Episode 7 A Summer in Wales

Summer in Wales is a time of celebration. Holidays. I see a

castle. Pubs. Keep rowing. And the great outdoors.

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

everything we've got into this. it's a struggle to survive the rest

of the year... You have to tray to keep your head above water at the

moment. A time when good weather can make all things possible. The

bad can leave dreams in tatters. The weather could be a little nicer

but that's not anybody's fault. This summer was truly extraordinary.

Not the cleverest idea... It's laughter. Heartache. It can be a

cruel game. Triumph. I came second. And despair. The weatherer's beaten

us once again. These are our stories.: nice bit of pizza. Filmed

in every corner of the nation in summer 2012. You can't beat it, can

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

You know when it's summer in Wales, it's all hotpants, vests and blokes

with no T-shirts. A time when you go to the park and wonder why it's

hard to find anywhere to sit. A time to socialise and mingle, to

see and be seen. In the heart of Carmarthenshire,

surrounded by rolling hills and glorious countryside lies Ffos Las,

Wales' third and newest racecourse. Each summer, one of the most

glamorous days in the NHS's social Customers are attending the salon

in Pontarddulais. I hardly slept last night. I had my sleeping

rollers in and kept waking up thinking oh, it's the roll,, but it

wasn't, it was pure excitement, I was really excited. Been going on

about this for weeks. It's the event of the year. Almost as much

effort goes into it as getting married. We have to look our best.

Just hope the rain doesn't ruin our hats today. Just along the high

street from Kelly's salon, Samantha Roberts with sisters Claire and

Samantha, have their eye on a prize. Everybody wants to be the best-

dressed lady. Sarah and Claire do, we all do. One of our girls got

through last year which is really exciting so let's hope that we get

the same this year and maybe get a winner.

After a few glasses of wine, I've got a funny feeling I'm going to be

walking around like this, so if you see someone being a bit silly, it's

probably going to be me, yes. The ladies are ready and their

carriage awaits. Nothing's going to dampen their

high spirits. Not even a forecast of heavy rain.

We are not really worried about the weather because it's going to get

better. I've had a word upstairs, it's going to be fine. On dailies

day, Ffos Las turns catwalk as the women of west Wales don their high

heels, posh dresses and fansiest hats.

As they arrive at the racecourse, dark clouds are already gathering.

Kelly has her mind focused on the one thing. Placing a bet. Basically

we want to share this money out on the races we've got so can you help

me, please? Will do, but I'm not up and running yet unfortunately...

Oh! She's very keen. �75 here. So I've got all the horses that I want

to put on so I need your help to sort of break it down. You can only

bet on this race, mind, you can't bet on all the races. You have to

bet on each race individually, everybody's the same. OK, so how do

I break this down? I'm not sure. It's going to be a long day.

Over 100 miles away on the border between Wales and England, Bryngwyn

hall, home of Linlithgows, as summer draws to a close, the state

is unusually busy. Maintaining Grade II grin Gwynne and its acres

is not easy. Layly Lynn lithstkpwo marking the end to have season with

something new -- Lady Linlithgow. We are doing clay pigeons today,

meaning we can extend our business out of the shooting season and it's

less costly than fully blown game days. I've had to diversify and

I've just had to really laterally think about what we can do to keep

this house in good condition. I think I live in paradise here. As

I always say, paradise doesn't come cheap. If today's Simulated Game

Day proves a success, it could be a real turning point for the fortunes

of the estate. Morning...

The entire household is anxious to create a good impression.

With one notable exception. Good morning. No chickens, no. No, no,

no, no! Rollie, the Estate Builder's terrier, can't fight his

basic urges. No, no! Rollie, Rollie...

Sorry about that. Is the chicken all right? Yes. I love westys,

but... The new venture means a lot of, tra

work for the cook, Christine Horton. -- extra work. All they seam to do

is eat. They start off with breakfast, have nibbles, lunch,

afternoon tea, dinner. I suppose they are out doing a lot of walking.

Never stir with a knife, you stir up strife! Who am I going to fall

out with today?! The Lady can cook. She does a lot

more now that I've semi retired and she's a bit of a messy cook but

don't say anything. She's not very good at the washing up. Ooh...

LAUGHTER Damn! Caught!

Caught there. You were caught. are getting much better at the

washing up, much better. How are you going? Oh, we are coming on a

treat. Stop laughing! It's not funny. I'll get the sack any day

now if I'm lucky. The whole household is on duty today.

Including lady Linlithgow herself. My local is working hostess and I

really love it. I live in the most beautiful house, in the most

beautiful part of Wales and nothing makes me happier than sharing it.

Food and drinks here. Right, let's get this thing organised. The boot

isn't big enough. We could put the drinks on the floor. The dog can't

eat the drinks. From the reaction of her guests, it would appear that

the event is going well. Wonderful, yes. Hospitality is as good as ever.

The setting is great, the food is great and the company's good. It

can only be right really can't it? Perfect I would say. Champagne's

pretty good too. Very happy, yes, what a fantastic group, what a day,

can't wait to see the next drive. Summer is festival season in Wales

with hundreds of events from local to international taking place

across the country. For the nation's event caterers,

it's their busiest season. Jonathan Williams is the founder

and owner of Cafe Mor, a mobile catering business specialises in

fresh Welsh seafood. The company's only a year old but this summer

Jonathan's launched himself into festival season in a big way.

Won't be long. Five minutes... far with the help of his mum, he's

catered the international festival and Wakestock which didn't go well.

The worst I've ever seen at a festival. We have to cut our losses

really. All between running a pitch in the athletes village of the

London 2012 Olympics and welcoming his first child. Meet Josey, Greek

for granny is yaya. Poor old Hannah's been at home

looking after our lovely baby girl and I've just been running around

like a madman so looking forward to going home and hopefully giving her

a little rest. Now he's catering the national Eisteddfod, one of the

oldest cultural festivals in Europe. It's an opportunity to get his

business back on track. Wakestock was the wrong kind of show, we are

still going strong but it puts pressure on Eisteddfod then because

you want to make it work here. experiences have taught Jonathan a

valuable lesson. He's learned to be more choosy about the events he

caters and to do all he can to appeal to the different types of

festival-goers they attract. one for us, never done Eisteddfod

before. The clientele here, typical families, opposite to Wakestock. We

haven't got too many young kids around or whatever else. A lot of

biLang wall signs everywhere. --ley lingual. We had to find someone who

spoke Welsh. Cafe Mor's latest recruit is fluent in Welsh. I've

been teaching Jonathan a few Welsh phrases.

I'm the worst ever because my brain doesn't work with languages, I can

barely speak English so trying to learn any other language is a

mammoth task. What's please in Welsh?

HE SPEAKS WELSH A lot of people just say please for

please. Confusing, you see! Jonathan's new approach seems to be

working well. It's all I can get. We are not

running off in the middling of the night on this money.

As the end of the summer looms, it's not just those with a living

to make who're feeling the pressure. For some, there are other

challenges that are every bit as In South Wales' Cynon valley,

Horace is getting some help to pick the best of his summer crop, to

enter into competition in the County Show.

Come on... First up, parsnips. Here we go. I'm

a bit nervous here now. They've been here since February, it's a

long time. It's a delicate process. If it snaps, it's no good for

showing. No. It's coming. Oh, it snapped. This can be a cruel game.

He's coming, he's coming. Right. Oh, he snapped. Shame that, isn't it?

Competitive vegetable growing can be an emotional roller coaster.

Will it be a case of third time lucky? Right. He's all right, he's

all right. Not bad. That's one. Looking good.

Looking very good. Two. Mervyn, can we put that in a bath of water

right now. That's the longest one. Three. Enough for the show. Next,

it's Horace's pride and joy, his call flowers. A bit annoyed about

these ones. They've gone, man, they've gone. Look, here. They've

just come on, the weather's brought them on too soon, you know.

summer we've nursed and fed them. Out of them all, this is my

favourite, I like to show a good cauliflower. You could make a bit

of cauliflower cheese out of 'em. Gutted.

But it's not all bad news. There's always the peas.

Quite nice, that is. Nine like that. A deep green, they've got to be?

Yes. Like a lush green. Lovely. Quite full, this is. 11 peas in

that one. An excellent pea. That's a good pea, that is.

Veg selected, Horace gives it an all-important make-over ready for

the show. Lovely smell to 'em. Fresh. Fresh, yes. Dirty produce

would give the judges a bad impression. It's all about

presentation, isn't it, me r Mervyn? Horace is an old prowhen it

comes to competition. Cleaning takes practise, you know. I nearly

got a divorce because she said "not much down the allotment". She goes

"where you been?". People think me Bryngwyn estate on the Welsh

borders Lady Linlithgow's first simulated game shoot is going well.

They've got exploding clays so it will be quite noisy.

Perhaps a little too well. Back at the Hall, cook Christine has laid

on lunch, as requested, only to be told that there's a change of plan.

It's 20 to two and they're supposed to be in five minutes, but I guess

they're not going to be because I understand they took longer eating

their sausages, or drinking their champagne, or whatever they did. So

I don't know what time lunch is now, Let's go back then, come on.

I went clay pigeon shooting once. I shoot one, the man said if I kept

my eyes open I might have shot more!

The shooting guests appear to be delighted with the day's

entertainments. I really enjoyed it and I think we had the weather on

our side and it's fantastic location. It's been great company.

Great surroundings. I would do this any time. A good way to spend a

weekend. Lady Linlithgow's latest money-making venture looks likely

to take off, much to the relief of the entire household. You have to

do whatever you can to keep people coming through and getting a bit of

cash., if you can. It's an upbeat end to what's been a

challenging season. It's been a difficult summer. It's been rainy,

we haven't had a lot of weddings. We have a lot booked for next year.

We have to keep thinking what we can do and how we can get more

people here and I think this is going to make the business really

hum. No No pheasants, but lots of

sunshine and walkies. People are bowled over by the beauty of the

scenery of this part of Wales. It's kpeplgs a -- kpepgal -- exceptional.

If you live in a beautiful place Some 100 miles to the south-west

lies the County of Pembrokeshire. Home to the Cilgerran annual summer

coracle race. And also to Cafe Mor owner,

Jonathan Williams. We are doing salads and lobster rolls. After

spending a heck Confucius months catering Wales' festival season, he

is marking the end of the summer working with his family at a local

event. This has been ridiculous, it's been

so busy. It's nice to enjoy a bit of switch-off time now. Being dad

the first time, doing the Olympics, just mad events. Some events

haven't worked out. Wakestock wasn't fantastic. He has to listen

to his mother more! Yeah, yeah! said Wakestock, all kids. No, it

will be all right. He does need to sort of sometimes listen. He does

most of the time. Mothers and their sons, eh! Olympics, that's been the

shining glory of the summer. Just buzzing and it was so nice to go

out to the Village and meet the athletes and the wraps going down a

storm. They loved it. Tom Daley loved the pesto wraps. The

Australians loved them, the Americans loved them. Everybody,

the Russians, once they got - I think Russians are a bit

conservative but once somebody had a wrap and they were coming back

all the time. The whole mix were coming back for the wraps. They

loved them. Tom Daley's bronze, he wouldn't have got it without the

pesto wrap! Jessica Ennis got her gold - eating the wraps. Rebecca

Adlington, eating the wraps, they loved the wraps! Rush over, they

enjoy family time with baby Josie and her mum, Hannah. Eight weeks

old, nine weeks. It's been crazy, but now it's good. Good when he has

time for us. Her first day of work, she's doing all right. Trying to

get a lobster outfit. She will be all right. Since June it's been

non-stop really. She was born on Sunday and I was making wraps

Monday morning. It's lovely, lovely. I am knitting like mad. I am

definitely going to have a month off after this summer. Festival

season may be over, but entrepreneur Jonathan can't help

but think of new business opportunities.

Summer's been super busy but we are looking at new business avenues,

new markets, trying to grow this nationally, internationally, you

know, world's the oyster really. We could be taking it over to New York

in the spring, it's all happening. Next summer will be around here

before we know it. In the South Wales town of

Tonyrefail it's the day of the Rhonda Cynon Taf County show and

for allotment owner Horace the moment of truth has arrived.

Cabbage, peas, potatoes, and parsnips are lovingly placed on

display. It's not bad at the moment. Competitive vegetable growing is a

cut-throat world. I can take him out, no problem. You got one bad

one... Once the hall is cleared, the serious work of adjudication

can begin. Arwyn Edwards and Colin Lewis are

seasoned vegetable judges. This one is slightly bulbous. Lovely

Skhrao. Time for a cup of tea now. You have done it any way. I will

put a note on it. Can I have my tea first.

A few marks the other side of this one. Competition rules are strictly

applied. Have a look at what we got in here. One, two, three... Nine

and a gap. Where there should be a pea. Those found lacking are

disqualified. One, two, three, four, five, six,

seven eight. I am afraid... That constitutes a bit of a problem.

cannot judge that. That's a shame. That's a judge's nightmare. He's

probably got a spare pea in his basket somewhere which he has

forgot to put out. One competitor's veg is making a big impact. Nice

cabbages. What was the first number? 50. Second is... 50. Third

is 50 as well. Second is number 50. Third is 50. Judging over, the

public return to the hall and Mervyn's brought along his

granddaughter, Tanya, to show her the ropes.

Horace's parsnips have won him a prize. It's nice to have a card.

told you would you have a card. so have his peas. Third prize.

That's two cards. Sadly, his potatoes fail to make an impression.

I had a couple of cards and I am pleased with that, you know. I can

do better, I will be back, don't worry about that. I will be back.

Many things in life are unpredictable. But one thing's

certain, even in summer, Welsh weather can be soggy. Back Back at

Ffos Las the racecourse is awaeurb fr wash with -- awash with

umbrellas. As the ladies of west Wales brave the downpours and winds

Kelly's still trying to place a bet. �2 each-way. First or second.

the Pontarddulais ladies aren't just here for a flutter. They're

got their eye on the Best Dressed Lady Prize. Just to be in the line-

up would be really nice. For me, that's my favourite. This year's

competition judge, Andrew Stevens, manager of Llanelli's St Elli

shopping centre is out and about selecting the best-dressed ladies

on the racecourse. I am no fashion expert but when somebody's dressed

nice, they're dressed nice. Among the crowds there are some some

surprising potential contestants. Excuse me, you have just walked

past and you caught my eye. Can you come and join us. Of course I will.

A competition for the Best Dressed. Sarah and Claire tphr the running.

Can I give you those two. You both are dressed smart, I feel

awkward giving one out when the other is standing next, so I think

I am being gentlemanly, I think. Hope we win.

Back in the pavilion, Kelly's placed her bet. Come on!

Looks like these ladies like a flutter.

It was worth the wait. As the selected Best Dressed Ladies

line newspaper the paddock, -- line newspaper the paddock, -- line up

in the paddock. It's judgment time. It's going to be difficult. It's

the lady in the centre holding her hat. It's going to be a difficult

one, it's going to be the lovely lady on the right.

Again, difficult to narrow it down, but it's the lovely one in the

vintage dress in the centre. Second place, I am chuffed, I am

chuffed! I won, I was second! been a good day for the ladies of

Pontarddulais. Next time:. Let's get the show show on the road!

Mardi Gras in Cardiff. Open the gates! It's very ambitious.

ballroom gets a last-minute makeover at Hammet House. It's

going to be a tough tough one. you cancel the wedding? I don't