0:00:02 > 0:00:05It's almost impossible to believe that such a place exists.
0:00:05 > 0:00:07A WOMAN SPEAKS IN WELSH
0:00:12 > 0:00:15A little Wales on a faraway continent,
0:00:15 > 0:00:20where the familiar and the exotic come together in a magical way.
0:00:23 > 0:00:25A rich blend of cultures,
0:00:25 > 0:00:28150 years in the making.
0:00:29 > 0:00:31TRANSLATION FROM WELSH:
0:00:35 > 0:00:38How the Welsh came to be here, and fought to preserve
0:00:38 > 0:00:42their language and culture, is a truly inspiring story.
0:00:54 > 0:00:57They mastered a desolate and hostile frontier,
0:00:57 > 0:01:01armed with remarkable faith and endurance.
0:01:01 > 0:01:04It is our very own Wild West epic.
0:01:07 > 0:01:11I've been following in the footsteps of those intrepid pioneers,
0:01:11 > 0:01:15fulfilling a lifelong dream to visit Patagonia.
0:01:17 > 0:01:21And to see for myself this special corner of South America,
0:01:21 > 0:01:25with its unexpected reminders of rural Wales.
0:01:26 > 0:01:31150 years ago, a group of Welsh people set sail
0:01:31 > 0:01:35and crossed the Atlantic in search of a new life in South America.
0:01:35 > 0:01:38They gambled everything on this great venture.
0:01:38 > 0:01:41And this story of daring and courage
0:01:41 > 0:01:46and enterprise still has the power to fire the imagination.
0:01:46 > 0:01:48It is quite simply
0:01:48 > 0:01:51one of the greatest adventures in the history of Wales.
0:02:07 > 0:02:11The date is Friday 28th July, 1865,
0:02:11 > 0:02:14and the crossing, in rather primitive conditions,
0:02:14 > 0:02:16has taken two months.
0:02:16 > 0:02:18The pioneers, around 160 of them,
0:02:18 > 0:02:23are about to set foot, for the first time, on the shores of Argentina.
0:02:23 > 0:02:28But what they discover here is not what they'd been promised.
0:02:35 > 0:02:37They landed on a barren shore,
0:02:37 > 0:02:39with no reliable supply of fresh water,
0:02:39 > 0:02:41a small advance party was waiting for them,
0:02:41 > 0:02:45but they'd made scant preparation for the arrival.
0:02:46 > 0:02:50Local historian, Fernando Coronato, showed me the makeshift
0:02:50 > 0:02:54man-made hollows in the rock that may have been used as stores,
0:02:54 > 0:02:56or even, he believes, as temporary shelters.
0:02:58 > 0:03:02Fernando, it's an amazing place, with an amazing view, really,
0:03:02 > 0:03:05of the bay, but these remains, why are they so significant?
0:03:05 > 0:03:07What are they?
0:03:07 > 0:03:10They are important because they are the remains of the first
0:03:10 > 0:03:13Welsh footstep in Patagonia.
0:03:13 > 0:03:17It's a mark of the hopes of the people who were
0:03:17 > 0:03:20searching for a new land, to build a new life
0:03:20 > 0:03:25with freedom and, well, sun and fair weather.
0:03:28 > 0:03:32Legend has it that the Welsh sheltered in these natural caves.
0:03:32 > 0:03:34That may or may not be so, but,
0:03:34 > 0:03:38nonetheless, there is very clear evidence of their presence here.
0:03:38 > 0:03:41Still visible today are the marks they left as they dug out
0:03:41 > 0:03:45clay blocks in their first attempts at building.
0:03:48 > 0:03:53- When you look at how primitive, how basic this is...- Yes.
0:03:53 > 0:03:55In the first month after they arrived,
0:03:55 > 0:03:58did they suffer a lot of hardship?
0:03:58 > 0:04:00I mean, what happened to the women and children?
0:04:00 > 0:04:03There was four babies died,
0:04:03 > 0:04:06and another person,
0:04:06 > 0:04:09Catherine Davies, died, too.
0:04:12 > 0:04:15Catherine Davies was from Llandrillo, she was 38.
0:04:15 > 0:04:18Her baby son had already died
0:04:18 > 0:04:21on that long voyage across the Atlantic.
0:04:24 > 0:04:28I'm just struck, Fernando, by the thought that although they had
0:04:28 > 0:04:31made some preparations, it wasn't enough, was it?
0:04:31 > 0:04:33Is it because people were simply too idealistic
0:04:33 > 0:04:37and they wanted it to succeed, they hadn't really thought it through?
0:04:37 > 0:04:43Well, the propaganda had been very strong in Wales
0:04:43 > 0:04:48and Patagonia was...
0:04:48 > 0:04:52drawn too fantastic a region.
0:04:54 > 0:04:56And the reality is not that way.
0:04:59 > 0:05:03There's no easy way to say this, but those first settlers
0:05:03 > 0:05:06had been very badly misled, and here's the proof.
0:05:06 > 0:05:09It's a little booklet for prospective migrants,
0:05:09 > 0:05:11written by Hugh Hughes in 1862.
0:05:11 > 0:05:14He would be part of that first wave.
0:05:14 > 0:05:18And in it he describes splendid expanses of green forest,
0:05:18 > 0:05:22herds of animals, rich pastures.
0:05:22 > 0:05:26"And the rainfall," he says, "is as regular as it is in Wales."
0:05:30 > 0:05:35At best, the leaders of this venture were guilty of wishful thinking.
0:05:35 > 0:05:39The negatives ignored, the positives greatly exaggerated.
0:05:39 > 0:05:41There was a heavy price.
0:05:41 > 0:05:46Before long, this unforgiving terrain had claimed its first victim.
0:05:46 > 0:05:49Daffyd Williams was a cobbler from Aberystwyth
0:05:49 > 0:05:54and on his first day ashore, he clambered up from the beach and started walking.
