It’s that time of year again when everyone seems to be handing out awards to each other. In keeping with tradition, the Welsh Icons team has again compiled their list of people and products they feel have contributed most to Welsh life in 2010.
We freely admit that our list is, in part, based on people and companies the team have had contact with in the last 12 months but have to add that we are not influenced by whether or not they advertise with us.
It is just a list we have compiled of people and products that have impressed us in the past year.
Artist of the year
Winner: Elfyn Lewis
Originally from Porthmadog but based in Cardiff for the last 15 years, he was the winner of the Gold Medal for Fine Art at the 2009 National Eisteddfod, Elfyn Lewis has gone from strength-to-strength in 2010.
His exhibition at Gestiana this June has cemented his place as a major Welsh artist.
See http://www.elfynlewis.com/ for more information.
Runner up: Penelope Rose
Penelope is a Cardiff based artist who takes elements of all that has gone before and combines it with an academic and emotional response to produce work that is integral to her persona and imagination. In her professional practice she studies theories on colour and composition and endeavourers to intuitively respond to the essence of the ‘Golden Ratio’.
She has had a fantastic year with many shows and exhibitions.
See: http://www.peneloperose.co.uk/ for more information.
Food and Drink
Beer of the year
Winner: O’Garden
Otley Brewing Company’s O’Garden was selected the Welsh Icons team’s choice of the year. We spent many happy hours sampling it at the Great Welsh Beer and Cider Festival earlier in the year and we are still trying to piece together the events of that afternoon
For more information see http://www.otleybrewing.co.uk/
Runner up: Brains Black
The beer marks Brains’ return to the stout market. Having already achieved success in the cask ale and smooth market with Brains SA and Brains Smooth respectively, Brains new product has proved equally popular.
For more information see http://www.sabrain.com/
Cider of the year
Winner: Gwatkin’s Kingstone Black
Named after the apple variety he uses, Denis Gwatkin’s mellow but fruity cider is a pleasure to drink all year round.
For more information see http://www.gwatkincider.co.uk/ciderkingstonblack.html
Cheese of the year
Winner: Pwll Mawr (Big Pit) Cheddar
A mature cheddar with a bite into the past. It is matured at the bottom of Big Pit mineshaft. The farmhouse cheddar flavour is typical of the cheddars produced in the past. The cheese is sealed in a velvety black wax. This cheddar was given the bronze medal at the prestigious 2008 British cheese awards.
A fantastic mature cheese that makes you sweat between the eybrows – like a good mature cheese should.
For more information see http://www.chunkofcheese.co.uk/
Literature
Fiction Book of the Year
Winner: The Art of Contraception by Susie Wild
Susie Wild’s debut collection is a quirky mix in which tales of the fantastic and the everyday are told with inimitable style and flair.
The deranged cravings of a mum-to-be lead to the accidental poisoning of her co-worker in ‘Pica’. Rob holidays in his bathroom and dreams about his underage love interest in ‘Aquatic Life’. The poignant and subtle novella ‘Arrivals’ unfolds slowly, revealing a mother and daughter in opposite corners of the planet, both experiencing their own personal revelation.
For more information see http://welshicons.org/literature/the-art-of-contraception-by-susie-wild/
Runner up: To Win Against the Odds by Thomas T. Moynihan
Coinciding with the 70th anniversary of the Dunkirk evacuation, the novel To Win Against the Odds tells us of Thomas Jones’s extraordinary early life-story.
Abandoned by his father at birth, he is bullied at school in the valleys of south Wales. His grandmother gives the seven-year-old boxing lessons to defend himself. At fourteen he works the coalface of Drum colliery and survives the flooding of the pit. Two years later, he has enrolled in the British Army and sees action in World War II before being wounded and evacuated from Dunkirk. On his return to south Wales he trains to become a teacher and is reconciled with valley life, starting yet another extraordinary chapter in his young life.
For more information see http://welshicons.org/literature/south-wales-coal-mining-disaster-and-world-war-ii-explored-in-new-novel/
Biography of the Year
Winner: Old Enough to Know Better by Mal Pope
Mal Pope’s life is full of contrasts: teenage pop idol, promising footballer, Cambridge University graduate, singer-songwriter, TV and radio presenter and vice president of Swansea City FC.
