0:00:04 > 0:00:07This town on the North Wales coast has a rich history
0:00:07 > 0:00:10going back over 1,500 years.
0:00:10 > 0:00:15It's actually a small city, since it has a cathedral at its heart.
0:00:15 > 0:00:18And it's set in a stunning location.
0:00:18 > 0:00:22It boasts the only painting by Rembrandt in Wales,
0:00:22 > 0:00:25claims to have the longest high street in Britain
0:00:25 > 0:00:28and the man who lived here
0:00:28 > 0:00:32owned one of the largest slate mines in the world.
0:00:32 > 0:00:36Slate, saints and scholars have made the city what it is today.
0:00:36 > 0:00:38This is the story of Bangor.
0:00:58 > 0:01:04# Didn't we have a lovely time the day we went to Bangor?
0:01:04 > 0:01:09# Singing a few of our favourite songs as the wheels went around
0:01:09 > 0:01:13# Yah-da-da, da-da-da, da-da-da-da Da-da-da-da... #
0:01:14 > 0:01:20When Fiddlers Dram sang about Bangor in their single of the 1980s,
0:01:20 > 0:01:22and it was this Bangor,
0:01:22 > 0:01:25this bustling university city had its 15 minutes of fame.
0:01:25 > 0:01:28People came here to see what Bangor was all about.
0:01:30 > 0:01:34People have been coming here in their thousands for years,
0:01:34 > 0:01:38either as tourists, students or migrant workers,
0:01:38 > 0:01:41but the story of the town begins with a different kind of traveller.
0:01:42 > 0:01:48His name was Deiniol - a Celtic saint who came here, stayed,
0:01:48 > 0:01:52and set up his monastery back in the year 525.
0:01:52 > 0:01:55That's 70 years before Canterbury was established.
0:01:55 > 0:01:58This site is a Welsh first.
0:02:00 > 0:02:05Bangor became the religious centre for Gwynedd and Anglesey.
0:02:06 > 0:02:10Nowadays, the cathedral has this dull-looking iron railing running around it,
0:02:10 > 0:02:16but when Deiniol was in charge, he enclosed his cathedral in this -
0:02:16 > 0:02:18wattle fencing.
0:02:18 > 0:02:22Poles driven in vertically and branches weaving in and out.
0:02:22 > 0:02:26And the traditional name of this fencing? Bangor.
0:02:26 > 0:02:30There are several Bangors in Wales, Northern Ireland and America,
0:02:30 > 0:02:34but people around here like to think that this is the original.
0:02:34 > 0:02:35ORGAN PLAYS
0:02:37 > 0:02:42Over the years, the wattle fence was replaced by a solid stone church.
0:02:42 > 0:02:46It was completely destroyed in the wars of Welsh independence
0:02:46 > 0:02:48but, almost two centuries later,
0:02:48 > 0:02:52it was rebuilt in the shape and form that we can see today.
0:02:57 > 0:03:00It's not the largest of cathedrals
0:03:00 > 0:03:03but it has got the largest organ in Wales.
0:03:03 > 0:03:04ORGAN PLAYS
0:03:06 > 0:03:11Built over 200 years ago, with 4,210 pipes,
0:03:11 > 0:03:14it's one of the finest organs in the United Kingdom.
0:03:15 > 0:03:17I'm not sure how much the organist
0:03:17 > 0:03:20would have been paid in the 19th century,
0:03:20 > 0:03:25but being the boss of this cathedral was an attractive proposition for any bishop.
0:03:26 > 0:03:32One of the wealthiest was Bishop Bethell, who came here in 1830.
0:03:35 > 0:03:39Bishop Bethell, his income was about £8,000 a year.
0:03:39 > 0:03:42The Prime Minister earned around £5,000 a year.
0:03:42 > 0:03:45So he was a very wealthy person.
0:03:45 > 0:03:48Probably the equivalent of about £330,000 a year income
0:03:48 > 0:03:52- in modern-day terms. - Where did all this money come from?
0:03:52 > 0:03:55From lands the bishop owned, rights over ferries,
0:03:55 > 0:03:58rights over fisheries at Gored Goch
0:03:58 > 0:04:01and other incomes from other parishes.
0:04:01 > 0:04:06- And it was a springboard. People came to Bangor on their way to... - On their way to other places.