0:05:54 > 0:05:57He was looking for that fertile valley
0:05:57 > 0:05:59that he'd read about in the booklet.
0:05:59 > 0:06:01He was never seen again.
0:06:01 > 0:06:04And two years later, his remains were found at a place
0:06:04 > 0:06:08called Pant Yr Esgyrn, the Vale Of Bones.
0:06:08 > 0:06:11And he was identified by his ring
0:06:11 > 0:06:14and his cobbler's thimble.
0:06:17 > 0:06:20So, why venture to this back of beyond,
0:06:20 > 0:06:23which had resisted the efforts of all previous settlers?
0:06:25 > 0:06:28It was the idea of Michael D Jones.
0:06:31 > 0:06:34This outlandish project began to form when Jones saw a problem
0:06:34 > 0:06:38that he felt was set to destroy the Wales he loved.
0:06:42 > 0:06:45Welsh coal-mining was attracting thousands of English speakers
0:06:45 > 0:06:48to South Wales, and Jones feared that the native language
0:06:48 > 0:06:50and culture would quickly disappear.
0:06:52 > 0:06:55He believed that the only way that Welshness could be preserved
0:06:55 > 0:06:59was by establishing a new Wales in one of the most remote places
0:06:59 > 0:07:03on Earth, where no other language or culture would ever dilute it.
0:07:04 > 0:07:08So, when the Argentine government offered an isolated tract of land
0:07:08 > 0:07:10along the Chubut River, it seemed ideal.
0:07:13 > 0:07:16And Jones set about persuading able Welsh-speaking people
0:07:16 > 0:07:20to give up everything for a new life in the wilderness.
0:07:25 > 0:07:28For Michael D Jones, the departure of the Mimosa
0:07:28 > 0:07:34in 1865 with 153 people on board, was the realisation of a dream.
0:07:49 > 0:07:52This parched landscape of scrub and thorns
0:07:52 > 0:07:56couldn't be more different from the Wales they'd left behind.
0:07:58 > 0:08:01But, armed with remarkable faith and endurance,
0:08:01 > 0:08:04they pushed on 40 miles to their promised land.
0:08:06 > 0:08:10The river valley, where they hoped to build a new life.
0:08:11 > 0:08:16It really is no exaggeration to say that this is the life source
0:08:16 > 0:08:19of this part of Patagonia. This is the River Chubut.
0:08:19 > 0:08:24The River Camwy, as the Welsh used to call it, flows for over 500 miles
0:08:24 > 0:08:28from the Andes in the west, over to the Atlantic in the east.
0:08:28 > 0:08:30And the river has been an immense blessing,
0:08:30 > 0:08:33creating fertile land and sustaining life,
0:08:33 > 0:08:36but it's also been a bit of a curse at times,
0:08:36 > 0:08:38especially in the winter months,
0:08:38 > 0:08:42overflowing its banks and causing some pretty destructive flooding.
0:08:45 > 0:08:48Even though the settlers' first wooden homes were swept away,
0:08:48 > 0:08:52it seemed there was no alternative but to settle close to the river.
0:08:55 > 0:08:58The snows and rains that caused the flooding were falling far away
0:08:58 > 0:09:02in the Andes, and not on the parched and barren soil
0:09:02 > 0:09:05that formed the greater part of the land that they'd been given.
0:09:07 > 0:09:11It is difficult today to get a real sense of the extreme suffering
0:09:11 > 0:09:14and hardship of those first few years,
0:09:14 > 0:09:16and there are some unsettling reports.
0:09:16 > 0:09:20In 1871, it was suggested that the Welsh had been reduced
0:09:20 > 0:09:24to eating grass in order to survive.
0:09:24 > 0:09:27Emergency supplies were sent by the Argentine government.
0:09:27 > 0:09:29The Royal Navy brought in British help.
0:09:29 > 0:09:33No wonder that one of the settlers loudly proclaimed,
0:09:33 > 0:09:34"God save John Bull."
0:09:41 > 0:09:42There was mutiny in the air
0:09:42 > 0:09:47and in 1867, most of the settlers were ready to abandon the venture,
0:09:47 > 0:09:51but they were persuaded to give the colony one last chance.
0:09:53 > 0:09:58And then came one vital innovation that changed everything.
0:09:59 > 0:10:05And without it, the modern state of Chubut in Argentina might simply not exist.
0:10:15 > 0:10:20In a dazzling feat of engineering, those early pioneers dug a network
0:10:20 > 0:10:25of irrigation canals across the valley and turned the desert green.
0:10:31 > 0:10:35The Welsh have certainly left their mark on Patagonia
0:10:35 > 0:10:37and made an enormous contribution,
0:10:37 > 0:10:41but there is no contribution greater than this one -
0:10:41 > 0:10:46bringing a supply of water over many miles, into the middle of this
0:10:46 > 0:10:50barren land, and transforming it into a fertile plain.
0:10:50 > 0:10:55And today's farmers are still benefiting from that Welsh achievement.
0:10:57 > 0:11:01Near his small farm in the Chubut Valley, Benito Jones showed me
0:11:01 > 0:11:03how much this breakthrough means.
0:11:03 > 0:11:07He still speaks the language that his forefathers came here to protect,
0:11:07 > 0:11:11and though the accent is different, it is still reassuringly familiar.
0:11:11 > 0:11:13TRANSLATION FROM WELSH:
0:12:14 > 0:12:19It's only from space that you can really grasp what was achieved here.
0:12:19 > 0:12:24A vast green strip, surrounded by semi-desert.
0:12:32 > 0:12:35The same irrigation system that made agriculture possible here
0:12:35 > 0:12:38still sustains Aldwyn Brunt,
0:12:38 > 0:12:41farming in much the same way as his ancestors.
