Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:21 pm on 25 September 2018.
Thank you very much, David, for your generous and positive remarks.
I visited Neath and it was a revelation to me to see the way in which the restoration of the abbey has been achieved. I actually stood there and stared at the pointing that had been achieved by those employed by Cadw on the work on that site. But there's also, as my colleague on my left here would remind me, the ironworks. That whole area around Neath, including the canal system, is an area that could be developed, I think, although I mustn't say too much, because, clearly, there are also commercial interests involved who are active in that area with their own businesses. But I'm sure that area could be developed as a main conservation attraction area for visiting tourists.
And similarly, I have visited Gwrych—how could I not visit Gwrych castle, because I live only 10 miles or so away—and seen the amazing work that Dr Mark Baker is doing there. He single-handedly conserved and looked after the old hunting ground of Prince Llywelyn within my own area of Dwyfor, and he is a hugely imaginative person and a great resource for us. And we have, in fact, invested in the beginnings of the maintenance and restoration of Gwrych castle. It is not a folly; it is a unique attempt to reconstruct in the nineteenth century the wonders of the medieval period, and therefore it is the equivalent, I suppose, going back to my own academic past, of the romantic literature, romantic literature and poetry in particular. It is a building, as it were, in the tradition of Samuel Taylor Coleridge. And therefore, to sustain that and its particular location, visible as it is from the A55 and from the main north Wales railway line, and reconstruct it as a tourist attraction, I think, is a huge opportunity.
I am also pleased to say that I'm about to visit the great temple of non-conformity at Morriston.