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The Culture Vulture

About cultural things: music, dance, literature, theatre and local events.

Happy Easter!
Sunday, April 20, 2025

In Christian countries Easter Sunday signifies the end of the Easter celebrations, although in the UK and the USA Easter Monday is a Bank Holiday. In other Christian cultures, this particular Monday is a normal working day, eg in Germany, Italy and Spain. 

 

    [Image courtesy of My Postcard]


The Story of Easter

According to Christian tradition the Easter period starts with Palm Sunday, recalling the day Our Lord entered Jerusalem to a great welcome riding on a donkey.

By the following Friday He had been crucified by the Roman governors along with some petty thieves and died. He rose from the grave on Easter Sunday and ascended into Heaven to sit alongside His Father, God.

In secular societies such as the UK and France not much happens, whereas in Roman Catholic countries like Italy and Spain there is a much more religious aspect on display.

 

[Photo: Ascension Press]    


Semana Santa in Spain

In Spain, especially in Andalucia, from Palm Sunday until Easter Sunday (Semana Santa - Holy Week) there are Easter processions (desfiles) every day. This is when the various cofradias linked to different churches in a town or village, get out their tronos, wooden "carriages" with statues of the Virgin Mary and of Christ on the Cross, which are carried through the streets on the shoulders of costaleros, usually, the menfolk of the parish.

 

[Photo: Hike and Bike the Sierras]    

 

I find these parades spectacular and very moving, whereas my German wife does not and avoids them like the plague. Many foreigners find them fascinating, more so tourists than residents. The local Spanish, however, turn out en masse, "dressed to the nines". A time to see and be seen.

On Palm Sunday morning this year I chanced upon the opening two processions, just as they were starting out. After a week of heavy rain we were blessed with a dry day and they started off in bright sunshine around noon. Some processions later in the week were sadly rained off.


Easter shut-down

In Ronda (Malaga), where I live, the town shuts down from jueves santo until domingo de Resurreccion, although these days the foreign-owned supermarkets tend to open, eg the German discounters Aldi and LIDL and French-owned Al Campo, Carrefour and Supeco.

The Spanish-owned Dia, Eroski, Mercadona and Super Carmela keep their doors firmly shut.

Some businesses close for the entire week, compelling their employees to take leave whether they want to or not. In Ronda Big Mat La Toma, the builders merchants, is a prime example.

 

[Image: Good Housekeeping]    

 

So, construction companies either have to plan ahead or also shut down. The only places open all week are bars, cafes, restaurants and tourist shops, because they can make a fortune!


Final thoughts

I love the atmosphere and tradition of Easter in Spain. A time of sadness and joy, of spectacular processions and warm community spirit, of families coming together.

I hope it will survive forever.

 

 

[Image: ACI Prensa]    

Note: This post also appears on The History Man thread:

https://www.eyeonspain.com/blogs/thehistoryman/23755/happy-easter---spanish-style.aspx


© The Culture Vulture and The History Man

 

Photos and images:

ACI Prensa, Ascension Press, Charry TV, Good Housekeeping, Hike and Bike the Sierras, My Postcard, Paul Whitelock, Ronda Semanal, Trip Advisor, Wikipedia

 

Acknowledgements:

Diario Sur, Paul Whitelock, The Culture Vulture, The History Man, Wikipedia

 

Links:

Guide to Semana Santa in Ronda | Andalucia.com

Semana Santa 2025: A Guide to Spain's Holy Week Celebrations

Semana Santa Archives - Ronda Today

SEMANA SANTA (Holy Week)

Will Spain's hallowed Semana Santa be another washout? Storm Olivier brings orange alerts to Andalucia - Olive Press News Spain

 

Tags:

ACI Prensa, Ascension Press, Al Campo, Aldi, Andalucía, ascended into Heaven, a time to see and be seen, atmosphere, Bank Holiday, Big Mat La Toma, builders merchants, Carrefour, Charry TV, Christian tradition, Christ on the cross, Clive Muir, cofradias, community spirit, construction companies, costaleros, crucified, desfiles, Dia, Diario Sur, domingo de Resurreccion, "dressed to the nines", Easter Monday, Easter processions, Easter shut-down, Easter Sunday, Eroski, families coming together, foreigners find them fascinating, foreign-owned supermarkets, France, French-owned, German discounters, Germany, God, Good Housekeeping, Happy Easter, Hike and Bike the Sierras, Holy Week, Italy, Jerusalem, jueves santo, LIDL, make a fortune, Mercadona, Michael Coy, normal working day, My Postcard, Olive Press News, open all week, Palm Sunday, Palm Sunday morning, Paul Whitelock, processions rained off, residents, Roman Catholic countries, Ronda Semanal, Ronda Today, sadness and joy, Semana Santa, Spain, Spanish-owned, spectacular processions, Supeco, Super Carmela, The Culture Vulture, The History Man, tourists, tourist shops, tradition, Trip Advisor, tronos, UK, Virgin Mary, Wikipedia



Like 1        Published at 11:24 AM   Comments (0)


"HOW GREEN WAS MY VALLEY"
Monday, April 14, 2025

"How Green Was My Valley" is a novel by Richard Llewellyn, published by Michael Joseph Publishing Ltd. It's about a Welsh family and the mining community in which they live.

It was turned into a Hollywood film, two BBC TV series, a Broadway musical and a theatre play.