0:12:49 > 0:12:54His home is something of a time capsule, full of relics,
0:12:54 > 0:12:57paying homage to the colony's founding fathers.
0:13:03 > 0:13:06TRANSLATION FROM WELSH:
0:13:23 > 0:13:27There's even a first-hand account of those pioneering days,
0:13:27 > 0:13:31a memoir written by Benjamin Brunt in old age.
0:13:31 > 0:13:33HE READS IN WELSH
0:14:14 > 0:14:18Within just one decade, Benjamin Brunt was winning prizes
0:14:18 > 0:14:22in the US and in France for the quality of his wheat and his barley.
0:14:31 > 0:14:34But it took many years for those farms to prosper,
0:14:34 > 0:14:37and the Welsh colony might not have survived those early days
0:14:37 > 0:14:42without the help of the indigenous people, the nomadic Tehuelche
0:14:42 > 0:14:45Indians, who traded with them and taught them to hunt for food.
0:14:47 > 0:14:51By and large, it was a remarkably peaceful coexistence,
0:14:51 > 0:14:53but it is ironic that the Welsh,
0:14:53 > 0:14:55in their search for a haven from discrimination at home,
0:14:55 > 0:14:58were now taking land from an oppressed minority
0:14:58 > 0:15:00on another continent.
0:15:06 > 0:15:08We should add a note of caution
0:15:08 > 0:15:12about this bond between the Welsh and the native peoples.
0:15:12 > 0:15:16There's been a tendency to draw a rather sentimental picture about it.
0:15:16 > 0:15:20For a start, the Argentine government PAID the native peoples
0:15:20 > 0:15:23not to attack the Welsh and to allow them to settle.
0:15:23 > 0:15:26There was plenty of trade between the two communities.
0:15:26 > 0:15:29The Welsh bartered things like bread and butter and sugar,
0:15:29 > 0:15:33and got rather more valuable things in return such as animal skins
0:15:33 > 0:15:35and blankets and ostrich feathers.
0:15:35 > 0:15:39And there are plenty of suggestions of questionable Welsh behaviour,
0:15:39 > 0:15:42such as buying horses with a few loaves of bread
0:15:42 > 0:15:46and selling alcohol to the native peoples, and that is something
0:15:46 > 0:15:51that caused untold misery, as it had done in the American West.
0:15:55 > 0:15:57Crossing this vast landscape today,
0:15:57 > 0:16:00you find very few traces of the Tehuelche Indians.
0:16:02 > 0:16:05They were dealt a crushing blow in the 1880s
0:16:05 > 0:16:08when Argentine troops carried out a campaign to kill
0:16:08 > 0:16:10the indigenous people and seize their lands.
0:16:12 > 0:16:16To their credit, the Welsh often intervened, but it's no wonder
0:16:16 > 0:16:20that this genocidal campaign provoked attacks on white settlers.
0:16:26 > 0:16:30In March of 1884, a party of four young Welshmen were cornered
0:16:30 > 0:16:35at this very remote spot by a group of native Indians.
0:16:35 > 0:16:38We don't know why. Had the Indians been provoked in some way?
0:16:38 > 0:16:40We can't be sure.
0:16:40 > 0:16:43What we do know is that three of the Welshmen were killed
0:16:43 > 0:16:45in rather brutal circumstances.
0:16:45 > 0:16:50One of them, John Daniel Evans, made a rather miraculous escape.
0:16:50 > 0:16:54He had a detailed knowledge of the Indian trails in these parts,
0:16:54 > 0:16:56and in a tale that's passed into legend,
0:16:56 > 0:17:00his horse, Malacara, carried him away to safety and saved his life.
0:17:02 > 0:17:05This is the memorial, installed by the Welsh
0:17:05 > 0:17:09to remember the three who lost their lives in that dreadful incident.
0:17:09 > 0:17:13When they gathered here to mark the event,
0:17:13 > 0:17:15they sang a simple Welsh hymn.
0:17:15 > 0:17:19VOICES SING
0:17:33 > 0:17:37Within a year, that sole survivor, John Daniel Evans, would play
0:17:37 > 0:17:41a pivotal role in the next chapter of the colony's history.
0:17:49 > 0:17:53He was the pathfinder for a band of explorers - most of them Welshmen -
0:17:53 > 0:17:57on a mission to open up the far west of Patagonia.
0:18:02 > 0:18:06The native people had long spoken of rich, fertile lands,
0:18:06 > 0:18:08surrounded by snow-capped peaks.
0:18:08 > 0:18:11With no room to expand in the Chubut Valley,
0:18:11 > 0:18:16more farmland was needed to attract new immigrants from Wales.
0:18:16 > 0:18:19The adventurers were known as the Rifleros,
0:18:19 > 0:18:20or Rifleman of Chubut,
0:18:20 > 0:18:24and every year their descendants re-enact their arrival.
0:18:42 > 0:18:45And what we have today is a taste,
0:18:45 > 0:18:49a hint of the pioneering spirit of 1885.
0:18:49 > 0:18:51These are today's Rifleros.
0:18:51 > 0:18:54They're on their way to the top of the mountain,
0:18:54 > 0:18:59to raise a banner to celebrate the discovery of this remarkable place.
0:19:02 > 0:19:06Those pioneers had crossed the plains for hundreds of miles,
0:19:06 > 0:19:11and they got their first glimpse of this paradise, this fertile land.
0:19:11 > 0:19:15Their new home - Cwm Hyfryd, "Splendid Valley".
0:19:18 > 0:19:20TRANSLATION FROM WELSH:
0:19:46 > 0:19:48The Rifleros are very proud of their pedigree,
0:19:48 > 0:19:51and their direct links to the founding fathers.
0:20:36 > 0:20:40At last, here was the paradise that the Welsh had dreamed of.
