Mouth of the Ystwyth Issue 8

2025

Issue. 8

Mouth of the

Ystwyth

•Reign & Shine•Varsity 2025•

Contents: Welcome to MOTY & A Note From The Editor •••••• 3 Reign & Shine: A Fun Night •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 4 Varsity: A Fencing Experience ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 8 Shark Attack: A Varsity Battle ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 10 The Smack Down •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 11 Go Hard or Go Home ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 12 Easter Chocolate Review •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 14 Mellt •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 16 Rebellion Radio: Pirate Radio’s Role in Shaping Modern Wales •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 18 Pasta Quiz •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 22 Wordsearch ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 23

Meet The Mouths of the Ystwyth: Welcome to MOTY! We are Aberystwyth’s Student Newspaper, reporting on anything student or Aberystwyth related – it can be art, photos, poems, short stories, comic strips, articles, reviews.

If you have something you’d like to publish that is not listed above, feel free to message our Instagram or email our mailbox.

Ever since MOTY’s visit to Cardiff for the Student Publication Association Awards, we have been working hard on instating a bit of a revamp for our own publication. We’ve decided to tailor our aesthetics of our publications more; becoming something of a combination between a magazine and a newspaper. Read on to see how it’s turned out!

A Note from the Editor: We’ve had a changeover recently and I thought I’d introduce myself a little bit, as well as doing an overview of the entire edition. I am Kate Stepanova, an English and Creative Writing major. I’m an international student and have been a part of the newspaper as long as I’ve been in university; it’s very much an honour to have been given this position!

This is our Easter Issue, featuring an Easter themed wordsearch and an article comparing various Easter eggs.

We also have a variety of articles covering different Varsity competitions, as well as a few event overviews. I wanted to thank Iestyn again for everything he’s done so far this year – I hope to be able to carry on this society’s wonderful legacy!

Wriiten by Kate Stepanova:

Reign & Shine A Fun Night

Y Cŵps, also known as The Coopers Arms, is a pub all of us have walked by, if not gone in to. Located right at the foot of the hill, it’s very difficult to avoid walking past it on your way up to class or down to get groceries, depending on where you live. Here, on the 28th of March, a new studentcentred recurring event called Reign And Shine debuted. The aim of these events is to “try and build up a safe space for artists, weirdos and queers as community is incredibly important and you have to be able to foster it” (Effy) and that “it’s absolutely amazing to be giving people a space to express themselves and engage with the stage” (Spiritually Elsewhere). I was incredibly excited to attend this multi-performance, multi-medium event as, due to Aberystwyth being so small, it often feels difficult to find new events to engage with.

Despite the poster’s declaration that the doors opened at 7pm, when my friends and I arrived there was no one else in the main pub area. The performance takes place upstairs, but you only get to ascend to the next floor around 10 minutes before the performances start. As you can imagine, the downstairs got quite crowded as we waited for the event to start.

We had more than enough time to chat, mostly about the most common student ailment – lack of money and the worry that brings.

Eventually, though, the doors opened and everyone flooded up the steep stairs to the stage area.

My friends and I managed to snag a small leather couch at a perfect middle distance from the stage. As the lights went down, the first performer took the stage…

Eve, in a shimmering white gown that stood in sharp contrast with her dark hair, took the stage. We had been told that there were to be a variety of performances at this event, so no one was quite sure what was about to happen. When she started singing, all doubt disappeared – everyone was absolutely blown away by her astounding vocals. She performed a cover of Before He Cheats by Carrie Underwood with enough passion to give me the shivers.

Eve

Effy She was followed by Effy, in layers and layers of lace that gave the outfit a 1920s flair. Again, I was unsure of what to expect, but the fact that they took a little time to clear up the stage clued me in to the fact that it might require a lot of room. As it turned out, it was a lipsync dance performance, with a burlesque flair. Their moves were sharp and clean, and their enthusiasm contagious to the crowd. A section of the dance even took them off stage and into the crowd.

Effy was followed in turn by Ashton, a debuting drag king dressed in an all-black ensemble with sheer and gold embellishments. They too performed a lip-sync dance performance, a perfectly choreographed rendition of Time Warp from the Rocky Horror Picture Show. They were perfectly on beat with the lip-sync even while performing the more than a few jumps that the dance called for. It was an electrifying performance, and I hope they continue performing in the future.

Ashton

Birte With a switch up from the two dance numbers was Birte. Dressed in a drop-dead gorgeous sequined gown with a matching red feather boa that left specks of crimson in her wake, she performed a cover of ABBA’s Dancing Queen. A classic song to go with the show stopping dress, she absolutely took the stage by storm.

The joy of performance had her glowing in a way that spread joy to everyone in the room.

Spiritually Elsewhere was next up, with yet another switch up. They were going to do a few live performance songs, two covers and one original song. They are a bard and a storyteller, and for the duration of their performance we were transported to a different land and time. We heard varying myths and legends sung to us in a siren-like voice that made it hard to come back to reality.

