~A Good "rarebit" of Welsh Cheese~

Advantages: Delicious not as greasy as some cheddars are.
Disadvantages: May be difficult to find.

...I first discovered Y- Fenni some years ago in a delicatessen on one of our monthly trips to Doncaster and being a lover of cheese couldn't resist buying some to try, along with a few others I hadn't tasted before. Imagine my delight when I spotted some on the deli counter in my local Tesco a few weeks ago and unable to resist the temptation, I quickly popped some in my trolley. Y - Fenni (sometimes called Red Dragon) is a Welsh cheese and takes its name from the town where it is made, that's Abergavenny to us English. Made with pasteurised cow's milk, which is curdled with vegetarian rennet, it is then mixed with Welsh ale and mustard grains; pressed into moulds then wrapped in a protective wax. Y- Fenni's wax coating is a very pale yellow in colour The Red Dragon's wax, as you may have guessed is red although I haven't seen...

tune57 05.03.2008 · Read review
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Review of Y- Fenni Welsh Cheddar

No Welshing on Quality

Advantages: Fascinating subject and era, well written
Disadvantages: The picture on the dust cover might put you off

...Christopher Marlowe is a bit of a mystery. He was a famous playwright during the Elizabethan era whose works are today mostly overshadowed by those of Shakespeare. One reason for this is because Marlowe was murdered at the height of his career when he was not yet 30 years old. Although his infamous life has been the subject of several non-fictional studies, it seems that the only hard facts we have about his life are the fact that he was murdered, when and where his body was found, and the injuries that killed him. It was with this scant bit of background, that the award winning author of the psychological crime novel, The Cutting Room - Louise Welsh was approached to write a novella. And so "Tamburlaine Must Die" was written and published. Not a whole lot to go on, is it? And Welsh certainly had many options on how she could...

TheChocolateLady 08.10.2004 · Read review
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Review of Tamburlaine Must Die - Louise Welsh

The Welsh Girl - the war girl

Advantages: Brings up some interesting questions about war facts
Disadvantages: Boring, little romance, banality

...The Welsh Girl make us wonder about dislocation and cowardice. The story takes place in the mountains of Wales. The main character is Esther, the 17-year-old Welsh girl. Near her home, the british have set up a war camp. Peter Ho Davies wonders about the acts of cowardice and wants to create a real question - is it cowardly to save one's life and the lives of others by surrendering to the enemy? Because of that and many others ways of approaching the war this book can be considered a beautifully told story of love and war. You will among the most principal characters Karsten and Rotherham. Rotheram is a German Jew sent to interrogate Rudolph Hess. Corporal Karsten, an eighteen year old German chooses to surrender rather than fight. He can speak English, and this was the immediate cause of the relationship that occurred between him...

Erolkus 24.11.2008 · Read review
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Review of The Welsh Girl - Peter Ho Davies

Welsh Terrier - always game for a laugh

Advantages: Easy to look after, affectionate and fun!
Disadvantages: none I can think of except being stubborn

...when I lost my beloved miniature Schnauzer the house felt completely empty . I had been used to having a dog in the house all my life and it was awful , no welcome on arriving home and nobody to snuggle up to in the evenings. I have always been drawn to dogs with what I call "square " faces - ie Schnauzers, Airedales , Kerry Blues etc and remembered seeing some three years earlier a display at Crufts of Welsh Terriers and thinking how much I liked them So - the seed was now sown in my head - I was going to get myself a Welsh Terrier , only problem now was where to find one ! Living in Aberdeen I discovered there were not many breeders in the area ( or indeed Scotland ) but set about calling a breeder that lived about 30 miles away , I had found his details on the Kennel Club website . This is a great place to start for any...

rodsbaby 20.10.2006 · Read review
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Review of Welsh Terrier

Welsh History in a Stunning Location

Advantages: Plenty to see and do - beautiful scenery
Disadvantages: Limited accessibility in places

...---LOCATION AND ACCESSIBILITY--- The Museum of Welsh Life is to be found on the outskirts of Cardiff, about 4 miles from the city centre in a village called St Fagans. Take Junction 33 off the M4 to the A4232, and follow the signposts - turn left just after the level crossing into the main car parking area. Parking is £2.50 per car, but entrance to the Museum itself is free. There are dedicated spaces for disabled visitors and ramps provide access to the main museum building, restaurants and shops. Wheelchairs are available on request but cannot be booked in advance. By bus, take the number 32 or 320 from Cardiff Central Bus Station to St Fagans. ---GENERAL OVERVIEW--- The Museum of Welsh Life, is a 100 acre open air museum comprising a main gallery building and a collection of reconstructed buildings situated in...

