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Talk:Reactionary/Archive 1

I think it's a good idea to give real examples of reactionary parties. David.Monniaux 18:40, 22 Apr 2004 (UTC)

Turning back the clock
How can holding on to the monarchy be turning back the clock???? Resistance to socialism and progressivesim is just "keeping". WHEELER 18:44, 22 Apr 2004 (UTC)

 * Wanting to instaure a traditional monarchy, say, in France, *is* reactionary, for it aims at cancelling two centuries of democratization. Basically, some groups seek to turn back the clock to the pre-revolutionary situation. For instance, some groups seek to reinstate Catholicism as a state religion.

 * Please sign in every time. You think the changes were beneficial. Levellers never obey the law.  We want to obey Natural law and divine revelation.

 * I never claimed that the changes were beneficial. I just contend that some groups which to cancel 2 centuries of changes, as shown in the WWW page I gave a reference to. Whether or not these changes were beneficial is besides the point. David.Monniaux 19:55, 22 Apr 2004 (UTC)

 * Some of your edits are good but others such as "turn back the clock" show POV of the intensest kind.WHEELER 19:10, 22 Apr 2004 (UTC)

 * Not at all. "Turn back the clock" merely means "going back to a previous situation". Feel free to replace "turn back the clock" by some other equivalent if you feel like it. David.Monniaux 19:55, 22 Apr 2004 (UTC)

I also think that, as many right-wing Americans it seems, you're mixing up socialism and communism where they don't belong. In 19th century France, any democrat, including "liberals" (in the economic sense) that would nowadays be free-market supporters (thus the antithese of socialists or communists) would have been called a "progressive", and any royalist under the Third Republic a reactionary.

Do you actually know much about European history? David.Monniaux 19:55, 22 Apr 2004 (UTC)

 * Actually David "turn back the clock" is a sixth grade style of term. The proper and professional term is "Restoration".  Restoration is used in professsional journals and books.  The phrase, "turn back the clock" is childish, infantile, uneducated and unsophisticated.WHEELER 13:38, 28 Apr 2004 (UTC)

Reactionary feelings in the antiquity
WHEELER, I'm afraid I don't agree with some of your exapnsions to this article. Some of the additions are good, but virtually no one would call the founding fathers "reactionary" -- on the contrary, they were "revolutionaries" to whom the Tories were reactionary. I think calling Socrates and Plato "reactionaries" is a bit imprecise, though I'll agree that Plato (and what Plato tells us of Socrates) defended a more conservative style of government than Athenian democracy. Certainly I don't know any reactionaries who like the label, and it's usually used for extremists -- I don't think Socrates and Plato were political extremists in defending a mixed government. Extreme in other ways perhaps, but not in their response to democracy. Jwrosenzweig 19:31, 22 Apr 2004 (UTC)

I don't think the term "reactionary" should be applied to ancient Greece, in any event. The political structures are so different from those of the modern state as to make such comparisons worthless. At any rate, we should all be extremely careful with edits done by WHEELER. I'd suggest that the best thing might just be to go back to the pre-WHEELER version and try to write a more extensive article, but I dunno. WHEELER is just using this page to advance the highly idiosyncratic views of politics that he's been pressing at other pages for weeks/months. john 20:41, 22 Apr 2004 (UTC)

 * If you wish, but would you be so kind as to carry over my own edits? David.Monniaux 20:57, 22 Apr 2004 (UTC)

It's somewhat anachronistic to say that the term reactionary was first used in Europe after the French Revolution and then say Plato was a reactionary. AndyL 20:47, 22 Apr 2004 (UTC)

I HAVE THE QUOTES TO BACK ME UP. MANY SCHOLARS WILL SAY THE SAME THING. I do not go for Revisionism. WHEELER 00:06, 23 Apr 2004 (UTC)

None of you are classicists. You hate the classics. I have read the classics. Socrates, Plato, Xenophon and Isocrates and Cicero were reactionaries. WHEELER 00:11, 23 Apr 2004 (UTC)

 * Gratuitous allegations. (For the record, I've reads several of Plato's works, as well as some Cicero, the latter in Latin. Still, I'm not a "Classicist", but saying that I hate the Classics would be an unbelievable stretch.)David.Monniaux 06:31, 28 Apr 2004 (UTC)

I am a classicist, and a rightist. I ought to know what I am talking about. Socrates was killed by the democracy. WHEELER 00:29, 23 Apr 2004 (UTC)

Good lord, do we actually have to deal with this guy? john 00:55, 23 Apr 2004 (UTC)
 * John, we do -- that's the Wiki way. :-) But it's difficult.  WHEELER, you're falling into your old habit of asserting things about me that are not true.  I have read the classics.  I love the classics.  I disagree with your interpretation of the classics.  You are expressing one point of view, and one that is severely in the minority here (and in modern scholarship, I rather suspect).  Being a "rightist" does not mean you know what you're talking about, any more that someone's being a "leftist" means they know what they're talking about.  The fact that you seem to think this makes all of us more and more convinced that you are unwilling to accept that you have biases (though I hope and believe that you can accept this, and learn from it).  Socrates was killed by a democracy gone wrong, but that has absolutely no bearing on our discussions here.  Please stay calm, if you can.  This is not a life-and-death matter. Jwrosenzweig 16:10, 23 Apr 2004 (UTC)

Correct use of quotations
I have the quotes to back me up. IF you want to revert then YOU USE QUOTES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!WHEELER 14:24, 23 Apr 2004 (UTC)

 * Then please cite your quotes. David.Monniaux 14:55, 23 Apr 2004 (UTC)

When writing an encyclopedia article, quotes should be used when appropriate; only quotes from authoritative sources are meaningful for facts, unless discussing meta-facts (i.e. you may quote a respected historian for an indication of a historical point, but if you quote some person who does not enjoy such respect, it becomes more of a factual point on that person's discourse).

The sectioning and overall structure of the article should not be destroyed. David.Monniaux 15:17, 23 Apr 2004 (UTC)

I have been if you looked in the Reference section. PLease look. '''AND AFTER I PUT IN REFERENCES AND QUOTES YOU ALL DELETED THEM AGAIN. THIS ARTICLE IS EXTREME POV. AND YOU PEOPLE NEVER LOOKED AT THE REFERENCES. WHOSE AT FAULT HERE.WHEELER 15:35, 23 Apr 2004 (UTC)

Were the Founding Fathers reactionaries?
Those references where put in the first time. YOU DON"T FOLLOW YOUR OWN RULES. YOU QUOTE A SCHOLARY BOOK THAT SAYS THE FOUNDING FATHERS WERE NOT REACTIONARY. WHEELER 15:37, 23 Apr 2004 (UTC)~      YOU DO THATWHEELER 15:37, 23 Apr 2004 (UTC)

If I was at a UNIVERSITY library I could probably pull up twenty similar quotes.WHEELER 15:38, 23 Apr 2004 (UTC)

 * Please restrict the use of all-capitals and bold to where they are appropriate. Abusing them on online forums is akin to shouting, and only makes you sound like some overexcited person. Also, consider checking your edits for syntaxical correctness.
 * In the case of affirmations and quotes, the burden of proof is on the person who makes the affirmations that are judged outlandish, not the reverse. David.Monniaux 15:58, 23 Apr 2004 (UTC)

 * WHEELER, furthermore, it is difficult to produce a quote that says "the Founding Fathers were not reactionaries" because few people have ever made such an assumption. Most historians have not seen the need to define the founding fathers as "not-reactionary" because they fly in the face of the definition of "reactionary" -- far from being conservative, they were incredibly liberal for their time, expounding the principles of Rousseau and opposing the very idea of monarchy.  I would further point out to you that most of your references from historians (those that I have seen) come from the period 1900-1939 -- I would suggest to you that using modern scholarship will be helpful, as the meanings of words change over time, as do perspectives and available evidence.  Ultimately, WHEELER, what do you want us to produce?  A quote that says "the Founding Fathers were revolutionaries"?  That would be more than enough, I should think, but would you find that enough.  Or must we produce a quote that says "the Founding Fathers were not reactionaries"?  What are you requesting? Jwrosenzweig 16:06, 23 Apr 2004 (UTC)

 * using modern scholarship will be helpful You keep repeating this phrase over and over and over and over. Jwrosenweig.  I told you before, I am not into revisionism or reformism.  You want me to conform to reformist, evolutionary socialism.  I will not.  The Law is "Strict Continuity".  You reasonings are similar to reformism.  I am not into reformism.  My reasonings stem from classical times to now, "The law of strict continuity", that all the ancients used.