Spiritually Elsewhere

Lip-sync battle The next performance was a competition for the audience to participate in. A lip-sync battle to ROSÉ & Bruno Mars’s ‘APT’ ensued between people picked from the crowd. [Allow me a moment to address the participants: I am sorry if I didn’t catch your names correctly or didn’t spell things right, I wish I’d gotten the chance to catch you after the performance.] There was William, who’s outfit they was described as a mixture of Shakespeare and Pirates of The Caribbean. There was Chris, a film student dressed in a fashionable cropped shirt, and Chaos, whose outfit was something of Mad Hatter mixed with drag king. The prize was a free drink, which William ended up claiming.

Then, it was time for a 20-minute break before Act Two, for which I did not manage to stay because I felt ill.

However, I will certainly be attending future renditions of this event, as it was a vibrant and enjoyable experience.

Varsity: A Fencing Experience And boy, did I have an experience Written by Charlotte Bulling Boy did I have a day. I had one hell of a bloody day.

I feel some context may be needed for this particular article. I’m part of Aberystwyth University’s fencing club, and have been for the last 6 months. At the beginning of March, I made arrangements to go to Varsity with fencing. Later that same week, I placed my name forward to report on the fencing for Mouth of the Ystwyth. This led to what I can only assume was a miscommunication within the Student Union when assigning me a coach to Bangor.

My day was off to a relatively gentle start, despite only getting an hour and 29 minutes of sleep. I’d gotten into my bed a little (quite a lot) later than I intended. The Mountain Rescue Crew had a performance in Cooper’s Arms and I wanted to go and support. My professor is in the band after all. And sleep didn’t seem like much of an option. I struggled to locate sleep, and I arose from it relatively quickly, surprised to find the lack of sleep didn’t seem to affect me. I’d made sure I had everything packed or easily accessible to me so I didn’t have to risk a sleep deprived panic before departing my house. It would be pretty difficult to fence without my mask or sword after all. As to leaving, everything was on track - at least for me anyway.

I was on campus a solid 30-45 minutes before I needed to be and I had all of my fencing equipment. I was grateful to be up early and excited for the adventure that lay ahead - but I didn’t know the adventure that I was about to embark upon. If I did, I’m not quite sure I would have agreed to any of what I was about to experience. It wasn’t long before the other fencers arrived. Somebody comes over to make sure we’re all there. There's vague confusion as she reads everyone’s names

but mine.

This appears to not be much of an issue as she gets me to just write my name down within the fencing box. This is when I remember I had also made vague noises about wanting to report on Varsity for Mouth of the Ystwyth.

“Oh. My name might be down for the Newspaper?”

She flicks the wad of paper to another sheet. She scans down the names.

“Charlotte Bull….” She seems unsure as to my surname.

“Charlotte Bulling. Yep. That’s me.” accompanied with a lopsided grin.

This is where I find out that I’m apparently meant to be on a completely different bus.

With the rugby teams. I try not to think about it too much at this point. Because at least I’m getting to varsity. And I have a seat. I’m not having to sit next to anybody - especially not anybody that I don’t know.

So my headphones are returned to my head, my book opened and my pen in hand. I settle into the seat and begin reading, hoping I’m not on the coach for too long. At this point, I’m still relatively oblivious to what’s to come. My fellow teammates have my sword - aptly named Mandy Patinktink - and are keeping her safe for me. The bus I’m on leaves 30 minutes before my teammates and I end up in Bangor about an hour before them.

Two and a half hours later, I’m at the stadium in Bangor. This is not where I’m meant to be. I’m not meant to be in the stadium. I’m here for what a lecturer of mine called the “stabby stabby”. I’m also not here to report on the rugby or the football. I’m here for fencing. An hour before the rest of my team. And in entirely the wrong spot. I feel it’s important to mention here that I’ve never been to Bangor prior to the 22nd of March 2025.

The moment I’m off the bus, I clock that the fencing is most definitely not happening here. So I locate the nearest adult.

And ask for help - a relatively new and hard thing for me, a cripplingly anxious person who desperately tries to figure it out myself before the notion of help even occurs to me. The adults I ask are also confused as to what’s happening. So after a moment, I’m back on the bus and taken to another part of Bangor. I’m also not meant to be here.

We don’t know where the site I’m meant to be actually is. I’m then taken to the accommodation for Bangor University. This is where the gym is located. I’m also not meant to be here. Great. Three locations and I still don’t know where fencing is taking place. I still don’t know where the building actually is. I ended up walking around Bangor for roughly an hour, finding the university, and nobody there was much help either.

They didn’t know where the stuff was either. Fantastic. I end up walking back to the accommodation and finding a shuttle bus. Perfect! And a genuine one this time. This will get me to where I need to be. Hopefully.

No. It takes me back to where I was 2 hours prior. At this point, I’m bordering on tears and suppressing a desperate and rather willing panic attack. I take a deep breath, run my hand over Phillipe - my fencing mask and lean towards the driver, asking if he can take me to the building.

Finally, somebody who knows where this building is and is willing to take me there.

