MAL POPE

We go into tonight’s game against Wrexham with the whole world watching. This is a worldwide sporting event. I’ve had 2 very special rides to the top with Swansea City. It couldn’t happen 3 times in my lifetime…could it?

It won’t be long until we notice the nights drawing in and the shops will be full of tinsel and sleigh bells. Human beings have an extraordinary ability to forget some of the bad bits of the past and only remember the good times. Before long the struggles we faced with extreme heat will start to disappear and what will be left is the warm glowing memory of the summer of 26.

Going to see Welsh National Theatre ‘s production of Our Town starring Michael Sheen left me speechless. It also inspired a new song and a new video ‘OUR TOWN’.

This is our chance for a moment to remember. I expect there will be tears and laughter with everyone being encouraged to come along and sing their hearts out. I hope we do Bonnie proud, that it’s a day for us all to remember being a part of something very special.

On Wednesday people from all over the world gathered around the grave to say our final goodbyes to a lovely man. The grave yard at Machpelah Chapel in Pontrhydyfen is on a steep hillside and having made sure everyone managed to climb the hill I turned around to look across the little valley. It was a moment of mixed emotions.

Still With me is this week’s Heritage Chart No.1. I will raise a glass of champagne knowing that next week someone else will probably have that coveted top spot. It could be Bruce Springsteen or maybe Owen Paul. BUT there is an audience out there and I think I might just have found it.

There is barely a day goes by when I don’t just stand there and stare. Sometimes I actually say to myself something like ‘Isn’t that awesome’ or look to the skies and say, ‘Now you’re just showing off’. I have been known to stand there and give the view a round of applause. You would think after all this time I would have seen it all, that I should have become bored and moved on but no…when it comes to Swansea Bay I’m still a fan.

I’ve waited 53 years to have this chat with Caleb Quaye. From the early days of Elton John to hearing a voice louder than Rock this is a story that needs to be heard.

As I’ve tried to come to terms with the news this week so many memories have come to mind. All of them with her smiling face, big voice, her generosity and kindness. She touched so many people and left an indelible mark on all those she met. That’s why we have all shed tears this week and that’s why we loved her so much.

I had gone to visit my future Mamgu In Law for afternoon tea and ‘bara brith’. ‘Mamgu’, I said, ‘why have you got a painting of a log cabin’. In her lovely West Walian accent she said, ‘That’s the cabin I used to live in’. I was intrigued and asked her where this log cabin was. It was then her voice changed into the broadest America accent I had heard this side of Carmarthen…’Scranton’.