TOP 10 HARDEST WELSHMEN

[Gareth Williams]

Once again a dissproportionate number of candidates for such a small race of people, as in most fields, such as drinking, drugs, womanising and wifebeating, we are overepresented!
Could be categorised in terms of activities, sport, warfare, politics, journalism, criminal violence etc, but we'll just go for a mix in that ten, I'll kick off with my contribution.
Plenty of boxers, footballers and rugby boys but I restrict myself to one vote as we all have. We'll tot up in a couple of weeks. Ceri and me will compile the final ten.
The late Sir Tasker Watkins VC. I had the honour of meeting him at Glam Wanderers Rugby club years ago, modest, unassuming, tiny,10stone wet through. This ol boy charged a company of Waffen ss, well dug in defence, machine gun posts, barbed wire, the lot, pretty much single handedly, and bayoneted shitloads before they did one in a hurry. Anyone in doubt, check him out on google.

[Ceri Shaw]

LOL...well I'm gonna go for the obvious choice. Aberystwyth's very own Mr Charles Bronson....NOT, I hasten to add, an admirable character, but certainly as hard as nails. I'll post a couple of links as soon as I have time to research them. Just off to "google" Tasker Watkins.

[celene]

I had no idea Charles Bronson was Welsh! I had a massive crush on him when I was a little girl. His movie 'From Noon til Three' had a big influence on ... well, I can't say it here but, I sure did like that film.

[Ceri Shaw]

Not the same guy unfortunately...the welsh Charles Bronson...is errrrm an interesting character shall we say...he is Britains most notorious lifer. He is held in a maximum security prison somewhere in England.

[celene]

Ahhh. Well, I reckon he must be (have been?) pretty hard to be in maximum security prison for life.

[Ceri Shaw]

He is ...but not terribly well adjusted....lol. Heres a link to his wiki page.

Charles Bronson

[celene]

Definitely a hard man if that exercise regimen truly works! Thanks for the link, Ceri.

[Ceri Shaw]

Yeah Ive been meaning to look at one of his books for a while ...maybe review it on here....dunno about 2,500 press ups a day though...that seems a trifle excessive.

[Stu]

I would say Jimmy Wilde and Tommy Farr and my friend and drinking partner Dean from Manic street preachers.

[Ceri Shaw]

Another great Charlie link HERE. Should Charlie be released? What does anyone think?

[ArthMawr]

This is personally disturbing to me as Bronson's real name is Michael Peterson, which is also my Dad's name - no relation.
On reading the wiki Bronson claims that he has been portrayed as dangerous because he retaliates to prison brutality but others say he is not as dangerous as his media hype. Does that not disqualify him from the hard man poll, since he denies his reputation?

[Ceri Shaw]

I think both he and his defenders are at pains to deny that he is dangerous but not his courage and physical strength. What I find admirable about him is his refusal to compromise, though whether that is doing him any good or not is another question I guess.

[Gareth Williams]

Been ponderin hard on this (no pun intended), shouldnt really cos its just a bit of fun, Wales and her history has a plethora of 'hard' characters in diverse fields.
Obviously Tasker 'to me' is the tops but to others he may not be and thats fair enough. The final result is not that important, whats been important is the discussion, the justification and the celebration of our national character as tough old boots, I even let the chicks in on it cos all you have to do is go down to Cardiff Bay this weekend and see them girls outside the clubs n bars, smoking, wearing less than I do to go to bed in, in chill factor that takes it below zero.
Also as a big rugby fan, and a product of the golden days, word had it that Ponty's Cobs was the hardest guy to ever pull that red jersey on. The Neath lads will undoubtedly claim their Dai the shadow, and Llanelli boys will claim Albert Jenks or Gravs, Aberavon, John Bev the brick wall man etc etc we could go on on and on. The journey is more important than the destination.
So I look forward to a good conclusion, and all the candidates are deserving of the top slot in their own unique way.
As an aside, some of the Navy gun teams that used to 'run' the guns at the Royal Tournament were nails, and Wales was once again proprtionally over represented among the teams, Portsmouth, Plymouth etc etc.