0:00:03 > 0:00:07Making the journey across the Severn Bridge into Wales
0:00:07 > 0:00:09is singer Katherine Jenkins.
0:00:09 > 0:00:14She's performed around the world and today lives in London,
0:00:14 > 0:00:16but now she's home in Wales,
0:00:16 > 0:00:18travelling on a very special journey,
0:00:18 > 0:00:21here in search of her family's past,
0:00:21 > 0:00:24where there are more than a few surprises
0:00:24 > 0:00:26waiting for her to uncover.
0:00:28 > 0:00:30First, she's heading for Neath,
0:00:30 > 0:00:33the former coal-mining town where she grew up,
0:00:33 > 0:00:35and where her family still live today.
0:00:35 > 0:00:38Now Katherine Jenkins is coming home.
0:00:42 > 0:00:43Coming up later,
0:00:43 > 0:00:48Katherine learns the shocking truth of a wayward ancestor...
0:00:48 > 0:00:50That is a little scandalous, isn't it?!
0:00:52 > 0:00:54(Wow!)
0:00:54 > 0:00:56..takes to the stage with a very special choir...
0:00:57 > 0:01:04# I will ever give to thee. #
0:01:05 > 0:01:08..and learns of a moving family story.
0:01:09 > 0:01:11It's quite...
0:01:11 > 0:01:14It's funny how history repeats itself.
0:01:19 > 0:01:21Now at the start of her journey,
0:01:21 > 0:01:26what has motivated Katherine to want to trace her family tree?
0:01:26 > 0:01:29I think because my dad passed away when I was 15,
0:01:29 > 0:01:33there are questions that, you know, I can ask my mum now
0:01:33 > 0:01:37and she can answer on her side, but some of the things, you feel like...
0:01:37 > 0:01:41Well, I'm not sure if I'm ever going to find these things out now,
0:01:41 > 0:01:45so anything about my dad, any new information relating to him,
0:01:45 > 0:01:47is always something I will treasure.
0:01:47 > 0:01:52Katherine lost her dad, Selwyn Jenkins, when she was just 15.
0:01:52 > 0:01:55But what does she know of her Jenkins family?
0:01:55 > 0:01:59I don't feel like I actually know that much about the first few
0:01:59 > 0:02:03generations above me, so this is going to be really interesting.
0:02:03 > 0:02:06Katherine's search begins in her home of Neath.
0:02:06 > 0:02:07In the centre of town,
0:02:07 > 0:02:11she meets with genealogist Mike Churchill-Jones,
0:02:11 > 0:02:13who is waiting to reveal her family tree.
0:02:13 > 0:02:15And this is it.
0:02:15 > 0:02:18(Oh, my gosh!)
0:02:18 > 0:02:21- You can see yourself on the bottom here.- Yeah.
0:02:21 > 0:02:24You were born to Thomas John Selwyn Jenkins
0:02:24 > 0:02:27- and Susan Elizabeth Evans.- Mm-hmm.
0:02:27 > 0:02:31The Jenkins came from both South and West Wales.
0:02:31 > 0:02:34You've got deep Welsh roots on your paternal side,
0:02:34 > 0:02:37in both Carmarthenshire and Glamorgan.
0:02:37 > 0:02:39- Oh, really? OK.- Indeed, indeed.
0:02:40 > 0:02:45Katherine's Jenkins family in West Wales came from Carmarthenshire
0:02:45 > 0:02:48and can be traced back to the 1760s.
0:02:49 > 0:02:54The story starts with her four times great-grandparents, Mary and Henry.
0:02:54 > 0:02:59Henry Jenkins was born approximately 1767 in Carmarthenshire
0:02:59 > 0:03:03and he died in the workhouse in Carmarthen in 1847.
0:03:06 > 0:03:12They had an illegitimate child called John Jenkins.
0:03:12 > 0:03:15John was Katherine's three times great-grandfather.
0:03:17 > 0:03:23He was born in 1794 in the parish of St Ishmael in Carmarthenshire.
0:03:26 > 0:03:30He was an agricultural and a railway labourer.
0:03:30 > 0:03:32- OK.- OK?
0:03:32 > 0:03:36- So they weren't married? - They weren't married, no.- OK.