 * By the way, I searched google and this original definition is an exact copy of the article on http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Reactionary Who here is plagarizing?????  What's going on here??????

 * This site mirror Wikipedia (read the fine print at the bottom). David.Monniaux 17:09, 23 Apr 2004 (UTC)

 * I point to the site where the founders at the constitutional convention hated democracy and promoted the Senate as similar to the House of Lords. This makes them reactionary.  I ran into this in my readings throughout life.  Reactionism is a "hatred for democracy".  Socrates had this, Cicero had this, Xenophon had this etc etc etc.

Hoover

 * Answer this, "True American Liberalism denies the whole creed of socialism". Is this a leftist or rightist statement?  Is this a progressive or a reactionary statement?WHEELER 16:31, 23 Apr 2004 (UTC)

 * Define "true American liberalism". In the context of 19th century European politics, "liberal" was generally synonymous with a person seeking a democratic regime with free markets, thus opposed to both "socialism" (which was a fairly rare political position until the second half of the century) and the Reaction. David.Monniaux 17:09, 23 Apr 2004 (UTC)

I misspelled continuity for conformityWHEELER 16:46, 23 Apr 2004 (UTC)
 * WHEELER, I'm sorry you have that opinion about modern scholarship. I share some skepticisms about some modern trends.  But I don't think this encyclopedia can legitimately ignore it, especially given NPOV policy.  There is no plagiarism -- had you looked at the page you link to more carefully, on the very bottom of the page is text noting that encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com took that article legally under the GFDL from us.  Not the other way around.

 * You are wrong, in my opinion, regarding the Senate's similarity to the House of Lords. The founding fathers were explicit in their rejection of American "nobility".  The selection process for the Senate has never looked anything like the selection process for the House of Lords.  There is no reason to believe that democratically elected state legislatures are "aristocrats" of necessity, and therefore their selections for the Senate would not necessarily be "aristocrats" (though in practice they often came from the upper classes, I believe you are using the ancient definition of "aristocrat", which certainly can't be applied wholesale to the U.S. Senate).

 * Your comment "Answer this, "True American Liberalism denies the whole creed of socialism". Is this a leftist or rightist statement?  Is this a progressive or a reactionary statement?" seeks to avoid the central issue.  The quotation you provide is not something that would have been uttered in 1776.  Yes, the statement makes American liberalism look rightist and reactionary, but only in comparison with blatant socialism.  If I provided one of the many quotations by founding fathers denouncing monarchy and extolling the rights of the people to freely elect a government, the statement would look leftist and progressive.  So we are left with two perspectives on the founding fathers which offer conflicting images of their politics.  Why do I and the rest believe we should focus on the perspective that they pursued a non-reactionary revolutionary end?  Because the founding fathers were fighting against monarchy, not socialism.  Had they fought against socialism (and ignored monarchy) we might remember them differently.  But we don't.  We have to discuss them in the context of their time, and in the context of that time, they were anything but reactionary. Jwrosenzweig 17:00, 23 Apr 2004 (UTC)

I can also provide a quote where there was a movement to get a king. There were feelers toward that regard.

The Senate was "modelled* after the House of Lords. Of course the particulars are the the different.  The general idea is the same!.

The Founding Fathers were deathly afraid of the French revolution and Jacobism.

 * Jacobinism. So? How does that make them reactionary? I'd say it makes them conservative in their attempt at change. Don't confuse "reactionary" with "conservative". David.Monniaux 17:50, 23 Apr 2004 (UTC)

And ask me this, how come bolsheviks keep on getting deleted from this site? Who did the Whites fight against? We want to hide the Bolsheviks. Do we? This is POV. This is censorship!

 * Citing "bolsheviks" as what reactionaries particularly fought against only makes sense in the case of Russia. It makes sense to say "In the context of the Russian Revolution, the reactionaries where the Whites fighting against the Bolsheviks, Mencheviks and other movements". It does not make sense to single out bolsheviks in a general context. David.Monniaux 17:50, 23 Apr 2004 (UTC)

How come "authoritarian" must always precede monarchy? This is POV. This is slanting the article towards POV.

 * Not at all. In 19th century Europe, reactionaries sought a return to absolute and authoritarian monarchies when parliamentary, or at least less authoritarian monarchies were a possibility. Do you know what the Action Française stands for? To be clear: a reactionary did not want a monarchy such as the British or Dutch monarchy. He wanted a monarchy like that of Charles X or even Louis XVI. David.Monniaux 17:50, 23 Apr 2004 (UTC)

Someone keeps deleting *progressive*, *socialist* from things reactionaries stand against. This article is controlled by people that don't want the other side.WHEELER 17:37, 23 Apr 2004 (UTC)

 * If you use the word "reactionary" in the context of 19th century European politics, as you did, then obviously singling out "socialists" as what reactionaries were opposed to goes against historical reality. In the 19th century, reactionaries in most of Europe were monarchists struggling for the abolition of republican or democratic regimes, such as the Third Republic. There was very little talk of socialism in those days, you know.
 * I think that you have been contaminated with American conservative historical revisionism which sees politics as a battle between God and the Law on one side, Communists, Socialists and Atheists on the other side. Unfortunately, such a point of view is historically inadequate for the 19th century and very distorted for the 20th century. David.Monniaux 17:50, 23 Apr 2004 (UTC)

The rule should be, The first definition comes first with the first chronology of events in creating that term. kTHIS is NPOV. Some want only modern definitions appear and that is evolutionary socialism.WHEELER 17:39, 23 Apr 2004 (UTC)

 * I suggest you look up the definition of "socialism" in a dictionary. Socialism is the proposal of the public ownership of the means of production, and assorted opinions. We're not discussing economic theories here. (But I suspect that you have this confusion of ideas with "socialism" standing for "anything that I don't like"). Etymologically, the Reaction is about going to a preceding state. That's the definition of the word. Then, we may discuss in which context the word was originally coined. You must also understand that the French Revolution was not "socialist", for instance: it did not try to make industries public, for instance. Therefore, dragging socialism, communism etc... into the "original sense" of the word is silly. David.Monniaux 17:59, 23 Apr 2004 (UTC)

 * The monarchical movement was so small as to be inconsequential, compared to the massive movement for state's rights, etc. And the fact that it was completely rejected should be a good sign that they did, in fact, oppose monarchy.  I think it is rather absurd to contend that the Senate is based on the same general idea as the House of Lords.  Senators served limited elected terms, and were given office by elected representatives of the people.  The Lords served life terms and were handed down offices from the monarch.  This is an entirely different approach to authority.  The superficial similarity that both bodies were seen as smaller chambers which might be more conservative about legislation is less significant than the basis for the chamber's authority, which is entirely different for each one.

