There used to be a lot of activism in Wales, some of it to do with the language, some to do with Holiday homes. Depends how far back you go really.
The Rebecca Riots took place between 1839 and 1844 in South Wales and Mid Wales. They were a protest against the high tolls which had to be paid on the local Turnpike roads.
things like this (below) meant the language was in danger
"The Welsh Not or Welsh Note was a piece of wood, inscribed with the letters "WN", that was hung round the necks of children who spoke Welsh in some schools in the 19th century. The "not" was given to any boy overheard speaking Welsh, who would pass it to a different boy he overheard speaking Welsh. By the end of the day, the wearer of the "not" would be given a lashing. The idea of the "not" was to discourage pupils from speaking Welsh, at a time when English was considered by some to be the only suitable medium of instruction."
a number of measures, including the introduction of the Welsh Language Act 1993, Welsh has enjoyed a strong revival in recent years and has an equal status with English in the public sector in Wales. Of the 611,000 Welsh speakers in Wales, 62% claim to use Welsh daily, and 88% of those fluent in the language use it daily.
The 2004 Welsh Language Use Survey shows 21.7% of the population of Wales are Welsh speakers. This is an increase from 20.5% in the 2001 census, and from 18.5% in 1991. The 2001 census also shows that about 25% of Welsh residents were born outside Wales. The number of Welsh speakers in the rest of Britain is unknown.
Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg
The Society was established in name on 4 August 1962 at Pontarddulais in South Wales, but did not have a constitution until 18 May 1963. The formation was at least partly inspired by the annual BBC Wales Radio Lecture given on the 13th of February 1962 by Saunders Lewis and entitled Tynged yr iaith (The fate of the language).[1]
The Society's first public protest took place in October 1962 at Pont Trefechan in Aberystwyth, where around forty members and supporters held a 'sit-in' blocking road traffic for half an hour.
The first campaigns were for official status for the language, with a call for Welsh-language tax returns, schools, electoral forms, post office signs, birth certificates and so on. This was done through the formation of 'cells', the first operating in Bangor in April 1963 by Owain Owain who also founded and edited the Society's only publication, Tafod y Ddraig ('The Dragon's Tongue') and logo.
Cymdeithas yr Iaith believes in non-violent direct action and in the course of their campaigns over a thousand people have appeared before the courts for their part in various campaigns, many receiving prison sentences, making it one of Britain's largest protest groups since the suffragettes - in terms of fines and the numbers sent to prison.[2][3] Typical actions include painting slogans on buildings owned by businesses, and other minor criminal damage. [4][5][6] At the beginning of the 1970s Cymdeithas began to campaign for a Welsh language radio and television service. Radio Cymru was established in 1977, but in 1979 the Conservative government announced in that it would not keep its election promise of the establishment of a separate Welsh language television channel. Some protesters refused to buy television licenses and others climbed up television masts and invaded television studios.[7]. S4C was finally launched in 1982.
Cymdeithas is a largely voluntary movement, which also employs three full-time members of staff at its head office in Aberystwyth, Ceredigion.