A Welsh language activist, who was suspended from Bangor University for his actions in the 1970s, has released his autobiography, in which he talks about his fight to defend the Welsh language.
Glyn Tomos, a son of a quarryman who hails from the village of Dinorwig was caught up in the tempestuous protests for Welsh language rights in the 1970s. He became a prominent figure in the ‘Battle of the Language‘, when along with 3 others were suspended from the University.
In his newly released autobiography, Deffro i Fore Gwahanol (Waking up to a Different Morning) Glyn gives readers an insight to the turbulent fight for Welsh language rights at Bangor University during the 1970s.
The autobiography gives a scathing account of Sir Robert Charles Evans, who was the Principal of the University College of North Wales (now Bangor University) from 1958 to 1984.
In Deffro i Fore Gwahanol, Mr. Tomos recalls the protests of November 1976.
“On the 10th of November 1976, notices were removed from notice boards in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. The following day, the offices of the academic Registry were occupied.
“Slogans were painted on the walls of the Main Building, including ‘Brad y Brifysgol’ (“Bangor University’s Treason”), and signs were removed. Some of us went into the Finance Office, and boxes and files were scattered all over the floor.
“The protests culminated in the following days, when slogans were painted in black and white on walls and doors inside and outside the College.”
Mr. Tomos and his companions faced their fate on Wednesday, November 17, when they were presented with a letter from the College which included the decision of the College’s Disciplinary Committee.
The result was suspending all 4 students from College for the remainder of the 1976/77 academic year.
The book shares his memories of living in Neuadd JM-J, the local Bangor girls that worked in the kitchen, visiting Farrar Road, and visiting cinemas in Bangor including the Plaza, the County, and ‘City’ cinema.
Glyn Tomos also talks of fond memories working as an Administrative Assistant in the Treasurer’s Department at Bangor City Council, and talks of Chwarel Dinorwig as “an expensive price to pay” to local men who went on to suffer from ill-health.
After leaving Bangor, Glyn Tomos went on to apply for the priesthood, before coming a social worker at Gwynedd Council.
Mr. Tomos’ autobiography, Deffro i Fore Gwahanol, is available in local bookshops, the closest to Bangor being Awen Menai, Menai Bridge, on Gwales’ website, or on Gwasg Carreg Gwalch’s website.
