Oxford Welsh learners group

Sorry not to have the pleasure of your company Caroline and Jenny. John W. and John P. and I were there holding the fort. Sadly, I discovered when I got home that someone who had seen the Gumtree advert looked for us but couldn’t find us! Obviously we weren’t speaking Welsh loudly enough!

Sincere apologies Alison, if you are able to read this. I have sent you an email. Hopefully we can do better next time, which should be Tuesday 7th October, 5.30 pm.

Having said that, John, John and I were wondering if alternative days / times might work better for some people. How about weekends, for example?

Something to think about, anyway.

Just to echo what Mike said, we could try a meetup on another day or at a weekend to see if that might work better for those who haven’t been able to get along to the monthly Tuesday one - it needn’t necessarily be at a pub either if people have other suggestions to make. If that worked out it could be the start of a further regular meetup in addition to the regular Tuesday one. Any suggestions anyone?

Hwyl
John

Hello there,
Just been reading through this thread and wondered if you still meet up at all?

HI Jocelyn, they do still meet and i believe they met up last night.
Their anouncement was in another thread, look for that and expect
the first tusday of next month to appaear.
If you need more help send me an PM/email.

Cheers J.P.

I have dim syniad how to use this thread :-/
If i could find your email address then i would email you.
Luddite ahoy :-/

Dim Lydite, just stranger to a new bit of techno (well i struggle with it often).
I have sent you a PM so hopefully you will find it next time you log on.

I don’t get to the Oxford meet ups often but usually know of their arrangements,
what level are you on (maybe lesson one) and do you appear on skype.

Hopefully the above link will take you to the thread with latest meeting info.

Cheers J.P.

Welsh level is somewhere between starter and intermediate. I learnt it in school and lived with a North Walian for 9 years so picked up lots from him.
I am a South Walian girl. I tell people i am from Cardiff, as i am from a south wales valleys town and most people can’t say it - let alone heard of it
Moved to the land of Cowley 6 months ago.

Hi Jocelyn
Just to confirm, as JP thought, that we did have an Oxford meet up last night and that the February one is scheduled, as usual, for the 1st Tuesday of the month. JP’s indicated the current Oxford meet up thread but, if you’d like an email address, you can contact me via: percolin2000-cymraeg@yahoo.co.uk
We’re quite a small group - there are about eight of us at the moment and we don’t usually get more than 4 or 5 at any one time. There’s a mix of North and South Walian and levels of Welsh vary but it sounds as if you’re at the same sort of level as we are, so do come along if you can make it.
Cofion gorau
John

Well Jocelyn, i suspect from your history you are well ahead of me, and thanks for the PM, i hope that helped you find some of the functions in this forum of which i’m sure i have many to find.

Mr Williams, thanks for picking up this conversation as i know you are in Oxford so are a more useful contact, sorry i don’t get there often but there is a good reason.

Cheers J.P.

You’re very welcome, JP. Quite understand you can’t make it to the meet up that often but I hope we’ll be seeing you there before too long
Hwyl fawr
John

I’m very sorry to announce that the venue for our monthly meetups is about to close.

This is something of a disaster, not least because it is unique in Oxford in having the atmosphere of a quiet village real ale pub in the town centre.

So, does anyone have any suggestions for a replacement? I can’t think of anywhere else quite so convenient in the centre, mostly they’re rather noisy. I wonder whether one of the Jericho pubs might suffice, or one of those between Walton Street and Woodstock Road.

It doesn’t even have to be a pub :slight_smile:

Oh, very sorry to hear that. No pubs named after Hardy novels should ever close. Boo, down with this sort of thing. Hope you good folk find somewhere else pleasant.

There is another pub in Oxford called “Jude the Obscure”. I think there did use to be a link between the two pubs back in the mists of time.

I used to really love the “Jude”, but they semi-modernised it, opening up what was a kind of snug, and joined it up to the larger main bar, and now the atmosphere is…well, just not the same

To be honest, the “Far From the Madding Crowd” was never my favourite pub, and could sometimes get noisy, but then, so can a lot of pubs.

But it is still a disaster when pubs close, and they’ve been closing faster than we used to lose Elm trees…and unfortunately, new pubs don’t grow on trees … (er, would anyone like to mix that metaphor even more for me…? :slight_smile: )

Alternative pubs: I wondered about the White Rabbit, nearby. (It used to be something else). It can get crowded, but there might be an odd corner.

Also wondered about the White Horse in Broad Street. For a small group, the table tucked into the alcove right at the back could be perfect.

Some serious research is needed here. It’s a demanding job, but someone has to do it …

Non-pubs: I’ve also often wondered about the Jericho cafe. They do sell beer, although only in bottles.

On a more serious, serious note, I have thought for many years that some sort of government action is needed to protect what’s left of our British pubs (and indeed develop them). Unfortunately, the precedents are not good. The previous government but one (I think) forced the breweries to divest themselves of a lot of their pubs, supposedly to create more diversity and competition in the industry. The direct result of that seemed to be the closure of a lot of pubs, and even some breweries (Morlands in Abingdon, and Morrells in Oxford, to name but two). So, we can’t trust governments to do the right thing, unfortunately.

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The Oxford Welsh Male Voice Choir is putting on a concert to celebrate Dydd Gŵyl Dewi Sant, along with the Côr Caerdydd, on Saturday 28th February 2015.

It starts at 6.30pm with tea, including Welsh specialities, then the concert starts at 7.30 pm.

The Poster is here:

http://www.oxfordwelshmvc.org.uk/documents/st%20dave%20poster2015.pdf
It’s at the Wesley Memorial Methodist Church in New Inn Hall Street.

I was wondering if people might be interested in making this into an extra meetup?

We could either just meet there at 6.30, and chat over tea, or maybe meet earlier at a nearby hostelry, and then go on to the tea/concert.

Thoughts?

I’d endorse the Jericho Cafe, definitely. They have a large downstairs which would work very well.

Just realised that it’s getting to that time again and we have not yet definitely fixed on a meeting place.

There are 2 votes for downstairs in the Jericho Cafe (i.e. Jenny’s and mine).

Are there any other suggestions or thoughts?

Any further thoughts? John?

The Jericho Cafe seems a good suggestion to me - let’s meet there this time and see how it goes - we can always try somewhere else next time if needs be

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Hi, I’m Pippa, and am keen to give my newly studied Welsh a try. I would love to join you on Tuesday if I may? Have been plucking up the courage for a while now. I’m not very familiar with Oxford (will be coming in from West Oxon) so sorry I can’t add anything to the venue debate.
Pippa