Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Wales'

This study examines domestic service as an 'industry' in south Wales between 1871 and 1921. The term 'domestic' has been interpreted as a description of duties performed rather than the place in which the tasks were carried out. As a result a broad depiction of the sector has emerged encompassing staff based in private households, businesses and public institutions. This approach has highlighted the importance of the sector in south Wales. It has also revealed significant changes in the nature of domestic service and the character of its workforce during the late-Victorian and Edwardian period. The absence of central regulation, the development of impersonal recruitment methods and the prevalence of traditional gender ideology have all been shown to have had a notable influence on contemporary perceptions of the sector and its function in Welsh society. The research methodology draws on both qualitative and quantitative sources to reveal domestic service as a multifaceted and dynamic economic sector.

Anglo-Jewish scholarship has on the whole overlooked the particularity of the Welsh national context, and Jewish experience in Wales has been largely subsumed under or extrapolated from Anglo-Jewish experience. This thesis seeks partially to rectify such an oversight through an examination of Welsh Jewish writing in both languages that situates the literature in the Welsh context by which it is informed. This literature reveals a cultural interaction that challenges constructions of Anglo-Jewish literary history and enlarges an understanding of minority contributions to Welsh culture and literature. This thesis also assesses Welsh semitic discourse, including Welsh literary responses to the Jews (both notional and historical), the tradition of Welsh identification with the Jews, and the tradition of Welsh political identification with Zionism and the Hebrew language. Claims that have been made about Welsh anti-Semitism and Welsh philosemitism are also analysed, with particular reference to the Tredegar riots. The response by Jews to Welsh semitic discourse and to Welsh culture more generally is analysed through Jewish writing in both English and Welsh, including that of Kate Bosse-Griffiths, Judith Maro, Lily Tobias, Josef Herman, Stevie Krayer, Bernice Rubens, Dannie Abse, Leo Abse and Sonia Birch-Jones. Welsh Jewish writing, in particular the Welsh language work of Kate Bosse-Griffiths and Judith Maro, and the Zionist and nationalist fiction of Lily Tobias, poses a challenge to the Anglo-Jewish literary tradition as it has been constructed. The work of Lily Tobias in particular is examined in terms of its contribution to and situation within the literary traditions of Welsh writing, Welsh writing in English and Anglo-Jewish or British Jewish literature.

This thesis evaluates man's physical imprint on the natural landscape of North Wales in the prehistoric period and considers what imprint remains from his activities. Man's imprint can be classed under four main headings, namely, that arising from domestic, ritual, economic and defensive activities. Such diverse activities afford opportunities to consider multiple features together, thereby illuminating coordinated action between regions and emerging tribal groups. The investigations have emphasised the importance of open coastal and estuarine landfalls, from the Neolithic period onwards, and routes leading inland from them, especially along river valleys. Settlements tended to form clusters along them, the research suggesting that the earliest small upland sites were probably of the Beaker period. Late Neolithic and Bronze Age ritual is well attested, but the research also reveals the ritual importance of watersheds and running water in these periods. Constructional skills developed rapidly, even to developing an architectural awareness. A consideration of structures from the Bronze and Iron Ages suggested guidelines for distinguishing between unexcavated, and therefore not otherwise dated, structures from these periods. Some buildings, together with some other factors, strongly suggest the practice of transhumance in North Wales from as early as the Neolithic; while the layout of some settlements, believed to be Iron Age, suggest the development of partible inheritance among families, with the consequent multiple sub-division of land.Research into the siting of hill-forts has revealed observational and defensive networks, both coastal and inland, including along some identifiable tribal boundaries. Some hill-forts are now seen to have been collecting points and storage depots for goods, temporarily held for onward transmission, or for longer periods for redistribution, perhaps for other tribes as well as for local groups. These investigations suggest that the North Wales landscape, excluding the effects of modem industry and mechanized farming, with their attendant land enclosures, had changed little since prehistoric times and the pattern of the ancient landscape can still be discerned.

This thesis addresses the campaign of militant activism which Wales witnessed between 1963 and 1969. It demonstrates that the unprecedented period of violence was fuelled by both the contentious flooding of Cwm Tryweryn and crucially, the failure of Plaid Cymru to prevent the valley's drowning through constitutional means. By not taking passive and timely protest action, Plaid Cymru ensured that militancy, as predominately undertaken by Mudiad Amddiffyn Cymru, became a feature of the Welsh geo-political landscape. Moreover, had the party taken a more sharpened approach during the earlier stages of the proposal, it is likely that the emergence of the so-called Free Wales Army, which campaigned along the lines of using 'propaganda against the Establishment', may well have been avoided. However, this is a view which is challenged by, among others, former members of the displaced community, who maintain that Plaid Cymru - and most notably its president - did all they could to prevent the Tryweryn Reservoir Bill becoming law. Nonetheless, the escalation in militant strategy came in response to the impending Royal Investiture of Charles Windsor as Prince of Wales. In retaliation, the authorities established the so-called Shrewsbury Unit. This was borne of an increasingly desperate attempt to apprehend those responsible, in order to ensure the safety of the Royal Party and the success of the ceremony. By considering the publicity conscious Free Wales Army, the thesis demonstrates that the group undertook one failed militant strike. It also establishes that the militant offensive undertaken by MAC comprised two distinct phases. The first in 1963 was predominately marshalled by Emyr Llywelyn Jones. The second period of hostilities, between 1966 and 1969, was orchestrated by John Jenkins; who critically, was a Sergeant in the British Army Dental Corps. This thesis seeks to reinstate the importance of the militant campaign in Welsh history, neither by judging it nor dismissing it, but by establishing the importance of these protests to both the nation's history and its cultural and political advance. It also establishes the detail of what happened, while seeking to tell the story in a balanced way, paying full attention to the perspective of the perpetrators and those actively engaged in their detection.

This study focusses on the writing of history in medieval Wales. Its starting-point is a series of historical texts in Middle Welsh which, from the second quarter of the fourteenth century, begin to appear together in manuscripts to form a continuous history, termed the Welsh Historical Continuum. The central component of this sequence is a translation of Geoffrey of Monmouth’s influential history of the Britons. The main questions of the first part of the thesis are when and why these historical texts were first combined, and to what degree this Welsh historiographical phenomenon reflects broader European trends. Codicology, textual typology, a geographically centred case-study and comparison with similar texts in Latin, Anglo-Norman French, Middle English and Icelandic are the main areas of research. The second part of the thesis moves on to consider the chronicle writing which formed the basis for the third part of the Historical Continuum, and then brings the study together with a discussion of the role of the Cistercians in the writing of history in medieval Wales. The fourth chapter’s re-assessment of Brut y Tywysogion offers a comprehensive re-evaluation of one of the most important narrative sources for medieval Wales. The fifth chapter discusses a neglected but significant Welsh chronicle, O Oes Gwrtheyrn, a new edition of which is appended to the thesis. The discussion of the Cistercian order in the sixth chapter serves in some ways as a synopsis and a conclusion, since it fits the diverse matters discussed in previous chapters into a general discussion of the important role these monastic institutions played in the formation and dissemination of what became the standard narrative of Welsh history for several centuries. Overall, the thesis is a wide-ranging and comprehensive investigation of the most influential and enduring historical narrative to emerge from medieval Wales.

