Finding Wales - Reflections of Returning Exiles

By the author of the acclaimed In Search of Welshness, this book takes an in-depth look at the state of our nation, at Welsh national identity and at what exactly it is that leads to so many Welsh exiles feeling they need to rediscover their roots and eventually return home. It poses questions that Wales's politicians and leaders need to grapple with. 29 photographs.

Review :
What is it that drives so many Welsh exiles to return to their homeland later in life? Is it family responsibilities or economic necessity? Or is it love of the very land itself, nostalgia, longing for Welsh community life, its language and culture, its socialist values? Or is there something even more mysterious at work - the indefinable, intangible sentiment summed up by the Welsh word hiraeth? This new book by Peter Daniels sets out to answer those questions as the author explores the attitudes and motivations of a group of exiles who have returned to live in Wales to rediscover their roots. Peter Daniels grew up in Llanelli in an English-speaking environment but moved to London in search of career opportunities. Like many before him, he found that exile made him think more about what it means to be Welsh, a subject he explored in a previous book, In Search of Welshness. Finding Wales takes this exploration further by examining the lives of exiles who decided to return to Wales, or who stayed in England but nonetheless feel a deep attachment to the country that formed them. Peter Daniels’ sample is small and mostly drawn from the south along the Cardiff-Carmarthen axis, though there are a few examples from mid and north Wales. The reasons for return vary, but most, like Daniels himself, are retirees who after successful careers in London and south-east England are drawn back to Wales. These are success stories and there is no one here who has returned because he or she failed, just as there is no one who ventured to the Midlands or the north of England where, quite possibly, the experience of exile might have been different. Finding Wales is not therefore in any way a statistical or sociological study but a very personal one. It might, indeed, be said that the book is the author’s attempt to explain the experience of exile and return to himself. In the process, however, certain patterns emerge. It is surprising, for example, how many of his subjects comment on the lack of community spirit in England, which they feel is combined with unexamined assumptions about English superiority. Many return for this reason, remembering the warmth and neighbourliness of their childhood. Welsh society, they feel, is more egalitarian and more welcoming. In the intervening years, however, much has changed, not least the establishment of the Assembly and with it a modicum of regional autonomy. The political views of Daniels’ informants range from Conservative to Labour to Ukip; not many are attracted to Plaid Cymru and there is no appetite for independence. One or two are antagonistic to the Welsh language, though most are positive and in fact started to learn Welsh in exile, seeing it as an important marker of Welsh identity. For others, though, ‘Welshness’ means little more than supporting the national rugby or football team. There is only one young person among Daniels’ examples, Iain Richards, who grew up in Blackwood before moving to London and who founded the successful Blackwood Velvet Coalmine festival of rock music and writing. It would be interesting to know whether a greater age range might have thrown up different responses to exile and return. This is nonetheless a very readable account of what has been a common Welsh experience over the centuries. A section of photographs of Daniels’ subjects helps, as it were, to locate them visually and personally.