For Godsake

Hello, and welcome to “For GodSake”…                    My name’s Edwin Counsell.  I live in Llantwit Major on the South Wales coast, and this episode of my podcast is a New Year Special, as we say our farewells to 2025… and welcome 2026 and everything that a new year holds for us.In this episode I'll be reflecting on the start of a new year, but in the context of Christmas and the importance of people and community in all of our lives. There will be mention of some New Year traditions from around the world, a moment or two of focus on the importance of gifts... and even a visit to Santa!Above all else, this is a podcast full to the brim with hope and consolation for the year ahead, whatever 2026 brings us…HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Hello, and welcome to “For GodSake”…                    My name’s Edwin Counsell.  I live in Llantwit Major on the South Wales coast, and I'm trying to make some sense of life and the world at an uncertain time... This episode of my podcast is all about SOIL, for Godsake!I’ll be visiting the heart of the countryside and meeting up with some of the people whose life and work ‘earths’ them, quite literally, in that community.I’ll be visiting a fabulous church that reflects its rural roots in its work and witness, meeting a 3rd generation farmer to take the temperature of the farming community and the farming industry today…… and I’ll be enjoying a traditional Harvest Supper, and discovering just what Harvest-time means to people today.So c’mon, grab a shovel… take your pick… let’s get our hands dirty!

This episode of my podcast is all about ROCKS, for Godsake!We’re going to visit my local beach… call in to a late Stone Age burial site, a few miles away… and I’m also going to be chatting to some of the people in the community of Llantwit Major, for whom some lumps of rock that were carved more than a thousand years ago, have come to play a very special part in their lives and in their hearts today.So come on, get your rocks on, and let’s do this!

In this first episode, Edwin Counsell explores the legacy of Illtud, a renowned teacher in Celtic South Wales... and then visits the beach that was probably familiar to Illtud, 15 centuries ago. What does it mean to have that connection to a hero of the past, and mark it like a line in the sand?