0:04:06 > 0:04:09London, Durham, York, St Paul's, Canterbury.
0:04:09 > 0:04:13Now, the choir is well known in its own collective right,
0:04:13 > 0:04:16but isn't there one special chorister?
0:04:16 > 0:04:18One special former chorister, yes. Aled Jones.
0:04:18 > 0:04:22He started here in the choir stalls up there.
0:04:22 > 0:04:26He's gone on to world renown as a musician, a singer,
0:04:26 > 0:04:29a presenter, a television personality in his own right.
0:04:29 > 0:04:31And it all started there.
0:04:43 > 0:04:45To understand any town,
0:04:45 > 0:04:48you have to understand the landscape that surrounds it.
0:04:48 > 0:04:50Bangor lies on the North Wales coast
0:04:50 > 0:04:54with Caernarfon to the west and Llandudno to the east.
0:04:54 > 0:04:59Its position has been a strategic one on the route between London
0:04:59 > 0:05:01and Holyhead and on to Ireland.
0:05:01 > 0:05:04Today, crossing the Strait over to Anglesey
0:05:04 > 0:05:06can be done either over the Britannia
0:05:06 > 0:05:09or the magnificent Menai Bridge,
0:05:09 > 0:05:12but things were not always so simple.
0:05:14 > 0:05:18In ancient times, this would have been one of the crossing points to Anglesey.
0:05:18 > 0:05:23At low tide, you'd set off on foot across the Lavan Sands in the direction of Beaumaris
0:05:23 > 0:05:29and hope there would be a boat waiting to take you over the last few treacherous yards of water
0:05:29 > 0:05:31on to Anglesey.
0:05:33 > 0:05:38This was the route taken by the postal service established by Elizabeth I.
0:05:38 > 0:05:42Mail from London to Ireland went via Beaumaris,
0:05:42 > 0:05:46but this was a notoriously dangerous route, particularly in bad weather.
0:05:46 > 0:05:48If travellers got the timing wrong,
0:05:48 > 0:05:51they could be swept away on the incoming tide.
0:05:51 > 0:05:56A decision was made in the early 1700s to look for a safer route
0:05:56 > 0:05:59for the Royal Mail through Bangor.
0:06:01 > 0:06:04They took advantage of a ferry service from the George Hotel.
0:06:04 > 0:06:07But, once again, it proved a difficult ride.
0:06:08 > 0:06:12Over the centuries, dozens have perished while crossing the Strait.
0:06:12 > 0:06:16Ferries carrying up to 90 passengers have capsized
0:06:16 > 0:06:18with only a few survivors.
0:06:18 > 0:06:21Nelson said if you could sail on the Menai Strait,
0:06:21 > 0:06:23you could sail anywhere.
0:06:23 > 0:06:28When the Act of Union was passed in 1800, uniting Great Britain and Ireland,
0:06:28 > 0:06:31Irish MPs needed to travel to Westminster
0:06:31 > 0:06:34and their long route took them across the Irish Sea to Holyhead,
0:06:34 > 0:06:37through Bangor and onwards to London.
0:06:37 > 0:06:40The journey time had to be shortened.
0:06:41 > 0:06:44There was only one man for the job.
0:06:44 > 0:06:47Thomas Telford - the best engineer of the day.
0:06:47 > 0:06:51His first task was to build a road from Shrewsbury to Bangor.
0:06:51 > 0:06:55The town became a staging-post to refuel the horses.
0:06:56 > 0:07:01The Penrhyn Arms, built by the influential Pennant family of Penrhyn Castle,
0:07:01 > 0:07:04was the coaching inn for the Royal Mail
0:07:04 > 0:07:07and was certainly the best hotel in town.
0:07:08 > 0:07:11Building the road was the easy part for Thomas Telford.
0:07:11 > 0:07:15Building a bridge was quite a different matter.
0:07:16 > 0:07:19On 10th August, 1819,
0:07:19 > 0:07:22the first of these giant foundation stones were laid.
0:07:22 > 0:07:27In all, 800 men over seven years toiled on the project in all conditions.
0:07:27 > 0:07:29They were rewarded with ale
0:07:29 > 0:07:32or, if the weather was too bad, with the hard stuff.
0:07:32 > 0:07:37But just look at the precision of their work, the delicacy of the architecture.