The history of immigration into Australia is central to the history of European Australia itself. This thesis presents the results of a study of migration from Wales to New South Wales in the latter half of the nineteenth century. The primary data for this study are New South Wales colonial immigration, shipping and census records. The records from the years 1875 to 1885 have proved to be a rich source of information about the migration of people from counties in Wales to New South Wales. A major purpose of this study has been to determine what sort of information about patterns of migration is recoverable and what questions can be asked and answered using the data retrieved. This thesis challenges the assumption, implicit or explicit in previously published work on the Welsh in Australia, that little in the way of useful statistical data was recoverable due to the historic and official submergence of Wales into England. It has been shown that accurate and detailed data on assisted immigrants from Wales can be recovered from the colonial records. Significant findings are presented regarding counties of origin, occupations, places of settlement, evidence of chain and stage migration, family group and individual male and female migration patterns and evidence of links between communities in Wales and New South Wales. Interpretation of these findings provides valuable evidence relevant to long-standing debates about whether Welsh migration patterns were distinctly different from the rest of the British Isles. The urban and industrial background of the majority of immigrants from Wales argues against widely accepted views about factors influencing internal movement from rural to industrial areas and the conclusion that there was little emigration overseas from industrial Wales. The recovered data about the Welsh immigrants to New South Wales demonstrate a need to re-examine traditional assumptions about Welsh migration in general and to Australia in particular.

With inequalities in earnings, employment and economic activity widespread throughout the UK, this thesis examines these inequalities and attempts to explain them. Data from the Living in Wales survey and the Annual Population Survey is used to examine the earnings response to unemployment in the UK, with particular attention paid to Wales and its position relative to other UK regions. Strong evidence of a wage curve is found, and this wage curve is tested over the earnings distribution and levels of centralization. The returns to degrees, masters and PhDs are investigated, with a focus on how returns vary over regions. Large differences are found using a national baseline, but these differences are greatly reduced when regional differences are controlled for. The use of quantile regression techniques suggests that the graduate premium varies little over the earnings distribution. The inequalities m earnings, employment and economic activity are broken down into a component of individual characteristics and a component of area effects. It is found that area effects play a small role, with inequalities driven by individual characteristics. These individual effects are also broken down, with occupation identified as the key driver of inequalities.

Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) were examined using protein electrophoresis and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA). A total of 614 individuals were examined using allozymes at 19-21 loci. The sites were distributed over five catchments throughout Wales. Significant differences in allele frequencies are observed both within and between rivers. The allele frequencies appear stable over the time period investigated. Multiple enzyme genotypes from 170 individuals were collected at 28 sites from six rivers in Wales. AvaII, DdeI, HaeIII, HinfI and MboI are variable, although DdeI was only assayed in a restricted number of individuals. Sequence divergence appears low in salmon mtDNA. However, small but significant differences are again observed between and within rivers. Preliminary results suggest that mtDNA genotype frequencies remain stable over time. When the data sets are compared, allozymes appear at least as useful as mtDNA in identifying significant differentiation between populations of Welsh salmon. The mtDNA results suggest that future surveys of Atlantic salmon need to sample at least 25 individuals per site, to identify all the genotypes present. Although hatchery samples do not show reduced levels of variability, when compared to natural populations, both data sets reveal the Dee to have the lowest level of within catchment differentiation. The low level of population structuring may be due to the intensive stocking carried out on the river over the last decade. The strict regulation of flow within the catchment may also be responsible for the low value. The monomorphic nature of MDH-3* in Welsh salmon means that variants introduced into the region could be identified. Another potential genetic tag is the MboI B genotype, which is restricted to salmon populations within South-west England and south Wales.

This thesis reports the findings of a doctoral study which sought to explore the everyday lives of survivors of stroke and their caregivers, who live in Wales, UK. Through an exploratory multi-method approach to research, data collected from survivors of stroke, their caregivers, and Stroke Club observations provided in-depth insight into the participants' lives, and the contribution of Stroke Clubs to the personal support networks of the study participants. The findings of this study provide an insight into post-stroke life in Wales. The findings also highlight the value of social enterprise (Stroke Clubs) in the context of supporting survivors of stroke and their caregivers, in the months and years after stroke. The key conclusions of this study are that survivors and caregivers benefit from life-long support. Furthermore, the social enterprise sector provides an avenue of informal support and has the potential to meet the aims of policy makers, by filling the gaps in existing service provision. This thesis contributes to the fields of sociology, social policy, social enterprise, and research methods for research involving vulnerable adults. Recommendations for practitioners, policy makers, and social entrepreneurs are underpinned by the study findings and include suggestions for effective collaboration between the sectors. The limitations of this study are that the sample consisted of eight (of nine) participants who engaged with Stroke Clubs. Therefore, a contrast between those who attended Stroke Club and those who did not could not be established. However, this thesis does form the basis of such study in the future as it highlights what the participants perceive to be benefits of Stroke Club.

The thesis examines the role of the state in the agriculture sector with particular emphasis on policy formation and it's effects on rural Wales. Sociological theories of the state are examined and an 'institutional' approach is adopted which focusses attention on the institutional actors in the policy process. Policy is made by these actors albeit under certain external constraints. A brief analysis of state intervention in the UK is provided. This is treated historically and traces the-changing pattern of state involvement in the industry. Likewise, the UK policy process is briefly examined and the main institutional actors are identified. At the Welsh level, the effects of state intervention on the structure of Welsh agriculture are documented. This is also treated historically. Attention is then directed to the Welsh institutional actors and their role in the agricultural policy process. In particular, the role of the Farmers' Unions is examined, looking closely at their relationships with state agencies. The activities of non-agricultural state agencies operating in rural Wales are also examined. The question is asked whether the traditional dominance of agricultural policy in the Welsh rural areas is about to come to an end. While some evidence is put forward to support this, the situation is by no means clear and no definitive answer can be provided. In conclusion, it is argued that the effects of past agricultural policies on the communities of rural Wales have been extremely damaging, and some reorientation of policy is clearly needed. However, the institutional. analysis indicates that such a reorientation will be extremely difficult to achieve.