So, yet again, I take off in the hopes of getting to where I need to be. And I arrived just in time. I’m greeted by the president of AUFC, I run in, and I’m greeted with the fencing team. I get a hug from our wonderful Wellbeing Officer as I sniff back the tears and make vague noises about the morning I had.

I place my backpack and mask down, locate my sword, Mandy, and kit up. I kit up rather quickly. Now, we get to the part I guess everyone is actually reading the article for.

The fencing.

Now, fencing was also an experience within itself, but I found this a lot more enjoyable of an experience.

Especially after the morning I’d just had. The fencers who competed did a phenomenal job. We lost in Épée and Sabre, but won in Foil.

Our points in Épée came in a steady flow. And we had a strong start in Sabre - my personal favourite sword.

And an even stronger start in Foil, the points coming in steadier, stronger and faster.

We finished off with a set of friendlies. This was one I got to fence in, and I had a great time. I got two bouts and, unsurprisingly, didn’t win either of them. We kit down early and made sure to talk to the President of the Bangor team. It may be important for me to mention here that the Bangor team was lovely, a truly wonderful group of people.

So we packed up our stuff, ensuring we had everything before thanking the captain and heading to the bus in the hopes we could leave our equipment in the bus. Thankfully the driver was there and let us leave our stuff in the bus’ luggage department. We had roughly 2 hours and 50 minutes before we needed to be back on the buses and head back to Aberystwyth. A small group of us spent that time together getting food before we headed back.

I was grateful to be able to get this journey back with my fellow fencers. It was 18:30, my headphones returned gratefully to my head, my book opened on my lap again and we began our journey back to Aberystwyth.

We got back to Aberystwyth around 20:40, acquired our kit and went our separate ways.

20 minutes later, I’m on the phone to my parents recounting the entire, rather chaotic day to them, somehow still awake, standing and not even close to feeling sleepy. It would be a further hour and half before sleep took me. So Varsity was definitely an experience.

Our results ended up being as such;

Épée 45:31 Sabre 45:24 Foil 40:45

Shark Attack - A Varsity Battle Written by Melaina Pellin The women’s basketball team took the court quickly after Aber men's basketball, who had unfortunately lost to Bangor. The warmups ran by fast since it was a running clock for the game. The starting five for Aber were Fran E., Gabby S., Becka B., Emily S., and Evie G..

Bangor won the tip off and took advantage of the loud chaos to put the first points on the board.

The game was in their favor for more than half of the time but quickly Aber turned things around with their intricate plays and strong defense. From the steals to rebounds they gained points until they secured a threepoint lead for the remainder of the second quarter.

Just before half time more and more spectators filtered into the gym from the other sports events. The crowds made it impossible to hear anything but the drums and horns of the Bangor Student spirit. Each time Aber went to shoot free throws Bangor would cheer until you couldn’t hear a player inch from your face. It created a choking intensity for the game, an intensity that most of the players hadn’t seen before.

In the third quarter the two teams fought hard to take the lead away. Aber women’s team worked diligently since Varsity

was a few of the players’ last game with the University. They wanted to leave a win behind in their legacy. The four women (referred to as “Old Girls”) were Becka, Fran, Gabby, and Ellen, and Aber women’s second coach (stolen from Aber Men's team) Caleb.

Aber fought hard to win the game, but it just wasn’t in their favor.

The players were constantly switched on and off to ensure everyone had enough energy and play time to finish the game. The points were held at 18-17 to Bangor for several minutes, until the last two. Bangor had taken the win. The final score was 22-17.

Both teams had outstanding sportsmanship toward each other despite the aggressive game. The teams applauded each other's efforts and Aber congratulated Bangor for their first win of the season. Aber took their team photos to remember how hard they played and left the court with smiles.

The Smack Down (Aber Volleyball vs. Bangor Volleyball) Written by Melaina Pellin Aber and Bangor’s Women’s volleyball warm up looked strong. Each set and hit landed within the green court lines. It looked to be a pretty well-matched game. Each team did their cheers and took the court.

The first point was given to Aber since the other team missed their first serve.

Aber quickly took advantage causing a long rally. Aber fought to maintain the lead, but Bangor won a point with a lucky line shot from their outside hitter.

The first match went to Bangor, but Aber still had four more matches that they could fight for. With a moment to regroup, they recollected themselves and swapped sides. The players set back up on the court ready to begin the next portion.

The second match started in Bangor's favor since they carried the momentum from match to match. Aber Volleyball had to use a time out to attempt to throw the team off balance. Bangor came out strong with their serves despite Aber’s strategy to use a timeout to collect themselves.

Even in the small hall the spectators were so loud. They had horns, cranks, speakers, and a mini megaphone to show their school's spirit.

Aber won it back after a tough rally with their strong receivers and precision shots. Between the serves, hits, digs, and setter dumps; the points went back and forth for the second match.

Aber quickly caught up, finding their own momentum in their team and from the student spectators' encouragement. It was a battle of student spirit and in the

moment, Aber might have been small, but they were mighty! Despite the attempts, Bangor took the second match. The match scores were 2 – 0 to Bangor.

