Before I left Wales, I was doing volunteer work with Swansea College, teaching a group of hard-nut teenagers from Swansea's housing estates, how to read and write. They would give me no end of shit for being a surfer from the westside of the city. It was great, defending charges of being a 'spliff-smoking, Hendrix listening surfy cunt.' At the same time, I could tell they were fascinated by it. There is only five miles from Townhill to Langland Bay but it was a world away for these lads. And while they were busy training their babies to be budding football hooligans, I knew they also felt the pull of the sea, like the rest of us. The contrast between town and country, rural and urban is pretty drastic in South Wales.
These days, I get asked by Portland's street kids what Wales is like. I never know how to even begin describing my homeland to them. Then I found this New Order video, set around South Wales, and I thought, you know, here is a depiction that not only sends shivers down my spine but is something Portland's street youth could probably relate to.