The purpose of this study is to determine whether gender tendencies exist in girls' and boys' attitudes towards mathematics in Wales which may affect their participation in the subject, along with identifying any school or Local Education Authority (LEA) policies or practices which may also influence students' participation. To achieve this, 712 students participated in an attitudinal questionnaire, with participants from 7 schools taking part in group interviews. Observations of mathematics classrooms were conducted in 4 schools. 28 teachers and 9 LEA representatives completed questionnaires to determine the existence and effect of any school and LEA policies and practices. The results illustrated marked gender tendencies between girls' and boys' attitudes towards mathematics in Wales. However, these gender tendencies were significantly less marked in one type of school. Furthermore, class size and teacher gender were identified as having an influence on students' participation. The study concluded that gender tendencies in girls' and boys' attitudes towards mathematics do exist in Wales and that there are certain school practices and policies which can affect students' participation in the subject. Based on this study's results, recommendations for schools and LEAs are proposed to increase students' participation in mathematics. These include: Promote co-operative and practical working methods in mathematics Arrange the classroom to ensure that girls are grouped together Ensure textbooks do not contain gender stereotypes Ensure Welsh medium textbooks are updated Provide students with adequate career and subject advice to allow them to make informed decisions about future careers and the subjects necessary to achieve the career chosen Reduce class sizes and ensure that there is no predominance of boys in each class Allow mathematics teachers to remain with classes for a number of years Ensure teacher encouragement at mathematics Increase initiatives to address gender issues Improve advice given to schools by LEAs Ensure girls and boys are treated equally in the classroom, as far as is feasible Relate mathematics to real life experiences. Teach the subject to achieve understanding over and above keeping pace with a pre-set curriculum Ensure that gender equality is made a priority both at school and LEA level by putting in place appropriate initiatives Revise the curriculum and the GCSE examination in mathematics to alter their present negative effect on gender equality Publish mathematical examination results in such a way that they do not adversely affect girls' choice of studying mathematics at AS level.

The history of illegitimacy has been much studied in England, Scotland and elsewhere in Europe, but has attracted little attention in Wales, in spite of the significance of the debate about the sexual laxity of Welsh courting couples to the historiography of the nineteenth century. This thesis examines illegitimacy in the counties of Glamorgan and Carmarthenshire between 1660 and 1870, using data from 74 parishes to measure the changing level of illegitimacy, at a time when south Wales was being transformed by economic, social and religious change. The research sets out to introduce Wales to the debate on illegitimacy, locating south Wales within the established picture of European demography. Patterns of illegitimacy in England and Wales are compared in order to establish whether south Wales fell within the range of regional variation found in England or displayed a distinct pattern, related to different traditions of courtship and marriage, or to experiences such as industrialisation and religious revival, which developed in different ways in the two countries. Material from poor law records, the consistory courts, Nonconformist disciplinary records, and personal narratives is brought together to give a holistic picture of the courtship of young people, and the circumstances of illegitimate children and their parents. Analysis suggests that patterns of illegitimacy in south Wales fit well with the characteristics of the ‘highland’ region of England described by Adair, but with additional intra-regional variation in levels of illegitimacy, which reflected local social, economic and cultural factors.

In May 1981, at the South Wales Area NUM annual conference, Area president Emlyn Williams addressed the delegates and told them that the south Wales miners 'are associated in people's minds with resistance and struggles ... There is no doubt in my mind that miners have an historical mission to lead in class struggles'.1 This statement expressed the conscious self-image of the South Wales Area and was also a reaffirmation of an important historical trend. During the twentieth century the miners were generally considered to be amongst the most militant sections of the British labour movement, with South Wales very much in the forefront of this. This thesis examines both how and why the south Wales miners held this prominent 'vanguard' role. My research explores the history of the south Wales miners between 1964 and 1985, examining the interrelationship of coal, community and politics through the prism of their Union. The period covers the concerted run-down of the coal industry under the Wilson government, the growth of miners' resistance and the brief prospect of a secure future for them, through to eventual NUM defeat in 1985. In this socio- political history, the emphasis is on the dynamics of the relations between colliery lodges, the South Wales Area and the national NUM, the response of the Area to industrial and political developments, and also the impact of this upon its relationship with the wider labour movement. In many respects however, labour history is not currently 'fashionable'. The decline of the densely-unionised heavy industries, together with the global hegemony of neo-liberalism, has led many to believe that this subject is no longer relevant - even though the working class has not disappeared just because more people in Britain now work in call centres and supermarkets than in collieries or steelworks. Nevertheless, as Mcllroy and Campbell point out, '[t]he [current] debility of labour studies ... have to be related to the defeats and the consequent sense of demoralisation the labour movement has suffered from, as well as state policies and academic responses to them'.

This thesis contributes an original approach to the understanding of human-object relations at funerary and ceremonial sites during the period c.2200 BC - 1400 BC within Wales. A primary review of archaeological work within this region contextualises this thesis and challenges the notion that this area is materially-poor during the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age. Drawing on existing excavation reports and archived material, a database of archaeological sites detailing context and material culture was created. Additionally a calibrated set of dates, was mapped against architectural, depositional and material practice. These data sets provided the opportunity to compare different Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age archaeological features in terms of the character and variety of associated objects and materials. Analysis of this data has illustrated key contrasts and similarities in the treatment of material culture across architecturally distinct ceremonial and funerary site types. This interpretation is framed by a discussion of materiality, arguing for a model which is located in past perspectives rather than a deconstruction of Western material values. Materiality is explored as a contextual, often learned understanding of the world, which is not restricted to the physical qualities of materials. Potential concepts of materiality were considered with particular attention given to the treatment of human remains in funerary and ceremonial contexts. The result of this thesis is an enhanced understanding of depositional practices and their role in the construction, use and perception of funerary and ceremonial sites within the Early Bronze Age of Wales.