The teams switched sides once again (something they did after each match finished) and started the third match Aber started with the serve. It was a grueling rally which resulted in a dangerous dive toward the sub bench near the sideline. The rally gained pace as the ball went back and forth between green and red.

Each one gained points before the other could gather a strong lead and sweep the court. Sadly, Bangor took the third match resulting in an overall win washing both the fourth and fifth set. The matches ended in 3 – 0. The game went to Bangor. Aber congratulated the team.

They gathered their belongings and went to the next event with laughs and smiles.

GO HARD OR GO HOME Writtten by Maia Patemanova

The night before a competition means different things for different people.

Some sleep, others don’t. Some people triple-check their lists and bags, others perform their rituals – whether that’s a 16minute shower, preparing ham-andPhiladelphia croissants, or packing lucky charms such as octopus dolls.

Once the night is over, it’s time to get on the coach. At roughly 3am on the 8th of March 2025, three of Aberystwyth University’s dance clubs travelled to Nottingham for the Go Hard or Go Home championships. This group consisted of Aberystwyth Kpop Society, Panthers Street Dance, and Showdance. While Panthers and Kpop had competed before, it was Showdance’s first time going to an external competition instead of Varsity.

The Royal Concert Hall was intimidating; the foyer was crammed with suitcases and elaborate costumes, and various teams were doing barre exercises while we scrambled to get hair and makeup done. The morning was a blur of bronzer, hair nets, hats, rushed warmups, and costume alterations right before the first round, which was Ballet. The routine ‘Gwyllion’ was choreographed by myself and President Jess Garratt. It was a story of necromancy and betrayal, with me and Jess dressed as evil green fairies while the other dancers were in black, to act as corpses who had come back to life.

Next, we hurried through the maze of dressing rooms to get ready for the Lyrical dance ‘Maybe’, choreographed by Modern Coach Fae Chadderton. We twirled in sky-blue dresses and matching hair bows as the emotional song pushed us to perform our best double turns and fishtail rolls. This was proceeded by Tap Coach Erin Woozeer’s ‘Uptown Funk’, which demonstrated sharp technique mixed with fun hats and colourful shirts. The final Showdance routine was Fae’s

Jazz dance, where two teams – one crimson, one cobalt – battled fiercely across the stage.

After Showdance had finished, Aberystwyth Kpop and Panthers performed their energetic routines. Beautiful dances from other universities included an Alice-in-Wonderlandinspired contemporary routine (University of Plymouth Dance Club), swarms of glittery ballerinas, cultural dances such as Irish and Bollywood, and a memorial performance in memory of Eva Darold-Tchikaya (Essex Blades Dance Club).

When I asked my fellow coaches about the day, Erin says her favourite moment was winning First Place for Beginner Ballet. “Fae was like ‘where the hell’s Maia gone’ when we were doing the awards and I was like ‘Fae we’ve won ballet!’ and then we started jumping up and down!”

Our streak of success continued, as we placed Second in both Beginner Tap and Beginner Lyrical. Fae expressed her nerves for the jazz routine, as there were five other teams to compete with and a much lower chance of winning. “I didn’t even expect to place so I was very happy with myself and my team.” Despite this, we ended up in Third Place for Beginner Jazz.

As for me, a moment that stands out to me was after we returned to our team with our trophies, feeling extremely proud for earning an award for each dance. However, we’d forgotten about something: extra awards. We listened to more announcements for Costume, Team Spirit, People’s Choice, but it took a moment to process that our ballet dance had also earned us First Place in Beginner Choreography.

Screams of “THEY’RE ON THEIR WAY!” from Showdance’s members surrounded us as Jess and I sprinted down two floors, through crowds of people, and into the stage wings to claim our last trophy – I’ve never run so fast in my life.

TFor some dancers, such as Treasurer and third-year Elanor Malyan, it was a memorable final competition with Showdance. Elanor said that she loved the “very supportive environment, very big stage” and that seeing the different styles inspired her. For first-years such as Jacob Such and Gracie Day, the competition provided a new challenge and also solidified their bonds with the Showdance team. Jacob commented that “Everyone’s going to have a bit of motivation behind them and that bit of excitement because of what we’ve achieved”. Gracie said: “We were spending a lot more time together and also the day was something we could all celebrate together”.

The last few weeks before the competition were stressful, and Fae said that she felt “really nervous, really paranoid” because of the unfamiliar environment. There were many factors to consider, such as not knowing how slippery the stage would be, worries about not everyone being able to attend classes, and having less weeks to rehearse than we would with Varsity. In regards to going to Nottingham instead of Bangor, a lot of dancers felt it was

the right decision and beneficial for the club. Social Secretary Oskar Leigh said the competition was “a good opportunity”, and other members thought that there was a distinct difference in atmosphere. Erin said: “It was just lovely, the way everyone was supporting everyone, whereas I feel like in a comp like (Varsity) you support your team … everyone was cheering for everyone.”