0:07:37 > 0:07:40It is a wonder of engineering.
0:07:41 > 0:07:43People flocked to see
0:07:43 > 0:07:47what was the largest suspension bridge in the world.
0:07:47 > 0:07:51It became a national treasure and put Bangor on the map.
0:07:54 > 0:07:56The Irish MPs were delighted.
0:07:56 > 0:08:00Dublin, Holyhead, and now this to London.
0:08:00 > 0:08:04The locals were delighted too because they no longer had to
0:08:04 > 0:08:08risk their lives going back and forth across this by ferry.
0:08:09 > 0:08:12A second bridge was built in 1850 by Robert Stephenson,
0:08:12 > 0:08:17providing a direct rail link between London and Holyhead.
0:08:17 > 0:08:21In 1970, it was destroyed by fire.
0:08:21 > 0:08:26It was rebuilt double-decker style with a road above the railway line.
0:08:27 > 0:08:32As transport links grew back in the 19th century, so did the town's population.
0:08:33 > 0:08:36So, what was it that brought them to Bangor?
0:08:36 > 0:08:39Part of the answer is this stuff.
0:08:39 > 0:08:41Slate.
0:08:49 > 0:08:56In the 1770s, a wealthy Englishman by the name of Richard Pennant arrived in Bangor.
0:08:56 > 0:08:58The town was about to change dramatically.
0:08:58 > 0:09:05Pennant's family had made their millions from the sugar plantations and the slave trade in Jamaica.
0:09:05 > 0:09:08Richard was quite the entrepreneur
0:09:08 > 0:09:11and was determined to make even more money.
0:09:13 > 0:09:17And this was where he came to invest the family inheritance.
0:09:17 > 0:09:20Not in the deep blue waters but in the black stuff.
0:09:20 > 0:09:23Penrhyn Quarry, Bethesda.
0:09:23 > 0:09:27This was to become one of the largest slate quarries in the world.
0:09:31 > 0:09:36Richard Pennant's workforce risked their lives on these grey, rugged slabs.
0:09:36 > 0:09:38It was dangerous, low-paid work
0:09:38 > 0:09:42but, for the master, slate was a lucrative business.
0:09:42 > 0:09:45His aim was to ship all the slate that came out
0:09:45 > 0:09:50of this massive hole in the ground to destinations around the world.
0:09:50 > 0:09:54But one big problem for him was how to get the slate
0:09:54 > 0:09:57from the quarry in Bethesda down to his port in Bangor.
0:09:59 > 0:10:04His solution was to build first a tram road and then this.
0:10:04 > 0:10:06The Penrhyn Quarry Railway.
0:10:06 > 0:10:10Going one way, from 500 feet down to sea level, was easy.
0:10:14 > 0:10:18Today, it's a tranquil and pretty cycle route down to Bangor.
0:10:18 > 0:10:21But back then, it would've been noisy, dirty, sweaty.
0:10:21 > 0:10:25But it did achieve its aim.
0:10:25 > 0:10:27The train could move substantially more slate
0:10:27 > 0:10:31than horse and manpower had done previously.
0:10:31 > 0:10:35The Pennant Railway was an expressway to riches.
0:10:43 > 0:10:49Six miles later, what a beautiful run that was. Mostly downhill.
0:10:49 > 0:10:51This is Port Penrhyn, built by Richard Pennant.
0:10:51 > 0:10:53From here he could ship his slate
0:10:53 > 0:10:56anywhere in the world he could sell it.
0:11:00 > 0:11:04There are still a few remnants of the past in the port today.
0:11:06 > 0:11:10And at the heart of the port, a 12 seater men's toilet.
0:11:10 > 0:11:12KNOCKS ON DOOR
0:11:12 > 0:11:14It's engaged.
0:11:18 > 0:11:22In its heyday, this was an international port,
0:11:22 > 0:11:25as Dafydd Roberts, curator of the Welsh Slate Museum, explains.
0:11:25 > 0:11:28Exports were sent from here not just to Britain
0:11:28 > 0:11:31but as far afield as North America, Australia,
0:11:31 > 0:11:34even as far as China and Brazil.
0:11:34 > 0:11:37Welsh slate found its way internationally.
0:11:37 > 0:11:39If you're a docker here, dealing in slate,
0:11:39 > 0:11:43are you in a different industry from those in Bethesda, digging it up?
