Wales needs to get behind Pont Bendigeidfan,

After the shame of seeing  the Second Severn Crossing renamed the Prince of Wales Bridge  against the will of the people of Wales to mark the heir to the English throne 70th birthday , comes an ambition suggestion for the third Menai crossing.

According to the BBC,

Benji Poulton, from Bangor, said the current designs being considered by the Welsh Government are “nothing special”.
His designs would feature the giant Bendigeidfan, of the ancient Welsh mythical Mabinogion tales, rising up out of the water to support the bridge.
A Welsh Government spokesperson said “all options” would be considered.
Mr Poulton recently visited an exhibition of the various proposed designs for the new bridge to cross between Gwynedd and Anglesey and thought he could come up with a better idea.
“They are fairly standard options. There is nothing special there that could live alongside the other bridges,” he said.
“So I went away thinking what could they do to create additional benefit, additional interest with the new bridge

Mr Poulton created a video outlining his plans and has petitioned the Welsh assembly to urge the Welsh Government to consider his plans.

“I did some research and found that there are a lot of additional benefits to [create] something a little bit special, a little bit different,” Mr Poulton added.“It would bring in additional tourism to the area and promote Welsh culture

There's a small part of me that is concerned that the legend of is a a tragic and violent one and may be seen by some in Ireland a provocative seeing as it concerns an invasion by the British (original not the Anglo- Saxon sort) of the Island Ireland 

It is said The Irish king Matholwch sailed  to Harlech to speak with Bendigeidfan,high king of the Island of the Mighty and to ask for the hand of his sister Branwen in marriage, thus forging an alliance between the two islands. Bendigeidfran agrees to Matholwch's request, but the celebrations are cut short when Efnisien, a half-brother to the children of Llŷr, brutally mutilates Matholwch's horses, angry that his permission was not sought in regard to the marriage.^[ Matholwch is deeply offended until Bran offers him compensation in the form of a magic cauldron that can restore the dead to life. Pleased with the gift, Matholwch and Branwen sail back to Ireland to reign.
Once in Matholwch's kingdom, Branwen gives birth to a son, Gwern, but Efnysien's insult continues to rankle among the Irish and, eventually, Branwen is mistreated, banished to the kitchenand beaten every day. She tames a starling and sends it across the Irish Sea with a message to her brother Bendigeidfran, who sails from Wales to Ireland to rescue her with his brother, Manawydan and a huge host of warriors, mustered from the 154 cantrefs of Britain. The Irish offer to make peace and build a house big enough to entertain Bendigeidfrân but hang a hundred bags inside, supposedly containing flour but actually containing armed warriors. Efnysien, suspecting treachery, reconnoiters the hall and kills the warriors by crushing their skulls. Later, at the feast, Efnysien, again feeling insulted, murders Gwern by burning him alive, and, as a result, a vicious battle breaks out. Seeing that the Irish are using the cauldron to revive their dead, he hides among the Irish corpses and is thrown into the cauldron by the unwitting enemy. He destroys the cauldron from within, sacrificing himself in the process.

Only seven men survive the conflict, among them Manawydan, Taliesin and Pryderi fab Pwyll, prince of Dyfed, Branwen having herself died of a broken heart. The survivors are told by a mortally wounded Bran to cut off his head and to return it to Britain. For seven years the seven survivors stay in Harlech, where they are entertained by Bran's head, which continues to speak. They later move on to Gwales (often identified with Grassholm Island off Dyfed) where they live for eighty years without perceiving the passing of time. Eventually, Heilyn fab Gwyn opens the door of the hall facing Cornwall and the sorrow of what had befallen them returns. As instructed they take the now silent head to the Gwynfryn, the "White Hill" (thought to be the location where the Tower of London now stands), where they bury it facing France so as to ward off invasion. The imagery of the talking head is widely considered to derive from the ancient Celtic "cult of the head"; the head was considered the home of the soul.

However the most symbolic part of the legend for modern Wales  actualy comes from the part where  Bendigeidfran,  lay himself down to serve as a bridge for his men when attempting to rescuer Branwen .

He He is said to have uttered the words "a fo ben bid bont" (he who would be a leader, let him be a bridge).

So this is the important  part of the symbolism of  Benji Poulton's proposal and if the safety and cost issues are no problem it is what Menai and indeed Wales's needs after the recent years of shame when the Welsh Labour Government have ignored our history such as. The Plans to create an iron ring sculpture at Flint Castle which have  have been described as "insulting to Wales". .

The Plann was to to create an iron ring sculpture at Flint Castle which have  have been described as "insulting to Wales".

The design, which the BBC claims is  said 

to represent the relationship between the medieval monarchies of Europe and the castles they built, 

However  it is clear as Izzy Evans at Nation Cymru pointed out at the time.

The ‘Iron Ring’ is, of course, the collective name for the ring of castles built by Edward I in order to cement his hold on the lands he stole from the Welsh princes.
Flint was the first castle in this ring of power – a chain of fortresses designed to encircle the north Wales coast and oppress the Welsh.
Its construction began almost immediately after Edward I began the First Welsh War in 1277.
Can you imagine any other nation celebrating its own conquest? Its own government glorying in its subjugation?

I am not a great fan of "Patriotic Monuments"  and a true symbol of Cymru would be us taking our seat in the United Nations , but we should support this proposal for Pont Bendigeidfan,  to counter the constant attack on our national identity  we have recently faced , from a Tory government and its allies in "Welsh" Labour.

One last thing we should resist strongly the expected calls tho call it by anglicised name like Bran the Blessed Bridge.