Welshness (3)

I and all my friends went through our lives in Merthyr Tydfil without a word of the language between us, it was later that I found out that there were first language Welsh speakers in the villages around the town who had to change to English to go shopping. I organized Welsh classes in a pub in one of the villages so that after the lessons in the lounge we could intermingle with the regulars, they were content that we could join in with their discussions, that was the Six Bells, Heolgerrig, I also organized classes in the Crown where the landlady was a Welsh speaker from Pontneddfechan happy to hear Cymraeg in the bar. I remember also speaking to the older fraternity in the 'Owain Glyndwr' on Pontmorlais where I was learning the local dialect with them before moving to Brittany. The welcome we had from the Welsh speakers who were daily denied their inheritance was humbling.