Abstract Aragonite is a minor secondary mineral in many limestone caves throughout the world. It has been claimed that it is the second-most common cave mineral after calcite (Hill & Forti 1997). Aragonite occurs as a secondary mineral in the vadose zone of some caves in New South Wales. Aragonite is unstable in fresh water and usually reverts to calcite, but it is actively depositing in some NSW caves. A review of current literature on the cave aragonite problem showed that chemical inhibitors to calcite deposition assist in the precipitation of calcium carbonate as aragonite instead of calcite. Chemical inhibitors work by physically blocking the positions on the calcite crystal lattice which would have otherwise allowed calcite to develop into a larger crystal. Often an inhibitor for calcite has no effect on the aragonite crystal lattice, thus aragonite may deposit where calcite deposition is inhibited. Another association with aragonite in some NSW caves appears to be high evaporation rates allowing calcite, aragonite and vaterite to deposit. Vaterite is another unstable polymorph of calcium carbonate, which reverts to aragonite and calcite over time. Vaterite, aragonite and calcite were found together in cave sediments in areas with low humidity in Wollondilly Cave, Wombeyan. Several factors were found to be associated with the deposition of aragonite instead of calcite speleothems in NSW caves. They included the presence of ferroan dolomite, calcite-inhibitors (in particular ions of magnesium, manganese, phosphate, sulfate and heavy metals), and both air movement and humidity. Aragonite deposits in several NSW caves were examined to determine whether the material is or is not aragonite. Substrates to the aragonite were examined, as was the nature of the bedrock. The work concentrated on Contact Cave and Wiburds Lake Cave at Jenolan, Sigma Cave, Wollondilly Cave and Cow Pit at Wombeyan and Piano Cave and Deep Hole (Cave) at Walli. Comparisons are made with other caves. The study sites are all located in Palaeozoic rocks within the Lachlan Fold Belt tectonic region. Two of the sites, Jenolan and Wombeyan, are close to the western edge of the Sydney Basin. The third site, Walli, is close to a warm spring. The physical, climatic, chemical and mineralogical influences on calcium carbonate deposition in the caves were investigated. Where cave maps were unavailable, they were prepared on site as part of the study. %At Jenolan Caves, Contact Cave and Wiburds Lake Cave were examined in detail, %and other sites were compared with these. Contact Cave is located near the eastern boundary of the Late Silurian Jenolan Caves Limestone, in an area of steeply bedded and partially dolomitised limestone very close to its eastern boundary with the Jenolan volcanics. Aragonite in Contact Cave is precipitated on the ceiling as anthodites, helictites and coatings. The substrate for the aragonite is porous, altered, dolomitised limestone which is wedged apart by aragonite crystals. Aragonite deposition in Contact Cave is associated with a concentration of calcite-inhibiting ions, mainly minerals containing ions of magnesium, manganese and to a lesser extent, phosphates. Aragonite, dolomite and rhodochrosite are being actively deposited where these minerals are present. Calcite is being deposited where minerals containing magnesium ions are not present. The inhibitors appear to be mobilised by fresh water entering the cave as seepage along the steep bedding and jointing. During winter, cold dry air pooling in the lower part of the cave may concentrate minerals by evaporation and is most likely associated with the ``popcorn line'' seen in the cave. Wiburds Lake Cave is located near the western boundary of the Jenolan Caves Limestone, very close to its faulted western boundary with Ordovician cherts. Aragonite at Wiburds Lake Cave is associated with weathered pyritic dolomitised limestone, an altered, dolomitised mafic dyke in a fault shear zone, and also with bat guano minerals. Aragonite speleothems include a spathite, cavity fills, vughs, surface coatings and anthodites. Calcite occurs in small quantities at the aragonite sites. Calcite-inhibitors associated with aragonite include ions of magnesium, manganese and sulfate. Phosphate is significant in some areas. Low humidity is significant in two areas. Other sites briefly examined at Jenolan include Glass Cave, Mammoth Cave, Spider Cave and the show caves. Aragonite in Glass Cave may be associated with both weathering of dolomitised limestone (resulting in anthodites) and with bat guano (resulting in small cryptic forms). Aragonite in the show caves, and possibly in Mammoth and Spider Cave is associated with weathering of pyritic dolomitised limestone. Wombeyan Caves are developed in saccharoidal marble, metamorphosed Silurian Wombeyan Caves Limestone. Three sites were examined in detail at Wombeyan Caves: Sigma Cave, Wollondilly Cave and Cow Pit (a steep sided doline with a dark zone). Sigma Cave is close to the south east boundary of the Wombeyan marble, close to its unconformable boundary with effusive hypersthene porphyry and intrusive gabbro, and contains some unmarmorised limestone. Aragonite occurs mainly in a canyon at the southern extremity of the cave and in some other sites. In Sigma Cave, aragonite deposition is mainly associated with minerals containing calcite-inhibitors, as well as some air movement in the cave. Calcite-inhibitors at Sigma Cave include ions of magnesium, manganese, sulfate and phosphate (possibly bat origin), partly from bedrock veins and partly from breakdown of minerals in sediments sourced from mafic igneous rocks. Substrates to aragonite speleothems include corroded speleothem, bedrock, ochres, mud and clastics. There is air movement at times in the canyon, it has higher levels of CO2 than other parts of the cave and humidity is high. Air movement may assist in the rapid exchange of CO2 at speleothem surfaces. Wollondilly Cave is located in the eastern part of the Wombeyan marble. At Wollondilly Cave, anthodites and helictites were seen in an inaccessible area of the cave. Paramorphs of calcite after aragonite were found at Jacobs Ladder and the Pantheon. Aragonite at Star Chamber is associated with huntite and hydromagnesite. In The Loft, speleothem corrosion is characteristic of bat guano deposits. Aragonite, vaterite and calcite were detected in surface coatings in this area. Air movement between the two entrances of this cave has a drying effect which may serve to concentrate minerals by evaporation in some parts of the cave. The presence of vaterite and aragonite in fluffy coatings infers that vaterite may be inverting to aragonite. Calcite-inhibitors in the sediments include ions of phosphate, sulphate, magnesium and manganese. Cave sediment includes material sourced from detrital mafic rocks. Cow Pit is located near Wollondilly Cave, and cave W43 is located near the northern boundary of the Wombeyan marble. At Cow Pit, paramorphs of calcite after aragonite occur in the walls as spheroids with minor huntite. Aragonite is a minor mineral in white wall coatings and red phosphatic sediments with minor hydromagnesite and huntite. At cave W43, aragonite was detected in the base of a coralloid speleothem. Paramorphs of calcite after aragonite were observed in the same speleothem. Dolomite in the bedrock may be a source of magnesium-rich minerals at cave W43. Walli Caves are developed in the massive Belubula Limestone of the Ordovician Cliefden Caves Limestone Subgroup (Barrajin Group). At the caves, the limestone is steeply bedded and contains chert nodules with dolomite inclusions. Gypsum and barite occur in veins in the limestone. At Walli Caves, Piano Cave and Deep Hole (Deep Cave) were examined for aragonite. Gypsum occurs both as a surface coating and as fine selenite needles on chert nodules in areas with low humidity in the caves. Aragonite at Walli caves was associated with vein minerals and coatings containing calcite-inhibitors and, in some areas, low humidity. Calcite-inhibitors include sulfate (mostly as gypsum), magnesium, manganese and barium. Other caves which contain aragonite are mentioned. Although these were not major study sites, sufficient information is available on them to make a preliminary assessment as to why they may contain aragonite. These other caves include Flying Fortress Cave and the B4-5 Extension at Bungonia near Goulburn, and Wyanbene Cave south of Braidwood. Aragonite deposition at Bungonia has some similarities with that at Jenolan in that dolomitisation of the bedrock has occurred, and the bedding or jointing is steep allowing seepage of water into the cave, with possible oxidation of pyrite. Aragonite is also associated with a mafic dyke. Wyanbene cave features some bedrock dolomitisation, and also features low grade ore bodies which include several known calcite-inhibitors. Aragonite appears to be associated with both features. Finally, brief notes are made of aragonite-like speleothems at Colong Caves (between Jenolan and Wombeyan), a cave at Jaunter (west of Jenolan) and Wellington (240\,km NW of Sydney).