Fae agreed: “It was more relaxed and we felt like more of a team, and I could watch and experience a full competition instead of being behind the curtain the whole time. It makes it more fun because you have more people to go up against.”

Erin went on to say: “It was a very long day but we all experienced that together. We all woke up at two o’clock in the morning and we all sat on a bus for five hours. We felt closer as a team.”

As first-timers at the competition, Showdance never expected to win five trophies for four dances. This is an exciting new chapter for the club, and our success will hopefully inspire not only next year’s group, but anyone who eventually becomes a part of Showdance.

Ranking last overall and not winning any categories comes the ‘traumatised’ Kinder Bunny with a score of :

KINDER BUNNY

4.06/10 “Lovely lady” On the 27th of March 2025, MOTY conducted a crucial experiment: to find the best Easter chocolate. Members ranked the chocolate on five categories: Appearance, Taste, Value for Money, How likely they were to buy it and, overall vibe.

“Oh I hate him” “Is zero an option?

“It looks traumatised” “It looks like it’s going to kill me”

Here are the results and the reviews...

EASTER CHOCOLATE REVIEW

By Mouth of the Ystwyth LINDT BUNNY

“I love kinder chocolate”

The reliable Cadbury’s Twirl egg surprised us all by being rated the second lowest, only one above the tremendously terrifying Kinder Bunny, with a score of:

5.46/10 “a lot of purple”

TWIRL EGG

The classic Lindt Bunny reigned supreme in all categories except one, value for money, where it came last with a score of 4.6/10. However, its delectable taste and exquisite appearance pushed it high on the leaderboards, with a score of: “adorable”

“really expensive”

“I want to buy one right now!”

7.18/10

“favorite appearance”

“smells so good” “can I have a little more?” “wrinkly egg” “It’s alright” “I used to steal these”

*enthusiastic eating sounds*

MALTESERS EGG

Maltesers was the favourite egg for value of money with a score of 7.4/10. Its overall score was: “It’s giving oatmeal”

5.64/10

“Tastes really good” “Tastes like cardboard”

“I like this one”

“Thats so pretty, I like the red and gold” Mini eggs, a household staple around the Easter holidays, failed to make much of an impact on our members. It scored: “I used to eat these until I got sick” “Tasted nutty and a bit stale”

5.54/10 MINI EGGS “Real good”

“Expensive for so few in a pack”

The beloved Christmas treat of a Terry’s chocolate orange, but in egg form! This was greatly enjoyed by our members, taking second place by storm! The score was: “I like this”

6.46/10

“I do like the packaging” TERRY’S EGG

SCOREBOARD: 1. Lindt Bunny 2. Terry’s Egg 3. Maltesers Egg 4. Mini Eggs 5. Kinder Bunny

“You can break off the little hexagon pieces”

MELLT

written by Blue Marsh

Hey readers! My name is Blue Marsh and I’m a live music photographer from Aberystwyth! Being a live music photographer is amazing, intense, wild and stressful in equal measure. Transform Wales was absolutely no exception. Between the flashy, catchy songs and the crowds enjoying every second I was thrilled to even be at the festival.

I’d managed to squeeze in a pass (huge thanks to Sophie for that!) and while I didn't do Friday on account of already being booked I arrived at the Arts Centre on Saturday, nervous and over an hour early — totally not feeling awkward and out of place at all.

One thing that stood out to me was the unapologetic Welsh culture: every band had Welsh ties or appreciation and they weren’t afraid to show it. Aberystwyth is known for its Welsh culture and the Arts Centre flaunts these ties with flair. Even outside of the festival there’s always something great going on. After getting into the event starting with the fabulous Mwsog, I ran into a few other photographers (literally —my apologies to the one I stepped on while trying to get a photo) I felt a bit out of place since they all had far better gear and more experience. Still, I kept working and after Mwsog I headed to the main hall to get some pictures of EYE and Red Telephone. The back-andforth rush between rooms became my routine.

Every set was exhilarating, and reminded me why people use knee pads: shuffling around on your knees for your best shot while staying out the way is no easy task. I definitely owe a big thank you to the café staff, they allowed me to pass over my charger so I could charge up my spare batteries while I covered the fantastic Afro Cluster and took a much needed break. Every set brought me new challenges and experiments. My personal favourite had to be YAANG; incidentally, my photos of them are also my favourite photos from that day.

During the day I realised I could do more than go behind the barrier — I could climb it! Which is how I ended up getting my favourite photos of Fat Dog (and bruising my knee for the millionth time on my way back down, but that’s less fun). The whole time I was flying blind. Volunteering meant I had no guide for how to shoot or even what to shoot. Still, I can't thank the staff enough, especially Sophie and the security, for being incredibly kind and patient with me.

All in all the festival was amazing and I got to meet so many awesome bands! I’ll definitely be there again next year, hopefully with shin pads and more spatial awareness.

Rebellion Radio: Pirate Radio’s role in shaping modern Wales Written by Nathan Flynn When most people think about the concept of subversive forms of media, it will likely be in the form of one or more renegade artists, either in the visual or auditory mediums.