0:03:36 > 0:03:39In turn, John Jenkins had a daughter, Martha,
0:03:39 > 0:03:42who was Katherine's great-great-grandmother.
0:03:42 > 0:03:45She was born circa 1820 in Llansaint.
0:03:45 > 0:03:48As Katherine will later learn,
0:03:48 > 0:03:50Martha has an important story to tell.
0:03:52 > 0:03:54In 1851, she was a housemaid
0:03:54 > 0:03:59and after that she was a cockle picker and a gatherer.
0:03:59 > 0:04:03- I wanted cockles for breakfast this morning!- Did you?
0:04:03 > 0:04:06They didn't have any at the hotel.
0:04:09 > 0:04:11OK, brilliant!
0:04:12 > 0:04:17In fact, Katherine comes from generations of Welsh cockle women
0:04:17 > 0:04:20who often worked more than ten hours a day,
0:04:20 > 0:04:24gathering cockles off the south coast of Wales.
0:04:24 > 0:04:28Your great-grandparents were John Jenkins and Elizabeth Howells
0:04:28 > 0:04:31and she was also a cockle picker.
0:04:31 > 0:04:32OK!
0:04:32 > 0:04:36- And one of their children was your grandfather, David Jenkins.- Right.
0:04:36 > 0:04:38He was born 1891, in Llansaint.
0:04:38 > 0:04:43He was a labourer, he was a furnaceman and a railway ganger.
0:04:43 > 0:04:44Oh.
0:04:44 > 0:04:48He married your grandmother Catherine Ann Elizabeth Davies.
0:04:48 > 0:04:51- Who I'm named after.- Indeed.- Yes.
0:04:51 > 0:04:52Katherine's grandmother,
0:04:52 > 0:04:57whose maiden name was also Catherine Jenkins, came from Neath, and
0:04:57 > 0:05:01she was by no means the only Jenkins to appear in the family tree.
0:05:02 > 0:05:06So, literally, Catherine called her daughter Katherine,
0:05:06 > 0:05:08called her daughter Katherine.
0:05:08 > 0:05:11- There's another Katherine there. - Oh, my gosh!
0:05:11 > 0:05:15Catherine to Katherine to Catherine to Katherine,
0:05:15 > 0:05:17- miss my dad, to me.- Yeah.
0:05:17 > 0:05:21Isn't that funny? It's a real family name - I didn't realise that.
0:05:21 > 0:05:23All spelt differently, though.
0:05:25 > 0:05:29First, Katherine heads for Neath's High Street
0:05:29 > 0:05:30and to the indoor market.
0:05:32 > 0:05:34Hello, how are you?
0:05:34 > 0:05:37Her great-great-grandmother Martha Jenkins was a cockle picker
0:05:37 > 0:05:40and cockles are still sold today in the market.
0:05:40 > 0:05:44Katherine is here to learn more about the cockle industry but,
0:05:44 > 0:05:48being in Neath, there are always people who want to say hello.
0:05:48 > 0:05:51You've come back! Somebody said you were here. Lovely girl!
0:05:51 > 0:05:53- Are you Katherine Jenkins? - Yes, I am. How are you?
0:05:53 > 0:05:56- Nice to see you.- Nice to see you. - Pretty girl, you are.
0:05:56 > 0:06:00- Thank you very much. - Very pretty girl, isn't she?
0:06:00 > 0:06:03Katherine's great-great-grandmother Martha Jenkins
0:06:03 > 0:06:06began harvesting cockles in the 1850s
0:06:06 > 0:06:10and historian Dylan Jones has been looking into her story.
0:06:11 > 0:06:16She was a cockle lady and she was... Well, basically,
0:06:16 > 0:06:19it was a hard life, backbreaking job.
0:06:19 > 0:06:23The cockle industry during that period...
0:06:23 > 0:06:28Well, it dates back to Roman times really and, basically,
0:06:28 > 0:06:32it was a female occupation right up until quite recently.
0:06:34 > 0:06:38Cockles are edible shellfish which thrive in the waters
0:06:38 > 0:06:42along the many beaches and estuaries of the Welsh coast.
0:06:42 > 0:06:47At low tide, the women could rake this prized source of food from the beach.
