One Sketch #165 Port Talbot Steelworks Blast Furnace

Hotter than the fire of hell
We fill the night with marmalade smoke
And the smell of brimstone

I live in a town called Port Talbot, and it’s a town whose history for the last century has been intertwined with the steel industry. The steelworks dominates the town, and the blast furnaces, like the one you can see in the picture can be seen long before the rest of the town whichever direction you approach it from, whether by road or rail. In recent years the future of the steelworks has seemed to be in jeopardy, although things seem to have settled down more recently. I can only hope so. If anything happened to the steelworks it would be a devastating blow to the town

One Sketch #164) Ewenny Pottery

I do love cats
I have to say
-even if they're made
of clay.

E is for . . .Ewenny Pottery. Ewenny is a village just outside the sizeable town of Bridgend in South Wales. It is home to Ewenny Pottery, the oldest working pottery in Wales, dating back to 1610. For the last 200 years it has been run by the Jenkins family, who still run it today. Ewenny Pottery are known for some highly distinctive pieces, such as their trademark cats, and the many handled jug in the sketch.

One Sketch #163 - Ddraig Goch (the red dragon of Wales)

Mythical symbol.
Of the proud spirit of Wales
Real spirit,
Strong spirit
And that's no myth.

D is for Ddraig Goch, or, the Red Dragon of Wales. This symbol of the proud spirit of the people of Wales features most prominently on the national flag of Wales.

One Sketch #162) Big Pit, Blaenavon

Down in the dark

The black gold waits

Where no canaries sing

And no candles flicker.

It is there still,

And will wait for all time

If need be.

C is for . . . coal mine. This is Big Pit, Blaenavon, in South East Wales. Blaenavon is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, due to its importance in preserving the heritage of the iron and coal industries in South Wales. Coal mining was of vital importance to South Wales and the South Wales Valleys throughout the 18^th and 19^th centuries, right up to the last decades of the 20^th century. Big Pit is a real Welsh coal mine that closed in 1983, then opened to the public in 1983 under the auspices of the National Museum of Wales.

Inktober 2018

I missed out on Inktober 2017, as I didn't discover it until right at the end of the month. Basically it's an online challenge to produce 31 ink sketches in October. One for each day of the month, ftting with a specific prompt. As with the One Week 100 people challenge, and the 30x30 Direct Watercolour Challenge, all you have to do is to make sure that you post your sketches online under hashtag #inktober and #inktober2018. This ties in beautifully with my own challenge to produce at least one sketch every day for a year. By my reckoning the first sketch will be my one sketch a day 191, and the last of October will be one sketch number 221.

If you're interested, here is the prompt list,

One Sketch #162) Barry Island Woodham's Scrapyard

Steel hulks
Unregarded, unloved
Waited for salvation
From the gas axe, and blow torch.
And saviours came.

My first visit to Wales in the summer of 1976 was on an excursion train from London specifically to go clambering about Woodham Brother’s scrapyard, and I returned in 1980. 

In the late 1950s British Railways decided to phase out all of its steam powered locomotives and tank engines. Woodham’s scrapyard in Barry Island, South Wales, just outside Cardiff, won one of the scrap contracts with British Railways. Eventually purchasing 297 steam engines, Dai Woodham decided to cut up the many hundreds of coal wagons he had also bought first. Throughout the 1970s and into the 80s, Woodham’s scrapyard became a tourist attraction in its own right, as other scrapyards quickly cut up their locomotives. Woodham’s had actually scrapped a number of steam engines during the 60s, but from 1970 onwards only two more were scrapped. Of a total of 297 steam engines bought by Woodham’s, 213 were rescued, with the last leaving the yard in 1990, 4 years after I moved permanently to South Wales.

One Sketch #161) (Saturday 1st September) Cardiff Museum Dinosaur and Cardiff Castle Animal Wall

When looking at dinosaur bones

Remember, they're more than just stones

They've teeth and they've claws

And those powerful jaws

I'm warning you, don't go alone.

Yes, urban sketching in Cardiff again. The top picture is a composite sketch featuring some of the animals on the stone Animal Wall outside the façade of Cardiff Castle. It's a 19th century creation of William Burgess - as are large parts of the castle itself. I just love it.  

When I was a kid I was a little obsessed with dinosaurs, I still try not to ass up the opportunity to have a good look at one. This is a partial sketch of a complete skeleton in the National Museum in Cardiff. To my chagrin I couldn't find a sign to identify the exact species.