Artists like Frida Kahlo, Tupac Shakur, Bob Dylan, Eminem, Jackson Pollock, and Banksy, amongst others, have in their time produced transgressive media that directly confronted and criticized both societal and cultural norms[1;2]. Despite the enduring popularity of these artists and their art, other forms of rebellious media have been forgotten in the broader public zeitgeist, with this in large part this being due to the increased popularity of other mediums that have since risen to occupy the position that they once had. One such form of subversive media that has in large part been superseded by others would be that of Pirate Radio, with things like Internet Radio, Video on Demand (VOD) services, and Social media having come to seize the audience that would otherwise engage with pirate[3]. Pirate Radio over its existence has also been subject to regulatory measures that have explicitly targeted it and made it more difficult to carry out clandestine broadcasts, or simply just criminalized it, with the widereaching 1967 Marine Broadcasting Offences Act being a prime example of this[4;5].

stationed at the top of a block of flats in London, or on an old trawler of questionable seaworthiness anchored off the coast, broadcasting music and commentary free of the suffocating constraints of approved mainstream stations.

With that being said, the image in the UK of pirate radio as being a form of media synonymous with civil disobedience has been predominantly applied to England, as stations like Radio Caroline and Solar Radio have come to characterize the discourse surrounding pirate radio. The same attention has never particularly been applied to other parts of the country, and it is because of this that many aspects of the history around pirate radio have been neglected, despite being vital to the current media landscape that we find ourselves in today. Pirate radio has been a staple of the Welsh media landscape in the same way it has been a staple of the English media landscape, with it following the same trends in both countries, as well as maintaining the same subversive and clandestine nature. One of the most major pirate radio stations in Wales would be that of the Radio Cockerel, a political radio station that played music, and provided commentary on current events from an overtly Welsh Nationalist perspective, with it later being joined the same year by the similarly oriented Radio Free Wales on the country’s airwaves[6;7].

Despite its loss of popularity, Pirate Radio still has forged itself an enduring legacy, with it being inseparably tied to an image of Cold War era civil disobedience, with DJs, be they

¹ Lahaye, Michaelle “Frida Kahlo, Teresa Margolles, and Death as Transgression” Yiara Magazine (2024) ² Blanche, Ulrich, Banksy: Urban Art in a Material World - Tectum Verlag Marburg (Baden-Baden, 2016), p. 192 ³ Mann, Larisa K. “Race, Class, and Sonic Autonomy in the Tower Blocks: Pirate Radio’s Exilic Possibilities” International Journal of Communication (2021), p. 1648 ⁴ Ibid, p. 1648 ⁵ Rudin, Richard “Why the British elites were determined to suppress ‘pirate’ radio” International Association for Media and History (2018) ⁶ Shipton, Martin “How a group of Welsh nationalists became pirate radio pioneers” Wales Online (2014) ⁷ N/A “Glyn James: Plaid Cymru leader in the Rhondda Valley and pioneer of Radio Free Wales” The Independent (2010)

These stations, while small, were the subject of a notable amount of attention from local print media, with one edition of the Evening News (London) running the headline “The Crowded Air” and stating within that the station was a vehicle for the “brave but hopeless aims of the Welsh Nationalist Party” with another article titled “Nationalist to help plan Welsh ITV“ conveying the ambitions of the nationalists by stating that “Welsh Natlonalists, who have made pirate radio broadcasts and have campaigned for a voice on television, now have an interest in a commercial TV company”[8;9]. The majority of those partaking in the illegal broadcasts were activists, most of the time being members of Plaid Cymru, which although not having officially stated that it endorsed the creation of pirate radio stations to spread their message, did have many members from within their ranks act independently and establish them anyway[10]. While it can be argued that the lack of support shown by the party towards these renegade broadcasters could be viewed as displaying a certain amount of gutlessness, this has to be understood in the context of the prevalent attitudes towards separatism coming from the UK’s constituent countries at the time, as throughout the late 1960s, there was a dramatic spike in both republican and armed separatist activity from within Britain. Most notably, this was the case in Northern Ireland, as British troops were deployed in Belfast and Derry in mid-August of 1969 in response to a request for military intervention from the

Northern Irish Cabinet after riots that the Royal Ulster Constabulary were not able to adequately deal with[11;12]. As a part of these operations undertaken by the British Army, dubbed Operation Banner, media institutions in Northern Ireland that aligned with sectarian (predominantly republican) messaging were the subject of crackdowns and censorship which limited not only what could be said, but the guests that certain shows could have, and even the attitude to which broadcasters could approach such guests[13].

Adjacent to this, nationalist sentiment in wales was also steadily increasing during the late 1960s, primarily in response to two major events, the first being the creation of the Llyn Celyn Reservoir, which involved intentionally flooding the village of Capel Celyn, one of the only remaining Welsh-only speaking communities, being done to provide Liverpool and the Wirral in the wider Merseyside area in England with water[14;15]. The second was the investiture tour of the, at the time, Prince of Wales, which saw multiple bombings being conducted by the Movement for the Defence of Wales (Mudiad Amddiffyn Cymru), which, while only resulting in the death of two of the groups members, did constitute a serious security threat being demonstrated by Welsh nationalist groups[16].