0:06:47 > 0:06:53A normal day for Martha would have been up at the crack of dawn,
0:06:53 > 0:06:59go down to the cockle beds and then retrieve the cockles,
0:06:59 > 0:07:05either by using the cockle knife and the sieve, and then the rake.
0:07:05 > 0:07:09Anyway, as I say, a backbreaking job but,
0:07:09 > 0:07:14thankfully, cockles are still sold in this market today.
0:07:14 > 0:07:15SHE CHUCKLES
0:07:15 > 0:07:18- My mum comes to actually buy cockles from here.- Oh, I see.
0:07:18 > 0:07:20It appears that Martha did more than
0:07:20 > 0:07:22just collect enough cockles for her family.
0:07:22 > 0:07:26So she would have been picking them and then would she have sold them on,
0:07:26 > 0:07:29or would other people have sold them on for her?
0:07:29 > 0:07:32Yes. She would have gone round the various houses,
0:07:32 > 0:07:33knocking on the doors.
0:07:33 > 0:07:36Well, the same customers, she would have gone round for years.
0:07:36 > 0:07:38With the rest of the cockles,
0:07:38 > 0:07:41she would just go round the local markets.
0:07:41 > 0:07:45Katherine can't resist trying some cockles for herself.
0:07:45 > 0:07:48- Got to put vinegar on cockles. - Yes, you've got to!
0:07:51 > 0:07:56Thank you. It's been the staple diet for Welsh people for many centuries
0:07:56 > 0:07:59and long may it continue, really.
0:07:59 > 0:08:03It's one of the things I really miss from not living in Wales any more,
0:08:03 > 0:08:08so I find this so funny that this is actually part of my history!
0:08:08 > 0:08:10Good, good.
0:08:10 > 0:08:12Mmm, yum!
0:08:12 > 0:08:16Katherine has clearly loved learning of her cockle-gathering heritage.
0:08:16 > 0:08:19I would never have imagined in a million years
0:08:19 > 0:08:22we'd have cockle pickers in our family.
0:08:22 > 0:08:25I'm sure I've never...even ever heard of anyone
0:08:25 > 0:08:29talking about that as a possibility.
0:08:29 > 0:08:32Having said that, I love cockles!
0:08:32 > 0:08:35So, yeah, I am surprised by that.
0:08:35 > 0:08:41I'm not surprised, in that I expected my family to be hard workers,
0:08:41 > 0:08:42to be doing very normal jobs.
0:08:42 > 0:08:48It just never entered my head that they would be in that industry.
0:08:48 > 0:08:54For the next part of Katherine's story, things become more serious.
0:08:54 > 0:08:58Katherine has learnt that her great great-grandmother
0:08:58 > 0:09:00Martha Jenkins was a cockle woman but,
0:09:00 > 0:09:05as she's about to discover, there's a great deal more to Martha's story.
0:09:05 > 0:09:09This marriage certificate shows that in 1852, Martha Jenkins,
0:09:09 > 0:09:14at the age of 31, married an Evan Walters.
0:09:14 > 0:09:20Sadly, that marriage would not last, as Mike Churchill-Jones now reveals.
0:09:20 > 0:09:21Could you read that?
0:09:21 > 0:09:25It's actually an extract from the Carmarthen Journal in 1854.
0:09:25 > 0:09:28"An inquest was held on Friday last,
0:09:28 > 0:09:29"on the body of Evan Walters.
0:09:29 > 0:09:34"It appeared that on the previous day the deceased was in the act of
0:09:34 > 0:09:36"following his barrow in a deep cutting
0:09:36 > 0:09:41"when a large quantity of earth and stone fell, and nearly covered him.
0:09:41 > 0:09:43"And when brought out,
0:09:43 > 0:09:46"he only survived the accident for a short time.
0:09:46 > 0:09:48"Verdict 'accidental death'."
0:09:48 > 0:09:50- That's your second great-grandfather.- Oh.
0:09:50 > 0:09:54Evan Walters was Katherine's great-great-grandfather.
0:09:54 > 0:09:59His tragic death left Martha his widow, facing a bleak future.
0:09:59 > 0:10:03- What are your thoughts? - It's just tragic.
0:10:06 > 0:10:09How old was he?
