Episode 6 A Summer in Wales



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Summer in Wales is a time of celebration. Cheese. Holidays.

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want to see a castle, pubs. Keep rowing. And the great outdoors. A

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time when many businesses must turn a profit. We have put everything

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we've got into this. Or face a struggle to survive the rest of the

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year. You've got to try to keep your head above water. A time when

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good weather can make all things possible and bad can leave dreams

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in tatters. The weather could be a little nicer but that is not

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anybody's fault. This summer was truly extraordinary. Is it a clever

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time to take it down? It's your laughter. Heartache. This can be a

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cruel game. Triumph. I came second. And despair. The weather has beaten

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us again. These are our stories. nice bit of paving. Filmed in every

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corner of the nation across the summer of 2012. You can't beat it.

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This is the story of the summer in Wales. Let's get the show on the

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Late summer, and as rain continued to soak a soggy Wales, events were

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forced to cancel countrywide. 30 millimetres of rain in a short

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space of time. Hail and thunder. They will also become heavy and

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thundery, localised surface flooding. But some hardy souls

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refused to be beaten. It's raining, not to worry, we are Welsh, we are

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used to it. After weeks of preparation, Cardiff Carnival is

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about to take to the city centre streets. But with weather warnings

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of torrential rain to come, the big day could well be a big a wash-out.

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Are you scared of rain? I'm not scared of rain. This will be lead

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costume designer Adrian Spinola's 12th carnival, and it will take

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more than a mini monsoon to dampen his enthusiasm. We don't mind. We

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can cope with anything. The atmosphere, you can feel it. The

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bands, the colour, the rain. A bit of squelchy Welsh weather isn't

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going to get this bunch down. fine, he's waterproof. At 4:00pm

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sharp the Carnival procession takes to Cardiff's sodden streets. Soggy.

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Spaces, guys, keep your spaces, nice spaces. $$WHITEQuestion is,

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will the 500 hundred performers and paraders make it round the mile and

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a half route in one piece? It's exhausting, my head feels like it's

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been ripped off. It's a torture chamber. We've got a problem with

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the costume at the front. It might A bit of technical difficulties,

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unfortunately. Hopefully they will Whatever the weather, summer's a

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busy time for many of the nation's private country houses. On the

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border between Wales and England stands Bryngwyn Hall. Ancestral

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seat of the Sandbatch family and home of Auriol, Marchioness of

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Linlithgow. I have known this house since I was five and I completely

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fell in love with it. It was shut up. It had been occupied in the war.

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There was dry rot everywhere, bats, mice, rats, you name it. It was a

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complete haven for wildlife. But I had this great passion to want to

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restore this house. It was very exciting, actually, but financially

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it was extremely difficult. That is my grandfather. He was Curzon's

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military secretary. This is Gary, an Indian gharial shot in Jogiwala.

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A wonderful name, Jogiwala. To fund the restoration and running of

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Bryngwyn and it's 60 acres of parkland, Lady Linlithgow has had

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to turn it into a money making enterprise. I think I live in

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paradise here. I say paradise doesn't come cheap. But it's hard

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work. I haven't had a fairy wave a magic wand. It hasn't all twinkled

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in. Christine has been part of Lady Linlithgow's household for the last

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30 years. She loves having people in the house. She loves showing

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people around. Also it brings in a bit of money. It keeps me in work.

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Which is always good, I suppose. So yes, you have to do whatever you

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can, haven't you, to keep people coming through and getting a bit of

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cash. If we can. Grate the cheese. Today, the household is playing

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host to an etiquette course, run by former newsreader, Diana Mather.

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Now, ladies, what we don't want is any of this. Our young ladies come

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on the course to learn social etiquette, which is common sense

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and mainly good manners. The course is just one of a string of money

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making ventures which Lady Linlithgow has taken on. We started

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doing tours of the house, then we started doing shooting and weddings

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and etiquette weekends. At a steady pace, that's it. Keep your

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fingertips moving gently. I came from an era when manners and

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etiquette were very important. We were always, don't rush up the

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stairs, walk like ladies, not like farmworkers in Wellington boots

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which is how I used to walk. It's very smooth, moving with you.

