Summer 2012
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Editorial
1980s individualist zeitgeist falls from grace
Essay
He was happy all the time
Peter Stead on why the world of Wales’s most famous poet continues to fascinate not only us but much of the rest of the planet as well
Outlook
Future of rural Wales
- Paul Milbourne
- Nerys Owens and Jonathan Radcliffe
- Lawrence Kitchen
- Peter Midmore
- Terry Marsden
Changing Union
Following Scotland has run its course
Gerald Holtham argues that building the economy must now precede more political autonomy for Wales
Will Britain turn into England?
Robin McAlpine says that whatever the result of the Scottish independence referendum Yes or No culture wars will continue north of the border
How to damage public confidence in devolution
Richard Wyn Jones and Roger Scully reject the arguments for a referendum on devolving taxes to the National Assembly
Economy
Nurturing our entrepreneurs
Walter May makes the case for a new organisation to lead new thinking on an all-Wales strategy for indigenous business growth
Valleys can cut it in engineering
Rhys David reports on the GE aircraft maintenance plant at Nantgarw, one of Wales’ most successful enterprises
Co-op Special
Learning from Mondragon
John Osmond joined a delegation from Wales to the Basque Country in April to discover why one of the world’s largest co-operative groups has been so successful
Could a co-op run our trains
Stuart Cole examines the options facing the Welsh Government when it considers the future ownership and control of our railway network
Feedback vital for effective Welsh public procurement
Dermot Cahill and Ceri Evans investigate the experience of Welsh companies when tendering for public sector contracts
Education
We need to end second rate vocational culture
Jim Bennett argues that competition between schools and colleges is impending the reputation and delivery of work-related technical subjects
More theory than understanding in teaching reading
Geraldine Barry says ‘not invented here’ is the attitude of many Welsh schools when confronted with new literacy ideas
Wales is sitting on a bilingual gold mine
Lisa Jones describes her efforts to teach the language to parents whose children are attending Welsh-medium schools
Social Policy
Building the Ombudsman’s casebook
Peter Tyndall explains why we should should extend the landscape of redress in Wales
Sliding into poverty
David Williams discovers that we are at risk of losing a generation of young people in Wales
Why we need a strategy for young carers
Vanessa Webb examines the problems of more than 11,000 welsh children who look after family members
Environment
Our central organising principle
Elin Royles believes the Welsh Government’s forthcoming Sustainable Development Bill has ground breaking potential
Communications
A lost model for Welsh public service broadcasting
James Stewart looks back at what might have been in the provision of an equivalent to a Welsh Press Association service
The inaugral Welsh vook
Colin Thomas describes the production he has in hand for our first ebook, a combination of text and video, on Wales and America
Talking to India
Peter Finch delves into the opaque world of accessing the next generation of broadband
Heritage
Farming and food in Abergavenny
Andris Taurins says planners are playing fats and loose with the heritage of one of our oldest market towns
Culture
Fishlock’s File
The virtues of left-handedness
Trevor Fishlock muses on the sinister meanings of small things
Two lives in art
Osi Rhys Osmond is caputured by a study of John and Myfanwy Piper qwho reshaped perceptions of Englishness in the mid 20th Century
We have a real country now
Richard Davies reflects on 20 years of bleakness counterpointed by hope in Welsh publishing
Reviews
A warning against dominant narratives in recent Welsh history
Geraint Talfan Davies
‘The best sort of crank’
M. Wynn Thomas
Our Shared web of interconnected European lives
Ned Thomas
Wide-eyed love of a Welsh pilgrim for Armenia
Mike Joseph
Last Word
Peter Stead
Wandering around a national conversation