 * The founding fathers were not all opposed to the French Revolution -- Thomas Paine certainly wasn't. And there were political reasons for backing the French monarchy which had nothing to do with American liberalism, and everything to do with surviving as a nation.  Mentioning Bolsheviks or not mentioning them is really a minor point.  Given the link to the Russian Revolution, probably Andy feels there's no need to emphasize the word "Bolshevik".

 * You said: "The rule should be, The first definition comes first with the first chronology of events in creating that term. kTHIS is NPOV.  Some want only modern definitions appear and that is evolutionary socialism."  But the most important definition of a word is the one in common usage now.  If there are multiple definitions of a word historically, yes, we need to address them.  But this encyclopedia is designed to serve a modern audience.  Furthermore, WHEELER, you have frequently been unable to demonstrate conclusive evidence for the alternative definitions you assert to be the "true" or "real" meaning of a word.  Our objections to such definitions aren't evolutionary socialism, but rather are simply our attempt to prevent bias from entering articles here.

 * Finally, I refer you again to my question. What kind of source would it take to demonstrate to you that the founding fathers were not reactionary? Jwrosenzweig 17:54, 23 Apr 2004 (UTC)

Why jwrosenweig will you not accept my sources. What makes it so hard not to accept my sources???"???????????  Because you want to shove your POV down our throats.  WHEELER 14:47, 24 Apr 2004 (UTC)

WHEELER, you're conducting your research with blinkers on. You hunt and peck for crumbs that support your view and ignore entire bakeries full of evidence that is contrary to your view. AndyL 17:36, 25 Apr 2004 (UTC)

Mr Jwrosenzweig, you talk as if you are Wikipedia Policy. I don't see those rules you mention anywhere under Wikipedia Policy. Does the Oxford Englich Dictionary, The Encyclopedia Britannica, or World Book operate under YOUR rules? Are you an authority of encylopedia content and the order of information? Or just the commisar of Wikipedia to make sure your leftist POV is the norm?WHEELER 19:31, 25 Apr 2004 (UTC)

 * Again, please drop your obsessions about "leftists". (Besides, I note that when discussing political concepts in history and different places, one should generally stop talking of "left" and "right" unless qualifying these terms. A "leftist" in the 19th century could be a free-market republican, which we'd now call a conservative right-winger.) David.Monniaux 19:48, 25 Apr 2004 (UTC)

title: Talk:Reactionary/Archive 1


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John Howe (theologian)

John Howe (17 May 1630 – 2 April 1705) was an English Puritan theologian. He served briefly as chaplain to Oliver Cromwell.

Life
Howe was born at Loughborough. At the age of five he went to Ireland with his father, who had been ejected from his living by William Laud, but returned to England in 1641 and settled with his father in Lancaster. He studied at Christ's College, Cambridge, and at Magdalen College, Oxford (B.A., 1650; M.A., 1652), where for a time he was fellow and college chaplain. At Cambridge he came under the influence of Ralph Cudworth and Henry More, from whom he probably received the Platonic tinge that marks his writings. About 1654 he was appointed to the perpetual curacy of Great Torrington, Devon. In this place, according to his own statement, he was engaged in the pulpit on fast days from nine to four, with a recess of fifteen minutes, during which the people sang. While on a visit to London in 1656 Oliver Cromwell prevailed upon him to preach at Whitehall, with the result that Howe, much against his preferences, became one of Cromwell's chaplains. Upon Richard Cromwell's retirement he returned to his former parish at Torrington. When the Act of Uniformity 1662 was passed he quit his church, but remained for some time in the neighbourhood, preaching in private houses. In this period he was cited before the Bishop of Exeter, his old friend Seth Ward, who vainly urged Howe to be reordained.

In 1666 Howe accepted the Five Mile Act, but with the limiting clause, "so far as the laws of man are agreeable to the Word of God." In 1671 he became chaplain to Lord Massereene, of Antrim Castle, Ireland. Here he was a member of the Antrim Meeting, the precursor of the Presbyterian organization in Ireland. In 1676 he returned to London as the successor of Lazarus Seaman at Haberdashers' Hall. In 1685, on account of the greater severity shown to the dissenters, he accepted an invitation to accompany Lord Wharton to the Continent, and the year following settled at Utrecht. When James II issued his declaration for liberty of conscience in 1687 Howe returned to his old position in London. From this time till his death he took an active interest in current discussions on predestination, the Trinity, and conformity. In 1688 he headed a deputation of dissenting ministers in an address of welcome to William of Orange. He died in London.

Principal writings

 * The Blessedness of the Righteous (London, 1668)
 * Delighting in God (1674), (L. B. Seeley & Son, 1825)
 * The Living Temple (2 parts, 1675–1702), his best-known book
 * The Redeemer's Tears Wept over Lost Souls (1684)
 * Works issued with a Life by Edmund Calamy (2 vols., 1724), and edited by J. Hunt (8 vols., 1810–22). There is also an American edition (2 vols., New York, 1869).

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: John Howe (theologian)


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Endurance (crater)

Endurance is an impact crater lying situated within the Margaritifer Sinus quadrangle (MC-19) region of the planet Mars. This crater was visited by the Opportunity rover from May until December 2004. Mission scientists named the crater after the ship Endurance that sailed to the Antarctic through the Weddell Sea during the ill-fated 1914–1917 Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition, considered to be the last expedition of the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration organized by Ernest Shackleton.

The rover entered the crater interior on its 134th mission sol (June 15), and exited on the 315th sol (December 14). During this time it traversed various obstacles, steep inclines, and overcame large wheel slippage when driving over fine sand.

Exploration by Opportunity
After arriving at the crater, Opportunity performed a survey of the crater to plan the further steps in exploring the local geology. A site dubbed "Karatepe" was chosen to enter the crater and investigate the layering of the bedrock.

The picture to the right shows changes in the color of the bedrock layers. The layer "A" is closer to the rover and higher than the layers "B" to "E". Texture and rock chemistry also differed with depth. Thus scientists infer that the age of these layers is following a similar pattern, with the higher layers being younger than the lower layers.

Opportunity then went farther down into the crater to investigate the sand dunes. Various rock outcrops were investigated while the rover descended. It was decided not to drive into the dunes, for fear the rover might get stuck permanently. Instead, Opportunity did some work on some rocks surrounding the dunes before heading back up to the rim of the crater. On the way, it encountered a boulder, nicknamed 'Wopmay', that provided inconclusive evidence that rocks near the bottom of the crater were affected by water before and after the crater formed.

The rover then headed off to Burns Cliff. Burns Cliff, named for the late mineralogist Roger Burns of MIT, was studied closely by Opportunity. High amounts of slippage prevented the rover from using its robotic arm, however high resolution imaging was conducted with the Pancam. It shows layers of sediment that might indicate deposition by a liquid. The layers in the cliff would later be followed south of the crater to identify it as a geologic formation, in this case the "Burns Formation". These names are not official until made so by the International Astronomical Union.

Burns Cliff was the final science stop inside Endurance. The rover had some trouble making it out, noticing slippage, but prevailed. Leaving Endurance it headed for its heat shield where it would find the Meridiani Planum meteorite, which happened to be the first meteorite discovered on another planet.