Abstract Aragonite is a minor secondary mineral in many limestone caves throughout the world. It has been claimed that it is the second-most common cave mineral after calcite (Hill & Forti 1997). Aragonite occurs as a secondary mineral in the vadose zone of some caves in New South Wales. Aragonite is unstable in fresh water and usually reverts to calcite, but it is actively depositing in some NSW caves. A review of current literature on the cave aragonite problem showed that chemical inhibitors to calcite deposition assist in the precipitation of calcium carbonate as aragonite instead of calcite. Chemical inhibitors work by physically blocking the positions on the calcite crystal lattice which would have otherwise allowed calcite to develop into a larger crystal. Often an inhibitor for calcite has no effect on the aragonite crystal lattice, thus aragonite may deposit where calcite deposition is inhibited. Another association with aragonite in some NSW caves appears to be high evaporation rates allowing calcite, aragonite and vaterite to deposit. Vaterite is another unstable polymorph of calcium carbonate, which reverts to aragonite and calcite over time. Vaterite, aragonite and calcite were found together in cave sediments in areas with low humidity in Wollondilly Cave, Wombeyan. Several factors were found to be associated with the deposition of aragonite instead of calcite speleothems in NSW caves. They included the presence of ferroan dolomite, calcite-inhibitors (in particular ions of magnesium, manganese, phosphate, sulfate and heavy metals), and both air movement and humidity. Aragonite deposits in several NSW caves were examined to determine whether the material is or is not aragonite. Substrates to the aragonite were examined, as was the nature of the bedrock. The work concentrated on Contact Cave and Wiburds Lake Cave at Jenolan, Sigma Cave, Wollondilly Cave and Cow Pit at Wombeyan and Piano Cave and Deep Hole (Cave) at Walli. Comparisons are made with other caves. The study sites are all located in Palaeozoic rocks within the Lachlan Fold Belt tectonic region. Two of the sites, Jenolan and Wombeyan, are close to the western edge of the Sydney Basin. The third site, Walli, is close to a warm spring. The physical, climatic, chemical and mineralogical influences on calcium carbonate deposition in the caves were investigated. Where cave maps were unavailable, they were prepared on site as part of the study. %At Jenolan Caves, Contact Cave and Wiburds Lake Cave were examined in detail, %and other sites were compared with these. Contact Cave is located near the eastern boundary of the Late Silurian Jenolan Caves Limestone, in an area of steeply bedded and partially dolomitised limestone very close to its eastern boundary with the Jenolan volcanics. Aragonite in Contact Cave is precipitated on the ceiling as anthodites, helictites and coatings. The substrate for the aragonite is porous, altered, dolomitised limestone which is wedged apart by aragonite crystals. Aragonite deposition in Contact Cave is associated with a concentration of calcite-inhibiting ions, mainly minerals containing ions of magnesium, manganese and to a lesser extent, phosphates. Aragonite, dolomite and rhodochrosite are being actively deposited where these minerals are present. Calcite is being deposited where minerals containing magnesium ions are not present. The inhibitors appear to be mobilised by fresh water entering the cave as seepage along the steep bedding and jointing. During winter, cold dry air pooling in the lower part of the cave may concentrate minerals by evaporation and is most likely associated with the ``popcorn line'' seen in the cave. Wiburds Lake Cave is located near the western boundary of the Jenolan Caves Limestone, very close to its faulted western boundary with Ordovician cherts. Aragonite at Wiburds Lake Cave is associated with weathered pyritic dolomitised limestone, an altered, dolomitised mafic dyke in a fault shear zone, and also with bat guano minerals. Aragonite speleothems include a spathite, cavity fills, vughs, surface coatings and anthodites. Calcite occurs in small quantities at the aragonite sites. Calcite-inhibitors associated with aragonite include ions of magnesium, manganese and sulfate. Phosphate is significant in some areas. Low humidity is significant in two areas. Other sites briefly examined at Jenolan include Glass Cave, Mammoth Cave, Spider Cave and the show caves. Aragonite in Glass Cave may be associated with both weathering of dolomitised limestone (resulting in anthodites) and with bat guano (resulting in small cryptic forms). Aragonite in the show caves, and possibly in Mammoth and Spider Cave is associated with weathering of pyritic dolomitised limestone. Wombeyan Caves are developed in saccharoidal marble, metamorphosed Silurian Wombeyan Caves Limestone. Three sites were examined in detail at Wombeyan Caves: Sigma Cave, Wollondilly Cave and Cow Pit (a steep sided doline with a dark zone). Sigma Cave is close to the south east boundary of the Wombeyan marble, close to its unconformable boundary with effusive hypersthene porphyry and intrusive gabbro, and contains some unmarmorised limestone. Aragonite occurs mainly in a canyon at the southern extremity of the cave and in some other sites. In Sigma Cave, aragonite deposition is mainly associated with minerals containing calcite-inhibitors, as well as some air movement in the cave. Calcite-inhibitors at Sigma Cave include ions of magnesium, manganese, sulfate and phosphate (possibly bat origin), partly from bedrock veins and partly from breakdown of minerals in sediments sourced from mafic igneous rocks. Substrates to aragonite speleothems include corroded speleothem, bedrock, ochres, mud and clastics. There is air movement at times in the canyon, it has higher levels of CO2 than other parts of the cave and humidity is high. Air movement may assist in the rapid exchange of CO2 at speleothem surfaces. Wollondilly Cave is located in the eastern part of the Wombeyan marble. At Wollondilly Cave, anthodites and helictites were seen in an inaccessible area of the cave. Paramorphs of calcite after aragonite were found at Jacobs Ladder and the Pantheon. Aragonite at Star Chamber is associated with huntite and hydromagnesite. In The Loft, speleothem corrosion is characteristic of bat guano deposits. Aragonite, vaterite and calcite were detected in surface coatings in this area. Air movement between the two entrances of this cave has a drying effect which may serve to concentrate minerals by evaporation in some parts of the cave. The presence of vaterite and aragonite in fluffy coatings infers that vaterite may be inverting to aragonite. Calcite-inhibitors in the sediments include ions of phosphate, sulphate, magnesium and manganese. Cave sediment includes material sourced from detrital mafic rocks. Cow Pit is located near Wollondilly Cave, and cave W43 is located near the northern boundary of the Wombeyan marble. At Cow Pit, paramorphs of calcite after aragonite occur in the walls as spheroids with minor huntite. Aragonite is a minor mineral in white wall coatings and red phosphatic sediments with minor hydromagnesite and huntite. At cave W43, aragonite was detected in the base of a coralloid speleothem. Paramorphs of calcite after aragonite were observed in the same speleothem. Dolomite in the bedrock may be a source of magnesium-rich minerals at cave W43. Walli Caves are developed in the massive Belubula Limestone of the Ordovician Cliefden Caves Limestone Subgroup (Barrajin Group). At the caves, the limestone is steeply bedded and contains chert nodules with dolomite inclusions. Gypsum and barite occur in veins in the limestone. At Walli Caves, Piano Cave and Deep Hole (Deep Cave) were examined for aragonite. Gypsum occurs both as a surface coating and as fine selenite needles on chert nodules in areas with low humidity in the caves. Aragonite at Walli caves was associated with vein minerals and coatings containing calcite-inhibitors and, in some areas, low humidity. Calcite-inhibitors include sulfate (mostly as gypsum), magnesium, manganese and barium. Other caves which contain aragonite are mentioned. Although these were not major study sites, sufficient information is available on them to make a preliminary assessment as to why they may contain aragonite. These other caves include Flying Fortress Cave and the B4-5 Extension at Bungonia near Goulburn, and Wyanbene Cave south of Braidwood. Aragonite deposition at Bungonia has some similarities with that at Jenolan in that dolomitisation of the bedrock has occurred, and the bedding or jointing is steep allowing seepage of water into the cave, with possible oxidation of pyrite. Aragonite is also associated with a mafic dyke. Wyanbene cave features some bedrock dolomitisation, and also features low grade ore bodies which include several known calcite-inhibitors. Aragonite appears to be associated with both features. Finally, brief notes are made of aragonite-like speleothems at Colong Caves (between Jenolan and Wombeyan), a cave at Jaunter (west of Jenolan) and Wellington (240\,km NW of Sydney).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2007.
The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file. Title from title screen of research.pdf file (viewed on December 28, 2007) Includes bibliographical references.