0:20:40 > 0:20:44The rich soils of the valley floor were ideal to grow crops
0:20:44 > 0:20:49and there was plenty of pasture on the surrounding slopes to raise livestock.
0:20:53 > 0:20:57And, of course, cowboy culture came with the territory.
0:21:10 > 0:21:13This is Alejandro Jones and he farms in the traditional way
0:21:13 > 0:21:17on land pioneered by his great-grandfather.
0:21:18 > 0:21:21He combines pride in his Welsh heritage with a love
0:21:21 > 0:21:26for the rugged Argentine way of life in the great outdoors.
0:21:40 > 0:21:42TRANSLATION FROM WELSH:
0:22:43 > 0:22:48It is remarkable how the Welsh adapted to life on this wild frontier.
0:22:50 > 0:22:53And the clearest symbol of that is the asado,
0:22:53 > 0:22:57an outdoor roast, where the whole animal is cooked on an open fire.
0:23:02 > 0:23:06The Green family invited me to taste the experience for myself
0:23:06 > 0:23:09at their home near Trevelin in Cwm Hyfryd.
0:23:13 > 0:23:15TRANSLATION FROM WELSH:
0:23:29 > 0:23:33The asado is a ritual that's enjoyed all over Argentina,
0:23:33 > 0:23:37the perfect occasion to get together with family and friends.
0:23:37 > 0:23:40But here there's one striking difference.
0:23:40 > 0:23:44As the conversation flows, the guests slip easily between Spanish and Welsh.
0:23:53 > 0:23:56MAN SINGS IN WELSH
0:24:01 > 0:24:05The familiar and the exotic are combined in a rather special way by Vincent Evans.
0:24:07 > 0:24:11A Welsh folk song about a lovelorn maiden on the banks of the River Dee,
0:24:11 > 0:24:15performed half a mile away, in the shadow of the Andes.
0:24:35 > 0:24:40I think some viewers will wonder why do you persist with this
0:24:40 > 0:24:44effort to speak Welsh. You speak Spanish, why do you make the effort?
0:24:44 > 0:24:48It's because we feel, we feel Welsh and it's something...
0:24:48 > 0:24:51I don't know.
0:24:53 > 0:24:56- It's important.- Yes.- Yes. How about you?
0:24:56 > 0:25:01Fi caru... I love, I love the Welsh language.
0:25:01 > 0:25:03I love Cymru.
0:25:03 > 0:25:08It's such a... I can see that, you know, it's a very emotional thing.
0:25:08 > 0:25:12- Yes? It is a very emotional thing. - Our grandparents came from Wales.
0:25:12 > 0:25:17The singing of Wales, traditional things from Wales,
0:25:17 > 0:25:20- the flag, everything. - It's part of you?
0:25:20 > 0:25:23Yes, because Welsh was my first language.
0:25:23 > 0:25:29That was the language my mummy speak...spoke to me.
0:25:29 > 0:25:31The first days.
0:25:32 > 0:25:36At times like this, I have to pinch myself
0:25:36 > 0:25:40and realise that I am 7,000 miles away from Wales,
0:25:40 > 0:25:44enjoying some wonderful food and the best company.
0:25:44 > 0:25:4940 years ago, I heard a teacher at Llangennech Primary School
0:25:49 > 0:25:52tell us about the wonders of Patagonia.
0:25:52 > 0:25:55I never thought I'd have the opportunity to come here,
0:25:55 > 0:25:58but I'm so glad that I have done.
0:25:58 > 0:26:01These people prove something rather special, which is that it
0:26:01 > 0:26:08is perfectly natural to be proud, patriotic citizens of Argentina.
0:26:08 > 0:26:13It is also perfectly natural to be sustaining a Welsh culture
0:26:13 > 0:26:15and way of life.
0:26:15 > 0:26:18And I'm so pleased that I've been able to be part of that.
0:26:28 > 0:26:32Everywhere you look, the signs and symbols of Welshness sit
0:26:32 > 0:26:37comfortably in an Argentine setting. Tokens of a shared heritage.
0:26:42 > 0:26:47But, for the first settlers, there was one aspect of their culture
0:26:47 > 0:26:51that they were determined not to dilute or compromise.
0:26:58 > 0:27:00And this should provide a clue.
0:27:00 > 0:27:03This harmonium still plays a pretty decent hymn tune.
0:27:03 > 0:27:06Not bad considering it arrived here
0:27:06 > 0:27:09a century and a half ago with the Welsh pioneers.
0:27:20 > 0:27:22TRANSLATION FROM WELSH:
0:28:13 > 0:28:15Communal worship was a priority,
0:28:15 > 0:28:18even if it took place in a wooden hut.
0:28:18 > 0:28:23Such was the importance to the settlers of their nonconformist religion.
0:28:23 > 0:28:25Later, as they mastered their harsh environment,
0:28:25 > 0:28:28they built many more chapels.
0:28:35 > 0:28:39Some of those chapels are now dwarfed by urban sprawl.
0:28:40 > 0:28:44Others look much as they must have done when they were built -
0:28:44 > 0:28:48relics of Victorian Wales, transplanted to an alien landscape.
0:29:02 > 0:29:06We should never lose sight of the fact that for those early Welsh settlers,
0:29:06 > 0:29:11their faith, their nonconformist values were absolutely essential.
0:29:11 > 0:29:15That is what sustained them, helped them to get through
0:29:15 > 0:29:18all the trials and the difficulties that they suffered.
0:29:18 > 0:29:20And these chapels, however small
0:29:20 > 0:29:25and however modest they appear, were actually symbols of strength.
0:29:37 > 0:29:41This is Bethel Chapel in Trevelin in the Andes.
0:29:41 > 0:29:44The first meeting house the Welsh built here was a simple log cabin.
0:29:47 > 0:29:52Step inside, you could be in a chapel in rural Wales.
0:29:53 > 0:29:56Except that half the service is in Spanish.
