Fflora Prydain Sy N Newid

It is thirteen years since the Railways Act 1993 started the process of privatising British Rail, replacing it with one company owning and managing the infrastructure, an open-access system for freight services and a series of twenty-five passenger franchises let to private companies for a specified period of time. This period has seen almost continuous change, and there is now a new 'triumvirate' framework with the Department for Transport, the Office of Rail Regulation and Network Rail in place, with the third generation of franchises in the process of being let and the number being reduced to nineteen. The Committee's report examines the current franchising system, focusing on the coherence of its objectives, the effectiveness of the process for awarding franchises and the management of franchise agreements, and whether more competition and vertical integration is needed. Findings include that the current system represents a policy muddle which lacks a coherent framework for the development of good services and delivery of value for money for passengers and taxpayers. The only way the Government can increase capacity and improve services for the long-term is to drop the dogmatic pursuit of competition in its decision-making as to what the private and public sectors can and should do in future. The Government's forthcoming long-term strategy for the railways will need to address these issues, and to set out a structure and a strategy capable of securing quality passenger rail services to meet demand over the next half a century.

Provides a short tour of some of Wales' sites in an attempt to convey some of the majestic beauty and history associated to Wales. Gives details on the tribes and nations which have settled together with the marks they have left upon the landscape in the form of burial chambers, cairns standing stones, hill forts and castles. Furthermore it is also home to many legendary figures such as Taliesin, Gwydion, Merlin and possibly even King Arthur.

This book, first published in 1982, is a sequence of interrelated essays and aims to redirect attention to some critical moments in Welsh history from Roman times to the present. Each of the essays breaks new ground, argues for a new approach or opens a new discourse.

The twin cultures of Welsh and English in Wales have caused a great deal of discussion and comment. Wynn Thomas explores the relationship between the two cultures in Wales from the 17th century to the present day. He focuses primarily on the linguistic aspects, using examples from Welsh and Anglo-Welsh Literature.

New edition of a history of Wales. Includes a Postscript written in the context of the millennium as a fixed point in the development of welsh identity. Emyr Humphreys shows how literature in walcs has reshaped and reasserted Welsh identity in the face of English cultural imperialism. Figures such as Talicsin (a sixth century poet), Myrddin (Merlin), the bards of medieval princes, Dr John Dee, Iolo Morganwg, Mabon, Lloyd George, Saunders Lewis have all redefined the image of Wales in their own historical periods. wales has been, in turn, a bastion of British Christianity, the basis of Tudor imperialism, a haven for Romantics, a leader of Liberalism and Socialism, and the inspiration for twentieth century Welsh nationalism. Tracing the links in this chain Humphreys identifies a situation increasingly common in Europe and elsewhere: the preservation of a national past in the context of an international future. His book reflects the vital relationship between literature and identity, between poetry and politics.

Part ecology, part archaeology and part history, Beavers in Britain's Past explores the evidence for Castor fiber , the European beaver from late in the last ice age to the time of its extinction from Britain's native fauna. The first chapters introduce the beaver and its habitats in western Europe, where it is now flourishing. Based on original field survey in Brittany and southeastern France, the characteristic structures and features of three contrasting beaver territories are documented and analysed, with a view to identifying beaver activity in the archaeological record. Beavers are a keystone ecological species, modifying their waterside surroundings to the benefit of many other species, both plant and animal, including humans. The book then focuses on the archaeological and historical record, from the return of beavers after the severe cold of the last glaciation through 13000 years of living alongside humans, to their disappearance from the record. In the light of the field survey results, beaver influence is identified at a number of well-known wetland sites of prehistoric date, while the evidence for human exploitation of beavers becomes increasingly diverse through time. In the post-Roman period it expands to include place-names, carvings and illuminated manuscripts, written records and oral traditions. Analysing the record in the light of the field survey results and increasing knowledge of the behaviour of European beavers, it is argued that beavers vanished from human perception but did not become extinct until the later second millennium AD. Beavers in Britain's Past provides a new perspective on the archaeology and history of Britain and demonstrates the significance of beavers to the environment of Britain.