Taking this into consideration, it is not difficult to see why Plaid Cymru, under its leader at the time Gwynfor Evans, would have wanted to distance themselves from any illegal hardcore nationalist pirate radio stations that condoned any actions by militants. This was especially the case thanks to the fact that Evans himself had just been elected as the

⁸ Evening News (London), September 1964, Page 8 ⁹ Daily Express, June 1951, Page 9 ¹⁰ Shipton, How a group of Welsh nationalists became pirate radio pioneers, (2014) ¹¹ Gearson, John “Operation Banner Primer: An Account of the British Military’s Deployment to Northern Ireland, 1969-2007” KCL: Centre for Defence Studies (2022), p. 16 ¹² Ibid, p. 14 ¹³ Moloney, Ed “The Story of the Broadcasting Ban” CAIN Web Service (1991) ¹⁴ Atkins, Ed “Building a dam, constructing a nation: The 'drowning' of Capel Celyn” Journal of Historical Sociology (2018),p. 5 ¹⁵ Kate Woodward “'Reservoirs of the Subconscious of a People': The Local, National, and Global Resonances of a Lost Hinterland” in Planetary Hinterlands: Extraction, Abandonment and Care, Edited by Gupta, Pamila, et al., Palgrave Macmillan Publishers (London, 2023), p. 198 ¹⁶ Humphries, John, Freedom Fighters: Wales’s Forgotten ‘War’, 1963-1993 - University of Wales Press (Cardiff, 2008), p. 123124

party’s first MP in Westminster only 3 years earlier in 1966, and throwing their weight behind a fringe militant minority at a time when the party's membership had almost doubled was seen as more harmful than potentially advantageous[17].

Despite this, nationalist pirate broadcasts continued in Wales through the 70s, with calls for further representation of the welsh language in british broadcasting becoming so prominent that in the run up to the 1979 General election, both the Conservative and Labour parties pledged that that if elected to power, they would establish a fourth national TV channel which would only air programming that was in Welsh[18]. One of the main groups campaigning for a fourth channel were the Welsh Language Society (Cymdeithas ir Iaith), which upon having the promise renaged on by the Conservatives after their victory in the election, took to the streets in protest, taking down english only road signs, and interestingly, utilizing the equipment owned by sympathetic pirate stations to disrupt normal programming[19]. It would be this campaign of protests and disruption by the Language Society as well as other individuals and groups, including the previously mentioned Gwynfor Evans threatening a hunger strike, would eventually pressure the government into establishing Sianel Pedwar Cymru (S4C), and create the basis for Wales’ own distinct media landscape[20].

In the years since, Wales has gone on to become one of the primary centres of media creation within the UK, especially in regards to television, with Doctor Who, its spinoff Torchwood, Sex Education, & His Dark Materials all being produced in Wales[21]. Wales has also become the home of a number of film studios like those of Bad Wolf Studios, and Red & Black Films, with it being called the “Hollywood of the UK” in Parliament, this also being in conjunction with the Senedd offering subsidies to fund both major, as well as independent productions[22;23]. It is because of all of this that I believe Welsh pirate radio is due more than a little credit, as it was not only able to act as not only a creative outlet, but also a political one, being used as a form of protest both in terms of the discourse that it facilitated, as well as acting as a means to disrupt standard programming at a time when welsh representation in media was being neglected by those in power. It can also be seen at least partially responsible for prompting tangible action from the government by being used to disrupt broadcasting, and thus can be thanked in part for the establishment of S4C, as well as the vibrant media landscape that exists currently within Wales, as its contributions continue to resonate, and leave a lasting impact.

¹⁷ Evans, Rhys, Gwynfor: Portrait of a Patriot - Y Lofta Publishers (Tal-Y-Bont, 2008), p. 264 ; Ibid, p. 268 ; Ibid, p. 304 ¹⁸ Price, Elain, Broadcasting for Wales: The Early Years of S4C - University of Wales Press (Cardiff, 2022), p. 28 ¹⁹ Ibid, p. 32 ²⁰ Jones, R. Merfyn “Beyond Identity? The Reconstruction of the Welsh” Journal of British Studies (1992), p. 355 ²¹ Bevan, Nathan “Sex Education: Locations in Wales bring Netflix show to life” BBC News (2023) ; Jones, Alun “Why His Dark Materials and Doctor Who used Welsh Government HQ” BBC News (2020) ; Birt, Elizabeth “His Dark Materials praised for Welsh work, featuring Llyn y Fan Fach” South Wales Guardian (2023) ²² House of Commons, UK Film Industry, November 9, 2010, Hansard, accessed 25th March 2025 ²³ Creative Wales, Production Funding, accessed March 25, 2025