0:29:59 > 0:30:03HE SPEAKS WELSH
0:30:09 > 0:30:13Despite having no Welsh roots, the preacher, Esias Grandis, learnt the language
0:30:13 > 0:30:17after being inspired by the story of the Welsh pioneers.
0:30:18 > 0:30:20HE SPEAKS WELSH
0:31:04 > 0:31:09Their religion bred an independent and radical outlook, up to a point.
0:31:09 > 0:31:12Left alone for more than a decade to govern themselves, they created a
0:31:12 > 0:31:17society unlike Britain in which all men over the age of 18 had the vote.
0:31:17 > 0:31:20But, crucially, the women were excluded.
0:31:26 > 0:31:29And it was here in the Chubut Valley that the institutions
0:31:29 > 0:31:31that upheld these values were founded.
0:31:31 > 0:31:33All run through the medium of Welsh.
0:31:35 > 0:31:39And here I am, I can hardly believe it, 40 years after
0:31:39 > 0:31:42I first had the dream of coming to Patagonia,
0:31:42 > 0:31:46I'm driving towards the Gaiman, which is one of the fortresses of
0:31:46 > 0:31:49Welshness in Patagonia.
0:31:49 > 0:31:52It's a good time to think, with the sun setting here,
0:31:52 > 0:31:57about the ambition and the sacrifice and the vision of those
0:31:57 > 0:32:01settlers 150 years ago. It does make you feel very humble.
0:32:07 > 0:32:13In 1885, Gaiman became the seat of the first elected council in Patagonia.
0:32:15 > 0:32:18Gabriel Restucha has been the town's mayor for the last eight years,
0:32:18 > 0:32:22the first Welsh speaker in the post since the 1950s.
0:32:26 > 0:32:29TRANSLATION FROM WELSH:
0:32:59 > 0:33:02The Welsh also took control of the economy,
0:33:02 > 0:33:04forming a co-operative company in 1885
0:33:04 > 0:33:07that handled almost all local trade.
0:33:13 > 0:33:17And they built a railway linking the Chubut Valley to the coast,
0:33:17 > 0:33:20boosting exports and increasing prosperity.
0:33:20 > 0:33:23It meant that the arduous journey that cost the life
0:33:23 > 0:33:27of the Aberystwyth cobbler Dafydd Williams back in 1865,
0:33:27 > 0:33:29was now accomplished in a few hours.
0:33:31 > 0:33:34And their cultural confidence was expressed through
0:33:34 > 0:33:37the Eisteddfod, a celebration of all things Welsh.
0:33:37 > 0:33:41But success did attract some unwelcome attention.
0:33:43 > 0:33:46The Argentine government didn't see the Welsh community
0:33:46 > 0:33:51as an independent nation in its own right, but as an immigrant part
0:33:51 > 0:33:54of the Argentine population based in Chubut.
0:33:58 > 0:34:02By the 1890s, Welshmen had to take part in military drills on Sundays,
0:34:02 > 0:34:06against their religious principles.
0:34:06 > 0:34:10There was a stand-off. The Welsh appealed for British government help
0:34:10 > 0:34:14and considered relocating the entire colony to South Africa.
0:34:16 > 0:34:21In 1902, nearly 250 settlers did indeed turn their backs on Patagonia
0:34:21 > 0:34:23and resettled in Canada.
0:34:28 > 0:34:31Relations between the Argentines and the Welsh were damaged and
0:34:31 > 0:34:36those left behind sought out a way to declare allegiance to their hosts.
0:34:45 > 0:34:48I'm riding on the Old Patagonian Express, on a route which
0:34:48 > 0:34:50skirts the border with Chile.
0:34:51 > 0:34:55At the turn of the 20th century, the frontier line was bitterly
0:34:55 > 0:34:58contested, with Chile claiming lands where the Welsh had settled.
0:35:00 > 0:35:03In 1902, the settlers were given a choice -
0:35:03 > 0:35:07did they want to be Argentines or Chileans?
0:35:07 > 0:35:11And when they gathered here to vote, they opted decisively for Argentina.
0:35:15 > 0:35:18No-one should be surprised by the result of the vote
0:35:18 > 0:35:22that took place at this school. Just imagine a different outcome.
0:35:22 > 0:35:25You'd have the Welsh community in Patagonia split.
0:35:25 > 0:35:28One part here in the Andes in Chile
0:35:28 > 0:35:33and then the other part, 500 miles to the east in the Chubut Valley, in Argentina.
0:35:33 > 0:35:36So, this was a very significant milestone.
0:35:36 > 0:35:41The Welsh in Patagonia had declared themselves to be Argentine citizens
0:35:41 > 0:35:45and to this day, they are considered to be Argentine heroes
0:35:45 > 0:35:47for the choice they made.
0:35:49 > 0:35:52The display of allegiance healed the rift between the Welsh
0:35:52 > 0:35:56and the Argentines, but the Welsh were not ready to integrate.
0:35:59 > 0:36:0340 years earlier, the colony had been founded to prevent
0:36:03 > 0:36:06the culture and language being overwhelmed by those of England
0:36:06 > 0:36:10and to ensure that it was handed on to the generations to come.
0:36:10 > 0:36:13Now, with a new culture threatening to overwhelm them,
0:36:13 > 0:36:17the colony remained faithful to that original vision.
0:36:20 > 0:36:23They built a school, one that has a fair claim to be the first
0:36:23 > 0:36:27Welsh medium secondary school in the world.
0:36:27 > 0:36:29Wales would wait another 50 years.
0:36:34 > 0:36:38Some of Luned Gonzalez's family members were pupils here in the early days.
0:36:40 > 0:36:43The school received pupils from all
0:36:43 > 0:36:46Patagonia at the beginning.
0:36:46 > 0:36:52From the south and from the west and in Gaiman itself,
0:36:52 > 0:36:56the children who were not of Welsh extraction attended the school.
