^^ Very interesting. In our brief sojourn to Wales recently, we saw a great many posters in windows saying "No Farmers No Food No Future". In the National Trust properties in some places, we found a markedly antagonistic attitude from staff towards English tourists, which we witnessed several times. (We were all actually speaking German, so I only experienced this personally once). It seemed odd given that these venues depend on tourism. But what also struck me, spoking out to various places from Aberystwyth, was that although the countryside was spectacular, it was extremely hilly and rocky, and not much of it was suitable for arable or anything other than sheep.
Throughout much of Wales that we travelled, it was very quiet, with very few cafe's or restaurants and there didn't seem to be a great deal for young people to do. Bright young welsh people will not be kept there by rules forcing welsh language employment I suspect. If that really is the aim, then the welsh politicians don't understand what motivates young men and women.
Yep, your observations sum things up nicely, there are some spectacular private houses/estates dotted about built on fortunes made from slate and the industrial tycoons from the midlands of days gone by. Their survival depends solely on wealthy outsiders with the money to maintain them , they bring with them a surprising number of jobs and spending to the local community, ( one family friend is employed 1 day a week to visit one such place to do the checks required by the insurers for what is basically a family holiday home , it’s huge, they also meet and liase with trades, supply flowers when guests are due, meet the delivery drivers and stock the freezers etc, cost is to a degree no issue) but the owners are considering selling because of all the negative publicity associated with them owning such a home but not living in it full time. It has no real use for anything else it’s pretty much a monument to a bygone era.
The small hill farmers are slowly giving up and selling to the large landowners who can play the subsidy game to the extent the farming becomes a side gig.
Then in the coastal areas there is talk of abandoning the sea defences and allowing areas to flood again when they finally collapse, blighting whole areas as no one is going to invest when such notions are circulating. Though when many discover how poor the welsh nhs can be , they often think retirement elsewhere may be a better idea.
Took my parents 10 years to be accepted as “locals” away from the “antis” the local community is fantastic, no one seems to forget a good deed and just bides their time until they can do something in return when needed. Dealing with the local council / county council is best avoided on a face to face basis as it’ll usually start with condescending contempt from the officer you’re dealing with as they correct your pronounciation of the house’s welsh name that they’ve asked you to repeat 3 times.
But local politicians are either utterly inept or looking to climb the greasy pole, throw in wales being a devolved nation and sorting somethings out is nigh on pointless, especially when the tories were in power and the welsh authorities would be oppositional to any tory point of view purely on principle. So if you had an issue that was covered by both the Senedd and Westminster you have no chance of getting any sort of sensible answer. ( in our case council tax is a devolved power , but the Valuation Office Agency is still under westminster, so you’re trying to deal with 2 mps ( our welsh mp wouldn’t even reply to queries) and authorities who won’t talk to each other, leaving you for the most part in no mans land).
They’ll no doubt be ok under the current westminster gov. but longterm its hard to see how wales can become self sufficient.
