youre jabbed then youve already done all you can. Its not in your control, just dont worry, be happy.

Bit of a thread hijack, but seeing as lots of people are having a pop at Go Outdoors for being useless, has any one ever experienced the following scenario whilst shopping there?
Take items to the till, only to be charged full price. Question the amount of time left on the 12 month members card, only to be told “oooh, only ran out a week ago. Would you like to renew for £5” .
Happened at least 3 times to me,the first two I never questioned cos I was in and out of there regularly,but the laxt time had me curious as I hadn’t been in the shop or bought anything online for 3 years or so.
Left the whole pile of stuff on the counter and have never been back.
This happen to anyone else?

@rona,
My sister played the harp semi- professionally. I can relay any questions you have to her . I know that proper harps are breathtakingly expensive, have you considered this?

So in light of you admitting that you are bad at admitting defeat, take up something where the admitting is taken out of your hands, and you are actively beaten with no doubt. It will do wonders for your perspective.

Have you considered that you might be overtraining? I speak from personal experience . I have been in your shoes and it turned out to be overtraining. Not the physical , but the mental exertion of constantly aiming for that lofty goal can twist you a bit. I think I have read research where overtraining leads to reduction in testosterone, which can lead to melancholy. Dont ask for links, Im working off memory here.
Also, if you are serious about changing your life to the extent you mention, go into the process mentally expecting to fail. I have two failed attempts at emigration behind me, neither of which I had any control over as freak occurences ended both those dreams, and the ensuing depression claimed 18 months of my life. Sometimes its good to try but also to be happy with what youve got. If a new bathroom is the extent of your worries, feel blessed that it is only temporary and well within reasonable expectation to remedy, if not now then one day.
Do you do things which challenge you, or are you only trying to improve at something you are already good at? Maybe start a new hobby or sport as a raw newbie, maybe something at which you will be uttterly dominated , unless you are that 1% who are naturally gifted. Im thinking boxing, judo, jiu jitsu, etc. Getting manhandled by someone half your size can do wonders for your perspective, and also light a fire under your arse again in your drive to get better than last session. You sound like a competitive person, so this might be right up your street, mental as well as physical stimulation.

My take on it is, if the price was acceptable to you, why not just buy it and be done with it. There will always be somewhere cheaper , but can you be arsed wasting time and effort looking for it? If were talking about saving a considerable amount, such as a car purchase or similar, then yes, its worth the effort, but would you notice those few quid you would have ‘lost out’ on at the pet shop? Only you know if the money is that important to you.
Also, I am extremely loathe to contribute to Jeffs next space dildo. After how arrogant he seemed (to me ) whilst being interviewed after his rocket trip, I am loathe to give him any of my cash unless its a needs must situation.

History of Rome podcast on Spotify.

Thols2 , tried that ( tea instead of beer, I dont drink) but its still burning me up. Not even an apology for costing me money, giving my otherwise unblemished sickness record a black mark, causing me to miss out on having my baby grandson for the weekend.
The world is truly full of c***s , but I feel that too much impact on my life has occured for him to get away scott free, also the workplaces attitude that it isnt their problem , when two of the 3 people effected by this kept the place running during lockdowns whilst everyone got to shield themselves, including the clown responsible for all this. His response to this was, whilst we were keepin g the place open so that he had a job to come back to, to post photos of himself drinking beers in street parties.
Im 50% venting, and 50% asking for opiniins here.

Went to the Wildhearts in Cardiff laxt night. So so good to be back watching live bands, and the new album is a thing of amazement. How he writes these things I can only wonder.

The German Para boots I had were very very well made, thick quality leather and made , I think , by Haix. Very nearly waterproof with a massive padded tongue .Trouble is the sole was a bit non grippy in snow and ice and on wet river stones, and they weigh an absolute ton compared to other issue boots , especially if youre walking over clay, the sole pattern seems to be a magnet for it.

What about a pair of ex MOD Altberg boots? Cheap as chips, tough as, well , old boots , and a British company with at least one UK manufacturing facility.
I’ve had a pair for a few years for gardening / snow, and theyre comfy, light for what they are, with a decent sole.