0:37:00 > 0:37:04But the Argentine government saw no place for Welsh in education.
0:37:04 > 0:37:08State schools fostered patriotism and national unity
0:37:08 > 0:37:11under one language - Spanish.
0:37:11 > 0:37:13They offered something the Welsh school could not,
0:37:13 > 0:37:16official certificates and entry to university.
0:37:16 > 0:37:19So, inevitably, they drew pupils away.
0:37:21 > 0:37:26How did the policy of the central government in Buenos Aires
0:37:26 > 0:37:29affect the status and the teaching of Welsh?
0:37:29 > 0:37:34Well, the effect of that was that Welsh was taught at the
0:37:34 > 0:37:39Band of Hope and at the chapels
0:37:39 > 0:37:42and at the Sunday school, really.
0:37:42 > 0:37:48The Sunday school did a tremendous job to keep alive the Welsh language.
0:37:52 > 0:37:54In the early years of the 20th century,
0:37:54 > 0:37:59the Welsh community was no longer in secure isolation.
0:37:59 > 0:38:02The incomers were routinely in contact with people outside
0:38:02 > 0:38:04their own community.
0:38:04 > 0:38:07One day, Llwyd ap Iwan, the community leader
0:38:07 > 0:38:11and son of the founder Michael D Jones, was out on the plain
0:38:11 > 0:38:14when he got into an argument with two strangers.
0:38:15 > 0:38:18Guns were fired and Jones fell to the ground.
0:38:21 > 0:38:26His murder near this spot in 1909 was a very big blow
0:38:26 > 0:38:29to the Welsh cause in Patagonia.
0:38:29 > 0:38:31He was shot dead by two men, two outlaws,
0:38:31 > 0:38:33at the Welsh co-operative store
0:38:33 > 0:38:37here at Nant y Pysgod in the foothills of the Andes.
0:38:37 > 0:38:42And for many years, there were rumours that he'd been killed by Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.
0:38:42 > 0:38:46They'd been on the run here, but, in fact, they had died the previous year.
0:38:46 > 0:38:50The men who shot him were called William Wilson and Robert Evans.
0:38:50 > 0:38:54They were former members of the Butch and Sundance gang.
0:38:59 > 0:39:02It was a reminder that the Welsh couldn't stay insulated
0:39:02 > 0:39:03from the outside world.
0:39:03 > 0:39:08They were fast becoming outnumbered by immigrants from Spain, Portugal and Italy,
0:39:08 > 0:39:11while the flow of new Welsh immigrants had dried up.
0:39:12 > 0:39:17So, it was inevitable that the Welsh lost their political and economic power.
0:39:17 > 0:39:22By the 1920s, the co-op, the backbone of Patagonian business,
0:39:22 > 0:39:25was in trouble and went bankrupt in the Great Depression.
0:39:28 > 0:39:31The nationalisation of the Welsh-owned irrigation company
0:39:31 > 0:39:33in the 1940s was another blow.
0:39:36 > 0:39:40And the Eisteddfod, for so long the centrepiece of the Welsh
0:39:40 > 0:39:44cultural calendar in Patagonia, came to an end in the early 1950s.
0:39:46 > 0:39:48The Welsh became second-class citizens.
0:39:49 > 0:39:52Children were mocked in school as pan y manteca,
0:39:52 > 0:39:54or "bread and butter" Welsh.
0:39:54 > 0:39:56For some, it became a badge of shame.
0:39:58 > 0:40:02Many families in the Chubut Valley have thoroughly Welsh names,
0:40:02 > 0:40:06but they're of a generation that was lost to the language.
0:40:10 > 0:40:12TRANSLATION FROM SPANISH:
0:40:35 > 0:40:38But his parents decided not to pass on the language.
0:40:41 > 0:40:43TRANSLATION FROM SPANISH:
0:41:10 > 0:41:12HIS VOICE BREAKS
0:41:19 > 0:41:22Michael D Jones had dreamt of creating a safe haven
0:41:22 > 0:41:23for Welsh culture.
0:41:25 > 0:41:29By the 1950s, the mission the founding fathers had sacrificed
0:41:29 > 0:41:33so much to achieve appeared doomed to failure.
0:41:33 > 0:41:38The survival of the language was at the very heart of that vision.
0:41:38 > 0:41:40By turning their backs on the language,
0:41:40 > 0:41:44it seemed a new generation of Welsh Patagonians were also rejecting
0:41:44 > 0:41:48the very identity that their ancestors had fought so hard to protect.
0:41:51 > 0:41:54Some films made by the BBC in the early 1960s
0:41:54 > 0:41:56strike a rather sad note.
0:41:56 > 0:41:59Where some of the old leaders lie buried,
0:41:59 > 0:42:02the pampas grass comes creeping back.
0:42:02 > 0:42:07Today, about 5,000 people of Welsh descent live in Patagonia.
0:42:07 > 0:42:10Slowly, they merge with the rest of the Argentinians.
0:42:10 > 0:42:14Their language is dying. But the Welsh opened up Patagonia...
0:42:15 > 0:42:18We invited some of the people who took part in those films to
0:42:18 > 0:42:22view them again half a century on.
0:42:22 > 0:42:24HE SPEAKS SPANISH
0:42:26 > 0:42:30By the 1960s, most chapel services were in Spanish, even if
0:42:30 > 0:42:32the congregation was Welsh.
0:42:34 > 0:42:36HE SPEAKS SPANISH
0:42:38 > 0:42:43But Monw Evans de Hughes was fighting against the rising tide of all things Spanish.
0:42:43 > 0:42:45TRANSLATION FROM WELSH:
0:43:22 > 0:43:25Monw's daughter Donna was only three years old
0:43:25 > 0:43:27when the documentary was filmed.