Wet history
Opportunity spent about half a year exploring Endurance. During that time, data collected by the rover supplanted and greatly expanded on the history of water at Meridiani Planum, in addition to the confirmation that there had been liquid water here in ancient times. Endurance provided mission scientists with a cross-section of the bedrock on this part of Mars, showing that liquid water hadn't flowed across the surface just once, but was of an episodic nature, and wasn't permanently present, with floods periodically washing over the landscape, and then drying up again. Interpretation of the materials (such as sulfates) in Endurance's evaporite outcrops led mission scientists to believe that this shallow sea was probably rather acidic in nature, but couldn't rule out that life may have been present at some point.

title: Endurance (crater)


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Third World War (band)

Third World War were an English blues rock, hard rock, and proto-punk band formed in 1970 by manager and producer John Fenton together with songwriters Terry Stamp and Jim Avery. Fenton came up with the band's name and provided a large part of its musical direction; Phill Brown, the recording engineer on the band's first album, quotes him as saying, "I want a no-bullshit, working class band—I've had enough of all this pseudo peace crap." Due to this attitude, the band's raucous sound and its revolutionary lyrics, they have been described as "England's first punk band" (after Crushed Butler)

In 1970 the band recorded their first album, Third World War, which was released in 1971 on Fly Records. Largely, the themes of the album espoused far-left political sentiment. It featured Stamp on rhythm guitar and vocals, Avery on bass, Mick Lieber on lead guitars and Fred Smith (drums). Tony Ashton also added piano on some of the tracks, and Jim Price (trumpet and trombone) and Bobby Keyes (saxophone), American musicians who were playing with the Rolling Stones, provided some horn parts.

At the time the album was released, the band had yet to play live. In the summer of 1971 Avery, Fenton and Stamp reconfigured the group to get "the 'best' live grouping," which was Stamp, Avery, John Hawken on piano, John Knightsbridge on lead guitar, and Paul Olsen on drums. They toured Finland, playing 35 gigs in 30 days, and then went on to perform at a number of festivals across Europe. 1971 also saw the release of the band's two singles, "Ascension Day"/"Teddy Teeth Goes Sailing" and "A Little Bit Of Urban Rock"/"Working Class Man", both of which appeared on Fly Records.

By the time Third World War went into the studio in 1972 to record their second album the management at Fly Records were becoming unhappy with the band's lack of commercial potential. Hoping to guide the group towards more mainstream acceptability, the label demanded the song "Coshing Old Lady Blues" be removed from the album. Fenton refused to release the album without that track, so Third World War II came out instead on The Who's Track Records label. Personnel on the record was the touring group from the previous summer, except that Craig Collinge replaced Olsen on drums. During the recording of the album, Fenton ran out of money and could no longer pay the musicians, and once the record was finished the band broke up.

title: Third World War (band)


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Maerdy

Maerdy (, Y Maerdy) is a village and community (and electoral ward) in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, and within the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan, Wales, lying at the head of the Rhondda Fach Valley.

History
"Maerdy" is a Welsh word meaning "house of the slaves, and may indicate a medieval origin. The "maer" (steward) was usually appointed by the king; the maer biswail (literally the "dung steward") was not as important and wielded less authority than the "maer" (Hen Gyfreithiau Cymreig, S. J. Williams). "Maerdy" was also used for a 'summer dwelling' as well as for a 'dairy farm' (GPC). The name is found in several locations throughout Wales. 'Mardy' represents the local Gwentian dialect form of the written "maerdy".

The area grew from a farming community to town around the coal mining industry and the development of Mardy Colliery in the late 19th century, but its last pit (Mardy Main) shut in 1990. Maerdy was not originally an area of industrial confrontation, with the Cambrian mines of Pentre showing far more socialist ideals. This view would change by the mid to late 20th century when Maerdy became synonymous with working class syndicalism and solidarity. In the mid-twentieth century Maerdy was associated with the Communist Party of Great Britain and radical miners' leaders such as Arthur Horner and was known as Little Moscow. By the time of the Miners' strike in the 1980s, Maerdy was the location of one of the last working mines in the south Wales valleys, and the pictures of the returning miners once the strike was resolved was one of the defining moments of late 20th century Welsh history.

Maerdy has a number of memorials erected to remember events of significance and notable people. Near the Avon factory, a bridge has been constructed to remember Frank Owen of Pentre Road, who died fighting in the Spanish Civil War.

There is also a memorial in place to remember victims of the colliery disaster, placed in Maerdy Park, and is a coal Dram filled with coal from Maerdy Colliery. Also located in Maerdy park is a memorial dedicated to the memory of fallen World War I and World War II Soldiers.

A newer, updated War memorial has been erected adjacent to the Colliery memorial with the names of all the soldiers who died in both World War I and World War II.

In 2017, a memorial, known locally as the ‘Maerdy Gateway’ was created at the foot of the mountain road leading to neighbouring Aberdare. It consists of a pitwheel and a statue of a miner holding a child, wrapped in a traditional Welsh shawl, in memoriam and recognition of the area's booming coal industry.

Governance
The Maerdy electoral ward is coterminous with the community and elects one county councillor to Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council. Since 1995 representation has flipped between the Labour Party and Plaid Cymru.

However, a 2018 review of electoral arrangements by the Local Democracy and Boundary Commission for Wales would see Maerdy ward merged with neighbouring Ferndale. The proposals would take effect from the 2022 council elections.

Transport
Between 1849 and 1856, the Taff Vale Railway opened the Maerdy Branch from Porth, including a station at Maerdy. Passenger services were withdrawn in 1964, and the line closed completely in August 1986 after coal from Mardy Colliery was raised through Tower Colliery.

In 2005, RCT council constructed the A4223 Porth and Lower Rhondda Fach Relief Road (Porth Bypass) follows the old railway line through Ynyshir, past Wattstown and on to Pontygwaith. The northern section forms a branch to the Taff Trail cycleway.

Community Archives Wales
A group of interested residents takes part in the Maerdy Archive Group which is affiliated with the Community Archives Wales scheme to teach local residents how to upload articles of their community's history. The group has a large collection of photographs and ephemera about the development and expansion of the Maerdy area. In 2002 the village was designated as a Communities First Area and a Partnership formed.

title: Maerdy


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John Howe

John Howe may refer to:

Politics

 * John Howe (MP for Yarmouth)
 * John Grobham Howe (died 1679) (1625–1679), British politician and MP for Gloucestershire
 * John Grubham Howe (1657–1722), British politician
 * Sir John Howe, 1st Baronet (died 1671), British politician and MP for Gloucestershire
 * John Howe, 1st Baron Chedworth (died 1742), British MP for Gloucester and Wiltshire
 * John Howe, 2nd Baron Chedworth (1714–1762), Lord Lieutenant of Gloucestershire
 * John Howe, 4th Baron Chedworth (1754–1804), last Baron Chedworth
 * John W. Howe (politician) (1801–1873), American politician from Pennsylvania
 * John Howe (Minnesota politician) (born 1963), American politician from Minnesota
 * John T. Howe (politician), state legislator in North Carolina

Religion

 * John Howe (theologian) (1630–1705), English Puritan theologian
 * John Howe (bishop) (1920–2001), Episcopal bishop of St Andrews, Dunkeld and Dunblane
 * John W. Howe (bishop) (born 1942), bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Central Florida

Other

 * John Howe (loyalist) (1754–1835), American loyalist and printer
 * John Howe (Australian settler) (1774–1852), Chief Constable of Windsor, New South Wales
 * John Howe (cricketer) (1868–1939), Australian cricketer
 * John Howe (RAF officer) (1930–2016), South African-born fighter pilot
 * John Howe (illustrator) (born 1957), Canadian book illustrator
 * John H. Howe (architect) (1913-1997), American architect
 * John H. Howe (judge) (1801–1873), Chief Justice of the Wyoming Territorial Supreme Court
 * John Ireland Howe, inventor and manufacturer
 * John T. Howe (engineer), American mechanical engineer
 * John Howe (filmmaker) (1926-2008), Canadian film director and producer

title: John Howe


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Pink fairy armadillo

The pink fairy armadillo (Chlamyphorus truncatus) is the smallest species of armadillo, first described by Richard Harlan in 1825. This solitary, desert-adapted animal is endemic to the deserts and scrub lands of central Argentina. The pink fairy armadillo is closely related to the only other fairy armadillo, the greater fairy armadillo.

