The Empty Room

By Angharad Tomos

Based on the story of Eileen and Trefor Beasley's stand for the Welsh language in the 1950s, when they refused to pay the local council tax until they received a Welsh request form. Their protest lasted eight years and gave their family great hardship.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Gwasg Carreg Gwalch
• Release date: Mar 31, 2023
• ISBN: 9781845245375

Angharad Tomos

Angharad Tomos yn llenor ac ymgyrchydd iaith adnabyddus. Enillodd hi Fedal Lenyddiaeth Eisteddfod yr Urdd ddwywaith yn yr 80au, Medal Ryddiaith yr Eisteddfod Genedlaethol ddwywaith yn y 90au, a Gwobr Tir na n-Og ddwywaith yn ogystal. Mae hi’n ysgrifennu a darlunio llyfrau i blant ac mae ei chyfres Rwdlan wedi bod yn difyrru plant ers yr 80au a chafodd ei haddasu i’r teledu yn y 90au.

Book preview

The Empty Room

A story about the Beasleys’ sacrifice

Angharad Tomos

Images by Chris Iliff

Finals05.tifderyn_copy_9

Gwasg Carreg Gwalch

TyBeasleysIMG0158.tifTy_BeasleysIMG0157.tif

First published in Welsh: 2014

© text: Angharad Tomos 2014

© images: Chris Iliff 2014

English adaption: 2016

New Edition edited by Jane Burnard: 2022

© text: Angharad Tomos 2022

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior permission of the publishers, Gwasg Carreg Gwalch, 12 Iard yr Orsaf, Llanrwst, Dyffryn Conwy, Cymru LL26 0EH.

ISBN: 978-1-84527-588-4

ebook ISBN: 978-1-84524-537-5

Published with the financial support of the

Books Council of Wales

Published by Gwasg Carreg Gwalch,

12 Iard yr Orsaf, Llanrwst, Dyffryn Conwy, Cymru LL26 0EH

Tel: [phone]

e-mail: [e-mail]

website: www.carreg-gwalch.cymru

Printed and published in Wales

To Ifanwy and Teresa, sisters in the struggle – not forgetting Delyth of course!

A Word From the Author

Click! Clink! I still remember the sound of the breaking window. It was the window of an empty holiday home, and it marked the first action I took with Cymdeithas yr Iaith – the Welsh Language Society. We’d broken into the house to protest against the fact that some people had enough money to buy two houses, when others couldn’t even afford one. Afterwards, we sat in that house through the night, waiting for the police to arrive – and I got talking to the other two protesters.

So you’re Delyth Beasley, I said to the eldest, a young girl with auburn hair and sparkling eyes. She nodded.

Any relation to the Beasley family? I asked. I’d heard about their stand in the Dafydd Iwan song, Daw fe ddaw yr awr yn ôl i mi (That time comes back to me).

Yes, she replied. I’m their daughter.

I was stunned. So you’re the little girl in the picture?

That’s me, she said.

I’d seen the photo more than once – the one of the solemn-looking mother with two young children. Eileen Beasley, who’d refused to pay her council tax bill until she could have one in Welsh. And here I was now, protesting with her grown-up daughter!

Eileen Beasley had become my hero. And in this book I’m going to share her story with you. Perhaps she’ll be your hero too, after you’ve read her story. Maybe you won’t agree with her at all. But one thing’s for sure – there’ll be no halfway. You’ll definitely be on one side, or the other.

She wasn’t an easy woman to ignore, as Llanelli Council were soon to find out.

Angharad Tomos, July 2014

Helynt_y_DrethPowerPt3.tif

Almost everyone in this story speaks Welsh, most of the time. We’ve translated it into English, but we’ve left a few Welsh words. If you don’t know them already, you can find out what they mean by clicking on the footnote number. Translations can also be found at the end of the book.

The Piano

Llangennech, 1956

Finals01.tif

Delyth pressed the white keys – doh ray me fah. Then the black keys. Black keys, white keys, one after another. She was fascinated by the way that pieces of ivory could make such a magical sound.

Mot the dog came into the living room and sat by her side. With her left hand, Delyth stroked his head. Mot looked at her as if he was enjoying the sound. It didn’t matter to him that she couldn’t play a proper tune.

Delyth sighed with contentment. She liked nothing better than playing the piano and, with Mot beside her too, her happiness was complete.

Delyth! came her mam’s voice. Time to collect Elidyr from school!

All right, Delyth replied, realising her piano time was up. I’m coming!

She put on her coat and set off with Mam to catch the bus to Llanelli.

Life in Llangennech isn’t very exciting, especially if you’re a four-year-old like me, thought Delyth, as she stared out of the bus window. She had no one to play with during the day. That’s why Mot was such a good friend, and why she loved tinkering on the piano so much. Mam stayed at home too, while Dad worked in the colliery. Her brother, Elidyr, was at school all day. Every day Delyth looked forward to three o’clock, when they set off to collect him. Travelling with Mam on the bus to Llanelli was always a bit of an adventure.

She watched as raindrops ran down the window.

Why do we go to collect Elidyr on the bus, Mam? she asked.

Because he’s only six. He’s too young to come home by himself, Mam replied.

If he went to school in Llangennech, he could walk home, reasoned Delyth.

That’s what he used to do, said her mother, until things went wrong.

This sounded interesting. Mam explained that since the Royal Navy Stores had come to the village, many families from outside had come to work there. But after they complained that there was too much Welsh spoken in the school, most of the lessons were given in English.

So Elidyr has to travel five miles to Llanelli to have an education in Welsh. There’s a Welsh medium school there – the first of its kind in Wales.

Delyth didn’t think this was fair. But, she realised, that meant that she would go to school on the bus too, when she was five. She was glad it was a Welsh medium school too, and that she would have friends who would talk Welsh with her. So, all in all, she was looking forward to going to school, though she would miss Mot.

Mam ...

Yes, Delyth?

When Elidyr finishes school, will he be a coalminer, like Dad? Dad worked at the Morlais Pit in Llangennech. He walked to work.

Elidyr can be anything he likes, Mam answered, and so can you.

Watching the bus driver, Delyth thought that that might be an interesting job. But she was a girl, so she wouldn’t be allowed to drive buses. A famous