I always wondered why Scotland was dead keen on independence and yet Wales much less so. Maybe it was because the Scots had North Sea oil, although by a strange angle of the border as it met the sea, England seemed to grab most of it. But all this time Wales had something much more valuable, more popular and certainly far tastier. Welsh Cakes. And at Bridgwater fair this week -as every year – people were queueing round the block for them. If only the Welsh had realised the economy goldmine they had on their griddles!

When I grew up in Wales it was drilled into us. Each morning at assembly our teacher Mr Brynfor Rhys Ab Williams-Jones, a Scot, would call out “ O ble mae pice ar y maen?“ and we’d reply “We have no idea what you’re saying”. He’d say  “I are saying where is Welsh Cakes from!”  and we’d shout back “Welsh Cakes, or bakestones or pics, are a traditional sweet bread in Wales which have been popular since the late 19th century with the addition of fat, sugar and dried fruit to a longer standing recipe for flat-bread baked on a griddle.” Although we didn’t have Wikipedia then.

Bridgwater Fair has just finished and as usual the Welsh Cakes stall was the talk of the town. But send yourself up in a drone for a minute and look down on the town and you’ll see what is almost the biggest fair of it’s kind in the whole country. People come from miles to see it. Come from miles to see Bridgwater.

Illunimated

A month later people will come from all over to see Bridgwater carnival. Another ‘biggest of its kind in the country’. And in between, throughout October, Bridgwater will have another major event. Luke Jerram’s ‘Fallen Moon’ will be in Bridgwater Docks from 14  October until the day after carnival. This is a giant replica of the Moon, illuminated on water. On our water, in our docks. Admittedly 350,000 times smaller than the actual Moon but even the Town Deal couldn’t fund that option. Another first for Bridgwater.

Apart from the delicious Welsh Cakes another thing that has been on everybody’s lips this week has been a Daily Telegraph article running Bridgwater down. Negativity of course breeds more negativity. Look at all the positive things about Bridgwater that other towns wish they had and did. Talk us up, because there’s no shortage of people ready to talk us down!