0:43:27 > 0:43:29TRANSLATION FROM WELSH:
0:43:51 > 0:43:54Geraint Edmonds belonged to a generation with
0:43:54 > 0:43:57an increasingly blurred sense of identity.
0:43:57 > 0:43:58TRANSLATION FROM WELSH:
0:44:12 > 0:44:15It seems appropriate then that I should be chatting to Geraint
0:44:15 > 0:44:18in Welsh in a typical Argentine saloon bar.
0:44:20 > 0:44:22Gracias, senor.
0:44:22 > 0:44:24TRANSLATION FROM WELSH:
0:44:50 > 0:44:54And that could've been the end of the story, but it isn't quite true.
0:45:00 > 0:45:05In 1965, the colony celebrated its centenary, which brought attention,
0:45:05 > 0:45:08money and a revived interest in the vision of the founding fathers.
0:45:12 > 0:45:16Monuments, like this one near the shore where the pioneers landed,
0:45:16 > 0:45:19were built to celebrate their achievement.
0:45:19 > 0:45:21And all this awoke an awareness
0:45:21 > 0:45:23of the debt owed to the founding fathers
0:45:23 > 0:45:26and a new determination to keep their dream alive.
0:45:31 > 0:45:35And then a major turning point came at the beginning of the 1980s.
0:45:35 > 0:45:39Still without bootlaces, they were marched off and up the muddy track.
0:45:41 > 0:45:44The Falklands War brought defeat for the military regime
0:45:44 > 0:45:46and the start of a new democratic era.
0:45:50 > 0:45:54Argentine nationalism gave way to an emphasis on diversity
0:45:54 > 0:45:56and a new interest in learning Welsh.
0:45:58 > 0:46:01Thanks to teachers and funding from Wales,
0:46:01 > 0:46:04there are some 1,200 learners in Patagonia.
0:46:05 > 0:46:08I went to the language centre in Esquel, in the Andes,
0:46:08 > 0:46:10to meet some of them.
0:46:10 > 0:46:13TRANSLATION FROM WELSH:
0:46:25 > 0:46:28What I found striking was that few of the learners
0:46:28 > 0:46:30had obvious Welsh links.
0:46:30 > 0:46:35I spoke to Clare Vaughan, the Welsh language project coordinator.
0:46:35 > 0:46:39What do you think accounts for the surge in interest you're seeing?
0:46:39 > 0:46:43There has been a growing awareness of bilingualism as something good.
0:46:43 > 0:46:47Back in the Dark Ages, it was felt that if you spoke two languages,
0:46:47 > 0:46:49it was a bad thing.
0:46:49 > 0:46:52Now, we've moved on from that and there's an acceptance that
0:46:52 > 0:46:56it's very good for you to have more than one language,
0:46:56 > 0:46:58so that, in general, has helped the cause.
0:46:58 > 0:47:01And I also think there's more acceptance of different roots.
0:47:01 > 0:47:05People in Argentina are becoming more interested in where they've come from
0:47:05 > 0:47:07so that helps.
0:47:07 > 0:47:09And we've got people who come from the big cities
0:47:09 > 0:47:12looking for a better life here and what they love about
0:47:12 > 0:47:16communities like Trevelin, Esquel, is they have a different identity
0:47:16 > 0:47:19because of the Welsh connection, and they want to learn the language.
0:47:20 > 0:47:23The Welsh identity that Michael D Jones fought to preserve
0:47:23 > 0:47:27has been revived in a way that he couldn't possibly have imagined.
0:47:27 > 0:47:29FOLK MUSIC
0:47:29 > 0:47:33Most of these folk dancers have no Welsh roots at all.
0:47:40 > 0:47:44Virginia Steinkamp is an Argentine of German descent.
0:47:46 > 0:47:49I met her to try and find out why she was so keen
0:47:49 > 0:47:52to embrace all things Welsh.
0:47:52 > 0:47:55TRANSLATION FROM WELSH:
0:48:34 > 0:48:39Like many others, I have fond memories of the chapel tea,
0:48:39 > 0:48:43where people would spend hours sharing stories and gossiping.
0:48:45 > 0:48:47It's a tradition that has dwindled in Wales,
0:48:47 > 0:48:50but it's still going strong here in Patagonia.
0:48:52 > 0:48:55At these regular get-togethers, Spanish is left at the door.
0:48:55 > 0:48:58People relax, eat and talk in Welsh.
0:49:02 > 0:49:06In Gaiman, if you want to experience a bit of Welshness,
0:49:06 > 0:49:08it seems you had better like tea.
0:49:08 > 0:49:11There's a Welsh tea house on every corner,
0:49:11 > 0:49:14each vying to be more Welsh than the next.
0:49:14 > 0:49:19The sign here reads, "The first Welsh tea house in Patagonia."
0:49:21 > 0:49:24And one in particular attracts tourists by the busload.
0:49:27 > 0:49:31Besides the outsized Welsh teapot, its big selling point
0:49:31 > 0:49:35is that Diana, Princess of Wales, stopped here for a cuppa in 1995.
0:49:35 > 0:49:38It seems nothing tops that for Welshness.
0:49:40 > 0:49:44So they preserved and washed the plate she used, the teapot
0:49:44 > 0:49:47her tea was served from and the cup she drank from.
0:49:48 > 0:49:51The dregs are stored in a little bottle.
0:49:54 > 0:49:56- Muy bien.- Gracias.
0:49:56 > 0:49:58Gracias a usted.
0:50:02 > 0:50:04Very good. A nice cup of tea.
0:50:04 > 0:50:07This, for you, in many ways,
0:50:07 > 0:50:10is the value of Welshness in Patagonia today.
0:50:10 > 0:50:13I'm talking about commercial value
0:50:13 > 0:50:17and there's a strong royal flavour to that commercial activity.
0:50:17 > 0:50:22All of this is held together by this notion of a traditional Welsh tea.
