Two Tribes

This is a post that was going to be written at some stage! An observation and analysis of the two main tribes that make up present day Wales. Who better to write this post than a member of both tribes. Someone from the Geographical South is referred to as a 'Hwntw' and someone from the Geographical North is called a Gogleddwr or 'Gog' for short. I was born a Hwntw in Bridgend, South Wales and I was raised and reared a Gog in Wrexham and then the Vale of Clwyd. I was a North Eastern Gog as opposed to a 'Bog Gog' ie one from the North Wales Veld incorporating Caernarfon, Pen Lleyn and Sir Fon/Anglesey. I am also the product of a mixed marriage, Father a Gog and Mother a Hwntw. 
Some of my fellow shark fisherpeople might suppose that my sympathies lie in the North with my vehement and acidic attacks against Caerdydd/Cardiff. This is not a scientific study obviously but I do sense a mistrust and misunderstanding and that lies mostly with the 'Hwntw'. The 'Hwntw' or the 'Sioni Bob Ochr' is a very different beast to the Gog and there is much diversity within the ranks of the Hwntw. The West Walian Hwntw is different from the South East Walian Hwntw. It is presumed anecdotally that North Wales begins just north of Tal-y-Bont, a village outside Aberystwyth. Once you have reached Machynlleth, you are in North Wales. People from Machynlleth which was once the Capital of Wales might refer to themselves as Mid Walians. For the purposes of this non scientific post they are 'Gogs'.  Having lived in both North and South I can't say that I have a preference. I have been miserable in both places but that perhaps has more to do with my Bipolar Disorder than it does with the geography and logistics. Bipolar is a useful metaphor in my shark fishing circles because it is a world of extremes. Wales is a land of extremes. You live in the North or the South, you speak Welsh or you don't. Offa's Dyke keeps two tribes in at the Western part of the Dis-united Kingdom. 
If North Wales had a border horizontally instead of vertically, then a line from Machynlleth might take in Shrewsbury, Telford, Cannock, across to Leicester and then Kings Lynn and ending up in the fishing village of Cromer. Who knows the 'Gog' might have more in common with the peoples of this area because Cardiff is a very long way away from Sir Fon and the language of North and South Wales might be the same on Radio Cymru but the accents are different and the mentality is different. I find regional accents fascinating and the UK has such a diverse number. In North East Wales, our accent would be tinged with the Scouse of Merseyside, 'All right der laa?' We looked to Liverpool as our Capital City. Shopping in Liverpool and Chester was a big day out. How can the people of North Wales be served adequately by an assembly in Cardiff Bay? They can't is the simple answer because the geography of Wales does not allow for a unity and a togetherness.
I do not support a motorway or faster road network to North Wales because it is the geography of this glorious, hideous country that has maintained the ancient tongue. I maintain that if Wales was as flat as the Netherlands, then there would be no Welsh Language left. The fact that it has survived as well and as long as it has is a miracle and it has survived for a reason, which must be spiritual. (Told you this isn't scientific didn't I!)
So Gog and Hwntw! Which would you choose? We are so bloody parochial. Instead of 'pleidiol wyf i'm gwlad' in the National Anthem, it should scan 'plwyfol wyf i'm gwlad'.
Who are these sharks you're on about then butt? The sharks are the ones in charge of the hierarchical institutions, the ones who put profits before people. A quiet sea change is happening across the globe! People have had enough of competing, capitalism and making money at the expense of others. The 70,000 in the Millennium Stadium last Saturday would have been better off getting to know eachother, shaking hands, singing a lot more hymns, instead of blinkers on and watching the pig's bladder being thrown about. 


'dyrchafaf fy llygaid i'r mynyddoedd: turn my eyes and attention to the mountains. It is on the Mountains of Wales that the answer lies, not in the Valleys.


How can we unify Gog and Hwntw?


Your answers on a postcard from either Llandudno or Porthcawl if you please.