So, some say you have to splash out, some saying not a huge amount of money will see me OK. Interesting.
As far as the different types of telescope go, what design would I be looking for? Refractor? Reflector? What are the pluses and minuses of each type and what are things to look for?
Portability not an issue at the moment, I have a lovely open view of the Southern and Western sky, with the Southern section having a nice big forested mountain blocking out the glow of the local towns, so plan on setting it up at home for now.
What sort of lenses etc might I need? Thanks for all the tips so far, btw.

@grantyboy,
Define what you mean by a bit of grief mate. Is it just mild teasing, hardcore physical intimidation or somewhere in between? The way you handle it will probably have to vary depending on which end of the spectrum it is.
Any physical intimidation or threats of out of school violence gets stamped on, **** the fact that the other side are only teenagers. There is a youth detention centre just up the road from me and a large prison a little further on, rammed with “only teenagers” who are there for stabbing and killing other teenagers. Quite a few of my friends work in these places and they emphasise that you cannot comprehend how bad some of these young teens and late teens can be and their total disregard for their victims.
On the other hand, a bit of name calling or teasing is just part of teens working out their pecking order, I wouldnt go steaming in all guns blazing. Sticks and stones, and all that.
However, I think the important thing here is how upset your daughter is getting. If she is just mildly irritated then I would just let it work itself out, it could be character building to an extent,byt if it is really affecting her then I would definitely escalate my reaction accordingly.
I take the opinion that my children have as much right to happiness in this world as anyone else, irrespective of what some little scrotes who havent learnt the rules of respecting others think. If their happiness is somehow compromised , and I am in a position to help, I will do my best to do just that, should they want that. If not, I will observe the situation with interest and let them know my help is there should tbey need any.

You know your daughter best so its difficult to comment, but my thoughts are :
Is she quiet and artistic, or outgoing and gregarious? In my experience, the youngsters who place themselves in the alternative camp tend to fall int o one of these stereotypes. How you help her handle the situation depends on her personality.
For example, both my daughters were raised to see the world as an awesome but sometimes dark place, and have absolutely no problem in giving it back verbally. My son was raised in exactly the same way but wouldnt say boo to a goose, there would be no point encouraging him to fight his corner, its just not his nature.
It would be my tendency to tell my daughters to face the bullying head on and destroy the bullies by making them look a fool in front of their peers, as I know they would have at least a 50% chance of success, and would be bang up for it.My boy though, I would be more inclined to intervene as he is just not wired that way and would probably suffer worse abuse for trying to sort it himself and fail.
I think that good advice has been given in regards making the teachers at the school aware, but as a target of bullying in the past, unfortunately the only advice I could give is that the only cure for bullying is to front them up head on and engage them . It was the only thing that made them respect me and own their actions. Some time teasing can go too far and it takes the teased to show the teasers just how much it bothers them . Some might be shocked that the teasing is causing that much of an effect on someone, as to them its just a bit of banter, and will stop immediately. However, some people are just pricks and will not take the hint. That is where I would intervene, once that line had been crossed.
Bit longwinded way of saying you know your daughter best and will probably instinctively know the right course of action for her, but if violence was ever inflicted upon any of my children I would not hesitate to defend them to the hilt, whether they wanted it ornot.

For my 2p on this.
Just keep an eye out for downed branches after high winds, January and February is a good time. I live near big old Beech trees and they throw branches after wind all the time. Take a wheelbarrow and a bow saw or hand saw up the woods and process them into transportable bits. If your area is anything like mine, no-one will give a shit so long as the path the branches were laying across (every time..) are now clear. I always make sure to leave some for the mushrooms too.
As far as drying it out, just split and stack with good air flow. What I do is bring , say, two bags for life full inside and leave them by the airing cupboard when the nights start to get a bit of a chill. That usually lasts me about 2-3 nights worth, i prefer a nice background glow to constantly raging inferno. I then bring another bag full in to start drying, to gently bake as my nice dry logs are smouldering nicely away.
And as for dirty fire glass, this is down to insufficient air flow and excess moisture / resin in the logs, in my experience.
Oh, and removing any soot/ residue from the glass is easy. Mr.Sheen and a nylon dish sponge, gleaming every time.

Yes, actual breeze blocks, stored in a dry shed for about 4 years so thered be no steam pressure building up and causing failure . Worked fine,used it to harden a few homemade knife blades and the like, but probably not ideal as a long term thing. You could always coat them with some kind of refractory cement or something like perlite concrete to insulate them from the worst of the heat if you liked. Plenty of videos on youtube showing how.