Serenfach 26.06.2006 · Read review
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Review of Museum of Welsh Life

Welsh Male Voice Choirs.

Advantages: Sublime
Disadvantages: None

...When I say that my grandmother's maiden name was Davies, and that she was the last person in the family who had any understanding of the Welsh language, you will probably understand why I love Welsh choral music so much. Well, apart from the fact that Wales is truly the land of song, with the best history of choral music in the entire world., that is! This CD (produced by EMI and Music for Pleasure) has a wide range of Welsh Male voice Choirs from all over Wales. The competition between the different choirs and indeed the different parts of Wales are fiercely competitive. But the strong, intense rivalry is always friendly. Well, MOST of the time, that is! The songs on this CD (I am ,of course, listening to it as I write this review!) are all perfectly sung and perfectly accompanied, as the producers have chosen the cream of Welsh...

Martinscholes 19.11.2005 · Read review
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Review of Welsh Male Voice Choirs - Various Artists

Welsh Folk Museum (St. Fagans, Cardiff)

Advantages: Cheap, lots to do
Disadvantages: Not sure if you could cope here in a wheelchair?

...The Museum of Welsh LIfe is situated approximately six miles from the centre of Cardiff. Admission is FREE! There is a bus service from the central station. It is also easily accessible from the M4 westbound and is well signposted. There is plenty of variety here for all ages. The Museum of Welsh Life is a large site of more than one hundred acres. Buildings have been brought here from all over Wales and re-erected. They depict the way in which Welsh people lived over the last five hundred years. (By the way, the Welsh are a very short breed, so if you're tall mind your heads in the doorways.) St Fagans Castle itself is a C16th Manor House which was donated to us by the Earl of Plymouth. Gardens around the castle are extremely well kept and presented and it is a real pleasure on a hot day to just walk around them. There...

Suziwann 01.06.2004 · Read review
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Review of Museum of Welsh Life

Welsh - Back to his Best

Advantages: You already know the characters
Disadvantages: Can you handle another instalment?

...Irvine Welsh is back to his best with Trainspotting - Part II". I was disappointed with his offering like "Filth" in which I thought he was trying the shock and wierdo style a little too much. If you've read Trainspotting you'll know its slightly different from the film with a couple of additional characters but overall quite similiar. Porno keeps these characters but they are not in the story a great deal. Welsh keeps up his unorthodox style by having each chapter narrated by a different character which overlaps other chapters. Very similiar to the film Jackie Brown by Quinton Tarantino but not going back in time as much. The plot is set a couple of years in the future from where Trainspotting left off. I'm not too keen to tell you the complete story as you may not have read the book yet. But then again if you are...

The_Murf 26.05.2003 · Read review
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Review of Porno - Irvine Welsh

Review of Welsh's Marabou Stork Nightmares

Advantages: An interesting read for all Welsh fanatics!
Disadvantages: Coarse Language, Racial and Sexual Prejudice, not meant for young readers

... Overview of Novel "Marabou Stork Nightmares" by Irvine Welsh Thoroughly explicit in his tales of personal struggle in the midst of a declining state, Welsh once again provides a truly delightful read. *Although not for the faintest of heart, as all Welsh novels are, one may desire to exercise caution while reading if there is predisposed sensitivity to harsh language, and prejudice. With that, Welsh in fact does well to uncover these prejudices that are still evident in modern life -- whether it be through racism, supression of homosexuality, sexism or any form of sexual derogation/humiliation. The interesting layout/style in which the story is written keeps the reader locked in, and the novel never gets dull with Welsh's keen knack for literary prose. Beautiful imagery is seen throughout the Strang family's travels to...

alovesey 04.04.2008 (03.04.2008) · Read review
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Review of Maribou Stork Nightmares - Irvine Welsh

The Welsh Wonder

Advantages: Excellent soulful pop music, intelligent lyrics and extremely powerful vocals.
Disadvantages: Ten tracks is simply not enough to aptly showcase the talent of Duffy.

...Welsh singer-songwriter Duffy is making quite a name for herself at the moment. Her début album 'Rockferry' has already earned her a Number 1 single in the form of 'Mercy' and she certainly seems to be causing quite a stir in the music press. The Evening Standard commented late last year that 'she will be the sound of 2008' and whilst this may not be entirely true, 2008 will definitely be a good year for her I feel. She's certainly started the year off quite well by gaining herself a Number 1 single, that's for sure. Beginning with title track 'Rockferry', Duffy kicks off the album in tremendous style. It's an excellent launching point for the album, a perfect presentation of her soulful music. It is such a powerful track and certainly grabs your attention right from the offset. She's got one hell of a voice on her has Duffy, she sure...

RazzaLazza 02.03.2008 · Read review
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Review of Rockferry - Duffy