This study examines the characteristics of a range of narrative and performance texts featuring Wenglish, the dialect of the South Wales Valleys, in terms of their linguistic and thematic content and their relation to the community. Part One comprises an introduction to Wenglish and an overview of research on English in South Wales and approaches to language in use. In Part Two the results of textual and discourse analysis of twenty-five texts (nine literary and seven formal performance excerpts and nine personal narratives) are presented. In Part Three insights arising from analysis are applied in three pieces of new creative work in dialect. A reference list of texts containing Wenglish is appended. Cultural outputs mirror and express the community which produces them and thus the formal and informal literary output of the South Wales Valleys both reflects and expresses some of the shared characteristics, values, beliefs and preoccupations of those communities. Analysis revealed recurrent thematic clusters (e.g. community, personal identity, world of work, sport) across the range of texts, suggesting the centrality of these themes and a close link between the texts and the community. From analysis of linguistic content, a ‘Wenglish index’ was calculated for each text. The literary texts generally had lower indices than the formal performance texts. The personal narratives, though informal, all had lower indices than the formal performance material, suggesting that in this latter category, dialect features are consciously exaggerated. Discourse analytical methods generated rich interpretive material at the level of individual texts. Insights from analysis proved useful at the initial and editing phases of new creative work. The possible practical application of Wenglish material in community and interpretive projects is also discussed.

The thesis context is a Welsh innovation policy continuum. The research is primarily located in three innovation programmes representative of innovation policy in Wales. The representative programmes are: the Technium network; Innovation Network Partnership; and Communities First project. The Technium network is considered to be at the hard/tangible end of the policy continuum whilst Communities First is at the softer, more intangible pole of the continuum. The aim of this thesis is to ascertain the influence social capital may have upon levels of innovation across the innovation policy continuum. To achieve the aim, the existence and extent of forms of innovation, forms of social capital, and cooperation and collaboration are considered through a positivist and interpretivist analysis. The resultant data has been further exposed to a correlation analysis, undertaken to ascertain whether or not the presence and form of social capital has an association with forms of innovation. The three programmes each have a pan-Wales presence. The programmes all originate from Welsh Assembly Government innovation policy initiatives between 2001 and 2003. For each programme a case study has been produced. The case studies have been constructed using data from survey, interviews and participant observation. The survey was completed via an on-line questionnaire by representative individuals and groups from each innovation policy continuum programme. Further data was collected by interviews held with individuals representative of roles typically undertaken at each programme. Participant observation undertaken at each programme also informed the creation of the case studies. Literature in this field of study is typically limited to a comparatively narrow investigation of traditionally measured innovation. For social capital and cooperation and collaboration, research usually has a macro scale cynosure. This study has an innovation programme locale in Wales which may be considered unique in terms of innovation and social capital research. ii The findings reveal the existence of forms of innovation, social capital, and cooperation and collaboration at each case study. However, there are differences in terms of the extent of such phenomenon along the innovation policy continuum. For instance, there appears to be an increased likelihood of traditionally measured innovation at the Technium network. Social innovation is more likely to be present at the Communities First project. Similarly, forms of social capital are more likely to be found at Communities First partnerships than at other programmes along the continuum. The correlation analysis applied to the case study survey data discloses a number of, mainly positive statistically significant associations between explanatory social capital, and cooperation and collaboration variables and dependent innovation variables. Propositions resultant of the findings, are likely to be of use to policymakers. For instance, forms of social capital appear to be positively related to traditionally measured, hidden and social innovation. Policymakers considering the design of programmes to boost levels of innovation may be advised to include means of increasing levels of social capital, cooperation and collaboration in their policy and programme proposals and evaluation criteria.

This doctoral submission arises from the experience of working in broadcasting in Wales over a period spanning five decades. It focuses on one of my abiding concerns throughout: the under-represented experience of the community (the post-industrial working class of the South Wales coalfield) in which I grew up – and, more broadly, of those not especially powerful or privileged, elsewhere in Wales and the world; and how, in the broadcasting mainstream, in the UK and beyond, the quantum of the representation of such experience could be increased and its quality improved. The submission consists of a portfolio of four of my documentaries - The Waste Game (1987); Everyman: A Place Like Hungerford (1988); Do Not Go Gentle (2001); and Tonypandy Riots (2011) – and an overview which examines the characteristic features of my programme-making in the context of the development of the documentary and of television in Britain; explores the nature of representation in broadcasting, and its importance in validating the complex experiences and identities of ‘peripheral’ communities in the UK; explains how my understanding of community, forged in Wales, became problematic in the eyes of the London-based press when it informed in turn my representation of a particular and traumatic English social experience; and delineates strategies I have helped to form and articulate, both within the BBC and as an independent producer, which are intended to ensure that the under-represented experience of the periphery becomes more visible on the screen. After an Introduction which examines the interrelated group of meanings bound up in the idea of ‘representation’, and explains why they were of significance to a tyro producer/director from the Rhondda, each Chapter of the overview details the genesis, production and impact of one of the four documentaries in the portfolio, in chronological order, with an intermediate Chapter covering a period I spent away from hands-on production, engaged at a senior corporate level with issues of Welsh representation on the BBC networks. A Postscript expresses my conviction that the progress in the representation of marginal experience which I have witnessed and been party to can only be truly fruitful if the imaginative human relationship between programme-makers and those they represent is one of mutual trust and respect. This submission represents a significant contribution to knowledge in several ways. First, the portfolio of documentaries and the wider corpus of my work analysed and assessed here form a high-profile cluster of broadcast output made in the English-language in Wales. Such programmes were comparative rarities when my career began, and remain under-represented on the British screen. This intimate account of the detail and context of their production adds to the limited body of academic scrutiny such work has received. Second, at a time when the relationship between ‘the devolved nations’ of the UK and England is of particular political significance, this study constitutes a detailed consideration of a dimension of ‘British’ identity beyond those of age, ethnicity, class and gender which is just as complex in terms of the implications of its representation on the screen, and deserves as much attention. Third, this portfolio of work was produced within a broadcasting system and an institutional structure which, I argue, was signally failing to offer proportionate representation to the kind of experiences I was concerned with. This study offers a unique ‘insider’s view’ of power-struggles over the issue at the BBC and the development of a key intervention in which I was centrally involved. Finally, the portfolio itself and the broader career which it has been my privilege to enjoy are testimony to the (at least partial) efficacy of some of the strategies examined here for surmounting and moving beyond the economic barriers and cultural constraints which have historically prevented Welsh experience being fully visible, and which continue to disadvantage the Welsh producer. This account of the rationale for these strategies – and of the use made of them by the individual programme-maker and the incorporated production entity in the marketplace for factual television in the UK and beyond – may fill in some useful detail in the roadmap taking us towards a more complete representation of human experience.

