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A call for Welsh history to be given priority in school lessons has been made by a councillor and language campaigner.

Owain Noel Williams, who was jailed for blowing up a transformer on the site of the Tryweryn reservoir in 1963, has put down a motion to be discussed next week at a meeting of the full council in Gwynedd.

Cllr Williams, who represents Clynnog, said: “Welsh history is being neglected and I’m trying to change that. The situation at present is serious.

“My own children have been taught more about the names of Henry the VIII’s six wives and Henry V than they have about Owain Glyndwr.

“They know more about the English royal family than their own and the Battle of Hastings in 1066 than the Act of Union in 1536 which is much more relevant.

“We are not taught our own history. Now we are flooded by another royal wedding of a prince who has dressed up as a Nazi with an American former dancer. They are experts at propaganda.”

Cllr Williams, alongside student Emyr Llewelyn, and former RAF military policeman John Albert Jones, carried out the bombing of the dam in protest at Liverpool Corporation’s flooding of the the village of Capel Celyn and the valley of Tryweryn, in Meirionnydd.

The Llais Gwynedd party leader believes that Welsh voices and Welsh history are still being ignored.

(Image: Western Mail)

In his notice of motion to be discussed on Thursday he proposes: “That Gwynedd Council calls for arrangements to be made for Welsh history to be given priority in history lessons in all schools in Wales.

"The current situation of basic failings in teaching our own history and identity is unacceptable.

“We therefore call upon the Welsh Government to take the necessary steps to correct this failing without delay.”

The businessman who runs a caravan park and golf course is confident that his proposal will be passed.

Last year, his proposal that every school in Gwynedd should be encouraged to fly the Welsh flag was unanimously supported although Cllr Williams said only 30 out of over a 100 schools have so far done so.

(Image: Andrew Matthews/PA Wire)

He said: “This does not just apply to Wales. If you go to America, there’s a flag in every classroom and countries such as Canada, France and others take pride in their national flags.”

A Welsh Government spokesperson said: “Welsh history is a prominent part of the programme of study for history and schools are encouraged to focus on contexts from local and Welsh history, with an emphasis on people’s daily lives.

“The new curriculum will ensure all aspects of learning have a “Welsh dimension”, giving learners an understanding of the culture and history of Wales and its place in the wider world.”