0:11:43 > 0:11:45- Yes, you are.- What happens if the quarry's on strike?
0:11:45 > 0:11:48There's evidence to suggest that the dockers
0:11:48 > 0:11:50and those that service the port keep on working.
0:11:50 > 0:11:53They don't actually see themselves as part of the quarry community.
0:11:53 > 0:11:56They see themselves as being a class apart, if you like.
0:11:56 > 0:11:59Certainly, they were never bound up in the labour disputes
0:11:59 > 0:12:03like the Penrhyn strike between 1900 and 1903, for example.
0:12:03 > 0:12:06I'm interested in what you're carrying.
0:12:06 > 0:12:09This is a school writing slate and these were made, actually,
0:12:09 > 0:12:13by the thousand here in Port Penrhyn a century, two centuries ago.
0:12:13 > 0:12:16Several factories in the vicinity of the port were producing these
0:12:16 > 0:12:19and we actually stole the monopoly from Switzerland
0:12:19 > 0:12:21in the late 18th century.
0:12:21 > 0:12:24They had the monopoly for producing these, we took over.
0:12:24 > 0:12:28- Yeah? More money for his lordship? - Absolutely.
0:12:34 > 0:12:37And all that money meant that his lordship lived in quite a house.
0:12:40 > 0:12:43This is Penrhyn Castle, built in the 19th century.
0:12:43 > 0:12:46It's an extraordinary fantasy.
0:12:46 > 0:12:50It says, "Look at me! Look what I can build."
0:12:50 > 0:12:55It's a monument in stone to the power and wealth of the Pennant family.
0:13:01 > 0:13:04Now owned by the National Trust,
0:13:04 > 0:13:08it was one of the largest private homes in Wales.
0:13:08 > 0:13:12Crammed with ornate staircases, elaborate carvings and plasterwork,
0:13:12 > 0:13:15it's a Gothic showcase.
0:13:22 > 0:13:25It's also home to an impressive private art collection,
0:13:25 > 0:13:28including the portrait of Catrina Hooghsaet by Rembrandt,
0:13:28 > 0:13:31valued at £40 million.
0:13:35 > 0:13:39The lucky few living within these walls lived a life beyond luxury,
0:13:39 > 0:13:44of opulence, mingling with royalty and prime ministers.
0:13:44 > 0:13:48Of course, to make all this work, you would need a good butler.
0:13:48 > 0:13:50Very hard to find.
0:13:56 > 0:13:59Penrhyn Castle and its opulence remain for all to see,
0:13:59 > 0:14:05unlike the Penrhyn Arms hotel, that is a mere shadow of its former self.
0:14:05 > 0:14:07As a coaching inn, it fell on hard times
0:14:07 > 0:14:09when the railway came to Bangor,
0:14:09 > 0:14:13but there was life for the old building yet.
0:14:13 > 0:14:14It became a university.
0:14:14 > 0:14:17How good was that? A university in a pub!
0:14:20 > 0:14:23When the doors opened in October 1884,
0:14:23 > 0:14:26there were just 58 students and 10 staff.
0:14:26 > 0:14:30Annual fees then ranged from £10 to £15.
0:14:32 > 0:14:34The university remained here
0:14:34 > 0:14:38until a new purpose-built building was created on top of the hill.
0:14:38 > 0:14:42Some years later, the Penrhyn Arms was demolished.
0:14:42 > 0:14:45Today, the portico is all that remains
0:14:45 > 0:14:48of such an important landmark in the city's history.
0:14:50 > 0:14:52The university building dominates the city
0:14:52 > 0:14:55but there was no guarantee it would end up here.
0:14:55 > 0:14:59Bangor won the battle against its North Wales rivals
0:14:59 > 0:15:02because it already had a teacher training college
0:15:02 > 0:15:05and because of its good rail and road links.
0:15:06 > 0:15:08The architect of the new university building
0:15:08 > 0:15:12had looked to the colleges of Oxford and Cambridge for inspiration
0:15:12 > 0:15:17and Bangor became known as the Athens of Wales.
0:15:17 > 0:15:20It was a boom time for education,
0:15:20 > 0:15:22but the students weren't here all year round.