Pink fairy armadillos have small eyes, silky yellowish white fur, and flexible dorsal shells that are attached to their bodies solely by thin dorsal membranes. Their spatula-shaped tails protrude from vertical plates at the blunt rear of their shells. They exhibit nocturnal and solitary habits and feed themselves largely on insects, worms, snails, and various plant parts. The pink fairy armadillo has a unique ability to bury itself in a matter of seconds, using its specialized claws to dig into sandy or loamy soils. This behavior helps protect the armadillo from predators and extreme temperatures, as well as conserve moisture in its arid habitat.

The conservation status of pink fairy armadillos is still uncertain, and it is listed as Data Deficient by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. The decline in population for this species has generally been attributed to farming activities and predators including domestic dogs and cats. Pink fairy armadillos are found less commonly than they were a few decades ago, and the field sightings have been rare and incidental.

Individuals caught in the wild had a tendency to die during or a couple days after transport from their natural habitat to captive facilities. There is a sole record for the longevity of a pink fairy armadillo that was held in captivity more than four years; however, that particular case lacks scientific description. Armadillos' evolutionary distinctiveness, combined with their restricted geographic range, ongoing threats, and rarity, make conservation extremely urgent for these species.

Evolutionary origins
At present, fairy armadillos have the least molecular data available among all families of armadillos. The subfamily Chlamyphorinae includes only two non-extinct species: Chlamyphorus truncatus, the pink fairy armadillo, and Calyptophractus retusus, the greater fairy armadillo. These two species are morphologically similar: both have notably reduced eyes and reinforced forearms that support enlarged digging claws. They are also one of the few mammals that lack visible external ears. Both species are specialized to a subterranean lifestyle which was developed in their ancestral lineage sometime between 32 and 17 Mya.

Both species have geographically separated distributions, and both are strictly nocturnal, but the details of their ecology and their population biology remain unknown. The similarities can be explained either by the presence of a shared common ancestry, which would place both species in the same clade (making them monophyletic), or by the result of adaptive convergence due to extreme selective pressures induced by their lifestyle (suggesting them to be diphyletic). A study in 2012 of several of their genes concluded that they were monophyletic, estimating the split between the two species to have occurred around 17 ± 3 Mya, around the transition between the Early Miocene and the Middle Miocene.

Both species are rare in the field and are fairly elusive, so the phylogenetic affinities of fairy armadillos have been tested only once. Research conducted in 2009 supported the idea that the three previously identified subfamilies Dasypodinae, Euphractinae, and Tolypeutinae of armadillos, which separated shortly after the Eocene-Oligocene transition, were monophyletic. Chlamyphorinae, the subfamily including the pink fairy armadillo, was found to show phylogenetic affinities with the clade Tolypeutinae. This was a significant step in defining the previously completely unknown phylogenetic position of this armadillo subfamily within Cingulata. Later, the separation of the fairy armadillo subfamily from their sister-group of Tolypeutinae was estimated to have occurred 32 ± 3 Mya.

Fairy armadillos have previously been classified within the subfamily Euphractinae. However, current opinion is that the antiquity and uniqueness of pink fairy armadillos is best accounted for by retaining the subfamily Chlamyphorinae.

Range and habitat
Pink fairy armadillos are nocturnal burrowing mammals endemic to the xeric environment in central Argentina. They have been found south of Mendoza province as well as north of Rio Negro and south of Buenos Aires. This narrow range contains a unique and crucial habitat for the pink fairy armadillo. It lives in scrubby grasslands that display a variety of thin Larrea and Portulaca shrubs during spring and summer periods. It also resides in sandy plains and dunes.

The pink fairy armadillo is classified as a subterranean armadillo that is extremely sensitive to environmental changes and stress. As an example, sudden environmental changes that could affect pink fairy armadillos include temperature and soil quality. In order for them to survive and maintain stability, they must occupy undisturbed places that contain sufficient amounts of compact sand and hiding places. This also refers to possible captivity conditions for this animal due to its desert-adapted characteristics.

Dietary habits
The pink fairy armadillo is classified as a fossorial, generalist, insectivore. Ants and larvae are its main food source while underground. While those are its primary sources of food, the armadillos are known to also eat worms, snails, and various insects. If these insects and invertebrates cannot be found, plant leaves and roots make a good secondary dietary option for their underground lifestyle. In captivity, this animal was observed to willingly accept such foods as watermelon, avocado shells with avocado flesh, and Mazuri Insectivore Diet.

Description
The pink fairy armadillo is 90 – long, and typically weighs about 120 g. This species is the smallest living armadillo and is among the least known.

Thermoregulation and external shell
Its fine hair has been found to be beneficial for thermoregulation in an environment with highly variable temperatures. Night temperatures in Argentinian plains can get very low, and since the armadillo is nocturnal it needs the fur to conserve heat while it is being active outside its burrow.

Armadillos are well known for leathery shells covering the majority of the dorsal side. The pink fairy armadillo has this characteristic as well, but its shell is much softer and more flexible. Though the shell is close enough to the body for blood vessels to be seen through the armor, this protective part of the animal is only attached via a thin membrane along the spinal column of the animal.

The pink fairy armadillo can curl up to protect the vulnerable soft underside, covered with dense white hair. The armored shell consists of 24 bands that allow the animal to curl up in a ball, and the armor is flattened in the posterior portion of the animal so that it can compress dirt behind it as it is digging. This compression strategy is thought to help prevent tunnel collapses. Lastly, the shell itself is also thought to help with thermoregulation. Since the underlying blood vessels are so close to the surface, the animal can control the amount of functional surface area exposed to the environment in order to retain or lose heat. Like most armadillos, they rely mostly on a sense of smell to find each other and their prey.

Burrowing lifestyle
The armadillo has two massive sets of claws on its front and hind limbs which help it to dig the burrows in compacted soil very quickly. The pink fairy armadillo is nicknamed the "sand-swimmer" because it is said that it can "burrow through the ground as fast as a fish can swim in the sea." The claws are large relatively to the size of the animal, hindering its ability to walk on a hard surface.

Along with these unique traits, the pink fairy armadillo has greatly reduced eyes and relies highly on touch and hearing to navigate. It also has a torpedo-shaped body in order to reduce the amount of drag it may encounter while working in tunnels and a thick, hairless tail that it uses for balance and stability while using its other limbs to dig.

Threats
As a subterranean dweller, the armadillo is forced to leave its burrows when heavy storms roll in due to the threat of drowning and the risk of wetting its fur. If its fur is wet the armadillo cannot properly thermoregulate and could experience hypothermia during night hours. Once above ground during a rainstorm the armadillo is vulnerable to an array of predators. Domestic dogs have greatly preyed on these armadillos. Even their underground homes are not completely safe: Fairy armadillos are preyed upon in their burrows by domestic dogs and cats as well as wild boars.