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That's it. I've had to diversify in many ways and I've had to really

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laterally think about what we can do to keep this house running well

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and in good condition. We are thinking of doing paranormal

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weekends and my daughter-in-law suggested we have parties with

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butlers in the buff, which is an interesting thought at �45 an hour

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With nearly a million overseas visitors coming to Wales each year,

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the majority during the summer months, tourism has become a vital

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part of the economy. In Conway, North Wales, just under a 5th of

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the workforce is linked to it. Ex- London finance manager Rhian Wyn

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Jones, who specialises in costume guiding, leads Blue Badge tours of

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the town. When you dress up when you are doing guiding, you really

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go in to the part. I go in character. I am a 16th century maid.

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My friends think I'm having a midlife crisis. They're probably

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right but I go with the flow. Rhian's giving a private tour of

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Conway to a group of 26 Japanese visitors on a week long whistle-

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Unfortunately, nobody seems to have explained to the group why she's

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dressed as a 16th century maid. Welcome to Conway. Nice to meet you

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all and welcome to Wales. Worse, hardly any of them speak much

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English. If I say a couple of sentences and you can translate,

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then I'll say another couple of sentences because it is a lot to

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take in. This could be tricky! This is going to be fun. First stop,

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Conway's medieval Castle. 1282, in And in Wales it was Llewellyn that

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Ah! Not a good start. Two reasons you would be invited to the Great

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Hall. The first reason would be for a feast. The second reason is if

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you were accused of a crime. So if you had done a bad deed, if you had

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committed a crime. Erm, erm, accused, like a court room. Oh dear,

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oh dear! There would have been a stream that would have come along

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here to clean away the waste. You can imagine ten soldiers sitting

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there together, reading a newspaper OK. They're a polite bunch! Having

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a good time, aren't we? Another highlight of the tour is St Mary's

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and All Saint's Church, burial place of many of the Princes of

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Gwynedd. Now I'm going to tell you Two men standing in the churchyard

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talking to each other. One says, it's my wedding anniversary coming

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up. 50 years. The other man says, are you going to do anything nice

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Well, when it was my 25th wedding anniversary I took the wife to

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London to visit her sister and now it's our 50th anniversary I might

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go and fetch her back! Bring her I think she's lost them there.

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difficult with a joke. Just three hours after first arriving, the

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tourists have 'done' Wales, and it would appear they've enjoyed

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themselves. How do you say thank you in Wales? Diolch yn fawr.

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It's been a short but sweet visit. You're welcome. They leave,

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completely baffled by our jokes, and with a unique take on Welsh

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history. And still wondering why Rhian's carrying a washing basket.

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It's not just overseas tourists that flock to North Wales. 50 miles

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west of Conway lies the Lleyn Peninsula. A finger of land

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reaching out from the mountains of Snowdonia towards the Irish sea. On

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its south coast, known as the Welsh Riviera, lies the stylish seaside

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resort of Abersoch. Famed for its iconic beach huts, it's a popular

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destination for well-heeled British Jan Atherton's family have been

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coming here for four generations. My great grandparents came to

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Abersoch first, then my grandparents and then my mum and

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dad, so I've been coming before I was born, if you know what I mean.

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The beach huts are basically up market sheds with hardly enough

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room to swing a Kiss Me Quick hat. An average nine foot square,

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they've no running water or electricity, but do come with a bit

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of beach attached. They're such a must-have for the fashionable

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holidaymakers of Abersoch that one was recently snapped up for a

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staggering �85,000. People hold onto beach huts because they are

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gold dust. Johnny Hancock's family have been proud owners for the last

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90 years. My great-grandfather had five children and all of those

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families continue to come down here. I've come to other such for as long

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as I can remember and it is my summer. It is everything all in one,

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sailing, usually sun, not this year. This is the heights of my children

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throughout the years. They go up and up and up. I'm not sure where I

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am, in the 60s, there in the 1950s. Each August for over a century, the

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resort's yacht club has staged a week of regatta events for the

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families which pack the village at the height of the long summer

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holidays. OK, you can start, three, two, one. Today, it's the fiercely

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contended sandcastle competition, open to both children and adults.

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It is history repeating itself. I love it, love it. The children come

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back year after year. They have put a lot of thought into this. They

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have drawn little plans. It is strong competition, lots of fun for

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grandmas to little ones. Dad Andy Bale has been roped in as muscle by

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his children and their friends. They needed some manual labour. I

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think it is as simple as that. making a well for a mediaeval

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village. Apparently I have made it bigger than the houses, so I need

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to restart. I get the boring job. I get to do the town wall, I believe.

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A mediaeval village wall builder, that's me now. The ambitious

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contestants aren't confining themselves to turrets and moats.

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From a flat piece of sand there's all these wonderful creations

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popped up and great family competition as you can see. They

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are lovely. Keep rowing. Who's the captain? It's my friend. Finally,

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it's prize giving time. Andy's bunch have walked away with a third.

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Mediaeval village, heavy on the shelf. And Jan's lot have done even

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better. Very proud, these are some of mine and they won first prize.

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You know, there aren't many little seaside places left like this.

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They've all got more modernised. We are not like that. I hope it never

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Whatever the weather, come rain or shine, summer's a busy time for

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those of us with allotments. Mine are better than yours. Mine are

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better than yours. In South Wales' Cynon Valley, retired miner's

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Mervyn Owens and Horace Rogers have been growing veg and getting mud in

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their wellies for the last 30 years. I am 68 now. A lot of people my age

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could not do this. A day in an allotment is equivalent to a day in

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the gym. I have got a bit of a tummy, that is good eating. Growing

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your own may be all the rage but for Horace and Merv it's never been

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out of fashion. They're allotment old guard. This is my potato patch

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here, all of it. These potatoes are all-round potatoes, Maris Piper. I

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am a chip man, so I have chips, roast and mash. He is down here six

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hours a day. Seven days a week. Come rain or shine. I told her she

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should divorce you. These boys are serious gardeners and regularly

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compete in the cut-throat world of vegetable shows. Dai, John Sugar,

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John Oliver. They are top gardeners. Horace says next year. It will be

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John Sugar next year. We will take him out and win as an achievement.

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It is an achievement I am proud of. All too often, fate can deal the

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vegetable grower a cruel blow. could pull all these and I won't

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get a decent carrot, it is as simple as that. The fly went

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through them. Heartbreaking. there are compensations! We never

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buy vegetables. All that I can grow, in the freezer and the shed. That

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is a cracking carrot. That is a good carrot. A nice fresh onion. I

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am not much of chef but the flavour is there. I can cook anything. I

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cook anything. As long as it doesn't move on a plate, I will eat

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it. Look at the colour, fit for the Queen. Look at that board. First,

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second, third. Spot on. Lovely. Stunning. You can't buy this stuff.

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Why grow it and cook it? From the garden to the pot is the saying.

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People think we are nuts. Are we In northeast Wales at Bryngwyn Hall,

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the etiquette course is in full flow. My biggest etiquette bugbear

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is probably table manners, I have to say. Really bad table manners

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are inexcusable and they can be quite sick making. We are going to

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do sitting. When we sit it is Absolutely fine, sit up straight.

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Up again. Keep the elbows in when you get up. Keep elbows by your

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Perfect, that's a very nice position. Lady Linlithgow herself

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has never attended an etiquette course. I wasn't given any training.

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I came from a background where manners were king,really.

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Bryngwyn's cook, Christine, courses usually mean an added workload.

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have had one before and they had the lady showing them how to walk

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properly and how to greet people correctly and how to project

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themselves. For interviews and things. I am not sure what this lot

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are doing but they are not having a cookery lesson which is great.

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walk in and you say hello. You shut the door with the same hand and

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walk forward. So I could say, good afternoon, my name is Diana, how do

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you do? Hello, my name is Diana. For etiquette teacher Diana, Lady

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Linlithgow's home is the perfect setting for her courses. The hall

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is a beautiful space and it is very important that the girls get a

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feeling of what it was like to be a lady in the old days because that

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is why they come. It is very easy to be elegant in elegant

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surroundings. Follow me, please. You can look beautiful in a bin bag

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if you stand correctly and walk well. So here we go. So looking

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straight ahead, it keeps my head still and my shoulders still and my

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spine in line. Hands by your side, just relax. Straight ahead. Very

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nice indeed. Look up. Good, relax your arms. OK, relax. A little bit

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faster. Good, well done. Relax the arms. In addition to hosting the

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event, Lady Linlithgow plays a key part in the etiquette course.

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are two different sorts of curtsies. There was the bob, literally that.

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If you did this, it is right down, if you are wearing high heels it is

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not easy. That is what you were taught to do. Then you were

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presented to the Queen. Lady Linlithgow with her experience of

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running a house like this and also the fact that she and I are of an

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age where you actually did the season. That is what the finishing

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school was all about, to teach young ladies have to go out into

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society, how to behave properly and marry a very rich husband and live

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hopefully happy ever after. course we all fell in love with a

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skiing instructor, didn't we? We were given the oldest, ugliest

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instructor. But there were some very good-looking younger ones. I

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don't know if I got a photograph of the one I had a crush on. I am on

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show as much as the house. I don't have much of a private life. But I

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passionately love this place. I am passionately determined that it is

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going to be handed over to the next generation in a good state,

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depending on the taxman! Back on the Welsh Riviera, at the holiday

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hot-spot of Abersoch, it's the highlight of Regatta Week. The best

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dressed beach hut competition. Jan Atherton and family have gone for a

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jazz theme. We are very proud of our beach huts. They have often

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been the family for years and years very often. It is a friendly

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competition. The children like getting involved. I don't think we

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will win because there is some fantastic entries, but we will have

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a go. We will have a go. Further along the beach, the Bales are

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hoping the shock the judges into awarding them a prize. We're doing

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an operating scene for the beach hut competition. The important

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thing is attention to detail. scaring the judges. That looks real,

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that's horrible. Jan's neighbours, the Mount family, have gone Mexican.

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A lot of competition. We are great friends but there is a lot of

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competition here. We don't like them. We just put up with them, all

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the time. I think the moustaches here are a bit... Oh, they are here.

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The competition judges have arrived. These are my little amigos. Loving

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the hats. Just something you had lying around. We just found it.

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Rivalry's keen. Is there any bribery allowed? Definitely not.

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are totally impartial. Fingers crossed. Enjoyed it, took part.

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is going to tell me what this is all about? Is it the Olympics?

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How old are you? Three? He's on the podium, well done. Thank you very

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much. We are seeing an Olympic theme this year, aren't we? It is

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lovely to see the kids getting so into it and on a beautiful sunny

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day like today, where better place to be? Finally, the judges arrive

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at the Bale family's beach hut. are in a field hospital, oh dear.

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Are you ready? Which should go first? Very good. It's decision

:25:36.:25:46.
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We do have an outright winner and it is hut one and the first prize

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is this cup and their theme was the You can share it, that is good.

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Bales too win a prize. We got a medal. Highly commended. And though

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Jan's hut doesn't get a mention, her neighbours, the Mounts' efforts

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are also rewarded. It was a good turnout, a reflection of the effort

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people put in. As the curtain falls on another fun filled Regatta

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events week, Jan's in good spirits. Generations of families come here

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year after year, so the parents form friendships, then their

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children do and it is like reunion time in the summer. I just feel

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totally content here. Very special In Cardiff, the skies have cleared

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and the Carnival parade has reached the city centre, relatively dry and

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intact. It makes me want to dance. This is our summer. It's the first

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time in its 23 year history that the parade has taken a central

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route and with tens of thousands of Olympic football fans swelling the

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watching crowds, it's never been such a focus of attention. I love

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Despite the bad weather the enthusiasm of the 500-odd

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performers and paraders hasn't But some of the fantastical giant

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puppets have come off the worse for wear. We've lost a lion, he

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collapsed. I think it was the rain. The back strut has snapped. She

:27:45.:27:50.

leant back and snapped the strut. But the pain's been worth it,

:27:50.:27:52.

Wales' biggest and brightest Carnival has been a resounding

:27:52.:27:57.

success. Dancing in the street and knowing that this is three weeks

:27:57.:28:00.

about making, all the colours, it has been brilliant seeing the whole

:28:00.:28:08.

thing to come together. I told you the sun would shine on us. You know

:28:08.:28:15.

what it's like, party time now. Next time... It is Ladies' Day at

:28:15.:28:23.

the races. Each way on each horse. They are not up and running yet.

:28:23.:28:28.

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