This isn’t part of my job. My views are my own and I comment in my own time. Quote away.

National Trust and RSPB are the biggest (and work in Scotland and Northern Ireland too). But they do employ Welsh staff and my opinion is that they have a lot of support in the local areas they work in.

That’s not to say there shouldn’t be larger Welsh organisations and I never said there shouldn’t be. I stumbled across your blog and just wanted to point out that there are loads of Welsh people working in this sector.

And now I’ll bow out gracefully.

I’m not denying that there may be small, Welsh groups operating but these, as you concede, are dominated by “The big UK organisations do have a lot of clout because they have more money.” Seeing as Scotland and Northern Ireland invariably have their own bodies we are here talking of Englandandwales outfits.

On a point of accuracy, CADW is not the “Welsh version” of the National Trust. It is the local variant of English Heritage, and because it is staffed by English people and so reluctant to get involved in Welsh history – preferring English and Anglo-Norman sites – it is often referred to as ‘English Heritage (Wales)’.

As for the real National Trust, it is unmistakably English. So I return to my earlier question, the one that you have consistently ignored: Why, after 15 years of devolution, do we not have separate and independent Welsh bodies doing the work of the National Trust, the Open Spaces Society, etc., etc? The prevailing system in Wales encourages me to talk of Fleece Jacket Fascists, and I shall doubtless return to the subject in the very near future. Can I quote you?

P.S. Are you doing this in work? Is it part of your job?

http://www.afonyddcymru.org/
http://www.friendsofcardiganbay.org/
http://www.snowdonia-society.org.uk/
http://cambrian-mountains.co.uk/
http://llaisygoedwig.org.uk/
http://www.wyeuskfoundation.org/

And some green local community development companies such as http://www.thegreenvalleys.org/

I’m sure not all of their staff are Welsh, but many are.

CADW is also the Welsh version of National Trust and seems to have just as many historical sites (though perhaps not as many car parks) as them. OK CADW is not a charity, but it performs the same sort of function.

Wildlife Trust Wales and the 6 Welsh Wildlife Trusts operate in Wales, hire Welsh people (as well as other nationalities) and have lots of local volunteers and members. They are affiliated to the UK-wide Wildlife Trust movement, but their activities in Wales are not dictacted by a UK Head Office, they are decided in Wales.

Open Spaces Society is based in England, but it works in Wales through the medium of local volunteers who campaign to keep footpaths, common land and town and village greens open for all to enjoy. I doubt they do this just for the English.

Do you have anything other than anecdotal evidence that only English middle class people enjoy having access to the countryside?

I work for a Welsh network of environmental NGOs that do work nationally and locally in Wales. My boss and Chairman are Welsh. Our members include both Welsh and UK organisations. The big UK organisations do have a lot of clout because they have more money. But the Welsh branches of them have usually been started by Welsh people who are dedicated to the Welsh countryside and general environment of Wales – such as the late Morgan Parry, who started up WWF Cymru.

So, there are Welsh organisations working for the benefit of the countryside, and there are Welsh people working for UK-wide environment organisations on Welsh projects and reserves. And you never know, there might actually be Welsh people who enjoy walking and water sports too 😉

I’m neither an angler, nor a kayaker, so not going to get involved in the argument of who’s right or wrong here, but I have heard of areas where there have been workable agreements between the two groups, and you get exactly the same arguments over rivers in England as well.

In case you missed it, here’s a link to the blockbusting sequel, Fleece Jacket Fascists 2. http://jacothenorth.net/blog/fleece-jacket-fascists-2/

I don’t know what you’re trying to say but I suppose playing the outraged innocent helps you avoid addressing my main point about the lack of indigenous Welsh organisations in the ‘fleece jacket’ sector. Though why you should try to link this with the dumping of undesirables in Wales is a mystery. I don’t believe I’ve ever made this linkage. That said, the dumping does happen, systematically and all over Wales. The cases I cite come not from my fevered imagination but from the media and the reporting of court proceeedings.

Wow where do I start? Do I carry on trying to show how many people who work in the environment sector are Welsh? Probably not because I’ve admitted to being English and, therefore, a liar. Do I try to show how these organisations aren’t just managing Wales for the benefit of outsiders by citing the many Welsh people who are members of their local wildlife trust or similar charities because they love the Welsh countryside. No, because they’re probably all secretly English, or at least not Welsh. In the end, it’s better to give up and leave you to get on with gathering “evidence” that all the murderers in Wales are being dumped here from England. I’m sure you’ll find plenty.

This is not a language issue.

Even if I accept what you say at face value it does nothing to change the fact that too much of my homeland is owned by alien organisations and maintained, largely, for the benefit of outsiders. I understand that Iolo Williams is now supporting some Scottish body (Muir something?) to buy up a bit of Wales. Why the hell can’t we have Welsh organisations, employing Welsh people, doing the work of the National Trust and all the other bodies?

If the second problem is due to simple racism, then it must be confronted. If it’s attributable to a lack of skills in the local population then, a) Why can’t these organisations train local people? b) Why isn’t the ‘Welsh’ Government providing the training courses?

However I’ve some good news, I do know they hire locals during the busy summer period, on a temporary basis of course. Any local thinking of a career in the National Park/Trust can forget it though, local grunts will only be hired to carry out menial tasks and will without doubt be sacked by September.