Vive La Republique

Yesterday we took a lovely walk along the riverside and for once I made the right choice. I was carrying my bag, which in addition to my usual junk had both my tablet and my camera in it, as well as GrandSon4's lunchbox and drink. With that as an excuse I opted to meander slowly with George while Husband took care of GrandSon4 on his balance bike. Good choice, Granny!

The river we walked near is the Tawe and this morning, out of curiosity, Husband looked up a bit of its history. What he told me left me feeling the Queen of Hearts: 'Off with their heads!' 'Bring on the revolution!'

Apparently in 17th century Charles II gave ownership of the river bed to the Duke of Beaufort. Ignoring the question of how it can be okay for an English king to give bits of Welsh land to an Englishman you might ask, 'So what? That was then. What's it got to with us in the twenty-first century?' I'll tell you.

In 2008 with the development of a new shopping centre near the brand-new football/rugby stadium on the edge of the city the council wanted to build a footpath for pedestrian access. Before they could go ahead they had to get permission from the current duke. Not only that but they had to pay him over £280,000 for the right to build.

I don't know how I missed this at the time - although it didn't come to public attention until a year later when a councillor using the Freedom of Information Act managed to find out - but I am scandalised!

There is so much wrong with this! It's not just because the Duke of Beaufort is one of the richest land-owners in the country - England - but more importantly to do with the principle of a riverbed being owned by an individual because of long gone history. 

Hir yn byw'r weriniaeth!
Long live the republic!