 

    Valle de Fuente de la Higuera, Ronda [Trip Advisor]

 

The Book

This historical novel is set in South Wales during the reigns of Queen Victoria and King Edward VII. It tells the story of the Morgans, a respectable mining family of the South Wales Valleys, through the eyes of the youngest son, Huw Morgan.

Huw's academic ability sets him apart from his elder brothers and enables him to consider a future away from the dangerous coal mines. His five brothers and his father are all miners. 

After his eldest brother, Ivor, is killed in a mining accident, Huw moves in with Ivor's young widow, Bronwen, with whom he has always secretly been in love.

Huw's father is later killed in a mine disaster. After everyone Huw has known either dies or moves away, and the village is reduced to a contaminated shell, and the house is being destroyed by a slag heap, he too decides to leave, and tells the story of his life just before going away.

 

 

Book cover courtesy of Iberlibro             

 

The first edition was published in 1939 by Michael Joseph Ltd, London.

In the United States, Llewellyn won the National Book Award for favourite novel of 1940, voted by members of the American Booksellers Association.

 

The Film

The 1941 Hollywood film adaptation of "How Green Was My Valley" was highly successful, with a cast that included Walter Pidgeon, Maureen O'Hara, Anna Lee, Roddy McDowall (as Huw), Donald Crisp, and Barry Fitzgerald.

None of the leading players was Welsh.

 

 

Film poster courtesy of WordPress    

 

Directed by John Ford, "How Green Was My Valley" was nominated for ten Academy Awards, winning five, famously beating "Citizen Kane", "Sergeant York" and "The Maltese Falcon" for Best Picture, while Ford won for Best Director, Donald Crisp for Best Supporting Actor, Arthur Miller for Best Cinematography, and Richard Day, Nathan H. Juran and Thomas Little for Best Black-and-White Art Direction-Interior Decoration. 

In 1990, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry of the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

The Academy Film Archive preserved "How Green Was My Valley" in 1998.

 

TV Series

The book has twice been adapted by the BBC for television, in 1960 and 1975. 

The 1960 adaptation featured Eynon Evans, Rachel Thomas and Glyn Houston.

The 1975 production starred Stanley Baker, (Dame) Siân Phillips, and Nerys Hughes. Phillips won a BAFTA award for best actress in 1976 for her portrayal of Beth Morgan. 

 

 

Baker and Phillips [Photo: Historic Images]    

 

Musical and Theatre

The novel was adapted as a Broadway musical, called "A Time for Singing", which opened at the Broadway Theatre, New York, on 21 May 1966.

The play starred Ivor Emmanuel, Tessie O'Shea, Shani Wallis, and Laurence Naismith.

A stage version, adapted by Shaun McKenna was performed at the Theatre Royal in Northampton in 1990. It marked the stage debut of Aled Jones as the teenage Huw. 

 

 

 

[Courtesy of Spotify]    

 

A Personal Viewpoint

I was struck the other day by how green was my valley. Much greener than normal. But we've had a load of rain. I live in the Valle de Fuente de la Higuera just outside Ronda (Malaga).

My Welsh dad's background was not dissimilar to that of Huw, the protagonist of the novel (see above). John Albert was the second youngest of five boys born into a South Wales mining family. His older brothers all went down the pit but my dad was deemed to be bright, so his dad, who had been invalided out of the pit following an injury, sent him to England. And there he stayed.

He met and married Vera Valerie, in Barnstaple (Devon), and they had me in 1950 and my brother Simon three years later.

 

[Photo courtesy of the BBC]   


How Green is my valley?

As I indicated earlier, I've never seen it so green at this time of year, the start of Spring. And I've lived round here for over 16 years.

  Valle de Fuente de la Higuera, Ronda [Photos: Paul Whitelock]

 

After all the rain we've had since before Christmas, it's no wonder. But at last buds are appearing on bushes, shrubs and trees, and vegetables are poking through the earth in my huerto. The ground is so wet we should get a bumper crop this year.


"How Green Was My Valley" and I

The amateur drama group I was a member of in the 1980s put on the play. I wasn't in it, but I enjoyed the production. The group was known as S.P.A.D.E.S. based in Swinton & Pendlebury (Greater Manchester).

I also saw the film on TV, although it was a bit too "Hollywood" for my taste.

And I remember watching the 1975 TV series with Stanley Baker and Sian Phillips (see above).

 

S.P.A.D.E.S. in Swinton & Pendlebury [Facebook]    

 

© The Culture Vulture (alias Paul Whitelock)


Acknowledgements:

Amazon, Paul Whitelock, SPADES, Wikipedia

 

Photos and images:

BBC, Facebook, Historic Images, Iberlibro, Paul Whitelock, Spotify, Trip Advisor, WordPress


Tags:

Aled Jones, Amazon, Anna Lee, "A Time for Singing", Barnstaple, Beth Morgan, BAFTA, BBC, Broadway musical, "Citizen Kane", Facebook, Historic Images, "How Green Was My Valley", huerto, Huw, Iberlibro, Ivor Emmanuel, John Albert, Laurence Naismith, Malaga, Maureen O'Hara, Michael Joseph Ltd, Nerys Hughes, Paul Whitelock, Richard Llewellyn, Roddy McDowall, Ronda, "Sergeant York", Shani Wallis, Sian Phillips, South Wales, Spotify, Stanley Baker, SPADES, Tessie O'Shea, Theatre Royal in Northampton, "The Maltese Falcon", Trip Advisor, Valle de Fuente de la Higuera, Vera, Walter Pidgeon, Wikipedia, WordPress 



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