These armadillos do not do well in captivity. The survival rate is so low that many will die in transport from where they were captured to their new area of captivity. Armadillos that are put into captivity typically do not last longer than a few hours or at most eight days. Not a single specimen has survived more than four years. In spite of the high mortality rate associated with captivity, many are sold illegally on the black market, often as pets.

Pink fairy armadillos are highly susceptible to changes in climate, habitat loss, farmland pesticide usage, and overhunting. Because they inhabit temperate and warm regions, cold temperatures could wipe out their populations due to their low metabolism rate and inability to store fat. As the number of acres converted to farmland increases, the armadillos' burrows not only get plowed over, but the land is no longer habitable for them. The use of pesticides on farmlands is highly concerning because these pesticides adhere to ants, the armadillos' primary source of food. Ingestion of enough of these pesticide-infested ants can be detrimental to their health. Overhunting is one factor that has definitely contributed to the animals' endangerment. Many people in the Americas continue to hunt armadillos for consumption, which is said to be similar to pork in texture and taste.

Conservation efforts
In 2006, the armadillo was placed in the Near-Threatened category on the IUCN Red List. In 2008 it was moved to the Data Deficient category due to the lack of scientific information on its population dynamics and natural history. Field sightings were confirmed to be rare and less common than before, even though the pink fairy armadillo is already difficult to observe due to its nocturnal fossorial lifestyle.

Researchers have found that the pink fairy armadillo is highly subject to stress, making the attempts to apply any conservation policies, including taking it out of its natural environment, extremely difficult and largely unsuccessful. Any modifications in its environment, external temperature, or diet are known to trigger stress responses, which is considered to be a possible reason for the failure of captivity attempts.

Many of the armadillos have died during the transportation process from their wild habitat, and many more have only survived several days in captivity. Overall, there are only three reports of captive maintenance of pink fairy armadillo that are considered successful – in 1970, 1985, and 2009, reporting individuals that lived in captivity for at least 30 months, 22 months, and 8 months respectively.

This armadillo species is found in several protected areas, including the Lihué Calel National Park. Both national and provincial legislation is in place specifically protecting the species.

title: Pink fairy armadillo


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Maesteg

Maesteg is a town and community in Bridgend County Borough, Wales. Maesteg lies at the northernmost end of the Llynfi Valley, close to the border with Neath Port Talbot. In 2011, Maesteg had a population of 20,612. The English translation of Maesteg is 'fair field'.

Historically a part of Glamorgan, the growth of the town started with the opening of ironworks in the 1820s and 1830s. Once a coal mining area, the last pit closed in 1985. With the decline of the coal industry and, more recently, the closure of one large factory producing cosmetics and another manufacturing vehicle components, the valley has become a residential/dormitory area for the Port Talbot, Bridgend and Cardiff journey to work areas. 11% (1,867 out of 20,702) of the town's population speak Welsh with 27.9% of 3-15 year olds speaking the language. It is one of the few areas of Wales where the traditional Mari Lwyd is still celebrated during Christmas.

The community of Maesteg had a population of 17,580 in the 2011 census and includes Nantyffyllon. The built-up area having a population of 21,000.

History
Before the development of industry in the 1820s, the Llynfi Valley was a sparsely populated area of scattered farms. The nearest settlement was the village of Llangynwyd, located on the hillside about two miles south of the present-day town centre of Maesteg. Close to Llangynwyd is an extensive earthwork known as Y Bwlwarcau ("the bulwarks"), an Iron Age enclosure that is probably a remnant of the earliest settlement in the Llynfi district.

During the Middle Ages, the valley was part of Tir Iarll (the Earl's Land), an area "famous for its game coverts, its woods and sparkling streams" that was set aside as a hunting reserve by Robert Fitzhamon, Earl of Gloucester, the Norman conqueror of Glamorgan. Up to the 18th century, many of the farms of the Llynfi Valley were centres of local culture. For example, Llwydarth, the home of the influential Powell family, was a centre for writers and poets in Glamorgan in the 17th century.

According to the Daily Telegraph, Maesteg was the first place in the UK where Japanese knotweed was spotted in the wild, sometime before 1886.

Industrial history
The origins of the present-day community in the Llynfi Valley date from the late 1820s, when the area's considerable coal and iron ore resources were developed on an industrial scale for the first time. In 1828, a 15-mile horse-drawn railway was completed between Porthcawl and Garnlwyd in the Llynfi Valley. This was the Dyffryn Llynfi and Porthcawl Railway (DLPR); it was extended to the Coegnant district near the head of the valley in 1830. The railway opened up the district and led to the formation of an iron company, which began building a works on Maesteg Uchaf Farm, near the site of the present-day town centre, in 1826. The company took its name from the farm, and by 1831 two blast furnaces were in operation and the first rows of workers' housing had been completed near the Maesteg Ironworks. Around the same time, one of the first zinc smelters in Wales was set up on Coegnant Farm near the northern terminus of the DLPR.

In 1839, work on a second, larger, ironworks commenced at Nantycrynwydd Farm on a site now largely occupied by the Tesco store and car park. The works, which became known as the Llynfi Ironworks (or "The New Works"), was started by the unsuccessful Cambrian Iron and Spelter Company and was bought by the ambitious Llynvi Iron Company in 1845. The Cornstores section of the Maesteg Sports Centre and the adjoining base of a blast furnace remain as links to the Llynfi Works and the valley's significant 19th century iron industry. The two ironworks, with associated collieries and new housing, transformed an area of scattered farms with a population of about 400 in 1821 into a growing township with a population of 4,000 by 1841.

The Cambrian/Llynfi Works attracted investment capital from a number of prominent figures of the early Victorian period, including the poet William Wordsworth, who was a Cambrian shareholder in the early 1840s, the gin distiller Sir Felix Booth, and the writer and radical politician Dr John Bowring. Bowring invested heavily in the Llynfi Works in the mid-1840s and, for a number of years, that part of the valley around his works was known as Bowrington. During his association with the Maesteg district, he campaigned in Parliament for a decimal system of coinage and was largely responsible for the introduction of Britain's first decimal coin, the florin or two shilling piece (now the ten pence piece). John Bowring lost his capital in the trade depression of the late 1840s, although the iron company continued trading. After his Llynfi venture, John Bowring became British Consul in Canton, China, and was Governor of Hong Kong from 1854 to 1859.

The iron industry in Maesteg continued, with varying degrees of success, until wrought iron making was replaced by the manufacture of cheaper, mass-produced steel during the 1870s. In its heyday, after the opening of the broad gauge, steam-hauled Llynfi Valley Railway in 1861, the Llynfi Works had a reputation for producing high-quality iron. In the mid-Victorian period there was a flourishing export trade to Southern Italy and Turkey; rails were exported to the United States and Llynvi "Navy Quality" No.3 Cable Iron was highly regarded by the makers of Admiralty-tested anchor chains. However, as the Llynfi site could not be adapted for the production of steel, iron making ceased in the Maesteg area in 1885.

During the mid-1880s, with the closure of the Llynfi Works and its associated collieries, the Maesteg district, with a population of about 10,000, faced an uncertain future. However, the local coal industry then began to expand with the formation of North's Navigation Collieries Ltd in 1889. The colliery company was led by Colonel North, the "Nitrate King". In 1900, another company, led by Sir Alfred Jones of the Elder Dempster shipping line, also developed collieries in the valley. Due to the expansion programme set in motion by the two mining companies, two of the local, former iron company collieries (Coegnant and Garth) were modernised, and two new large collieries were sunk at Caerau and St John's (Cwmdu). With the development of the coal industry, the local population increased from about 10,000 in 1891 to almost 30,000 in 1921.

