Powys opera sparks call for more Welsh history in schools

A new opera coming to Brecon has prompted calls for schools to give greater prominence to key moments in Welsh history.

Patrick Young, founder and artistic director of OPRA Cymru, said he was surprised how few pupils knew about the 1936 arson attack on an RAF training base at Penyberth, near Pwllheli, when three prominent Welsh nationalists set fire to buildings there.

After discovering the lack of awareness during workshops at secondary schools across North Wales, he has written to Welsh Government Education and Welsh Language Cabinet Secretary Anna Brychan, urging ministers to strengthen the teaching of Welsh history in the Curriculum for Wales.

The appeal comes as OPRA Cymru prepares to bring Fflamau Penyberth (The Flames of Penyberth), a new opera about the actions of Saunders Lewis, DJ Williams and Lewis Valentine, to Theatr Brycheiniog in Brecon on November 28.

The organisation has launched a £15,000 crowdfunding appeal towards the production, which is expected to cost around £170,000.

Mr Young said: "For less than the price of a morning coffee people can help this unique celebration of the three giants whose actions 90 years ago this year helped deliver the first Plaid Cymru government to Wales."

In his letter to the Welsh Government, he said pupils were generally familiar with the story of Tryweryn but far fewer knew about the Penyberth protest and the three men involved.

He said: "It is unfortunate that so few of the current generation of school pupils have any awareness of the Penyberth story and its influence on the subsequent history of Welsh protest movements, involving people such as Eileen Beasley and Gwynfor Evans."

Mr Young, a former opera director at the Royal Opera House in London's Covent Garden, said the Welsh Government had an opportunity to give future generations a fuller understanding of their nation's history.

He called for greater clarity about the historical knowledge pupils should acquire, alongside teaching resources, professional support and qualifications that recognise the importance of Welsh history.

Historian Arwel Vittle, who checked the opera's libretto, also backed calls for greater emphasis on Welsh history in schools.

He said the Penyberth action was an important moment which helped lay the foundations for later protest movements, including those led by Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg.

"The history curriculum should focus more on incidents which represent turning points in Welsh history," he said.

The Penyberth protest took place in 1936 after plans were announced to build an RAF training base on the site of a historic farmhouse near Pwllheli.

The proposals prompted widespread opposition in Wales. Saunders Lewis, DJ Williams and Lewis Valentine were subsequently convicted of setting fire to buildings at the site and imprisoned.

Anglesey-based composer Gareth Glyn has written the music for the new opera, with a libretto by Mr Young in collaboration with Mr Vittle.

Fflamau Penyberth will be performed at venues across Wales, including Theatr Brycheiniog in Brecon on November 28.

More information about the opera and tour is available at opra.cymru.

Donations towards the production can be made at zeffy.com/en-GB/donation-form/fflamau-penyberth-yr-opra.