Category Archives: Wales

Roundup: Podcast, Public Domain and Plas Dulas

–The London Review of Books has announced its annual program of monthly literary podcasts for the coming year. This is called Close Readings. One of these wil focus on satire and will discuss, inter alia, Evelyn Waugh’s early novel A … Continue reading

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Labo(u)r Day Roundup

–The Catholic Herald has an article by Ken Craycraft in which he reviews the recent biography of Graham Greene (The Unquiet Englishman by Richard Greene). Here is an excerpt: Critics and biographers are always looking for glimpses of Greene’s own … Continue reading

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Last Orders at Mrs Roberts’

The Daily Mail reports that a Waugh landmark in North Wales is about to disappear. This is the Fair View Inn in Llanddulas which was the model for the pub in Llanabba run by Mrs Roberts (but never otherwise identified … Continue reading

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Duncan McLaren in Grahamland

Duncan McLaren has added a new essay to his website. This is entitled “Evelyn Concluded or Ask Alastair” and is devoted exclusively to Alastair Graham and his on and off relationship with Evelyn Waugh in the 1920s and a bit … Continue reading

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Waugh Watering Holes in the News

Two pubs associated with Evelyn Waugh’s life in the 1920-30s have recently been in the news: the Abingdon Arms in Beckley, Oxon., and the Fair View Inn in Llanddulas, North Wales. In  one case the news is good, in the … Continue reading

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Waugh and the Jellyfish

A recent travel guide includes a reference to Waugh’s fortuitous encounter with a jellyfish off the coast of Wales in 1925, where its intervention aborted Waugh’s attempted suicide. This guide is entitled Britain by the Book and is written by academic … Continue reading

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Alastair Graham, Steven Runciman and More Misfits

A blogger named John (who lives in the Southern US) posted on his weblog Notes from a Common-place Book a report of his recent trip to England. This posting is dated 4 September 2017. He sought out gravesites of writers he considered “misfits” … Continue reading

Posted in Brideshead Revisited, Combe Florey, Evelyn Waugh, Evelyn Waugh Studies, Wales | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Scribble, Scribble, Mr Waugh

In their Daily Express column, Richard and Judy are reminded of Evelyn Waugh in a noisy pub where they can hardly here a conversation: But then the background cacophony dropped momentarily, just long enough for me to pick up a … Continue reading

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Waugh and Wales and Fashion

A recent article in the TLS entitled “Do the Welsh Just Sing?” by Samuel Graydon opens with a quote from Decline and Fall: “The Welsh . . . are the only nation in the world that has produced no graphic or … Continue reading

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Wales Promotes “Decline and Fall” Tourism

The Daily Post (Llandudno) has published a story explaining Waugh’s connection with the Arnold House school in nearby Llanddulas. In Decline and Fall, Waugh renamed the place Llanabba and called the school after the house: …It was [here] in January … Continue reading

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