0:50:22 > 0:50:24A kind of chapel tea, if you like,
0:50:24 > 0:50:29though it's much more sumptuous than the chapel teas I remember as a boy.
0:50:29 > 0:50:31And all this is underlined by the fact
0:50:31 > 0:50:34that the family running this place admit very happily
0:50:34 > 0:50:38that they have little or no connection with Wales or Welshness.
0:50:38 > 0:50:42They are just running a very successful business.
0:50:47 > 0:50:50And that's the thing - Welshness does sell.
0:50:50 > 0:50:53And things that make money are very interesting
0:50:53 > 0:50:56to politicians and businesspeople alike.
0:51:01 > 0:51:05The Eisteddfod, revived in 1965 as a bilingual event,
0:51:05 > 0:51:08is now used to sell the area to tourists.
0:51:13 > 0:51:16APPLAUSE
0:51:20 > 0:51:23And the provincial government has helped to pay for renovations
0:51:23 > 0:51:25to the Welsh chapels
0:51:25 > 0:51:28and markets them as historic visitor attractions.
0:51:33 > 0:51:36If I had any doubt about the place of Wales in modern Patagonia,
0:51:36 > 0:51:39well, that doubt vanished when I ran into a parade
0:51:39 > 0:51:43celebrating the foundation of the town of Trevelin.
0:51:45 > 0:51:50It's revealing because it shows you how the province sees itself.
0:51:50 > 0:51:53The indigenous Indians are represented,
0:51:53 > 0:51:58as are the Hispanic peoples, and the Arab immigrants, too.
0:51:58 > 0:52:01But pride of place goes to the Welsh contingent
0:52:01 > 0:52:04for their crucial role as founders of the settlement
0:52:04 > 0:52:06back in the 1880s.
0:52:08 > 0:52:10The man applauding is Martin Buzzi,
0:52:10 > 0:52:14the Argentine Governor of Chubut Province.
0:52:17 > 0:52:20To discuss the Welsh influences that surround him,
0:52:20 > 0:52:23I went to see the Governor in the state capital, Rawson.
0:52:23 > 0:52:26Just inside the door, dominating the foyer,
0:52:26 > 0:52:28was something rather significant -
0:52:28 > 0:52:32a mural depicting the Welsh-Argentine cooperation.
0:52:34 > 0:52:38It became clear that marking the 150th anniversary
0:52:38 > 0:52:40was a political priority.
0:52:40 > 0:52:43TRANSLATION FROM SPANISH:
0:53:22 > 0:53:27The change in the status of Welsh since the 1960s is quite marked.
0:53:27 > 0:53:32In 2006, exactly a century after the first Welsh-language school opened,
0:53:32 > 0:53:36the community proudly opened a new bilingual primary school.
0:53:36 > 0:53:38One of the teachers there is Catrin Morris.
0:53:40 > 0:53:42TRANSLATION FROM WELSH:
0:53:57 > 0:54:01We have come a very long way. We have come a very long way.
0:54:01 > 0:54:06There is a renaissance of interest in the Welsh, the Welsh language,
0:54:06 > 0:54:09the Welsh culture and the Welsh people.
0:54:09 > 0:54:13# Gwyliwch eich hun rhag bod mewn perygl
0:54:13 > 0:54:16# Mae 'na lawer son bod 'na ddyn o Batagonia... #
0:54:16 > 0:54:20It's notable that many of the children here have no Welsh at home
0:54:20 > 0:54:22and no Welsh ancestry.
0:54:23 > 0:54:27More than that, only the Spanish part of their education is free.
0:54:27 > 0:54:30Their parents have to stump up extra for the Welsh half
0:54:30 > 0:54:33and it seems they are perfectly happy to do so.
0:54:33 > 0:54:36# ..Llawn o swn... #
0:54:36 > 0:54:39We offer an education that nobody else here
0:54:39 > 0:54:42in Trelew and Chubut offers at the moment.
0:54:42 > 0:54:46We offer an education that is based on family values
0:54:46 > 0:54:49and, erm, values based on respect.
0:54:49 > 0:54:52And we offer a bilingual education,
0:54:52 > 0:54:55which is proven to give great advantages.
0:54:55 > 0:54:58# Neidr a theigr a dau babwn
0:54:58 > 0:55:04# Byw yn y jyngl yn llawn o swn. #
0:55:05 > 0:55:07MUSIC: Gwahoddiad
0:55:11 > 0:55:15At the cemetery where many of the founding fathers were laid to rest,
0:55:15 > 0:55:18you do wonder what they would make of Patagonia today.
0:55:23 > 0:55:26Would they recoil at the sight of the colony they built
0:55:26 > 0:55:30becoming a tourist commodity in the global marketplace?
0:55:30 > 0:55:33Or would they be heartened that the Welsh identity
0:55:33 > 0:55:37is being constructed and claimed in new ways?
0:55:42 > 0:55:46The founding fathers had set out to build a new Wales,
0:55:46 > 0:55:50marked above all by cultural purity.
0:55:50 > 0:55:53That vision fell short in many ways,
0:55:53 > 0:55:56but it is remarkable that 150 years later, their descendants
0:55:56 > 0:56:00are still fighting for the language and culture
0:56:00 > 0:56:02that they came to protect.
0:56:14 > 0:56:19I remember a funeral in the '60s and the preacher said,
0:56:19 > 0:56:25"I hear another nail in the coffin of the Welsh language."
0:56:25 > 0:56:29We are speaking of the '60s and we still speak Welsh here.
0:56:32 > 0:56:36People from outside come in and see it as something interesting.
0:56:36 > 0:56:39As long as we've got young people in the classes,
0:56:39 > 0:56:42I'm totally convinced that the thing is going to grow and grow.
0:56:42 > 0:56:45TRANSLATION FROM WELSH: