Culture War breaks out in the Brecon Beacons
The Brecon Beacons are not unfamiliar with war. The Army train in the area.
However a new Culture War has broken out over the decision to use the Welsh name for the Beacons in future-Bannau Brycheiniog.
A concern is that the Beacons name promotes fire lighting which in the age of climate change is not ideal.
Complaints have come from those who believe the Beacons are part of a national chain of hills where beacons should be lit to mark King Charles forthcoming Coronation. In fact while a fire was lit to mark Queen Victoria’s gold and diamond Jubilees (Times 17th April) there is no evidence that it was used for Coronations.
A Telegraph columnist (18th April) has claimed that the whole thing is somehow related to Marxism which according to him (and him only) promotes specious arguments to disrupt capitalism.
It would probably concern the Telegraph even more to learn that Engels spent some time in Bangor in 1860 and elsewhere in North Wales at Easter 1866 and could speak at least some Welsh.
Certainly both Marx and Engels were concerned about the impact of capitalism on the environment and would clearly have supported the Beacons name change.
Update
Rishi Sunak who is probably not a marxist has said, ahead of the Welsh Tory Conference, that he will continue to use Brecon Beacons rather than the Welsh name. However few people in Wales speak Tory.
Less a change, more reverting to the proper name!