0:10:09 > 0:10:13- Erm, he was about 32 years of age. - That's my age. It's tragic.
0:10:13 > 0:10:15He was so young.
0:10:17 > 0:10:20And how long had he been married?
0:10:20 > 0:10:23He'd been married virtually two years.
0:10:25 > 0:10:29Martha was expecting their second child when Evan died.
0:10:29 > 0:10:32She had lost her husband and, at that time,
0:10:32 > 0:10:34the main breadwinner in the family.
0:10:36 > 0:10:39And what happened to her afterwards?
0:10:39 > 0:10:44Basically, Martha, I can tell you, was a very, very strong woman.
0:10:44 > 0:10:47The 1881 census shows her here.
0:10:47 > 0:10:51She's now a very successful cockle merchant.
0:10:51 > 0:10:54So she's running her own company.
0:10:55 > 0:11:01She's a very successful cockle merchant, a very brave woman.
0:11:01 > 0:11:03She never remarried.
0:11:05 > 0:11:08Katherine's own father, Selwyn Jenkins,
0:11:08 > 0:11:11died when she was very young and her mother had to cope
0:11:11 > 0:11:14with bringing Katherine up without her husband,
0:11:14 > 0:11:17so Katherine can see parallels in Martha's life.
0:11:20 > 0:11:24It's silly! Um...
0:11:25 > 0:11:31- I think the strong, the strong woman thing is a family trait.- Indeed.
0:11:33 > 0:11:36And I'm thinking about my own mum,
0:11:36 > 0:11:39and being left on her own, at a young age.
0:11:40 > 0:11:44It's quite... It's funny how history repeats itself.
0:11:47 > 0:11:51I can just show you another glimpse of the census.
0:11:51 > 0:11:54It's Martha living alone now in 1911.
0:11:54 > 0:11:58She's still in Llansaint, she's in the cockle industry.
0:11:59 > 0:12:03I love that she built up her own business, though. I love that.
0:12:03 > 0:12:07- It's great.- Especially in this kind of era where, you know,
0:12:07 > 0:12:12it's not necessarily thought of for women to do that, so I like that.
0:12:12 > 0:12:16That's definitely where the independence comes from.
0:12:16 > 0:12:19The end of her story is...
0:12:21 > 0:12:25Martha Jenkins - she eventually died in 1921,
0:12:25 > 0:12:27but look at her age.
0:12:27 > 0:12:29Wow! 101.
0:12:29 > 0:12:32- 101.- That's a good innings.
0:12:32 > 0:12:35All she had to put up with, successful business...
0:12:36 > 0:12:39- But she never remarried? - She never remarried.
0:12:40 > 0:12:42Wow.
0:12:46 > 0:12:52Next, the Jenkins story in Neath moves forward two generations
0:12:52 > 0:12:56to Katherine's grandmother, also called Katherine Jenkins.
0:12:56 > 0:13:00She would play an important part in the morale of this industrial
0:13:00 > 0:13:03town in the darkest days of the Second World War.
0:13:05 > 0:13:08Neath, like so many of the Welsh coal-mining communities,
0:13:08 > 0:13:10paid a heavy price in the war.
0:13:14 > 0:13:17Nearly a quarter of the men conscripted into the mines
0:13:17 > 0:13:21would suffer an injury during their time underground.
0:13:21 > 0:13:23But, in the blacked out streets of Neath,
0:13:23 > 0:13:28the community spirit of this Welsh town was sustained by music.
0:13:28 > 0:13:30CHORAL MUSIC PLAYS
0:13:40 > 0:13:43In chapels and mission halls across the valley,
0:13:43 > 0:13:47special wartime concerts brought the community together and,
0:13:47 > 0:13:51amongst the singers, was Katherine's own grandmother who,
0:13:51 > 0:13:53like Katherine, was a mezzo soprano.
0:13:55 > 0:13:59Here in Neath, Katherine visits one of the surviving venues for
0:13:59 > 0:14:05these concerts, the Presbyterian Mission Hall in the centre of town,
0:14:05 > 0:14:10a building that offered a beacon of hope amidst the despair of the war.
0:14:11 > 0:14:16Here to show Katherine around is Neath historian Tony Hopkins.