0:15:22 > 0:15:24Bangor was looking for the next big thing,
0:15:24 > 0:15:27how to take advantage of the city being so well served
0:15:27 > 0:15:29by road and rail.
0:15:29 > 0:15:34They had a plan to make Bangor the Brighton of the north,
0:15:34 > 0:15:37to make it a base for tourists and travellers
0:15:37 > 0:15:40who wanted to "do" North Wales.
0:15:47 > 0:15:50Nowadays, if you want to attract tourists, there's a checklist.
0:15:50 > 0:15:54Clean beach, five star hotel, Michelin star restaurant.
0:15:54 > 0:15:57In Victorian times, you needed a pier,
0:15:57 > 0:16:00so they built this magnificent example
0:16:00 > 0:16:02and you could walk halfway to Anglesey.
0:16:06 > 0:16:08By the beginning of the 1970s,
0:16:08 > 0:16:13this wonderful pier was on its last legs and had to be closed.
0:16:13 > 0:16:16Following an outcry from the local community,
0:16:16 > 0:16:21it was eventually restored to its former Victorian glory.
0:16:21 > 0:16:26There was one other delight in store for Victorian visitors to Bangor.
0:16:26 > 0:16:31Without a beach, the town couldn't compete with other coastal resorts
0:16:31 > 0:16:33such as Llandudno and Rhyl,
0:16:33 > 0:16:36so they constructed Siliwen open air baths,
0:16:36 > 0:16:41the first in the country to allow mixed bathing.
0:16:41 > 0:16:44Bangor tried hard to make it into the tourist books
0:16:44 > 0:16:49but without a decent beach or a medieval castle, they struggled.
0:16:51 > 0:16:54Bangor may have failed to make it as a tourist attraction
0:16:54 > 0:16:58but what it did attract were these and these.
0:16:58 > 0:17:01It became the retail heart of the region
0:17:01 > 0:17:07and the long high street was an almost endless parade of shops.
0:17:10 > 0:17:13In 1910, the high street was a shopper's paradise.
0:17:13 > 0:17:1942 grocers, 21 butchers, 33 drapers, 23 bakers and confectioners
0:17:19 > 0:17:23and 13 boot and shoemakers.
0:17:23 > 0:17:26And if you had money, you would head for the two big shops,
0:17:26 > 0:17:28Pollecoff and Wartski.
0:17:28 > 0:17:32Both Jewish families who escaped persecution in Russia
0:17:32 > 0:17:36and came to Bangor to open drapery and jewellery stores.
0:17:36 > 0:17:38Tell us about the Wartskis.
0:17:38 > 0:17:42The Wartski family were a very notable family in Bangor.
0:17:42 > 0:17:45The patriarch of the family was Morris Wartski, who came to Bangor
0:17:45 > 0:17:50in the 1880s and set up a drapery business and a jewellery company.
0:17:50 > 0:17:55And it was his son, Isidore, who set up a fashion store in Bangor.
0:17:55 > 0:17:58Some called it the Harrods of Bangor, because it was quite a pricy
0:17:58 > 0:18:00and quite an affluent store.
0:18:00 > 0:18:04Isidore Wartski was a very, very popular man in Bangor.
0:18:04 > 0:18:08He was elected to the council in 1924 and served on the council
0:18:08 > 0:18:13for 15 years, until he was elected mayor in 1939 until 1941.
0:18:13 > 0:18:17- Are there any traces of the Wartskis in Bangor?- There are.
0:18:17 > 0:18:20There's Wartski's Field, which was donated by Isidore Wartski's wife
0:18:20 > 0:18:23in the 1960s in memory of her husband.
0:18:23 > 0:18:27And in London also. The business was expanded to London in 1911,
0:18:27 > 0:18:29and it's there they got their first Royal Warrant
0:18:29 > 0:18:31and they still hold that to this day.
0:18:31 > 0:18:33In April 2011, for instance,
0:18:33 > 0:18:37they were responsible for creating wedding rings for the Royal Family.
0:18:37 > 0:18:41And it's amazing really to think they started off in Bangor
0:18:41 > 0:18:44and are now jewellers to the Royal Family.
0:18:49 > 0:18:52Another famous Bangor landmark was HMS Clio,
0:18:52 > 0:18:55moored here at the turn of the last century.
