Godless in Caerffili...

Lots of twittering going on - in the old-fashioned sense - about the latest census findings. There was the usual panic and immigration debate but a big issue was the increase in the number of those who say they have no religious belief.

The census found that there were four million fewer Christians in England and Wales in 2011 than 10 years earlier and the area with the biggest decrease (does that make sense?!) in faith  in general is Caerffili! Non-belief has leapt from 16 to 17% to 40%! Despite this being discussed on at least two news items on Radio 4 I can't find a piece specifically on the place but found this Guardian article about the changes in religious belief in Blaenau Gwent:
Census and religion: churches lose their appeal in struggling Welsh valleys

This is the general picture on Christianty n the UK as described by Robert Pigott, the  Religious Affairs correspondent on the BBC News site:

Churches had pointed to the 72% of people who described themselves as Christian in the 2001 Census to help justify their claim that Britain is a "Christian country".
The sharp decline in the number of people in England and Wales identifying themselves as Christian to 59% is a sign of the religion's weakening influence in society.
The secular trend is confirmed by the significant increase in the percentage of people describing themselves as having no religion from 15% to 25%.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-20683744

Family Stuff and History

I'm now in touch with my cousin on my father's side (Jeanette and her husbnd Ian) and discovered several errors in my Auntie Gladys's version of the Gunston history which I will correct.

One of my  Australian cousins, Jacqui (my mother's side) is visiting again in September so I hope to  confirm some stuff when I see her. On our Maltese side there is the scary Greek Great Grandmother -who I resemble! - My sister commented that we have no idea of her background. There must be a tale of how she - or her family - came to Malta from somewhere Greek....

Diasporas are fascinating. I only got as far as Cardiff (20 miles!) and then came back - for some people that is quite adventurous, but nothing compared with Malta to Egypt and then to Australia like my maternal Grandparents. When I was in Cardiff I used to joke that I'd travelled 20 miles and got culture shock - it was quite true though.

A potted historie...

I was at secondary school with a girl whose Grandfather was from Aberkenfig. I asked her to find out what he knew about my family. This is what I learnt. My Grandfather married a woman from the coaltip (Llanelli) and my Dad went away in the forces and came back with a foreign woman (Maltese, from Egypt - it's complicated...!)

I love the summary of our history - I guess not the most common background for an Aberkenfig family...