\n\t \n<\/p>\n
\n\tIt was a great pleasure to welcome David James to talk to us about his travels around the British Empire. It wasn’t actually a travelogue but more like a resume of his teaching career which took him to various parts of the world starting in the late sixties. His talk was interspersed with snippets of the history of the British empire and its influence on the colonies.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n \n\tDavid was a history teacher and his wanderlust first began with three years of teaching in Somerset. Any anecdotes were told with a Somerset accent of which he was quite accomplished. From there he went to America where he taught in a small private school in Philadelphia. They were a warm hospitable people in what turned out to be a wealthy area alongside a ghetto where the crime rate was extremely high and murders occurred frequently. He was fortunate enough to travel extensively in America for holidays making lots of friends along the way.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n \n\tOne such holiday took him to Jamaica where he was offered. and accepted a teaching post. He stayed on the beautiful island for two years even though there was extreme poverty and most people lived in tin shacks. The food was mostly uninspiring, mainly rice and peas. but fortunately there was an abundance of lobster.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n \n\tHe returned to Wales after this and while job hunting succeeded in getting a post in Hong Kong. He assured his wife that it would only be for a short while but they ended up staying for twenty eight years! He found Hong Kong very interesting and again encountered extremes of wealth and poverty. Some parts were quite beautiful but it was very crowded and became flooded with Chinese criminals.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n \n\tThe education here was greatly influenced by the British. The standard in schools was very high and students were ruthlessly competitive. In 1992, forty children committed suicide because of pressure to succeed in school. The rich were super rich and the poor strived to get rich.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n \n\tWhilst in Hong Kong he travelled to Fiji which was beautiful, Kashmir where he stayed on a houseboat and Calcutta which had the oldest golf club in the world. They were fortunate enough to go to Japan for a wedding and a holiday in Kenya.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n \n\tThroughout his travels he observed the influence of the British which included better roads and railways which greatly improved the infrastructure. The spread of the English language allowed people to communicate in a common language. The trade system allowed people to come to Britain bringing their culture to us which has made Britain more diverse. Britain also took the idea of democracy to its colonies which helped them build their own as well as law and order, a system which has been maintained to this day.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n \n\tDavid returned to Wales on retirement twelve years ago with amazing memories of his travels and we were delighted that he came to Tuesday group to share his experiences with us.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n \n\t \n<\/p>\n \n\t \n<\/p>\n \n\t <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It was a great pleasure to welcome David James to talk to us about his travels around the British Empire. It wasn’t actually a travelogue but more like a resume of his teaching career which took him to various parts of the world starting in the late sixties. His talk was interspersed with snippets of the history of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[43],"tags":[332],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6cWjO-1kO","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5546,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=5546","url_meta":{"origin":5134,"position":0},"title":"What Else Happened On St David’s Day?","author":"Alan Williams","date":"3rd March 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"WHAT ELSE HAPPENED ON ST DAVID'S DAY? March1st is arguably the most widely known and important day in Welsh history and culture. Across the country we mark the death of St David, patron saint of Wales, who died on 1st March in 589 AD. Most celebrations take traditional forms, such\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General Interest Articles"","block_context":{"text":"General Interest Articles","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=334"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/goons.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":14324,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=14324","url_meta":{"origin":5134,"position":1},"title":"Book Review by Tony Hodge","author":"Alan Williams","date":"3rd June 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Harmony Express by Thomas Bird The book being reviewed was penned by a local author and so should resonate with Wenvoe residents. Although he was born and raised in Penarth, his parents Bernice and Bob Bird moved to the village some years ago and when he returns from his base\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Readers Articles of Interest"","block_context":{"text":"Readers Articles of Interest","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=228"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9399,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=9399","url_meta":{"origin":5134,"position":2},"title":"Official Census Facts","author":"Alan Williams","date":"28th March 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"I\u2019M AN ARTIFICAL EYE MAKER AND FOLLOWER OF THE JEDI RELIGION \u00a0 Following our efforts in March, many will have been cheered by the news that the Government is exploring ways to gather information other than by census. Throughout history censuses have been unpopular, often because, as in the case\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General Interest Articles"","block_context":{"text":"General Interest Articles","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=334"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/census01.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5821,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=5821","url_meta":{"origin":5134,"position":3},"title":"Travels in Africa and Blood Bikes","author":"Alan Williams","date":"6th May 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Our two meetings in March were in complete contrast but equally enjoyable. Natalie from \u2018Hearts and Flowers\u2019 located in Heathwood Road demonstrated her skills by producing two lovely arrangements with a touch of Spring. Using a trough shaped container she placed two small pots of daffodil bulbs into the front\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Tuesday Group"","block_context":{"text":"Tuesday Group","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=43"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3845,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=3845","url_meta":{"origin":5134,"position":4},"title":"DEVELOPMENT OF CARDIFF AIRPORT","author":"Alan Williams","date":"31st October 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 The history of the airport extends back to the1942 when the Air Ministry requisitioned land for training Spitfire pilots. After WW2 the airfield was abandoned. The man who decided Rhoose could be the site of a new airport was David Rees-Williams (later Lord Ogmore). In1945 Rees-Williams became an MP;\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Miscellaneous"","block_context":{"text":"Miscellaneous","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=127"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":14360,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=14360","url_meta":{"origin":5134,"position":5},"title":"The Villages Of St Lythans And Dyffryn","author":"Alan Williams","date":"7th June 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"THE VILLAGES OF ST LYTHANS AND DYFFRYN The villages of St Lythans and Dyffryn in the parish of St Bleiddian (Lythan) nestle into the hills and valley following the sources and meandering course of the river Weycock. The area has been inhabited for thousands of years and here in Dyffryn\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General Interest Articles"","block_context":{"text":"General Interest Articles","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=334"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5134"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5134"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5134\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5135,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5134\/revisions\/5135"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5134"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5134"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5134"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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