The engagement of farm businesses with pluriactivity in response to persistent downward pressures on agricultural incomes provided an enduring focus for research in agricultural geography during the late 20th century. This study contributes to and further develops the pluriactivity genre of research through a detailed investigation of farm-based recreation. A review of existing literature reveals that farm-based recreation has been widely acknowledged as a significant component of pluriactivity, yet the reasons for its contemporary development remain largely unexplored for two main interrelated reasons. First, the concept of pluriactivity is inadequate because it places emphasis on income-generating non-agricultural enterprises, yet many recreational activities fill non-economic roles within the farm business and have therefore been ignored in previous research. Secondly, those studies that examine farm-based recreation specifically are anachronistic and suffer from a failure to define it consistently. The variety of recreational activities included within 'recreation' varies considerably between studies. For example, the majority of studies have not included shortterm recreational events in their analyses. The economic nature of these studies is again a handicap. This study resolves definitional issues and presents a conceptual framework for a more rigorous analysis of farm-based recreation than hitherto has been attempted. The framework synthesizes the underlying principles of the established modified political economy approach in agricultural geography with insights from postmodernism in rural geography as represented by the 'cultural turn'. It represents a rational, sensible and profitable approach which combines the major strengths and takes account of the criticisms of both perspectives. Its value for this study is that a flexible methodology can be used to ensure that the analysis is sensitive to the great diversity of both recreational activities and the farm business forms within which they are enmeshed. An extensive postal questionnaire survey of over 4000 farms is conducted in eight geographical regions (counties) selected primarily on the basis of their agricultural characteristics. This enables the diversity of recreational activities to be fully appreciated and a geographical analysis of them to be undertaken, features rarely explored by the literature. Building upon the quantitative approach of the postal questionnaire survey, 20 individual farm businesses are selected for more detailed qualitative investigation in the form of ethnographic case studies. Using the conceptual framework as a guide, results from both quantitative and qualitative approaches are discussed in an integrative way to provide a novel analysis of farm-based recreation. The results highlight the widespread occurrence of recreational activities. Indeed, 41% of the postal questionnaire survey respondents provide some form of permanent and/or temporary recreational activity, a figure significantly higher than typically reported in previous studies. Differentiated by broad categories, and specific types, the diversity of different forms of recreational provision becomes apparent, highlighting the occurrence of numerous types rarely documented before. Distinct patterns emerge from an analysis of the inter- and intra-regional incidence of recreational provision. The characteristics of recreational activities and the factors influencing their initiation, operation and evolution are explored. The relatively low level of financial motivation expressed in relation to the initiation of recreational activities is of particular interest (42% of farms with recreational provision), and highlights the abundance of non-financially motivated forms and the importance of interest, altruistic and social motives. Clear variations in motives according to categories, and types, of recreational activity are also observed and two broad groups, characterised as economic 'diversification recreation' and non-economic 'cultural recreation', emerge. Detailed analysis of the relationships between recreational provision and farm business characteristics and operation identifies many strong links. Finally, an exploration of the reasons for the non-adoption of recreational activities is undertaken. With a renewed policy emphasis on rural development, including on-farm diversification, from the Agenda 2000 reform of the European Union's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) currently being implemented, these findings make a significant contribution to the understanding of a phenomenon that is likely to be important to both farmers and researchers in agricultural geography in the early 21st century.

Although in one sense this is a study in regional or local history, its findings have much wider implications which are of national significance. Britain gave to the world the Industrial Revolution and, as a corollary, the railway. Evidence which throws new light on the evolution of railways is therefore of high importance to historians and archaeologists of industry. Such evidence, it is suggested, is presented in this thesis. It relates mainly to the evolution of that most essential component of any railway, its track, and to the industrial archaeology of what was the leading iron-producing region of its day. From the 1790s into the 1840s South Wales and, in particular, the Heads of the Valleys was much the largest producer of iron in Britain. To feed the works with raw materials there was a major system of railroads and tramroads which, except perhaps for the North-eastern coalfield, was by far the most extensive in Britain and therefore in the world. Even the tramroads of Shropshire, though tight-packed, were much smaller in extent. As it turned out, the North-east had the greatest influence on the Railway Age, with South Wales not remaining in the vanguard of progress for long. However, it was in South Wales that the first all-iron edge rail was used, and South Wales developed the tramroad to its highest form. Here too, among the precursors of the Railway Age, elements of the public railway were forged. There are three components to the South Wales network. First, the feeders which ran from the limestone quarries of the northem outcrop to the furnaces can be followed for about 100km in total. Although a fair proportion of this distance is now buried by tarmacced roads, within the quarries themselves lie around 20km of traceable routes. Second, a quite different set of lines led to the furnaces from the coal and iron ore mines, which lay closer than the quarries to the ironworks; but if underground track were included their mileage would be huge. Third, the exit lines from the ironworks to the ports, canals and nearby markets (as far away as Kington and Hereford) add a further 190km. Another guide to the enormous mileage built comes from the 10,500 tons of rails cast at Ebbw Vale between 1808 and 1816. If these were 3ft plates of a fairly standard 45lb apiece, they would total nearly half a million, or enough to complete about 220km of tramroad. This from only one ironworks over a mere nine years. So rich an area can only be studied in detail bit by bit. This thesis is therefore restricted to the limestone feeders of the northern outcrop, which archaeologically are the most fruitful. Most of the exit lines have been obscured by later railways; the coal and iron ore feeders are either underground and inaccessible or, where on the surface, have often been tipped over by later workings or destroyed by land reclamation. The limestone quarry feeders therefore provide the best opportunity to record early railways in South Wales. Many of the quarries which supplied the works remain as they were abandoned nearly a century ago. These vast monuments cover an area in excess of 4.5 square kilometres. The importance of the archaeology of the quarrying industry has been established by English Heritage with the publication of a Step I report as part of the Monuments Protection Programme. But the future of the South Wales quarries is not assured. Many could be re-developed through the Interim Development Orders granted in 1947, at a time when they were regarded as eyesores with no particular relevance to our past. Owners of largely unproductive areas of moorland are constantly looking for ways of increasing income. Quarrying for roadstone offers a lucrative return, and provides some jobs in largely rural communities which, theoretically, stimulate local economies. In the relevant counties output, mostly for roadstone, grew from 1,343,000 tons in 1895 to 15,515,000 in 1974.3 It is this threat which in part prompted this study. Although a great deal of attention has been devoted to the history of railways in South Wales (as in the rest of Britain) after 1830, relatively little has been given to their evolution. While previous studies have established the outline - notably Macdermot, Marshall, Lee, Barrie, Clinker, Baxter, Rattenbury and Hughes - these were mainly related to identifying the subject or concentrated on existing lines and documentary sources. Limestone railways have been largely ignored (with the partial exception of Rattenbury and Hughes), and little industrial archaeological survey has hitherto been done. My work, then, breaks new ground. It is intended as a contribution not to business or economic history, but rather to industrial archaeology and the history of technology. As such it combines extensive fieldwork with a detailed study of the history of limestone feeders from documentary sources, some printed but mostly in the National Library of Wales, Gwent Record Office and similar repositories. The result throws a completely new light on the artefacts of early railways, and especially on their permanent way. This has allowed for the first time a provisional typology to be made, and improved our understanding of the influences at work.

The importance of childcare as a field of study and for public policy has grown in recent times in response to an increase in women in the labour force and increasing evidence of the developmental importance of the early years. Following devolution in the UK childcare is now the responsibility of the devolved Governments. In Wales, some distinctive early childhood policies have been developed, but it is unclear whether or not there is a coherent approach which incorporates childcare. Anecdotally, one of the distinctive features of childcare often highlighted in Wales, is the importance of informal care, yet despite a body of UK research examining informal childcare from a number of perspectives, little is known about the practice in Wales. Whether the use of informal childcare in Wales is distinctive and, if so, why is it important, are key questions that are unanswered. The aim of this research has been to examine the field of childcare in Wales and, within it, the choices that families make between formal and informal care. It utilises the theories of Pierre Bourdieu in the study of childcare as a social practice, using his key ‘thinking tools’ of habitus, capitals and field. The study also follows his methodological approach to researching the topic. Three inter-related strands of research activity are presented in this thesis using mixed methods. First, is a structured analysis of policy and related texts. Secondly, data from the 2015 National Survey for Wales is subjected to quantitative examination to present a picture of informal childcare use in Wales, and thirdly, interviews with 45 parents from three areas of Wales are interpreted using thematic analysis. The research finds that there are indeed distinctive aspects of childcare in Wales, including greater use of informal care and less use of formal childcare than in England. Informal childcare use is found to be less associated with economic capital than accumulations of cultural and social capital. Building on Bourdieu’s theories, it finds that alongside unequal possession of capital, parental habitus including work and care dispositions are important in understanding the decisions that parents make about childcare. Also found are differences in the choices that parents make, and are able to make, according to where they live - as well as some distinctive practices related to Welsh language. In conclusion, this research finds that the distinctiveness of the childcare field in Wales and the policy context are inter-related. The political and ideological framing of childcare in Wales along with the delivery model of formal childcare are found to be incoherent. This can be observed to result in many parents relying on informal childcare to accommodate work and caring responsibilities and preferences. Those parents without access to informal care are therefore considerably disadvantaged.

This thesis is a study of the prevalence, context, and experience of illegitimacy in Wales during the long eighteenth century, between approximately 1680 and 1800. It explores levels of illegitimacy across the Welsh counties of Montgomeryshire and Radnorshire, and investigates many of the underlying causes of childbirth outside of wedlock throughout eighteenth-century Wales. It is argued that Welsh illegitimacy was influenced by a combination of courtship-led marriage customs, a decline in traditional forms of social control, and worsening economic circumstances. In addition to exploring broader demographic trends, this study also examines the diverse individual identities, relationships and socioeconomic backgrounds of the mothers and fathers of illegitimate children in Wales, and the lived experience of conception, pregnancy and childbirth for unmarried mothers. The sexual encounters which resulted in the birth of an illegitimate child ranged from consensual sex which took place within the context of courtship, to sexual exploitation and rape. It is argued that these broad range of experiences are central to our understanding of illegitimacy. This thesis also examines infant and maternal survival chances, both in terms of overall risk of mortality in the days, weeks, and months after birth, and in terms of the ways in which fatal violence against illegitimate children and their mothers was contextualised in court records. These narratives reveal how the bodies of illegitimate infants and unmarried mothers often represented deviance, and served as the locus of anxieties surrounding unregulated reproduction. Finally, this study also analyses the provision of care for married and unmarried pauper women immediately before, during and after parturition. The skills, reputation, and availability of midwifery services in Wales are also explored. This thesis unites many disparate historical fields, including social and cultural history, historical demography, and the histories of crime, gender, sex, reproduction, and medicine, and analyses evidence from previously unstudied regions of Wales. It demonstrates that illegitimacy in eighteenth-century Wales was a deeply complex phenomenon governed by diverse regionally-specific social, cultural and economic influences.

This PhD dissertation investigates the construction of identities in the early Middle Ages, focusing on three key texts conventionally dated to the ninth and tenth centuries: Historia Brittonum, Asser's Life of King Alfred, and Armes Prydein Vawr. I examine the way these writers constructed ideas of Welsh identity in the wider context of their perception of peoples more broadly. Particular attention is paid to the texts that may have influenced the three sources, investigating, for example, Historia Brittonum's use of the works of writers such as Orosius, Jerome, and Prosper. This thesis also examines the possibility of wider trends through placing the Welsh material alongside evidence from across Europe. I compare, for example, the construction of a Trojan origin legend for the Britons in Historia Brittonum with similar accounts of the Trojan origins of the Franks. In Chapter 1 I investigate the names used for Wales and the Welsh, and suggest that, whilst these texts continued to view the Welsh as Britons, the rightful inhabitants of all Britain, there is nevertheless an indication of the construction of a specifically Welsh identity, focused on the geographical unit roughly equivalent to modern-day Wales. Chapter 2 discusses the relationship between language and identity, considering the use of Welsh place- and river-names in the Life of King Alfred, and the use of English loan-words in both Historia Brittonum and Armes Prydein Vawr. Contrary to the tendency in scholarship to downplay the role of language, I argue that it is a crucial component in the construction of identity. Chapter 3 focuses on the presentation of origin legends in Historia Brittonum and Armes Prydein Vawr. I compare the origins of the Saxons as presented in the two sources to illustrate the recycling and adaptation of material to suit varying agendas, and place Historia Brittonum's origin legend of the Britons in a wider context, examining both the sources used in its construction and its relationship with the origin legends of the Franks. Chapter 4 investigates the writing of history more broadly in Historia Brittonum and Asser's Life of King Alfred, examining the adaptation of material to create a past which suited the construction of a specific group identity. Particular attention is paid to Asser's depiction of the vikings as pagans, in contrast to the Christian Anglo-Saxons. These chapters combine into a coherent whole, offering significant new insights into the construction of identities in early medieval Wales.

Although the primary aim of this thesis was originally to explore the dynamic between King John and the Cistercians in Wales, it has been necessary to go beyond the bounds of this remit, namely to explore his relations with the Order in Ireland and England and also as a whole, to put his relations with the Cistercians in Wales into greater context. Primarily from an analysis of the charters John issued to individual abbeys, this thesis demonstrates that the interactions between John and individual Cistercian houses was not determined by where they were, rather their dynamic was more complex. John’s grants to individual houses were often an extension of his relationship with the abbey’s patron, when they were favoured their houses would prosper, when they fell from grace or defied John, their abbeys would suffer. Only however, by placing the charters John granted to individual houses into their wider political context can this correlation be appreciated, namely whether they were issued when John was trying to woo or punish the patron or at a time of hostility with the wider Order and as such clear demonstrations of royal favour. This was not the only dynamic that influenced the relationships between John and individual houses, those abbots who supported and opposed John were shown royal favour and anger respectively, and often this factor overrode all other concerns.