0:18:55 > 0:18:57For 43 years, she was a training ship,
0:18:57 > 0:18:59preparing boys for a life at sea,
0:18:59 > 0:19:04but was known locally as the naughty boys' ship.
0:19:04 > 0:19:08Is it true, Gareth, that you were threatened with the Clio?
0:19:08 > 0:19:12I'm afraid I was. Every time me and my brother misbehaved,
0:19:12 > 0:19:15I remember my father saying, "We're going to send you to the Clio."
0:19:15 > 0:19:18And I'm sure that's true for many contemporaries of mine
0:19:18 > 0:19:20who come to this pub.
0:19:20 > 0:19:22The myth and legend lived on well beyond the '20s.
0:19:22 > 0:19:25Is that because it was such a hard place?
0:19:25 > 0:19:27- Or did it serve a good purpose? - Oh yes, indeed.
0:19:27 > 0:19:32That was the whole ethos, was to reform children who'd been deprived
0:19:32 > 0:19:36or were orphans who had no guidance.
0:19:36 > 0:19:38Life was extremely hard.
0:19:38 > 0:19:42They had to be up at 5:30am and then they had to scrub the decks,
0:19:42 > 0:19:45they had to do all kind of drills, go up in the rigging.
0:19:45 > 0:19:48But they were also well fed, they had three meals a day.
0:19:48 > 0:19:52So by the standards of the day, they were looked after in that respect.
0:19:52 > 0:19:55And how did this chapter in Bangor's history close?
0:19:55 > 0:19:59I guess it must've been the end of the First World War in 1918
0:19:59 > 0:20:03that brought this kind of disciplinarian society to an end,
0:20:03 > 0:20:06the questioning of everything about the war,
0:20:06 > 0:20:09and she was scrapped in 1920
0:20:09 > 0:20:12and, I suppose, never to be resurrected again.
0:20:12 > 0:20:16- We'd better raise a glass to the Clio.- Indeed.
0:20:16 > 0:20:18- And the boys. - And the boys.
0:20:18 > 0:20:21- Cheers.- Cheers, Eddie.
0:20:23 > 0:20:27When war was declared in July 1914,
0:20:27 > 0:20:29preparations were already under way
0:20:29 > 0:20:32for the National Eisteddfod to be held in Bangor.
0:20:32 > 0:20:35But soldiers from the city were marching off to the front
0:20:35 > 0:20:38and there was no appetite for Eisteddfod.
0:20:38 > 0:20:41The Eisteddfod was eventually held a year later,
0:20:41 > 0:20:44but it turned into a military affair.
0:20:44 > 0:20:48Brigadier General Owen Thomas suggested shooting competitions
0:20:48 > 0:20:52would be more appropriate than singing and dancing.
0:20:52 > 0:20:54Lloyd George arrived surrounded by soldiers
0:20:54 > 0:20:58and recruiting officers waited outside the Pavilion.
0:20:59 > 0:21:01Bangor would suffer terribly.
0:21:07 > 0:21:09The memorial arch in the town is a shrine
0:21:09 > 0:21:12to the 8,000 soldiers from North Wales
0:21:12 > 0:21:15who lost their lives in the war.
0:21:15 > 0:21:17Bangor did recruit very, very strongly,
0:21:17 > 0:21:22and over 200 of them were killed, which is quite a high proportion.
0:21:22 > 0:21:25Inevitably, if you start stirring people at the Eisteddfod
0:21:25 > 0:21:28to go to war,
0:21:28 > 0:21:33- there must be a tie-up in terms of tragedy.- Absolutely.
0:21:33 > 0:21:36It was a strategy adopted from the early stages of the war
0:21:36 > 0:21:40to try to recruit what they called pals battalions.
0:21:40 > 0:21:44The whole idea was these young people should go with their friends
0:21:44 > 0:21:46and their neighbours into the war.
0:21:46 > 0:21:52And indeed, the ethos of the training in the North Wales counties
0:21:52 > 0:21:56was to try to use the Welsh language as much as possible.
0:21:56 > 0:21:59So there was a strong sense of trying to preserve the national identity
0:21:59 > 0:22:04and the local identities of the young men who joined these battalions.