List of Cited Works not in Alphabetical Order: 1. Lahaye, Michaelle “Frida Kahlo, Teresa Margolles, and Death as Transgression” Yiara Magazine (2024) 2. Blanche, Ulrich, Banksy: Urban Art in a Material World - Tectum Verlag Marburg (BadenBaden, 2016), p. 192 3. Mann, Larisa K. “Race, Class, and Sonic Autonomy in the Tower Blocks: Pirate Radio’s Exilic Possibilities” International Journal of Communication (2021), p. 1648 4. Ibid, p. 1648 5. Rudin, Richard “Why the British elites were determined to suppress ‘pirate’ radio” International Association for Media and History (2018) 6. Shipton, Martin “How a group of Welsh nationalists became pirate radio pioneers” Wales Online (2014) 7. N/A “Glyn James: Plaid Cymru leader in the Rhondda Valley and pioneer of Radio Free Wales” The Independent (2010) 8. Evening News (London), September 1964, Page 8 9. Daily Express, June 1951, Page 9 10. Shipton, How a group of Welsh nationalists became pirate radio pioneers, (2014) 11. Gearson, John “Operation Banner Primer: An Account of the British Military’s Deployment to Northern Ireland, 1969-2007” KCL: Centre for Defence Studies (2022), p. 16 12. Ibid, p. 14 13. Moloney, Ed “The Story of the Broadcasting Ban” CAIN Web Service (1991) 14. Atkins, Ed “Building a dam, constructing a nation: The 'drowning' of Capel Celyn” Journal of Historical Sociology (2018), p. 5 15. Kate Woodward “'Reservoirs of the Subconscious of a People': The Local, National, and Global Resonances of a Lost Hinterland” in Planetary Hinterlands: Extraction, Abandonment and Care, Edited by Gupta, Pamila, et al., Palgrave Macmillan Publishers (London, 2023), p. 198 16. Humphries, John, Freedom Fighters: Wales’s Forgotten ‘War’, 1963-1993 - University of Wales Press (Cardiff, 2008), p. 123-124 17. Evans, Rhys, Gwynfor: Portrait of a Patriot - Y Lofta Publishers (Tal-Y-Bont, 2008), p. 264 ; Ibid, p. 268 ; Ibid, p. 304 18. Price, Elain, Broadcasting for Wales: The Early Years of S4C - University of Wales Press (Cardiff, 2022), p. 28 19. Ibid, p. 32 20. Jones, R. Merfyn “Beyond Identity? The Reconstruction of the Welsh” Journal of British Studies (1992), p. 355 21. Bevan, Nathan “Sex Education: Locations in Wales bring Netflix show to life” BBC News (2023) ; Jones, Alun “Why His Dark Materials and Doctor Who used Welsh Government HQ” BBC News (2020) ; Birt, Elizabeth “His Dark Materials praised for Welsh work, featuring Llyn y Fan Fach” South Wales Guardian (2023) 22. House of Commons, UK Film Industry, November 9, 2010, Hansard, accessed 25th March 2025 23. Creative Wales, Production Funding, accessed March 25, 2025 Three Sources amalgamated under citation 17 are 15, 16, & 17 and turned into: Evans, Rhys, Gwynfor: Portrait of a Patriot - Y Lofta Publishers (Tal-Y-Bont, 2008), p. 264 ; Ibid, p. 268 ; Ibid, p.

304

First, are you more serious or more fun?

Serious

Fun

Pick a colour!

Pick a colour!

Red

Blue

Green

Purple

Which music genre do you like best?

What’s the best place to study?

Classical

Pick another Italian food

Pop Rock

Library

Pizza

Cafe

Gelato Choose a pet Are you a morning bird or night owl?

Tea or Coffee?

Lizard

Cat Dog

Tea

Dark mode or light mode?

Coffee

Morning

Light

Country

Dark

Finally, pick a pasta sauce!

Pesto

Do you prefer the city or the country?

City

Pick a movie

Twilight

Night

Shrek Would you decribe yourself as weird?

Titanic

What’s your favourite weather?

Sunshine

No!

Snow

Bolognese

Definitely Rain

Spaghetti

Ravioli

Macaroni

Farfalle

A classic

Warm and kind

The funlover

Quirky!

Penne

Fusili

Rigatone

Calm and sensible

Reserved but sweet

Bold and edgy

find all the easter words!

N R C E S I H P T E S A L G

sp ri n

g

b unny

O I T N U H I N D N E B K D A E A K B F C L F Y N O K G D T U I L A L C A M B S L E

e a st e r chick

hunt

A U S A A S O A H R N P I E

R H U S T B T K I H D L N T

B E L E C G I O Y E C B A G E A N D A Y G T T B K E T B G H A S F P A A E B A G C S E E C H N F U P C I N I E G E A G A R G Y H C R S P E N G E N I S R R C F E C H H U N T P I A K O C L A N I B U N N Y C C H A L O C O H C P

c h o c o la t e

celebration

sunday basket

lamb

egg

d a f f od il

Thanks to our Contributors: Kate Stepanova Demi Cooney Tathan Williams Charlotte Bulling Melaina Pellin Maia Patemanova Blue Marsh Nathan Flynn Harriet Stoneman Sophie Meaton