Gwent Levels 2026 - Gwent Levels Campaign

GWENT LEVELS 26

GWENT LEVELS CAMPAIGN

Robert Minhinick

Ten days before Christmas, 2023, I went with writer and artist Laura Wainwright to explore parts of the ‘Gwent Levels’, at Uskmouth.

It was my first visit, although Laura sometimes takes her children walking there.

‘The Reen’ was written for the Gwent Levels campaign, occurring at the same time as the ongoing struggle between Israelis and Palestinians in Gaza. I found combining the situations in Gwent Levels and Gaza, entirely natural. Thus ‘The Reen’ was used in an exhibition for Friends of the River Wye by Eamon Bourke, displayed in the Food Hall, Hay Festival site.

It is available on-line from ‘Modron’, and features in ‘Thrall: Poems & Art’, a collection of art and poetry by Minhinnick and Wainwright, Seventh Quarry Press 2025.

The weather proved raw , but we were both delighted to encounter immediately some of the very particular wildlife that inhabits the area.

I saw my first ever reed bunting, and keen-eyed Laura identified a heron on the Severn mudflats, and thus we are writing, painting and sketching our expedition highlights.

We went because the area is increasingly threatened by various developments. Only in the last four years has the Welsh government rejected plans for a new extension of the M4 motorway through parts of these wetlands.

But pressure to erect new solar farms on the Levels is stronger than ever.

Readings and RSPB talk:

7pm Tuesday, January 27, 2026, at ‘Le Pub’, 19, High St., NEWPORT NP20 1FW.

Launch of "My Life and Times: Memories of Penyfai"

Robert Minhinnick

“My Life and Times: Memories of Penyfai” is Ivor Thomas’s description of a tiny south Wales village.

Ivor was my grandfather, and his book, published by Culture & Democracy Press, is launched in the Garden Room, Court Colman Manor, Pen-y-fai, Bridgend CF31 4NG, 7.30pm, Wednesday, April 23rd 2025. 

Entry £5, which ensures a copy of this astonishing memoir. Otherwise £10. On sale in SUSSED.

Gardener, miner, rugby-player, Labour councilor, social activist, the centre of much of his life was ‘The Tavern’, the vanished village pub, where he was born. Ivor continues to be an enormous influence on my writing and environmental work.

This memoir, of a man who was born, died and buried in the same street, flares like a firework.

Readings by myself and others of Ivor’s family, with members of Bridgend Writers’ Circle, whose energy has created this event. Music and song from Laura Wainwright, in the gorgeous surroundings of the Garden Room. 

EXCITING COLLABORATION - Green Room Fri. 28th Feb. 2025

EXCITING COLLABORATION

Friday, February 28 8pm sees Sustainable Wales’s ‘Green Room’ at 5 James St. Porthcawl CF36 3BG present a special event by Robert Minhinnick and Laura Wainwright.

This features their collaborative book ‘Thrall: Poems and Art” (Seventh Quarry Press).

This event is part of a tour for the writers, who will also visit Swansea, Newport and Aberystwyth amongst other places.

‘Thrall’ features poetry from Minhinnick and Wainwright, with the latter’s distinctive paintings and drawings.

Also, Laura will show her photographs of places which both writers are enthralled by, including Merthyr Mawr dunes and the Gwent Levels.

Robert Minhinnick commented: “Both of us enjoy collaboration and hope to undertake more joint projects in the future.

“ ‘Thrall’, also concerns subjects such as alcohol, drugs, television, personal impairment to which we might be in thrall.

“Our writing is not merely personal reflection but confronts the political world, especially Israel-Palestine.

“We believe it has a good deal to say to any audience.”

The night in the Green Room will also feature a musical performance of Minhinnick’s sequence from ‘Thrall’, titled ‘Ghosts and Hammers’.

Local writers and film makers are invited to join in the ‘Open Mic' section of the night.

£4 entry on door. Proceeds to the charity Sustainable Wales/Cymru Gynaliadwy.