Taken to chapel in Manselton to listen to unaccompanied Welsh hymn-singing as a babe in arms, this Swansea lad would, only a dozen or so years later as a teenager, be asked to sing a song on John Peel’s show on Radio 1 and earn himself a recording contract with Elton John’s record company, no less.
For more information see http://welshicons.org/literature/swansea-schoolboy%E2%80%99s-story-of-success/
Runner up: Money Talks by Owen Money
The long-awaited and much-anticipated autobiography of Welsh musician, comedian and radio and TV presenter Owen Money.
Owen has experienced success in many fields with a couple of Sony Gold awards for services to radio and an MBE to show for it. But the pavements weren’t always paved with gold and he speaks forthrightly about his climb up the slippery slope of success in the entertainment world.
For more information see http://welshicons.org/literature/owen-money-talking-and-now-writing/
Children’s Book of the Year
Winner: Maw! by Richard Llwyd Edwards
The first book in a new series of picture and story books for infants following the antics of a ginger cat from the slate town of Upper Corris.
The book has been written and drawn by Richard Llwyd Edwards and describing his new creation he said:
“Maw enjoys climbing, saying his name, playing, eating and sleeping and sleeping and sleeping… He supports Celtic and his favourite colours are green and white and ginger like his hair of course.”
For more information see http://welshicons.org/literature/maw-%E2%80%93-the-ginger-cat-from-upper-corris-set-to-conquer-wales/
Runner up: Gold Hunter by William Vaughan
Gold Hunter is an original tale of adventure for teenagers and is set in Australia. One of its themes is to explore the modern craving for fame and fortune among the young; something which it suggests doesn’t necessarily lead to their happiness.
In 1864, an arrogant and ambitious sixteen-year-old steals his widowed mother’s life-savings and sails from Cardiff to Australia to find gold.
For more information see http://welshicons.org/literature/drunkenness-and-celebrity-obsession-1860s-style-in-new-teen-novel/
Non-Fiction Book of the Year
Winner: The Essential Guide to Welsh Heritage and Scenic Railways by Mervyn Jones
This guide lists a total of 62 locations throughout Wales (including five on the borders in England) where heritage and tourist railways and related activities can be found. A total of 163 photographs support the text. Those five just in England are justified by their close proximity and their relevance to the Welsh railway scene. Of the total locations, the author has identified 57 specific routes of which 28 are operated as heritage/tourist railways, including projects and societies, and 29 as regular rail service routes operated in Wales.
Finally, there are five museums including two which are dedicated to the Great Western Railway, one being just over the border in England at Coleford in Gloucestershire and the other, also in England, at Swindon in Wiltshire.
For more information see http://welshicons.org/transport/the-essential-guide-to-welsh-heritage-and-scenic-railways/
Runner up: From East to West and Dawn to Dusk: Photographs of the Glamorgan Heritage Coast by Rob Hudson
Though not published this year we have decided to include Rob’s book as we feel it has not had the publicity it deserves.
In both images and a written personal account, Rob Hudson portrays the journey along the Glamorgan Heritage Coast, from Aberthaw in the east to Porthcawl in the west. The 18-mile of seashore and footpath is revealed from stunning cliffs to ancient castles. Always taken at either dawn, sunrise, dusk or sunset, the photographs reveal the landscape in a new light.
For more information see http://welshicons.org/arts/profile-rob-hidson-photographer/
Literary Mentions of the Year
Winner: Mab Jones
Mab says she is a spoken word artist, comic/poet, playwrong & writer. She is and she is very good at all these things. What she does not mention is the sheer number of events she organises and preforms at. Mab has been a very good friend to Welsh Icons and the team would like to acknowledge all the help she has given us this year.
For more information see www.mabjones.com, www.jambones.webs.com and www.mabjones.blogspot.com
Runner up: Amanda Rackstraw
Amanda who styles herself as a part-time tutor in creative writing at a centre for lifelong learning is also a great friend of Welsh Icons. She is the only writer and story-teller we have seen in a long while who can silence a room of post-punks and crusties and have then all listening to every word of her evocative tales without even the need for a microphone. She is certainly one to watch in 2011 and we look forward to working with her again very soon.
Coming next: Part II – Musicians, Politicians and Journalists
