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In recent weeks, the Western Mail has been publishing a little supplement on Saturdays containing pictures from days gone by. Yesterday's paper contained a picture of the demonstration outside the Arms Park when Wales played the Springboks in 1970.
It brought a few memories back - to quote Max Boyce "I was there". I can't remember exactly where in the crowd, mind, and the faces are all too small for me to be able to identify myself, but somewhere in the picture there is probably a tiny image of me. It was before I joined Plaid - indeed, I was still in school at the time. I had actually been offered a ticket to see the game, but declined since I'd already decided to join the protest.
The Springboks tour that year was greeted with protests wherever they played, and the campaign was led by a leading and radical light in the Young Liberals, a chap called Hain. I've often wondered quite what became of him. Like so many of the radicals of that generation, he probably fell into bad company and got led astray.
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3 comments:
I saw the picture and had the same surge of memories. The strongest memory of that day was the dignified silence by the dozens of miners as barracking supporters leant out of windows in the Angel hotel to shout abuse and wave their tickets. Their response was a spontaneous rendition of "We shall overcome" which quickly spread among the ranks of protestors and encapsulated for me the reason why we were there. I too was still at school but the events of that day helped form my views on social justice, tolerance and democracy that have served me ever since.
Hain really has gone astray and his memory seems to have gone as well.
I can confirm that your final comment is correct. However, he is soon to learn the error of his ways.
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