0:22:04 > 0:22:08But what hadn't been taken into consideration was what happened
0:22:08 > 0:22:11when these young people went into battle all on the same day,
0:22:11 > 0:22:14from the same village, sometimes on the same street,
0:22:14 > 0:22:19and many of the Bangor young men were killed in battles like Mametz Wood,
0:22:19 > 0:22:24which was one of the very bloody battles of the Somme in 1916.
0:22:32 > 0:22:3620 years later and Bangor was again facing the consequences of war.
0:22:36 > 0:22:40People descended on the town seeking refuge and a safe haven.
0:22:40 > 0:22:44Nearly 3,000 evacuees came from Liverpool.
0:22:44 > 0:22:50The naval training ship, HMS Conwy, warships and Catalina flying boats
0:22:50 > 0:22:54were all a familiar sight on the waters of the Menai Straits.
0:22:55 > 0:22:58And the BBC rolled into town, away from the London Blitz.
0:23:01 > 0:23:04Tommy Handley's programme was broadcast
0:23:04 > 0:23:06from Penrhyn Hall in Bangor
0:23:06 > 0:23:09and became one of the most popular radio series of the war.
0:23:09 > 0:23:13'Strategical susceptibility, his infantile indefatigability
0:23:13 > 0:23:16'and his tendency towards tactical turbidity, he still remains...'
0:23:16 > 0:23:20But during one show, a bomb landed outside the hall,
0:23:20 > 0:23:23causing panic on the streets of the town.
0:23:23 > 0:23:26Not even Bangor escaped the horrors of war.
0:23:26 > 0:23:291 Penrhyn Road on the Maesgeirchen estate
0:23:29 > 0:23:31was completely demolished by a German bomb.
0:23:31 > 0:23:34More than 200 other houses were damaged
0:23:34 > 0:23:38and three people killed, including a BBC chauffer
0:23:38 > 0:23:41evacuated to Bangor to the supposed safety of the city.
0:23:49 > 0:23:53After the War, a brave new world emerged in Britain and Bangor.
0:23:53 > 0:23:57For the very first time, the working classes were heading to college
0:23:57 > 0:24:00and the University of North Wales was expanding.
0:24:00 > 0:24:04This led to concern in Bangor that the university was being Anglicised
0:24:04 > 0:24:07and losing its Welsh roots.
0:24:07 > 0:24:10Students in Bangor played their part throughout the 1960s
0:24:10 > 0:24:13by demanding more teaching in Welsh.
0:24:13 > 0:24:16By the 1970s, they were making the headlines.
0:24:16 > 0:24:20In 1976, they occupied the university offices.
0:24:20 > 0:24:21Over the next three years,
0:24:21 > 0:24:25this university became the place of protest, of occupation.
0:24:25 > 0:24:29English language notices were torn down and burnt,
0:24:29 > 0:24:30slogans were painted.
0:24:30 > 0:24:32And the response of the authorities?
0:24:32 > 0:24:35In these three years, 12 students were suspended.
0:24:40 > 0:24:43One of the 12 was postgraduate student, Ioan Edgar.
0:24:43 > 0:24:46What form did the protest take? What did you do?
0:24:46 > 0:24:49We devised quite a few protests which obviously angered the college.
0:24:49 > 0:24:53Many of them were trivial, some were probably more extreme.
0:24:53 > 0:24:56The one I was expelled on,
0:24:56 > 0:24:59it was implied that I stood on this very sundial here.
0:24:59 > 0:25:02It was part of the synchronisation of filling the three libraries
0:25:02 > 0:25:06with orange smoke from boat flares.
0:25:06 > 0:25:10That actually angered the college and I got sent out for that one.
0:25:10 > 0:25:13We occupied the new art block on perhaps three occasions
0:25:13 > 0:25:15and we paralysed the college during that period
0:25:15 > 0:25:17because they couldn't administer.
0:25:17 > 0:25:20If we get to the heart of the matter, did it succeed?
0:25:20 > 0:25:22Very peripherally.
0:25:22 > 0:25:25It awakened some element of that these places had been left
0:25:25 > 0:25:28to their own devices for too long perhaps.
0:25:28 > 0:25:29But in general terms,
0:25:29 > 0:25:33would Wales now not have a greater Welsh awareness than in the '70s?
0:25:33 > 0:25:36Certainly so. That's improved.
0:25:36 > 0:25:40We are very much more conscious of the value of the language
0:25:40 > 0:25:43and a re-evaluation has happened
0:25:43 > 0:25:46since that period when we were protesting here.
