(Instagram: @shadow_the_rat_s )

Aye, I know it's not the craziest thing in the world but considering I've been to France and had to explain where/what Wales was.. I just didn't expect to see it there in Ukraine.

Looking towards Holyhead direction ish. First time I've been able to see your lovely country from across the sea. Very cool. 😎

More than 100 people turned up.

Showt out i Harri y tu ôl i'r bar. Lyfli i dy gwrdd â thi mêt!

Hey everyone! I’m 22, from Central Asia, and this summer I finally took a long solo trip around the UK. I gave myself about a week in each country, started in England, then Wales, then Scotland, and ended in Northern Ireland.

But Wales... I don’t even know how to explain it. It wasn’t the place I was most hyped about, but now it’s the one I keep thinking about the most.

There’s something in the air there, in the mountains, in the sea, in the small quiet roads between villages. I spent a couple days hiking around Snowdonia and honestly it felt like I was walking through a dream. I’ve never seen nature like that.

I stayed in Aberystwyth and Bangor and absolutely loved both. Peaceful, beautiful towns with such a calm vibe. Walked around, drank way too much tea, talked to strangers like I’d known them for years.

Cardiff and Swansea were also amazing,bigger, busier, but still so welcoming. I had a pint in some tiny village pub outside of Swansea, surrounded by people speaking Welsh, and I didn’t understand a word… but somehow still felt completely at ease.

Other countries within the UK were absolutely stunning either, but Idk, Wales is in my heart 🤷.

I even tried learning some Welsh and be saying phrases like - Mae Cymru’n teimlo fel cartref or Diolch o galon.😂😅

I honestly think Wales is one of the most underrated places I’ve ever been. It’s not flashy, but it’s real. It’s got heart.

I’ll be back for sure. Maybe next time with better hiking shoes 😅 and my girlfriend

Diolch, Cymru ❤️

On Friday evening the usual assortment of racist oddballs protesting outside Cardiff Airport Holiday Inn were joined by a pair of fresh faces balaclavas.

These boys belong to White Vanguard, an explicitly Nazi group that is controversial even amongst other fascists (aside from also being a type of peony - google it) for their leader's refusal to say that he would turn in any members who are child abusers.

https://searchlightmagazine.com/2025/07/gloves-off-balaclavas-on-in-nazi-informants-feud/

The usual far-right demo at Rhoose consists of a few wild-eyed characters and middle-aged blokes desperate to look 'ard. Friday's spectacle featured a large speaker pumping out explicitly sexualised versions of children's nursery rhymes (I shit you not) in the presence of a family who apparently still thought this was a good environment for their daughter, while others in the small crowd spent their evening calling everyone browner than themselves either a terrorist or a paedophile.

The two lads in the freshly-purchased riot gear apparently hadn't been there before, and there's speculation that they came across from England. After displaying banners featuring overtly racist and antisemitic slogans, they overcame some initial stage fright long enough to shout incoherently for a while through a Temu megaphone.

For context, the people actually housed in the hotel are Afghan families whose members aided British forces during the occupation and who were at risk of Taliban reprisals. The far-right are literally targeting the comrades-in-arms of British military personnel, along with their innocent families.

The weekly counter-demo against this hate is:

Friday 5.30pm Holiday Inn service road 51.398973, -3.332056

All welcome! Every week we outnumber them, but more numbers are needed, especially now that actual card-carrying Nazis are starting to show up.

If you're in Rhoose, Llantwit Major or the Vale area, come out and oppose this nonsense.

Yma o Hyd. No Pasarán.

Pictures show before and after Could be a very unique point as most British national “parks” are still working environments and differ from Scotland, peak and Lake District. Would be very good ecologically, I guess farmers would have a lot of pushback.

Not the Bristol Channel.