[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] Sin,—If the establishment of

a Welsh Station will relieve English listeners of a grave injustice, it would be welcome. But the figures of Welsh- and English-speaking people in Wales do not even warrant the expense of a special station for a mere .180,000 people.

The 1981 census gives the following figures :

,

In spite of the preponderating population of Glamorganshire, all the 700,000 cannot be in South Wales. Almost certainly nearly all the 180,000 are in Central Wales. In effect there is now a Welsh Station.

Listeners in the west of England are tired. of Welsh, which to most of them is more a foreign language than French or German. Except on Sundays, the _evening programme of the Western Regional Station is largely given up to Welsh, so that English western listeners are without an alternative programme.

The figures of English Counties and County Boroughs served by the Western Station are below. The first total of 1,954,039 depend entirely on the Western Station for their alternative programme, except a comparatively small number reached by the Plymouth relay station, and not in the County Borough of Plymouth (which is excluded from my figures) : Cornwall ..

Devon (excluding Plymouth) Exeter .. .

Dorset ..

Somerset ..

Bath' ' Bristol .. 3,192,611.

The above figures show that English listeners in the west are being sacrificed to a very much smaller number of, people who can understand English but like to hear Welsh.,

The present position is intolerable for English western

Population of Wales .. 2,158,193 Proportion speaking Welsh 32%, i.e., about 700,000 Proportion speaking only Welsh 8%, i.e., about 180,000 .. 317,951 • 458,664 • 66,039 • 239,347, .. 406,319 • 68,801 396;918

Wilts ..

Gloucestershire Gloucester Monmouth

Newport Herefordshire

1,954,039.. 303,258 335,801 52,837 • 345,623. 89,198 111,755

Dune Gale, Dorchester.