Between 1890 and 1925, the valley gained a worldwide reputation as a producer of Admiralty-grade steam coal, high quality coking coal and what was regarded as the best house coal in South Wales. Due to the quality of the steam coal, North's Imperial Navigation coal was included on the prestigious Admiralty List of the twenty–six best Welsh steam coals. In 1908, the Cunard liner Mauretania was entirely fired by Llynfi coal when the ship established a new record for crossing the Atlantic. By the early 1920s there were over 7,000 miners at work in the valley. However, as the area depended to such a large extent on the coal export trade, it was seriously affected by the trade depression of 1928–38. During that period of acute poverty and large-scale unemployment, the population of the Llynfi Valley decreased by almost a third as many left the district to seek employment in the new light industries growing up in areas such as West London and the English Midlands.

For many years after the Second World War, the local coal industry employed well over 2,000 workers and new jobs were created in local government-built factories and in new industries in the Port Talbot and Bridgend journey-to-work areas. Due to the buoyant coal industry and the success of the new factories during the years 1950–75, the population of Maesteg and district stabilised at about 20,000, roughly the figure today. With the creation of more jobs in the Bridgend and Port Talbot districts, the Llynfi Valley gradually became a residential area, a process which speeded up with the terminal decline of the coal industry during the period 1977 to 1985.

Llynfi Valley metal-working centres Llynfi Valley collieries

Maesteg Market
Maesteg Market was situated at the ground floor level of Maesteg Town Hall and offered a variety of goods until the final stallholder left in 2018.

Railway
Maesteg has three railway stations, all on the Maesteg Line. Services are operated by Transport for Wales and run directly to Cardiff Central via Bridgend. The services usually continue to Cheltenham Spa via Newport and Gloucester with one early morning service to Ebbw Vale Town. Previous, long-distance extensions to London Waterloo and Wrexham General were short lived. The terminus station is Maesteg; the other two stations are the most recently built Maesteg (Ewenny Road), and Garth station which serves the Garth and Cwmfelin villages situated just outside Maesteg. The Rail linc bus service used to replace a withdrawn rail service from Maesteg to Caerau, but it was removed in January 2012 due to council cutbacks.

In the past, there were other railway stations in Maesteg. Llangynwyd Station used to lie on the Maesteg line a few miles east of where Garth Station is today, and Maesteg (Neath Road) was on the old Port Talbot Railway Line, but these are now closed.

The original Maesteg station was situated a few yards west of the terminus that is there today. Remains of the original station remain behind the Asda supermarket, including the platforms and the bridge joining the two platforms. The old track was removed in 2007 during a land reclamation project. The present stations were reopened by British Rail in 1992.

Buses
Maesteg bus station is situated to the rear of the town hall. First Cymru operate the majority of the services from this station. Services run to Bridgend, Swansea via Port Talbot, Caerau Park, Llangynwyd and Cymmer.

Welsh language
In common with the rest of Wales, the town has two official languages, English and Welsh. The majority of people in Maesteg are native English speakers, but there is a Welsh-speaking minority. The 2011 census reported that 11% of people over the age of 3 spoke Welsh. However, there were large discrepancies between age groups. 27.9% of 3-15 year olds spoke Welsh, 8.6% of 16-64 year olds spoke Welsh, and the lowest proportion was among the over 65s at 5.3%.

Primary and secondary education is available through the medium of Welsh, there are Welsh-language chapels, and the headquarters of Menter yr Iaith Pen-y-bont ar Ogwr is based in the town. The Welsh-language author and Welsh-medium education campaigner Norah Isaac was born and raised in Caerau. She was described as 'the most influential individual in the history of Welsh-medium education' by Iolo Wyn Williams in his book Our Children's Language: The Welsh-Medium Schools of Wales, 1939-2000. Wales' first ever Welsh-language nursery was opened in Maesteg in 1949.

Education
Maesteg has six English language state primary schools: Cwmfelin, Plasnewydd, Caerau, Nantyffyllon, Llangynwyd and Garth. Plasnewydd is one of the biggest primary schools in the Llynfi Valley, with just over 400 pupils, and is an Eco-School. There is also a Catholic primary school, St. Mary's and St. Patrick's, and a Welsh-medium school, Ysgol Cynwyd Sant.

There are two comprehensive schools in Maesteg. The English-medium Ysgol Maesteg School, previously known as Maesteg Comprehensive School, recently moved to a new site, at a cost of £17,000,000. The Welsh-medium Ysgol Gyfun Gymraeg Llangynwyd then relocated to the former school's previous premises.

The pupils of St. Mary's and St. Patrick's pursue their secondary education in Archbishop McGrath Catholic Comprehensive School, located in Brackla, a few miles to the south.

Maesteg Town Council
Maesteg Town Council has seventeen representatives covering the four electoral wards of Maesteg East (5), Maesteg West (5), Nantyffyllon (3) and Caerau (4). Until recently, there had been a majority of Labour members for over forty years. Following mass resignations from the local Labour Party as a result of an internal row over candidate selections, several Councillors resigned from the party and now sit as independents. The make-up of the council as of June 2019 is 9 Labour and 8 Llynfi Independents members.

Religion
The largest religion in the valley is Christianity; the majority of denominations are Nonconformist. There are many churches and chapels in the Maesteg area, several of which have been converted into flats because they are no longer used for religious purposes. There is a Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses in one of Maesteg's villages, Nantyffyllon.

Culture
Maesteg has a tradition of music and theatre, including a rich tradition of singing. At present, there are two male voice choirs – Cor Meibion Maesteg A'r Cylch (Maesteg and District Male Voice Choir) and Maesteg Gleemen Male Voice Choir. Regarding competitions and awards, Maesteg Gleemen is the most successful MVC in the Llyfi Valley and Bridgend County Borough Council area.

There is also a women's choir: Harmony Ladies Choir. There are two mixed groups, Noteworthy Choir and Take Note contemporary vocal group.

Maesteg Children's Choir hosts many concerts throughout the year, and Curtain Up Youth Theatre has been performing musicals since the turn of the millennium.

The rock band Funeral for a Friend originates from Maesteg.

The Welsh national anthem "Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau" was first performed in Maesteg, in the vestry of the original Capel Tabor which is now Maesteg Workingmen's Club.

The artist Christopher Williams was born in Maesteg in 1873: seven of his paintings are on display in the town hall.

Media
As part of Bridgend County Borough, the local commercial radio station is Bridge FM. Maesteg is also on the fringes of the broadcast area of the Swansea-based local commercial radio stations Hits Radio South Wales and Swansea Bay Radio. The town is also served by three local newspapers: The Glamorgan Gazette, published weekly, has its main office in Bridgend, but prints news related to Maesteg; The Gem, formerly The Recorder, a free weekly, printed in Cowbridge, and The Llynfi News, a free monthly paper, based in Maesteg.

Sport
Maesteg is home to Maesteg Park A.F.C. an association football team founded in 1945 and affiliated to the Football Association of Wales. There are four Welsh Rugby Union teams in Maesteg. The oldest is Maesteg RFC, founded in 1877, while Maesteg Harlequins RFC was formed in the 1920s. Other rugby union teams from the area include Nantyffyllon RFC and Maesteg Celtic RFC. For a time, Maesteg was also home to the now-defunct rugby league team South Wales Scorpions.

The town is home to two cricket clubs. Maesteg Cricket Club was founded in 1846 and won the South Wales Cricket Association League Cup in 2016. Maesteg Celtic Cricket Club is based at Garth Welfare Park; they have won the Welsh Cup three times and the first division of the South Wales Cricket Association on seven occasions, including a record four times consecutively. Both clubs play in the South Wales Cricket Association Division 1.

Notable people

 * See Category:People from Maesteg

 * Billy Banks (1925-1991), Wales and Great Britain rugby league player
 * Allan Bateman, Wales and British Lions rugby union and rugby league player
 * Dave Bowen (1928–1995), Arsenal and Wales, footballer and football manager
 * Henry Bracy (1846–1917), opera singer, director and producer
 * Gwyn Evans, Wales and British Lions rugby union player
 * Howell Evans (1928-2014), actor
 * Chico Hopkins, Wales and British Lions rugby union and rugby league player
 * Norah Isaac (1915-2003), author and pioneer of Welsh-language education
 * George Jeffries (1889–1972), founder of the worldwide Elim Pentecostal Church
 * Siân Lloyd (1958-), ITV weather presenter
 * James Morgan (1985-), actor
 * Sir Rhys Hopkin Morris (1888–1956), politician, stipendiary magistrate and first director of the Welsh Region BBC
 * Sir William Beddoe Rees MP (1877–1931), Welsh chapel architect, town-planner and politician
 * Brinley Richards (1904–1981), Archdruid of Wales 1972–75
 * Menna Richards, Controller of BBC Wales, 2000–2011
 * David Emlyn Thomas (1892–1954), politician and trade unionist
 * Rees Thomas (1926-1984), rugby league player
 * Thomas Llyfnwy Thomas (1912–1983), U.S.-based singer and TV personality
 * Sidney Wilcox (1893–1973), cricketer
 * Christopher Williams (1873–1934), painter
 * John J. Williams (1948–2020), Wales and British Lions rugby union player and international athlete

title: Maesteg


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Adıyaman Province

Adıyaman Province is a province in the Southeastern Anatolia Region of Turkey. The capital is Adıyaman. Its area is 7,337 km2, and its population is 635,169 (2022). The province is considered part of Turkish Kurdistan and has a Kurdish majority.

Adıyaman Province was part of the province of Malatya until 1954, when it was made into a province as a reward for voting for the winning Democratic Party in the 1954 general election.

Early Armenian rule
Armenian existence in Adıyaman dates back to the 4th century, where they were known as 'fire worshippers'. Armenians lived in the area when Muslim Arabs captured the area in 639. The Arabs considered the city as part of Armenia and experienced immigration from Byzantine Armenia due to Byzantine oppression in 713. The city came under Seljuk rule after the Battle of Manzikert in 1071 and the local Armenians established principalities in the area. One of these principalities was founded by Philaretos Brachamios who tried to protect the land between the Seljuk and the Byzantine. After his death, the region came under control of various chieftains such as Kogh Vasil and Constantine of Gargar. The region around Gargar and the Mor Bar Sauma Monastery became a particular base of power for local chiefs of Syrian and Armenian origin.

The Armenians had good relations with the European Crusader states, but the Crusader County of Edessa would advance against the Armenians in Adıyaman. Political leaders in Adıyaman were also victims of assassinations by Edessa. The wife of Kogh Vasil founded an army to protect the area from Edessa as well, but Edessa ultimately captured the area. Close relations between the Armenians and the Crusader states, however, continued until Nur ad-Din captured the area in 1150. The area came under the rule of Timurtash of the Artuqids for his support for Nur ad-Din and later the Seljuks from the beginning of the 13th century. The locals failed at removing the rulership of Kilij Arslan II during the late 12th century. In the subsequent period, the area was fought over between the Mamluk Sultanate and the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia, changing hands between the two until it finally came under permanent Mamluk control.

Ottoman rule
Ottoman Sultan Selim I captured the area during the Ottoman–Mamluk War in 1516-1517. In the first defter of the area in 1519, it was mentioned that the Kurdish Reşwan tribe populated the area. Documents from 1524 and 1536 also contain records of the Reşwan tribe living in the area. The tribe was engaged in agriculture after having had a nomadic lifestyle.

Evliya Çelebi visited the city in the 17th century and described the agricultural life.

At the beginning of the 19th century, most Armenians lived near the castle of Adıyaman city and mostly made their living through shop keeping and trading. In the villages, they were involved in agriculture and animal husbandry. The local Armenians welcomed American missionaries approaching them during the 19th century at first, but prevented them from converted them later on. Some of the Gregorian Armenians did however convert to Protestantism and the missionaries ultimately divided the local Armenian community. Ainsworth visited the town of Adıyaman in the 1842 and mentioned that the town contained 800 Muslim households and 300 Armenian households and that it had several mosques but no churches. After his visit to the town, he visited the Kurdish village of Kerkunah in the outskirts and afterwards Kâhta, where he mentioned that a Kurdish rebellion was taking place. Most of the rural areas spoke Kurdish in 1882, while Turkish was prevalent in Adıyaman town.

Armenian nationalism increased among the Armenians by the end of the century and most of the Armenian population fell victim to the Armenian genocide in 1915. There are, however, still some Armenians around Kâhta.

The area was part of Mamuret-ul-Aziz Vilayet as Behisni, Hasanmansur and Kahta districts. These three districts had a total population of 99,439 in 1914 of which 93.4% was Muslim and 6.6% Christian.

Republican era
The names of 224 villages in Adiyaman Province was Turkified as part of the campaign to remove any mention of Kurdishness in the country. In 1932, the whole region was chiefly populated by Kurds. The province had a population of 208,755 in 1955 of which 99.8% adhered to Islam and 0.2% to Christianity. In 1960, the province had a population of 233,717 of which 99.7% was Muslim and 0.3% Christian. In 1965, the population increased to 267,277 of which 99.8% was Muslim and 0.2% Christian. The Turkish authorities put the province under State of emergency (OHAL) in the early 1990s as part of the Kurdish–Turkish conflict.

In 2023, 7.8 and 7.5 magnitude earthquakes in Kahramanmaraş also affected Adıyaman.

Geography
The province consists of the districts Adıyaman (center district), Besni, Çelikhan, Gerger, Gölbaşı, Kâhta, Samsat, Sincik and Tut.

Demographics
Out of the 339 villages in the province, 296 are populated by Kurds while the remaining 43 are populated by Turks. In terms of religious affiliation, 293 of the villages have an Hanafi population, 80 villages with an Alevi population and two villages are reported to having a Shafi'i population.

The majority of the population is Hanafi Kurdish, with a significant Kurdish Alevi population. One estimate from 2014 places the Alevi population at 11%. The province is generally more pious than other Kurdish areas in Turkey and has been a hotspot for radicalization and Islamism in recent years (see Dokumacılar). Historian Şahidin Şimşek argued that Hanafi adherents in the province had been manipulated by the state to believe that Kurdish nationalism equated to Alevism. Another theory points at the poverty in the province.

The Kurdish tribes in the province include the Alikan, Atman, Balyan, Belikan tribe, Bêzikan, Birîmşa, Bîstikan, Canbegan, Celikan, Dêrsimî, Dirêjan, Gewozî, Hevêdan, Heyderan, Hûriyan, Izol, Kawan, Kerdizan, Kîkan, Kirvar, Mirdesan, Molikan, Mukriyan, Pîrvan, Reşwan, Şavak, Sinemilli, Sînanka, Şêxbizin and the Teşikan tribe.

The Alevis of the western districts of Besni, Gölbaşı and Tut are Turkmen and Kurdish.

title: Adıyaman Province