0:25:46 > 0:25:50Today, a quarter of the 10,000 students in Bangor can speak Welsh,
0:25:50 > 0:25:54and half of them choose to study at least a part of their course
0:25:54 > 0:25:57in their mother tongue.
0:25:58 > 0:26:03Sporting successes have also played their part in Bangor's history.
0:26:03 > 0:26:06There have been rugby and football clubs in Bangor since 1876.
0:26:06 > 0:26:10A few years later, Bangor was one of the 11 founding members
0:26:10 > 0:26:14of the Welsh Rugby Union, the only club from north Wales.
0:26:14 > 0:26:19There are famous Bangor rugby sons - Dewi Bebb, Tony Gray, Robin McBryde.
0:26:19 > 0:26:23Wales' first try scored against England in 1884
0:26:23 > 0:26:26was scored by a Bangor player, Charles Allen.
0:26:26 > 0:26:31But to be honest, in Bangor, football rules.
0:26:37 > 0:26:40This has been home to Bangor City Football Club since 1919,
0:26:40 > 0:26:41Farrar Road.
0:26:41 > 0:26:43Welsh Premier League football
0:26:43 > 0:26:46but also big nights in European competitions.
0:26:46 > 0:26:50Napoli and one big night in the European Cup Winners' Cup
0:26:50 > 0:26:53against Atletico Madrid.
0:26:53 > 0:26:56Farrar Road has had some special moments.
0:26:57 > 0:27:00It was 1985 when they faced the Spanish superstars.
0:27:00 > 0:27:03OK, they lost 2-0 but Bangor City's spirit
0:27:03 > 0:27:06was about more than just football.
0:27:06 > 0:27:08Thatcher was in her pomp and telling us
0:27:08 > 0:27:12that the idea of community was outmoded.
0:27:12 > 0:27:15But Bangor had earned the right to host this match
0:27:15 > 0:27:20against the biggest team in the competition, Atletico Madrid.
0:27:20 > 0:27:22But, you know, UEFA had its rules.
0:27:22 > 0:27:24You've got to have this, you've got to have that.
0:27:24 > 0:27:27It was like something out of an Ealing Comedy.
0:27:27 > 0:27:30You've got three weeks to get this ground ready for the big match.
0:27:30 > 0:27:33You did have hundreds of people here after work coming here
0:27:33 > 0:27:36with a pot of paint and literally painting the walls
0:27:36 > 0:27:39and relaying the concrete or whatever needed to be done.
0:27:39 > 0:27:42It was heart-warming that we had the sense of community
0:27:42 > 0:27:44that Thatcher said wasn't there.
0:27:44 > 0:27:47No-one in Farrar Road was reading that script, you know?
0:27:47 > 0:27:50Bangor City are moving
0:27:50 > 0:27:53and this historic ground will soon be a supermarket.
0:27:53 > 0:27:57The new stadium on the outskirts of town offers a bright future.
0:28:01 > 0:28:03Things are changing in Bangor.
0:28:03 > 0:28:05By the university, a building site
0:28:05 > 0:28:07where Theatr Gwynedd once stood.
0:28:07 > 0:28:11This will be home to a brand new £37 million arts complex
0:28:11 > 0:28:15belonging to the university but open to all the people of Bangor.
0:28:18 > 0:28:22Port Penrhyn may not be the bustling port it once was
0:28:22 > 0:28:25but it is till a working port and still exporting slate.
0:28:27 > 0:28:31The big export from the port today are these.
0:28:31 > 0:28:34Muscles from the Straits are sent to the continent,
0:28:34 > 0:28:36all 10,000 tonnes a year.
0:28:40 > 0:28:43But it's the 10,000 students who make Bangor what it is.
0:28:43 > 0:28:45In term time they double its population
0:28:45 > 0:28:47and fill it with their energy.
0:28:47 > 0:28:50Saint Deiniol, Richard Pennant.
0:28:50 > 0:28:54All who come here are touched in some way by what they find.
0:28:55 > 0:28:58And it's all to do with the setting.
0:28:58 > 0:29:01What is here cannot be shifted easily.
0:29:01 > 0:29:05In Bangor, you cannot beat this.
0:29:17 > 0:29:20Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd