I much enjoyed this stimulating and sometimes enigmatic collection of paintings and poems, only the pints are missing. Both the poems and the accompanying paintings,( or is it the other way round?) are eclectic in their subject matter and style. Certain of the contents had a particular resonance for me as the grandson of two Rhondda Fach miners.I can visualise my Dadcu Pontypridd sitting on the bench in the eponymous painting having "a whiff" as he explained his need to take a rest. I'm heartened to see that starlings still swoop over and around the prom in Aber, those I remember but can never recall seeing elephants although the grey sea is undoubtedly enhanced by their presence. Great book.

Thanks very much Ralph for your comments.
Enigmatic, you say; now there's a word. I remember when my sister was friendly with a rugby player and after one match the Western Mail sports reporter referred to the 'enigmatic Gordon Wells'. 'What's "enigmatic" Gwilym?' my mother asked, a bit peeved. My father replied: 'Oh, you know, sometimes he's there, sometimes he's not. Sometimes he's unplayable, sometimes he doesn't play'.
But I think I get what you mean, Ralph. As for your da'cus having a 'whiff'. In my village there were three benches on the mountain road, one at each hairpin, and how high a miner walked depended on how dust-free his lungs were, the bench nearest the village being dubbed the '100 per cent bench'. Happy days!?
You haven't seen elephants in Aber, Ralph? Don't you know the vintage postcard titled 'Mixed Bathing at Aberystwyth' showing a herd of them in the water near Consti? I suspect a few must have fallen off the end of the pier for there's a lot of elephant hide on the rocks below! You must pay another visit.

Ball on a River by Robert Havard

Rob's paintings and poems are a delight. I love the way he portrays a place, an incident, an era with both a paintbrush and a pen. So full of colour and life. I can relate closely to many of the paintings and poems in his collection "Ball on a River". For like Rob I grew up in a "steep-sided corner of South Wales" and left Wales only to return and live in West Wales on Cardigan Bay like Rob and his family. ( We had both studied languages at Cardiff University in the Sixties, Rob studied Spanish and I studied German.)

My favourite paintings and poems are 'Smoke' and 'Detention - the Bus', as they are so reminiscent of my own experiences growing up in the South Wales of the Fifties. And from the Aberystwyth poems I like 'Lustre' and 'Wall' as he captures the movement of the sea wonderfully.

I was very moved recently when Rob showed me the painting of his mother's hands and how she spoke to him in Welsh in the last days of her life, which he describes in his poem 'Going back'.

Dal ati Rob

Jen

Many thanks, Jen, for your comments. Much appreciated.