0:14:16 > 0:14:19I can't believe that I haven't ever been in here,
0:14:19 > 0:14:23even though it's been on my doorstep all this time.
0:14:23 > 0:14:27Yeah, these buildings have been the lifeblood of the town for the last
0:14:27 > 0:14:30150 years and they really came into their own during
0:14:30 > 0:14:34the Second World War period cos the buildings were used not just for
0:14:34 > 0:14:38church services, but they were used as gathering points for the people.
0:14:38 > 0:14:41Some people were made homeless when the bombs fell,
0:14:41 > 0:14:44people needed morale lifting,
0:14:44 > 0:14:48and your grandmother's voice sort of played a part in that,
0:14:48 > 0:14:52as she sang to the locals. It would have meant a lot to them
0:14:52 > 0:14:56and they would have gone back home into that sort of dark world
0:14:56 > 0:15:00invigorated and ready to carry on with the home effort.
0:15:00 > 0:15:03So do we know if she sang in the choir or was she...?
0:15:03 > 0:15:07- She was a soloist.- As a soloist? - I gather, yes.
0:15:08 > 0:15:13Katherine can be very proud of the part her grandmother played
0:15:13 > 0:15:15in this Welsh choral tradition
0:15:15 > 0:15:19and in raising the wartime morale of her hometown of Neath.
0:15:19 > 0:15:23There were a number of soloists around and, of course,
0:15:23 > 0:15:26there was a strong choral tradition in the town anyway,
0:15:26 > 0:15:28which stretches right back to the 1850s
0:15:28 > 0:15:33- when nonconformist chapels started to proliferate in the town.- Yeah.
0:15:33 > 0:15:36A lot of nonconformists were great hymn writers, and churches
0:15:36 > 0:15:40and chapels started to perform all sorts of music and, gradually,
0:15:40 > 0:15:44they put on secular concerts as well, in the churches, so
0:15:44 > 0:15:48there was always a strong tradition in the town of choral singing.
0:15:50 > 0:15:53This choral tradition continues in Wales,
0:15:53 > 0:15:56and the Kenfig Hill & District Male Voice Choir
0:15:56 > 0:15:59are today busy rehearsing.
0:15:59 > 0:16:01They've specially gathered for
0:16:01 > 0:16:05a little surprise performance for Katherine, later on her journey.
0:16:05 > 0:16:08# Amen. #
0:16:10 > 0:16:14But first, there is one more twist in the story of Katherine's
0:16:14 > 0:16:19great-great-grandparents, Martha Jenkins and Evan Walters.
0:16:19 > 0:16:23Earlier, Katherine was clearly very moved by the tragic death
0:16:23 > 0:16:26of Evan Walters, her great-great-grandfather.
0:16:27 > 0:16:31That's quite... It's funny how history repeats itself.
0:16:35 > 0:16:40But was Evan really worth shedding a tear for?
0:16:40 > 0:16:41In 1852, Evan had married
0:16:41 > 0:16:46Katherine's great-great-grandmother Martha Jenkins,
0:16:46 > 0:16:50but why had Martha not changed her surname to Walters?
0:16:50 > 0:16:55Mike Churchill-Jones has finally uncovered the answer.
0:16:55 > 0:16:57This is just to remind you,
0:16:57 > 0:17:03that's the 1861 census that says her name was Jenkins which intrigued me.
0:17:03 > 0:17:06It intrigued me - why was she calling herself Jenkins?
0:17:06 > 0:17:09After extensive trawling through the newspapers,
0:17:09 > 0:17:11I think I've come up with the answer.
0:17:11 > 0:17:16"Extract from Carmarthen Journal Newspaper, September 23rd, 1853."
0:17:17 > 0:17:21"On Wednesday last, Evan Evans, alias Walters,
0:17:21 > 0:17:25"was brought up and charged with having, on the 10th May,
0:17:25 > 0:17:29"married one Martha Jenkins at St Ishamel's Church,
0:17:29 > 0:17:33"Elinor his former wife being then alive."
0:17:33 > 0:17:35Oh, my goodness!
0:17:35 > 0:17:36"Rev TB Gwyn said,
0:17:36 > 0:17:40"I am vicar of the parish of St Ishmael's in this county.
0:17:40 > 0:17:45"On Tuesday 2nd September, the prisoner's first wife called upon me
0:17:45 > 0:17:49"and told me that she had heard that he had married another woman.
0:17:49 > 0:17:54"I recollected marrying him according to the rules of the established church
0:17:54 > 0:17:58"to one Martha Jenkins of St Ishamel's parish on the 10th May 1852.
0:17:58 > 0:18:01"The depositions having been taken, the prisoner
0:18:01 > 0:18:05"was fully committed for trial for Bigamy at the next Assizes."
0:18:06 > 0:18:08- (Oh, my God!)- Your thoughts?
0:18:09 > 0:18:12That is a little scandalous, isn't it?!
0:18:14 > 0:18:19- Wow! So he married two women and went to prison.- Mm-hmm.
0:18:19 > 0:18:22- Do you want to know more? - Yeah! Of course.
0:18:22 > 0:18:27My mother was joking with me this morning about there being a criminal in the family and there is!
0:18:27 > 0:18:31He was remanded in custody until March where,
0:18:31 > 0:18:34if you look down the list, you will see Evan Evans,
0:18:34 > 0:18:39alias Evan Walters, charged with bigamy.
0:18:39 > 0:18:44So, it was how long between first marriage and the second marriage?
0:18:44 > 0:18:46Five years.
0:18:46 > 0:18:50And was he with the both of them, do we know? No.
0:18:50 > 0:18:53So he married one, then, for whatever reason, married the other,
0:18:53 > 0:18:56without dealing with the circumstances of the first wife.
0:18:56 > 0:18:58Mm-hmm.
0:18:58 > 0:19:02Six years before he married Elinor,
0:19:02 > 0:19:06we find him in Llanddewi Aberarth,
0:19:06 > 0:19:09the next village to Llanbadarn Trefeglwys,
0:19:09 > 0:19:11and he's with another family.
0:19:11 > 0:19:13He's the head of the household,
0:19:13 > 0:19:17he has a wife listed as Rachael
0:19:17 > 0:19:20and a son listed as David.
0:19:20 > 0:19:23Now, I failed to find a marriage for these two,
0:19:23 > 0:19:25so we can't call him a double bigamist,
0:19:25 > 0:19:28but he certainly had a third family.
0:19:33 > 0:19:37- So, basically, he had three different families on the go?- Mm-hmm.
0:19:37 > 0:19:41And do you think that either of them knew about each other? No.
0:19:41 > 0:19:47- So poor Martha went through all of that as well.- Indeed. Mm-hmm.
0:19:47 > 0:19:50God bless her. She had all that stuff,
0:19:52 > 0:19:55and then she found out her husband was...
0:19:55 > 0:19:59- She was a really strong woman, this one.- Indeed she was.
0:19:59 > 0:20:00(Wow!)
0:20:00 > 0:20:04- So he came out of prison and then he got killed?- Mm-hmm.
0:20:04 > 0:20:07- More or less a month and a half later.- (Wow!)
0:20:11 > 0:20:14- That has blown my mind!- Right.
0:20:15 > 0:20:18I wish my dad was here to talk to about this.
0:20:21 > 0:20:26Katherine has taken her father's side of the family tree as far as she can,
0:20:26 > 0:20:30so now she's off in search of her mother's branch of the family.
0:20:30 > 0:20:33Katherine is visiting the nearby coast,
0:20:33 > 0:20:36and the seaside resort town of Porthcawl.
0:20:36 > 0:20:39This is where her great-grandparents
0:20:39 > 0:20:42on her mother's side of the tree came to live.
0:20:42 > 0:20:47David and Elin Parry Evans were residents of Porthcawl in the 1920s.
0:20:50 > 0:20:52To try and understand what might have drawn them
0:20:52 > 0:20:55to this seaside town that time,
0:20:55 > 0:20:59Katherine meets with historian Peter Stead on Porthcawl's seafront.
0:21:01 > 0:21:05- Wonderful Porthcawl!- I know! I haven't been here for a long time.
0:21:05 > 0:21:08It's wonderful. I'm absolutely fascinated by this place.
0:21:08 > 0:21:12By the end the of the 19th century, start of the 20th century,
0:21:12 > 0:21:14Neath is beginning to lose some of its prosperity.
0:21:14 > 0:21:18You know, the metal industries are in decline and, of course,
0:21:18 > 0:21:21this place is developing, so I can imagine anyone who's interested
0:21:21 > 0:21:25in business and advancement in Neath might have thought,
0:21:25 > 0:21:28"Well, if Porthcawl are going to have these hotels,
0:21:28 > 0:21:31"visitors there, this could really be something."
0:21:31 > 0:21:36So this is probably what drew your great-grandfather here.
0:21:36 > 0:21:39Katherine's great-grandfather David Parry Evans was
0:21:39 > 0:21:43a respectable dentist and a leading member of the town council.
0:21:43 > 0:21:48Both he and his wife Elin appeared to have had great hopes of
0:21:48 > 0:21:53seeing Porthcawl grow as a genteel and respectable middle-class resort.
0:21:53 > 0:21:58Everyone thought Porthcawl was going to develop as a fashionable resort -
0:21:58 > 0:22:01posh hotels, the Esplanade, the Seabank and so on.
0:22:01 > 0:22:05But then things changed of course - the First World War.
0:22:05 > 0:22:08Then, after the First World War, two things, really.
0:22:08 > 0:22:11First of all, the miners' fortnight came.
0:22:11 > 0:22:13All the miners working here in the valleys -
0:22:13 > 0:22:16no work the last week of July, first week of August.
0:22:16 > 0:22:21With the holidaymakers came the attractions
0:22:21 > 0:22:24and the building of a vast fun fair on the beach -
0:22:24 > 0:22:27a huge draw for miners and their families,
0:22:27 > 0:22:31and the American troops stationed here in World War II.
0:22:32 > 0:22:36This was called Coney Beach because of the Coney Beach in America.
0:22:36 > 0:22:40- Oh, right!- It was named for the Americans who brought it here.
0:22:40 > 0:22:42So, from the First World War on,
0:22:42 > 0:22:44the thing which dictated the nature of Porthcawl
0:22:44 > 0:22:47were the South Wales valleys and the miners.
0:22:47 > 0:22:51When you worked in the pits, when you lived in the valleys,
0:22:51 > 0:22:52- the sea was heaven.- Mm, of course.
0:22:52 > 0:22:55They used to arrive here and they'd say,
0:22:55 > 0:22:58"The sea, the sea, the sea!" This was their great release,
0:22:58 > 0:23:02and so the developers of Porthcawl realised that Porthcawl wasn't
0:23:02 > 0:23:05going to be like Brighton, Eastbourne or even Llandudno,
0:23:05 > 0:23:09with posh hotels catering to the middle classes.
0:23:09 > 0:23:12The nature of Porthcawl was dictated by the miners.
0:23:15 > 0:23:20As a singer, Katherine has performed many times in Porthcawl.
0:23:20 > 0:23:22It's a town she's very familiar with,
0:23:22 > 0:23:27but she knows nothing of her great-grandparents' contribution
0:23:27 > 0:23:29to the musical heritage of the town,
0:23:29 > 0:23:33or that her great-grandmother Elin was also a singer.
0:23:33 > 0:23:36She and her husband David played an important role
0:23:36 > 0:23:40in the building of Porthcawl's Grand Pavilion -
0:23:40 > 0:23:43the concert hall that still stands today.
0:23:46 > 0:23:50It's here that Katherine meets up with historian Keith Morgan,
0:23:50 > 0:23:54who's been busy unearthing this hidden family connection.
0:23:54 > 0:23:57It's a magnificent building, as you can see.
0:23:57 > 0:24:01It was built as a centrepiece for the town.
0:24:01 > 0:24:04In fact, it is what we call our jewel in the crown.
0:24:04 > 0:24:07An interesting factor in the construction of this building
0:24:07 > 0:24:10is that your great-grandfather, DM Parry Evans,
0:24:10 > 0:24:12- who I believe is on your mother's side...- Yes.
0:24:12 > 0:24:16..was one of the supporters in getting this building constructed.
0:24:16 > 0:24:19Oh! I never knew that and I've sung here.
0:24:21 > 0:24:24Sadly, Katherine's great-grandmother Elin
0:24:24 > 0:24:26would never sing at the pavilion.
0:24:26 > 0:24:30She died before the building was completed.
0:24:32 > 0:24:36But her husband, David Parry Evans, was there at the opening ceremony.
0:24:38 > 0:24:42Today, Katherine is about to visit the pavilion for herself.
0:24:42 > 0:24:46Inside, a plaque commemorates her great-grandfather
0:24:46 > 0:24:48David Parry Evans' role in its building,
0:24:48 > 0:24:52and here there is another surprise waiting for a Katherine.
0:24:52 > 0:24:55She's about to receive a special coming home welcome,
0:24:55 > 0:24:57from the Kenfig & District Male Voice Choir.
0:24:57 > 0:25:01# Gogoniant byth am drefn
0:25:01 > 0:25:04# Y cymod a'r glanhad
0:25:04 > 0:25:08# Derbyniaf Iesu fel yr wyf
0:25:08 > 0:25:13# A chanaf am y gwaed
0:25:13 > 0:25:17# Arglwydd dyma fi
0:25:17 > 0:25:21# Ar dy alwad di
0:25:21 > 0:25:25# Golch fi'n burlan yn y gwaed
0:25:25 > 0:25:29# A gaed ar Galfari
0:25:29 > 0:25:33# Amen
0:25:33 > 0:25:38# Amen
0:25:38 > 0:25:44# Amen. #
0:25:47 > 0:25:51Oh, thank you! You sound amazing by the way.
0:25:51 > 0:25:54- Hi, nice to meet you.- Hello. - Welcome to the Pavilion.- Hi, boys.
0:25:54 > 0:25:57This is the Kenfig Hill Male Voice Choir.
0:25:57 > 0:26:00Ah, thank you. You sound gorgeous. I got a little tear in my eye then.
0:26:00 > 0:26:03I haven't been back to Wales for a bit so, lump in the throat!
0:26:03 > 0:26:05Would you mind if we sang Bread Of Heaven
0:26:05 > 0:26:08- and would you be willing to join us?- Please, please!
0:26:08 > 0:26:10Er, I'll try and sing a little bit with you. Go ahead.
0:26:10 > 0:26:12Excellent. Thank you.
0:26:12 > 0:26:14She may not have had a chance to rehearse,
0:26:14 > 0:26:17but Katherine can't resist joining the choir.
0:26:24 > 0:26:29# When I tread the verge of Jordan
0:26:29 > 0:26:34# Bid my anxious fears subside
0:26:34 > 0:26:39# Death of death and hell's destruction
0:26:39 > 0:26:44# Land me safe on Canaan's side
0:26:44 > 0:26:50# Bread of heaven Bread of heaven
0:26:50 > 0:26:51# Feed me... #
0:26:51 > 0:26:54Bread Of Heaven's just one of those songs that I've sung in
0:26:54 > 0:26:58so many different scenarios, whether it be, you know,
0:26:58 > 0:27:01Millennium Stadium or Sydney Opera House,
0:27:01 > 0:27:06or a family party, or whatever it might be, in the pub,
0:27:06 > 0:27:08and it will always mean home to me.
0:27:08 > 0:27:12# Open now the crystal fountain
0:27:12 > 0:27:17# Whence the healing stream doth flow... #
0:27:17 > 0:27:20It's so nice to hear a male voice choir,
0:27:20 > 0:27:23especially cos I don't get back home very often.
0:27:23 > 0:27:26So, whenever I hear that kind of music now, it does give me
0:27:26 > 0:27:29a lump in the throat and I was a bit taken aback to hear them,
0:27:29 > 0:27:33but they were wonderful so that was a really nice surprise.
0:27:33 > 0:27:38# Be thou still my strength and shield, strength and shield
0:27:38 > 0:27:46# I will ever give to thee. #
0:27:46 > 0:27:51It's been brilliant. Thank you for doing this. I've had the best time.
0:27:51 > 0:27:54Aw, thank you very much.
0:27:54 > 0:27:57- CHOIR:- Wahey!- Oh, it's my lucky day!
0:27:57 > 0:27:58LAUGHTER
0:27:58 > 0:28:01- I won't wash now for ever! - Thank you!
0:28:09 > 0:28:11Thank you, boys, thank you.
0:28:11 > 0:28:14Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd