0:00:02 > 0:00:06This town in West Wales has a history going back over 900 years.
0:00:06 > 0:00:11Over the centuries, it's known good times and bad, boom times and bust.
0:00:11 > 0:00:14Nowadays, it's a thriving market place,
0:00:14 > 0:00:16proving that you can't keep a good town down.
0:00:16 > 0:00:20It's the place where the Welsh defeated the Norman invaders.
0:00:20 > 0:00:23It was once Wales' busiest port
0:00:23 > 0:00:26and had some intriguing ladies of the night.
0:00:26 > 0:00:29It's a town of horses and of power boats.
0:00:29 > 0:00:33It has nothing to do with knitwear and a lot to do with jeans.
0:00:33 > 0:00:35This is the story of Cardigan.
0:00:54 > 0:00:58Today, Cardigan has a population of about 4,000
0:00:58 > 0:01:01and is the hub of this part of rural Ceredigion.
0:01:01 > 0:01:03In Welsh, it's called Aberteifi,
0:01:03 > 0:01:06and the River Teifi runs peacefully alongside the town,
0:01:06 > 0:01:08giving it much of its character.
0:01:10 > 0:01:14In the centre of town is this - Cardigan Castle -
0:01:14 > 0:01:19closed to the public now and propped up by these rather ugly girders.
0:01:19 > 0:01:20It doesn't look much,
0:01:20 > 0:01:24but wind back nine centuries and this was a very important place.
0:01:28 > 0:01:31Cardigan was at the sharp end of the Norman invasion of Wales.
0:01:31 > 0:01:36As a crossing place for the Teifi, it was a prized location,
0:01:36 > 0:01:40fought over for decades and often changing hands.
0:01:40 > 0:01:43There were an awful lot of battles here because it was the front line,
0:01:43 > 0:01:46the frontier town, basically.
0:01:46 > 0:01:49Because you had the Welsh very strong to the north in Ceredigion,
0:01:49 > 0:01:52the Normans very strong in Pembrokeshire to the south,
0:01:52 > 0:01:55and whoever controlled Cardigan controlled the frontier.
0:01:55 > 0:01:58Finally, it was Welsh warrior Rhys ap Gruffydd
0:01:58 > 0:02:00who sent the Normans packing.
0:02:00 > 0:02:03In 1165, he captured their wooden castle,
0:02:03 > 0:02:07burnt it to the ground and set about building his own.
0:02:07 > 0:02:11What makes this castle a bit special is this. Stone.
0:02:11 > 0:02:13The Normans had started building them to last
0:02:13 > 0:02:16but this is the first home build -
0:02:16 > 0:02:19a stone castle built by the Welsh to resist those Normans.
0:02:20 > 0:02:24To mark his victory, in the winter of 1176, Rhys held a festival.
0:02:24 > 0:02:28He invited poets and musicians from all over Britain
0:02:28 > 0:02:30to Cardigan Castle to compete.
0:02:30 > 0:02:35It's the first ever Eisteddfod and it all started here in Cardigan.
0:02:35 > 0:02:39It was announced a year beforehand, like the modern Eisteddfod.
0:02:39 > 0:02:42You had two principal competitions. One in music, one in poetry.
0:02:42 > 0:02:47The most significant thing was the setting up of chairs for the victors
0:02:47 > 0:02:50because unlike nowadays when we take chairs for granted,
0:02:50 > 0:02:52the chair was a great symbol of power.
0:02:52 > 0:02:55Only the prince or the bishop had a chair.
0:02:55 > 0:02:58So to give a bard a chair, you know... This was a great honour.
0:02:58 > 0:03:02And in a moment of 12th-century political correctness,
0:03:02 > 0:03:05the chair for the poetry prize went to North Wales
0:03:05 > 0:03:08and the winner for music came from the south.
0:03:08 > 0:03:10Shrewd politician, that Lord Rhys.
0:03:10 > 0:03:13And here it is, the first Eisteddfod.
0:03:13 > 0:03:16This interpretation was painted by Cardigan's most famous artist,
0:03:16 > 0:03:19Aneurin Jones, and his son Meirion.
0:03:19 > 0:03:22They painted it as part of the celebrations
0:03:22 > 0:03:24to mark the town's 900th anniversary.
0:03:24 > 0:03:27There's the bard being chaired with the Lord Rhys looking on.
0:03:27 > 0:03:31Aneurin Jones used the faces of townspeople today
0:03:31 > 0:03:33to portray their forebears.
0:03:33 > 0:03:37The story of Lord Rhys and Cardigan Castle has a rather sad ending.
0:03:37 > 0:03:42After his death, his two sons fell out over their inheritance
0:03:42 > 0:03:46and the castle was sold to the Normans for a pittance.
0:03:46 > 0:03:49Kids, eh? You give them everything and what they do?
0:03:49 > 0:03:52They give it away.
0:03:53 > 0:03:57After the castle, the mediaeval building in Cardigan
0:03:57 > 0:04:00is the church of St Mary's, which dates from the 13th century.
0:04:00 > 0:04:04It lies near where the Normans built a priory
0:04:04 > 0:04:07but the location of the church has a more intriguing origin
0:04:07 > 0:04:10and that comes from the story of a miracle.
0:04:12 > 0:04:16It is said that a statue of Mary with her son on her lap
0:04:16 > 0:04:19and a candle burning in her right hand,
0:04:19 > 0:04:21was found on the banks of the Teifi.
0:04:23 > 0:04:26The people decided to bring it to the parish church.
0:04:26 > 0:04:29Three or four times they brought it there, but each time
0:04:29 > 0:04:34they found it miraculously back where they originally saw it.
0:04:34 > 0:04:38So they gave up and decided to build the church on that spot.
0:04:38 > 0:04:41That's why St Mary's exists now.
0:04:42 > 0:04:45The candle on the statue was said never to have gone out
0:04:45 > 0:04:48and so Cardigan became a key site for pilgrimage in Wales.
0:04:48 > 0:04:52Sadly, the statue itself was destroyed during the Reformation
0:04:52 > 0:04:55but like the miracle, it refused to go away.
0:04:56 > 0:05:02A new statue was made, and in 1986, in front of 4,500 people,
0:05:02 > 0:05:06it was inaugurated as the National Catholic Shrine for Wales.
0:05:08 > 0:05:10With the loss of its original shrine
0:05:10 > 0:05:13and with the castle no longer so important,
0:05:13 > 0:05:15Cardigan became a bit of a backwater.
0:05:15 > 0:05:20Here it is in 1610. This was made by the famous map-maker, John Speed.
0:05:20 > 0:05:24You can see here, the high street
0:05:24 > 0:05:27and the castle still recognisable.
0:05:27 > 0:05:30But what's striking is just how small the town was.
0:05:30 > 0:05:34Over the next 200 years, though, Cardigan was to change dramatically,
0:05:34 > 0:05:36not because of what's here,
0:05:36 > 0:05:39but because of what's at the bottom of the map. The river.
0:05:41 > 0:05:44The Teifi has always been Cardigan's lifeblood,
0:05:44 > 0:05:46a tidal river rich in fish and salmon.
0:05:46 > 0:05:49The Benedictine monks who arrived with the Normans
0:05:49 > 0:05:53had introduced a French form of salmon netting called seine fishing.
0:05:53 > 0:05:57It continued right up until the 1970s.
0:06:00 > 0:06:04In the 18th century, Cardigan started to grow as a major port.
0:06:04 > 0:06:07Ships from the town took goods like herring, slate,
0:06:07 > 0:06:11lead and wool around the British coast across to Ireland and France.
0:06:13 > 0:06:15And there was human cargo as well.
0:06:15 > 0:06:20For Welsh people emigrating to North America, Cardigan was their last sight of home.
0:06:20 > 0:06:25By the early 19th century, Cardigan was the largest Welsh port,
0:06:25 > 0:06:27far bigger than Cardiff, Newport or Swansea.
0:06:31 > 0:06:33The growth of Cardigan as a port
0:06:33 > 0:06:37led to its emergence as a major shipbuilding centre.
0:06:37 > 0:06:39This is the Netpool area,
0:06:39 > 0:06:42where once they made the wooden ships, the ocean-going sloops.
0:06:42 > 0:06:45It's all changed now. It's a car park.
0:06:45 > 0:06:49But once, this would have been alive with the sounds of industry.
0:06:51 > 0:06:54There were once seven shipyards along the Teifi
0:06:54 > 0:06:58but now, there's only one small boatyard which carries on the tradition.
0:06:58 > 0:07:01Swallow Boats build award-winning yachts
0:07:01 > 0:07:04but Cardigan's most popular craft in the 19th century
0:07:04 > 0:07:08was a single-masted vessel called a sloop.
0:07:08 > 0:07:11Sloops were the sort of white vans of their time.
0:07:11 > 0:07:13They took stuff from A to B to C.
0:07:15 > 0:07:20Each town like Cardigan would have had a boat building area,
0:07:20 > 0:07:24which was Netpool in Cardigan, as well as typical warehouses
0:07:24 > 0:07:27where the merchants kept their stuff as they came in.
0:07:27 > 0:07:30If there were four ships built in one year,
0:07:30 > 0:07:34you can guarantee that another four were in build at the same time.
0:07:34 > 0:07:39They were quite substantial chunks and they must have taken up a lot of room on the foreshore.
0:07:39 > 0:07:44'The shipbuilders didn't use plans, so how did they design their boats?'
0:07:44 > 0:07:47This is a half model.
0:07:47 > 0:07:53A typical sort of half model that a builder wood carve before he built.
0:07:53 > 0:07:58He'd probably take it to his customer and say, "What do you think of this?"
0:07:58 > 0:08:00When the customer would say, "Yeah, I'll go for that,"
0:08:00 > 0:08:02he'd then saw it up, like that,
0:08:02 > 0:08:04and make up the frames and things like that
0:08:04 > 0:08:06in accordance with the model.
0:08:09 > 0:08:12By the early 19th century, Cardigan was a bustling port
0:08:12 > 0:08:15with over 1,000 men employed in the shipyards.
0:08:15 > 0:08:19This activity centred on the area of town called the Mwldan,
0:08:19 > 0:08:22named after the stream that runs through it.
0:08:22 > 0:08:25There are still signs of the industry that once thrived there.
0:08:25 > 0:08:30If you look up, you can see the clues of the shipbuilding past.
0:08:30 > 0:08:33You can see these little pulleys up here,
0:08:33 > 0:08:36you can see the doors for the sail lofts
0:08:36 > 0:08:38and the warehouses further down.
0:08:38 > 0:08:43In the 1850s, there were several blacksmiths here,
0:08:43 > 0:08:47but there were two who specialised only in anchors and chains.
0:08:47 > 0:08:52There were three pulley block makers to hoist those huge sales.
0:08:52 > 0:08:55There were three sail-makers and three rope-makers.
0:08:55 > 0:09:01It was such an important port and such an important shipbuilding town.
0:09:01 > 0:09:04Like other notorious maritime quarters,
0:09:04 > 0:09:06the Mwldan had a reputation.
0:09:06 > 0:09:10There were nearly 70 pubs and all sorts of nocturnal goings-on.
0:09:10 > 0:09:14Could you tell me what the Ystlumod y Nos were?
0:09:14 > 0:09:17Ah, yes. The Night Bats.
0:09:20 > 0:09:23They were, apparently, the middle-class ladies
0:09:23 > 0:09:27just from the street above who would come down to the Mwldan.
0:09:27 > 0:09:31They would sneak down here to meet their lower-class lovers
0:09:31 > 0:09:34and I imagine they wore long cloaks with big hoods
0:09:34 > 0:09:37to try to conceal their identities.
0:09:37 > 0:09:42But as they were scurrying around these alleyways for their assignations,
0:09:42 > 0:09:46their cloaks would billow and presumably they would look like bats.
0:09:48 > 0:09:51What these ladies' husbands thought, nobody knows.
0:09:51 > 0:09:55But perhaps they were preoccupied with their business dealings.
0:09:55 > 0:09:56With Cardigan's port booming,
0:09:56 > 0:09:59the town itself grew as a commercial centre.
0:10:06 > 0:10:11A weekly market has been held in Cardigan since the mid-12th century.
0:10:11 > 0:10:16The rich Teifi Valley is up there, the sea is down there.
0:10:16 > 0:10:18Goods, produce, livestock poured in.
0:10:18 > 0:10:22The writer Daniel Defoe - Robinson Crusoe - noted that,
0:10:22 > 0:10:27"The whole of the county of Cardigan is said to be so full of cattle
0:10:27 > 0:10:31"that 'tis the nursery, the breeding place for the whole of England."
0:10:31 > 0:10:35And it is sold on 87, sold at 87.
0:10:37 > 0:10:42The clearest sign of Cardigan's wealth and status in the mid-19th century
0:10:42 > 0:10:45was the opening of the town's guildhall in 1857.
0:10:45 > 0:10:48For its day, this was cutting-edge architecture,
0:10:48 > 0:10:50built in the latest Gothic style.
0:10:50 > 0:10:52It's still a striking building today.
0:10:53 > 0:10:57It became a focus for all the town's civic events
0:10:57 > 0:11:01and for 150 years has been the site of Cardigan's indoor market.
0:11:01 > 0:11:03But there was much more to it than that.
0:11:04 > 0:11:08Mervyn Pearce has been a stallholder here for 35 years
0:11:08 > 0:11:10and knows all about its history.
0:11:10 > 0:11:13It was a very important building.
0:11:13 > 0:11:17It wasn't just a market place or town hall or anything,
0:11:17 > 0:11:20it was the whole lot in one.
0:11:20 > 0:11:22It was a whole complex of various aspect.
0:11:22 > 0:11:26You had a grammar school, you had the divinity library,
0:11:26 > 0:11:29you had a mechanics institute, you had this hall.
0:11:29 > 0:11:33It was a very unusual building to be put up in Britain.
0:11:33 > 0:11:37I love the notion of the merchants shouting and selling,
0:11:37 > 0:11:42and the mechanics banging away, and in the divinity library they're going, "Sh!"
0:11:42 > 0:11:44I can just imagine it!
0:11:47 > 0:11:50There's one more thing that catches the eye at the guildhall.
0:11:50 > 0:11:52Can't miss it, really!
0:11:52 > 0:11:56It's this. This is the Unicorn, an Imperial Russian cannon.
0:11:56 > 0:11:59The thing is, it's come to the wrong address.
0:11:59 > 0:12:02It was sent as a gift to Lord Cardigan,
0:12:02 > 0:12:06leader of the brave but ill-fated Charge of the Light Brigade
0:12:06 > 0:12:08in the Crimean War.
0:12:08 > 0:12:11The only thing was, though Lord Cardigan had the title of Cardigan,
0:12:11 > 0:12:15he didn't have any lands in the area to go with it.
0:12:15 > 0:12:18The charger of the Light Brigade never rode into this town.
0:12:18 > 0:12:20So, wrong address.
0:12:20 > 0:12:23Mind you, it would have cost a fortune to post it on.
0:12:25 > 0:12:30While we're at it, the cardigan, the jumper with the buttons up the front,
0:12:30 > 0:12:35is named not after the town but after that Lord Cardigan again.
0:12:35 > 0:12:39Mind you, this one is from the town, made by people from here
0:12:39 > 0:12:42to mark the 900th anniversary.
0:12:42 > 0:12:44It's the history of Cardigan in wool.
0:12:48 > 0:12:52Much of Cardigan was built during the mid-19th century,
0:12:52 > 0:12:57using slate from the quarries at Cilgerran and brick from the town's brickworks.
0:12:57 > 0:13:00It's still full of splendid buildings today,
0:13:00 > 0:13:04such as the Mount Zion Baptist chapel of 1878.
0:13:04 > 0:13:09Grand though it is, it's actually an overspill chapel for the Bethania chapel round the corner
0:13:09 > 0:13:12that couldn't fit in the crowds who wanted to attend.
0:13:12 > 0:13:16But one unremarkable building from Victorian Cardigan
0:13:16 > 0:13:18has hidden its previous use.
0:13:21 > 0:13:25The Highbury Hotel is today one of the town's B&Bs.
0:13:25 > 0:13:28But in the 19th century it was Cardigan's jail.
0:13:28 > 0:13:31Designed by Regency architect John Nash,
0:13:31 > 0:13:34the punishment meted out there could be brutal.
0:13:34 > 0:13:39Thomas Price and John Evans were hanged here right here in front of the jail
0:13:39 > 0:13:42on Easter Monday 1822, in public.
0:13:42 > 0:13:45And there's an even greater deterrent.
0:13:45 > 0:13:48In line with the Murder Act of 1752,
0:13:48 > 0:13:53they were dissected and anatomised by surgeons in public.
0:13:53 > 0:13:58Those were the days when they liked to look inside the criminal mind, literally.
0:14:02 > 0:14:06For most, Victorian Cardigan was busy and prosperous.
0:14:06 > 0:14:09The railway had arrived in 1886,
0:14:09 > 0:14:11joining the town with the main line to London.
0:14:11 > 0:14:14But it also rang the death knell for Cardigan as a port.
0:14:17 > 0:14:20The maritime trade had already started to decline,
0:14:20 > 0:14:23as the new larger steamships struggled to navigate the Teifi.
0:14:23 > 0:14:26Crucially, the railway transported goods to market in London
0:14:26 > 0:14:28much more quickly than by boat
0:14:28 > 0:14:32and Cardigan's port was consigned to history.
0:14:34 > 0:14:37'The Mwldan, once the beating heart of the maritime quarter,
0:14:37 > 0:14:39'bore the brunt of the decline.
0:14:39 > 0:14:41'In the early 20th century,
0:14:41 > 0:14:44'the poorly-built houses turned into slums,
0:14:44 > 0:14:46'with poverty and disease rife.
0:14:46 > 0:14:50'One of the last people to remember the town at this time
0:14:50 > 0:14:53'is 92-year-old Donald Davies who grew up here in the 1920s.'
0:14:55 > 0:14:58- Cardigan looks very respectable. - Oh, yes.
0:14:58 > 0:15:02But just over the back... What was the Mwldan like?
0:15:02 > 0:15:05Was it concentrated?
0:15:05 > 0:15:08As I said, desolate in many places.
0:15:08 > 0:15:12The industries that had been there, all that had been left to go,
0:15:12 > 0:15:13and it was now desolate.
0:15:15 > 0:15:20- It's quite a sad place. - Yes, and really the children...
0:15:20 > 0:15:23could not afford things, for example.
0:15:23 > 0:15:27You see, they were the ones who used to have soup kitchens.
0:15:28 > 0:15:31There would be a soup kitchen in school.
0:15:31 > 0:15:33The teacher would turn round and say,
0:15:33 > 0:15:35"There'll be a soup kitchen tomorrow and Tuesday."
0:15:35 > 0:15:37They'd be the children that were there.
0:15:37 > 0:15:41Do you remember the children of the Mwldan? Did you mix at school?
0:15:41 > 0:15:44In fact, they were favourites of mine,
0:15:44 > 0:15:49because we played a lot together and you always had fun with them.
0:15:49 > 0:15:55They could make something enjoyable out of nothing.
0:15:55 > 0:15:59The slums of the Mwldan were finally demolished in 1937.
0:15:59 > 0:16:04But the town continued to prosper as the principle market for the area.
0:16:04 > 0:16:07This old home movie footage dates from the 1930s
0:16:07 > 0:16:09and shows Cardigan busy as ever,
0:16:09 > 0:16:14although now with cars taking over from horses on the high street.
0:16:14 > 0:16:17During the middle of the 20th century, the town remained
0:16:17 > 0:16:21remarkably unchanged, although many mourned the loss of the railway,
0:16:21 > 0:16:24the much loved Cardi Bach service,
0:16:24 > 0:16:28which was closed by Dr Beeching in 1963.
0:16:29 > 0:16:34In the 1960s, Cardigan became popular as a holiday destination
0:16:34 > 0:16:37and although the influx of tourists put pressure on the Welsh language in the area,
0:16:37 > 0:16:40it still remained very strong.
0:16:40 > 0:16:43Local farmer and poet Dic Jones
0:16:43 > 0:16:45became an important character in the town's life
0:16:45 > 0:16:49and one of a new generation of Welsh-speaking celebrities.
0:16:49 > 0:16:53He could also write a poem for any occasion.
0:16:53 > 0:16:57I well remember the time when I was up before the local magistrates
0:16:57 > 0:17:01for having forgotten to renew my television licence,
0:17:01 > 0:17:03of all things.
0:17:03 > 0:17:06And I thought it might help me,
0:17:06 > 0:17:10help my case, if I presented it in verse form, you see.
0:17:10 > 0:17:13And I wrote an English poem,
0:17:13 > 0:17:18a dastardly thing to do, but, still, it has to be done sometimes.
0:17:18 > 0:17:20"I try not to lie a lot.
0:17:20 > 0:17:25"No skilled excuse will I parrot to con the court, I cannot.
0:17:25 > 0:17:27"So forgive as I forgot."
0:17:28 > 0:17:31Dic Jones died in 2009
0:17:31 > 0:17:34but another Cardigan poet has followed in his footsteps.
0:17:34 > 0:17:35A oes heddwch?
0:17:35 > 0:17:38Ceri Wyn Jones also won the Eisteddfod chair
0:17:38 > 0:17:41and has become the new wordsmith for the town.
0:17:41 > 0:17:45The traditional view of a poet is very often of someone remote,
0:17:45 > 0:17:49detached from reality in some way,
0:17:49 > 0:17:53someone who's into abstract philosophising about life.
0:17:53 > 0:17:54But Dic lived real life.
0:17:54 > 0:17:58He worked the soil, he worked with the animals,
0:17:58 > 0:18:02he was an integral part of his own community.
0:18:02 > 0:18:04He celebrated people's birthdays.
0:18:04 > 0:18:07He wrote poems in condolence.
0:18:07 > 0:18:11He wrote poems that pulled people's legs.
0:18:11 > 0:18:13It was part of the...
0:18:13 > 0:18:16almost the part of the vocation of the poet in this area.
0:18:16 > 0:18:19It still is. A poet isn't remote,
0:18:19 > 0:18:24he's part of his community, almost like a biographer of that community.
0:18:25 > 0:18:29And for that community, 1976 was a special year indeed,
0:18:29 > 0:18:32when the National Eisteddfod returned to Cardigan
0:18:32 > 0:18:35800 years after Lord Rhys created it there.
0:18:35 > 0:18:38With the baking hot weather of that memorable summer,
0:18:38 > 0:18:42the Eisteddfod was a huge success.
0:18:42 > 0:18:45The Cardigan Eisteddfod became Eisteddfod y Llwch -
0:18:45 > 0:18:47the Eisteddfod of the Dust!
0:18:47 > 0:18:49And it was true.
0:18:49 > 0:18:53Everywhere was parched, the whole country was parched,
0:18:53 > 0:18:57but the Eisteddfod field in Penlan was nearer brown that it was yellow.
0:18:57 > 0:19:00Everyone, the whole community, would have been drawn into that.
0:19:02 > 0:19:04But in the 35 years since the Eisteddfod,
0:19:04 > 0:19:07how has the Welsh language fared in the town?
0:19:07 > 0:19:11The last census showed about 73% of Cardigan's population
0:19:11 > 0:19:13able to speak Welsh.
0:19:13 > 0:19:16But there are still fears for the future.
0:19:16 > 0:19:19In terms of visibility and access,
0:19:19 > 0:19:23the Welsh language seems never to have had it so good.
0:19:23 > 0:19:26Signage throughout the town,
0:19:26 > 0:19:31access to all kinds of events in both languages.
0:19:31 > 0:19:34But there seems to be less Welsh being spoken.
0:19:34 > 0:19:37Sadly, it's still true to say, however,
0:19:37 > 0:19:41that English and Welsh speakers could, if they chose,
0:19:41 > 0:19:43live parallel lives here.
0:19:43 > 0:19:45It's so complex.
0:19:45 > 0:19:49You can't put your finger on one thing that's preventing it,
0:19:49 > 0:19:53which is why so many of us are anxious to make sure
0:19:53 > 0:19:55it doesn't disappear as an issue either.
0:19:55 > 0:19:57We have to keep on reminding people.
0:20:05 > 0:20:08Even as the town changed, some traditions were upheld.
0:20:08 > 0:20:13This is the Winter Fair, held every year on the 10th of November
0:20:13 > 0:20:15and going back centuries.
0:20:15 > 0:20:17Originally this was the date and the place
0:20:17 > 0:20:20where you hired servants and maids.
0:20:21 > 0:20:24Not too many of them around nowadays.
0:20:24 > 0:20:28In the spring is another traditional fair, Barley Saturday,
0:20:28 > 0:20:31always held on the first Saturday after the last Friday in April.
0:20:31 > 0:20:33Got that?
0:20:33 > 0:20:37It's so called because that's when barley, the last crop, was sown.
0:20:37 > 0:20:42But it was also the day stallions were paraded through the streets of the town
0:20:42 > 0:20:45to be selected by farmers to breed with mares.
0:20:45 > 0:20:47Revived in the 1960s, it's still going strong,
0:20:47 > 0:20:52and along with the Winter Fair, is one of the highlights of the town's year.
0:20:52 > 0:20:56'He's beginning to get up on the near side. Last Suspect has won it!'
0:20:56 > 0:20:59In 1985, one horseman became a hero in Cardigan.
0:20:59 > 0:21:03Local jockey Hywel Davies won the Grand National that year,
0:21:03 > 0:21:07a 50-1 outsider, on his horse, Last Suspect.
0:21:07 > 0:21:10The bookies took a hammering and Hywel returned home in triumph.
0:21:12 > 0:21:16O, 'na sioc! I'm...I'm...brilliant!
0:21:16 > 0:21:20But he wasn't the only sporting champion to come from the town.
0:21:20 > 0:21:23Once, the fastest thing on the Teifi was a coracle race.
0:21:23 > 0:21:25Come on, number 10!
0:21:25 > 0:21:29But in the 1980s, there was a new sound on the river.
0:21:29 > 0:21:32MUSIC: "My Favourite Game" by The Cardigans
0:21:35 > 0:21:39Jonathan Jones is a Cardigan lad with a need for speed.
0:21:39 > 0:21:43Working out of a local boatyard, he became British powerboat champion
0:21:43 > 0:21:46before taking the world title in 1986.
0:21:48 > 0:21:51'Jonathan still lives and builds powerboats in Cardigan
0:21:51 > 0:21:54'and I persuaded him to take me out on the river.'
0:21:54 > 0:21:56For old time's sake, Jonathan?
0:22:02 > 0:22:05- CHEERING AND APPLAUSE - Here we are. The homecoming. Do you remember it?
0:22:05 > 0:22:08Yes, I remember it like it was yesterday.
0:22:08 > 0:22:11It was a great day. Very enjoyable.
0:22:11 > 0:22:17Stopping at the town hall for the presentation. Terrific crowd.
0:22:17 > 0:22:19A lot of local people.
0:22:19 > 0:22:22A lot of fellow competitors. It was a wonderful day.
0:22:28 > 0:22:31And it was only the first of four. Four times world champion.
0:22:31 > 0:22:36Yes, yeah. I was... '86 was the first time and '89, '91 and '98. Yes.
0:22:36 > 0:22:39Powerboat racing has been good to me.
0:22:39 > 0:22:43MUSIC: "Jeans On" by David Dundas
0:22:45 > 0:22:48Jeans and Cardigan, what's the connection?
0:22:48 > 0:22:52Well, a strange but true fact is that between the 1970s and 1990s,
0:22:52 > 0:22:55millions of Britain's denim-clad teenagers
0:22:55 > 0:22:57wore jeans made in the town.
0:22:57 > 0:23:00At its height, the Dewhirst clothing factory
0:23:00 > 0:23:03was turning out 35,000 pairs of jeans a week.
0:23:03 > 0:23:06That's almost two million pairs a year.
0:23:06 > 0:23:12It was Cardigan's biggest employer and had a strong community spirit.
0:23:12 > 0:23:14We were like a family there.
0:23:14 > 0:23:17There was about 400 people working there
0:23:17 > 0:23:20so it was one big happy family.
0:23:23 > 0:23:26But in 2002, disaster struck when the factory was closed,
0:23:26 > 0:23:29with 400 jobs going out of a population of just 4,000.
0:23:31 > 0:23:35When the factory closed, it affected, you know, a family,
0:23:35 > 0:23:40where you'd have husband and wife working or mother and daughter.
0:23:40 > 0:23:46So it did... When it closed, it was quite a sad time.
0:23:46 > 0:23:49It was just a very dark cloud that came over
0:23:49 > 0:23:52and it was very sad to see the day of it closing.
0:23:52 > 0:23:55But Cardigan's denim dream hasn't gone for ever.
0:23:55 > 0:23:57A new company is starting up
0:23:57 > 0:24:00and employing former Dewhirst workers like Elin Evans.
0:24:00 > 0:24:02- It's in the- jeans,- you know.
0:24:02 > 0:24:05The story is about the town that used to make jeans
0:24:05 > 0:24:07and actually would love to make jeans again.
0:24:07 > 0:24:10It's a human interest story,
0:24:10 > 0:24:12especially for me, because I live here,
0:24:12 > 0:24:15and I really love the town, and I believe,
0:24:15 > 0:24:18with ideas and with craftsmanship,
0:24:18 > 0:24:21we can actually go and build a global company here.
0:24:21 > 0:24:24Albeit, it might be a small global company.
0:24:24 > 0:24:27But there's a romantic notion where, actually,
0:24:27 > 0:24:30we can be great. I'm sort of very proud to be Welsh
0:24:30 > 0:24:32and I'm very proud of the town.
0:24:32 > 0:24:35But I love ideas, and we can go and take on the best.
0:24:35 > 0:24:41It's lovely to think we're going to be making jeans back here
0:24:41 > 0:24:44and get Cardigan back on the map of jeans-making.
0:24:49 > 0:24:54If a lot had changed in Cardigan, one thing remained frozen in time.
0:24:54 > 0:24:57Cardigan Castle and this Georgian townhouse in its grounds
0:24:57 > 0:25:00were privately owned, and for decades,
0:25:00 > 0:25:03all this was closed to the public.
0:25:03 > 0:25:06It became a huge controversy in the town as the buildings
0:25:06 > 0:25:09were increasingly overgrown and in danger of collapse.
0:25:09 > 0:25:13The owner thought her home was her castle.
0:25:13 > 0:25:15She was Cardigan's own Miss Havesham -
0:25:15 > 0:25:18Barbara Wood, an eccentric Englishwoman
0:25:18 > 0:25:21who battled for years with the local authorities.
0:25:21 > 0:25:25Cardigan Borough Council are trying to terrorise a woman owner
0:25:25 > 0:25:29whom they know owns the most valuable property in the town.
0:25:29 > 0:25:33That's the situation. And they've cooked up this plot.
0:25:33 > 0:25:37After years of holding out, she finally sold it to the county council in 2003
0:25:37 > 0:25:42and died in a nursing home in 2009.
0:25:46 > 0:25:49Inside the castle was a house lost in time.
0:25:49 > 0:25:56For local archivist Sian Collins, entering solved a childhood mystery.
0:25:56 > 0:25:58When I was a child I always wanted to get inside the castle
0:25:58 > 0:26:00because all you could see were the walls.
0:26:00 > 0:26:04I wasn't really aware of this house. I didn't know exactly where it was
0:26:04 > 0:26:06within the walls or what it looked like.
0:26:06 > 0:26:08I just knew that an elderly lady lived there
0:26:08 > 0:26:10and it wasn't in a very good condition.
0:26:10 > 0:26:14Barbara Wood's family had bought the Georgian townhouse in the 1940s
0:26:14 > 0:26:18but soon found it beyond their means and struggled to pay the bills.
0:26:18 > 0:26:22They did try their best to keep up appearances, though.
0:26:22 > 0:26:25This stepladder here impresses many people.
0:26:25 > 0:26:27We have Harrods written on it
0:26:27 > 0:26:30so we're assuming it was bought from Harrods
0:26:30 > 0:26:32but they could have just painted it on themselves
0:26:32 > 0:26:34to impress the neighbours.
0:26:34 > 0:26:38- Social climbing. - THEY LAUGH
0:26:43 > 0:26:46Since the death of Miss Wood, the castle and its grounds
0:26:46 > 0:26:50are finally going to be reopened to the public.
0:26:50 > 0:26:52After years of campaigning, a band of local historians
0:26:52 > 0:26:55and enthusiasts have now raised a massive £10 million
0:26:55 > 0:26:58from the Lottery, Europe and the Welsh Government
0:26:58 > 0:27:02to restore the buildings and give the town a new heart.
0:27:02 > 0:27:05It's the biggest restoration award in Wales
0:27:05 > 0:27:08and one of the organisers, Jann Tucker,
0:27:08 > 0:27:11gave me a sneak preview of their plans.
0:27:11 > 0:27:13This looks very exotic.
0:27:13 > 0:27:15This looks very space-agey.
0:27:15 > 0:27:18- What's going on here?- It is. That's going to be the Eisteddfod garden.
0:27:18 > 0:27:22That's in the daytime when it's really nice and lovely
0:27:22 > 0:27:24and the sun is shining.
0:27:24 > 0:27:26But if the rain does come,
0:27:26 > 0:27:30the idea is somebody comes around and presses a button.
0:27:30 > 0:27:33- Centre Court, Wimbledon.- Absolutely.
0:27:33 > 0:27:37Inside the house, there'll be Welsh learning for adults.
0:27:37 > 0:27:43Also we're hoping to use this site as well to do masterclasses here.
0:27:43 > 0:27:48You can sing, play the harp, make jam. You know, anything like that.
0:27:48 > 0:27:50We can have courses like that going on in here
0:27:50 > 0:27:54which will also be providing people coming into the town
0:27:54 > 0:27:56through the winter, not just the summer.
0:27:56 > 0:27:59It is a decaying site and yet this is what it could be,
0:27:59 > 0:28:01this is what it will be.
0:28:01 > 0:28:03Have you had a reaction from the town?
0:28:03 > 0:28:05We've had a very good reaction from the town.
0:28:05 > 0:28:08The majority of people you speak to can't wait
0:28:08 > 0:28:10to see something happening here.
0:28:10 > 0:28:12When the stanchions from the outside get taken away,
0:28:12 > 0:28:16then I think they will realise that something is happening
0:28:16 > 0:28:18and they will be very pleased.
0:28:22 > 0:28:24Over the centuries,
0:28:24 > 0:28:28Cardigan has seen the tides of history ebb and flow.
0:28:28 > 0:28:31Industries have come and gone.
0:28:31 > 0:28:33What now?
0:28:33 > 0:28:36Well, maybe the castle symbolises the town.
0:28:36 > 0:28:38There it is, a bit battered and bruised,
0:28:38 > 0:28:41but work is due to start here in 2012.
0:28:41 > 0:28:43And there's the lesson -
0:28:43 > 0:28:46using the past to build something brand new for the future.
0:28:55 > 0:28:58Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd