0:00:03 > 0:00:07Jutting majestically into the Irish Sea,
0:00:07 > 0:00:12on the tip of the north-west Wales coast, Pen Llyn, the Llyn Peninsula.
0:00:14 > 0:00:18Attracting thousands of visitors every year, families have
0:00:18 > 0:00:22been coming for generations to enjoy its unspoilt landscape.
0:00:22 > 0:00:26- How long do you think we've been coming here now?- 40 years?
0:00:26 > 0:00:2840 years, something like that, yeah.
0:00:28 > 0:00:32But there's also another Llyn not all the visitors get to know.
0:00:34 > 0:00:37A stronghold of Welsh culture and language...
0:00:37 > 0:00:41They ask you, "Do you speak it every day?" and I think,
0:00:41 > 0:00:43"This is our language, this is what we speak.
0:00:43 > 0:00:44"This is who we are," you know.
0:00:44 > 0:00:47..where old traditions are still part of life.
0:00:47 > 0:00:51Welsh is the Welsh bit of Wales there ever has been.
0:00:51 > 0:00:52In this series,
0:00:52 > 0:00:56we follow the lives of the people who call Pen Llyn home
0:00:56 > 0:00:58and reveal what it means to try
0:00:58 > 0:01:02and guard the Welsh way of life through the changing seasons.
0:01:02 > 0:01:04Can they try and make a living
0:01:04 > 0:01:09AND safeguard the culture in one of Wales' truly Welsh heartlands?
0:01:19 > 0:01:21It's spring on Llyn.
0:01:21 > 0:01:24The first trickle of tourists are already here to
0:01:24 > 0:01:28enjoy its stunning scenery.
0:01:28 > 0:01:30You've got the mountains, the sea, the countryside.
0:01:30 > 0:01:35With the sun rising in the east and then it comes down in the west,
0:01:35 > 0:01:38it's just sunny all the time.
0:01:38 > 0:01:42But for some of the locals it's not all about the view.
0:01:42 > 0:01:44It's time to start rolling their sleeves up.
0:01:44 > 0:01:46For many on Llyn,
0:01:46 > 0:01:49spring is a sure sign that tourist season is about to begin.
0:01:52 > 0:01:55And on Nefyn Beach on Llyn's north coast,
0:01:55 > 0:01:58the pre-season prep is just getting started.
0:02:01 > 0:02:02Every year,
0:02:02 > 0:02:07Chris Dobson gets the Nefyn beach huts ready for the summer,
0:02:07 > 0:02:10but this year, his son, Tom, is lending a hand.
0:02:13 > 0:02:17I am the boss. I tell him what to do.
0:02:22 > 0:02:26He's useless sometimes.
0:02:26 > 0:02:29He forgets tools at home.
0:02:33 > 0:02:34Screwdriver.
0:02:34 > 0:02:37I lost my Phillips screwdriver.
0:02:37 > 0:02:41They've got 42 beach huts to put up before the beginning of May.
0:02:44 > 0:02:48You've got, like, blocks underneath them for Easter.
0:02:48 > 0:02:52Then some want them for the first bank holiday in May.
0:02:52 > 0:02:53Then you've got another block who want them
0:02:53 > 0:02:57for the second bank holiday at the end of May.
0:02:57 > 0:03:02Then everybody needs some for the last week in July
0:03:02 > 0:03:05and the first two weeks in August.
0:03:07 > 0:03:09That's it, then.
0:03:09 > 0:03:12They all disappear end of September and I start taking them down...
0:03:14 > 0:03:17..and store them again till next year.
0:03:20 > 0:03:22Yeah?
0:03:22 > 0:03:24HE LAUGHS
0:03:24 > 0:03:27And it's the magic of Llyn's scenery that draws people here
0:03:27 > 0:03:29time after time..
0:03:29 > 0:03:33'Look around you. Look where we are today.'
0:03:33 > 0:03:37Nice, sunny weather on the beach. Fantastic.
0:03:37 > 0:03:39Lovely views.
0:03:39 > 0:03:42That's that one done for another five months.
0:03:44 > 0:03:47Three down, only 39 to go.
0:03:48 > 0:03:51I think it would be really useful to have one of those beach huts.
0:03:51 > 0:03:53What do you reckon your choice of colour would be? Go on...
0:03:53 > 0:03:57- Oh, I'd have to... The blue one. - ..to be by the seaside.
0:03:57 > 0:04:02- Coastal blue.- Yeah. Pastel blue and white, defo.
0:04:07 > 0:04:10Opening its doors for the tourist season,
0:04:10 > 0:04:14in the little harbour of Porthdinllaen two miles up the coast
0:04:14 > 0:04:15is the Ty Coch pub,
0:04:15 > 0:04:20recently voted by its visitors the third best beach bar in the world.
0:04:22 > 0:04:25You heading down now, then?
0:04:25 > 0:04:27Landlord Stuart Webley is getting to grips with
0:04:27 > 0:04:30one of the toughest challenges of the job.
0:04:30 > 0:04:33HE LAUGHS
0:04:33 > 0:04:34Oh, dear.
0:04:34 > 0:04:36We get a fair bit of sand in here.
0:04:36 > 0:04:39It's probably one of the most used tools of the trade
0:04:39 > 0:04:41to be honest with you..
0:04:41 > 0:04:44Right, here we go.
0:04:49 > 0:04:53One of the best views in the world bar none.
0:04:53 > 0:04:58Nothing compares to this in the slightest.
0:04:58 > 0:05:00Home is where the heart is, right?
0:05:00 > 0:05:02Stuart arrived in Llyn from Gloucestershire
0:05:02 > 0:05:07as a six-week-old baby and has lived in Ty Coch ever since.
0:05:07 > 0:05:10I am from Pen Llyn through and through,
0:05:10 > 0:05:14without a shadow of a doubt and it is different to being Welsh.
0:05:14 > 0:05:19It's the last corner of Wales, isn't it, really? The last bastion.
0:05:19 > 0:05:22- Morning.- Morning. How you doing? - Very well. You all right, guys?
0:05:22 > 0:05:24- Lovely day.- Beautiful.
0:05:24 > 0:05:28Living and working at Ty Coch, Stuart has got to know Llyn
0:05:28 > 0:05:31all year round and so the importance of the tourist trade.
0:05:31 > 0:05:33There's definitely two sides to the coin.
0:05:33 > 0:05:36Half the year there's no-one here and it is quiet, it is wet
0:05:36 > 0:05:37and it is windy.
0:05:37 > 0:05:42The other half of the year everybody's here and there's...
0:05:42 > 0:05:46It is a balance but it's a strange balance. It's feast and then famine.
0:05:48 > 0:05:51All it takes is a couple of wet summers
0:05:51 > 0:05:54and it could all be a different story, you know.
0:05:54 > 0:05:57You have to start cutting your staff back and that,
0:05:57 > 0:06:03and that's the biggest harm to the place, I think, not letting
0:06:03 > 0:06:07the kids work just because you haven't got the work for them.
0:06:07 > 0:06:09So...
0:06:09 > 0:06:12Peninsula changes with a bad summer.
0:06:12 > 0:06:14It doesn't take much to get everyone down.
0:06:14 > 0:06:20It takes a lot to get everyone back up and happy again, so...yeah.
0:06:31 > 0:06:34It gets me by.
0:06:34 > 0:06:35Keeps me...
0:06:35 > 0:06:39Depends how much I've had to drink usually(!)
0:06:39 > 0:06:41And it's not the best Welsh in the world.
0:06:41 > 0:06:44I find it hard speaking Welsh to people who speak really good Welsh
0:06:44 > 0:06:47cos they just look at me like I've fallen off a spaceship or something.
0:06:49 > 0:06:50It's integral to the place.
0:06:50 > 0:06:53It wouldn't be the Llyn Peninsula without the language.
0:06:57 > 0:07:01Llyn is still a Welsh language heartland...
0:07:01 > 0:07:05- So did you ever learn any Welsh at all?- Yes.- Oh, you did?
0:07:05 > 0:07:07Go on, say something for me.
0:07:07 > 0:07:09- Um, bore da.- Oh, really?
0:07:09 > 0:07:11I don't know what it means. I hope it's nothing rude.
0:07:11 > 0:07:14It could be a Welsh swear word.
0:07:14 > 0:07:18..and many of its visitors come here to find that corner of Welsh Wales.
0:07:22 > 0:07:27With 72% of the population speaking the language, Welsh still
0:07:27 > 0:07:31manages to be the language of the home for most of its locals.
0:07:36 > 0:07:40It amazes me that people who come here on their holidays,
0:07:40 > 0:07:43you know, they ask you, "Do you speak it every day?"
0:07:43 > 0:07:45and I think, "This is our language.
0:07:45 > 0:07:48"This is what we speak. This is who we are, you know."
0:07:50 > 0:07:51So, I don't know,
0:07:51 > 0:07:54there must be something lacking in the education they get.
0:07:54 > 0:07:58I think they're not being taught about Britain, are they?
0:08:01 > 0:08:05But it's not tourism that brings in the income for Margiad Williams.
0:08:05 > 0:08:09She, her husband, Robert, and their sons, Tomos and Dafydd,
0:08:09 > 0:08:12run Berthyr Farm in Llangwnadl,
0:08:12 > 0:08:16a small hamlet only a mile from the sea on the north coast of Llyn.
0:08:18 > 0:08:22Both sons wanted to carry on the family trade, but with only
0:08:22 > 0:08:25one farm, the challenge is how to expand for the future.
0:08:27 > 0:08:30Trouble is, when you've got two lads that want to farm,
0:08:30 > 0:08:34you've got to find some land for them to farm, really.
0:08:34 > 0:08:39That's quite a bit expensive in this part of the world.
0:08:39 > 0:08:44In Llyn now, it's £10,000 an acre, I think.
0:08:46 > 0:08:54Without land, you can't farm so we bought some farmland recently.
0:08:55 > 0:09:01We're still paying for that anyway. You know, it's quite an item, yes.
0:09:01 > 0:09:04Oh, yes, that seems to be doing OK.
0:09:04 > 0:09:07Soon the summer visitors will arrive
0:09:07 > 0:09:10and for Margiad it brings its own dilemma.
0:09:11 > 0:09:15I'm a bit hesitant because I know really in my heart that the
0:09:15 > 0:09:19more visitors come here, the more people like it
0:09:19 > 0:09:23and then they stay, they buy houses and then our children then
0:09:23 > 0:09:28don't have a chance to buy a house at all because they get too expensive.
0:09:34 > 0:09:37So I'd prefer to see other kind of work here really.
0:09:37 > 0:09:41Real work instead of just seasonal work.
0:09:46 > 0:09:50I'm sure there's a better answer really, long-term, than just turning
0:09:50 > 0:09:55the whole of the Llyn Peninsula into a playing ground for visitors.
0:10:07 > 0:10:10There are only two roads into Llyn.
0:10:10 > 0:10:13The north road hugs the rugged cliffs.
0:10:13 > 0:10:17Inland, across eight miles of rolling countryside,
0:10:17 > 0:10:20the only other gateway to the Peninsula follows the long
0:10:20 > 0:10:23sandy beaches and calm seas of the south coast.
0:10:25 > 0:10:27This is the Welsh Riviera.
0:10:27 > 0:10:31In a few weeks' time, Llyn will welcome its summer visitors.
0:10:34 > 0:10:37And yet, what was crazy was the price of that caravan,
0:10:37 > 0:10:39- the holiday home.- Yeah.
0:10:39 > 0:10:41How can people afford to live here?
0:10:41 > 0:10:44- It's getting like the Lake District, isn't it?- Yeah, it's crazy.
0:10:46 > 0:10:49And among its visitors are some who can afford to buy their own
0:10:49 > 0:10:52slice of summer.
0:10:52 > 0:10:57Llyn has recently seen its highest house sale ever at £3 million.
0:11:01 > 0:11:05Visitors in many guises have long been coming here.
0:11:05 > 0:11:08Thousands of pilgrims across the ages have flocked to this
0:11:08 > 0:11:12remote corner of Wales to make what was often a treacherous
0:11:12 > 0:11:15crossing to the holy island of Bardsey.
0:11:15 > 0:11:19And where there were once pilgrims, there's now tourists
0:11:19 > 0:11:22and money to be made.
0:11:24 > 0:11:26The gatekeeper to the mystical island in these parts
0:11:26 > 0:11:29is Colin Evans.
0:11:29 > 0:11:31Colin ferries day-trippers
0:11:31 > 0:11:34and holiday-makers for most of the spring and summer
0:11:34 > 0:11:39from the little harbour of Porth Meudwy on Llyn's south-westerly tip.
0:11:39 > 0:11:42But today he's got a problem.
0:11:43 > 0:11:45Doesn't work.
0:11:45 > 0:11:49One of Colin's two brand-new engines seems to have blown a fuse.
0:11:57 > 0:12:00He designed and built the boat himself
0:12:00 > 0:12:02so he's confident he can fix it...
0:12:04 > 0:12:06- ..but not right now. - All aboard!
0:12:06 > 0:12:10Well, we'll go on one engine. We've got plenty of back up.
0:12:10 > 0:12:12We'll go on one engine for this trip and we'll see
0:12:12 > 0:12:15if we can fix it over on the island.
0:12:15 > 0:12:19Never before, especially with engines with only 50 hours on them.
0:12:19 > 0:12:23Ah, well, there we go.
0:12:23 > 0:12:26It's a nice day. We'll carry on.
0:12:28 > 0:12:32Eh? No, you can't pray. There's no praying involved in engineering.
0:12:34 > 0:12:36Colin tries to run as many trips as possible,
0:12:36 > 0:12:41at least three a day, with passengers paying £30 a head.
0:12:41 > 0:12:44Tourists may have replaced the pilgrims of old,
0:12:44 > 0:12:48but it's not necessarily a lucrative job.
0:12:48 > 0:12:51It doesn't pay well because...
0:12:51 > 0:12:54People think it does, but, of course, anybody can come on a boat
0:12:54 > 0:12:57and do the sum and work out how many people are on the boat
0:12:57 > 0:12:59and how much each of them are paying.
0:13:01 > 0:13:05But nobody can do the sum, except me, how much all this equipment
0:13:05 > 0:13:08costs to maintain and run and buy to start with, the finance.
0:13:11 > 0:13:16So if your viewers think I'm making money they're wrong, I'm afraid.
0:13:20 > 0:13:24Hope so. Usually can.
0:13:27 > 0:13:30I'll be disappointed if I can't, let me tell you.
0:13:31 > 0:13:34We do have to try and fix everything ourselves.
0:13:34 > 0:13:36That's the thing about islands.
0:13:36 > 0:13:39If you live on an island, you've got to be a mechanic as well
0:13:39 > 0:13:43as a farmer and a fisherman and everything else you've got to be.
0:13:43 > 0:13:46And a builder and a vet.
0:13:46 > 0:13:48And a doctor.
0:13:48 > 0:13:51There's not many people made like that any more.
0:13:53 > 0:13:55It's a job to get people to come and live on places like this.
0:13:58 > 0:14:01No, not all the year round.
0:14:01 > 0:14:04In fact, less and less these days.
0:14:04 > 0:14:06Too many small children to live there.
0:14:06 > 0:14:10I hope one day we can spend a lot more time there.
0:14:10 > 0:14:12My parents still spend a lot of the year there.
0:14:28 > 0:14:33Colin's ancestors have lived on Bardsey for over 300 years.
0:14:33 > 0:14:36This is the only island nature reserve in Wales with
0:14:36 > 0:14:39a permanent population.
0:14:39 > 0:14:43Up to 14 people live here all year round, sustained by fishing
0:14:43 > 0:14:45and farming the land.
0:14:49 > 0:14:52Tourism is not just about income for Colin,
0:14:52 > 0:14:56but about helping visitors appreciate and understand.
0:14:58 > 0:15:02The island here is where I was... sort of my inheritance.
0:15:02 > 0:15:06I've sort of got a duty to maintain it. I feel that duty very keenly.
0:15:07 > 0:15:10And, by bringing people here myself, at least
0:15:10 > 0:15:15I get to introduce them to the island and make them sympathetic towards it.
0:15:15 > 0:15:18If somebody brought them here who wasn't sympathetic to the island
0:15:18 > 0:15:20and just thought it was a money-making opportunity,
0:15:20 > 0:15:23the people we've got on the island might be different
0:15:23 > 0:15:26and they might affect the lives of people who live here.
0:15:38 > 0:15:42It's not my island, by any means, but I've sort of got this duty to it all
0:15:42 > 0:15:46the same, to try and maintain it and to try and make sure that
0:15:46 > 0:15:49people don't abandon it or don't mistreat it in any way.
0:15:49 > 0:15:53Unfortunately, I carry that burden with me.
0:15:53 > 0:15:56I wish I could get rid of it sometimes and go somewhere else.
0:15:56 > 0:16:01Unfortunately, or fortunately, it's something that I can't do.
0:16:01 > 0:16:03I'm stuck here, I think.
0:16:07 > 0:16:10An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty,
0:16:10 > 0:16:14Pen Llyn is surrounded by 70 miles of unspoilt coastline.
0:16:15 > 0:16:19This attracts tens of thousands of visitors a year,
0:16:19 > 0:16:21hoping to find that slice of peace.
0:16:23 > 0:16:26You come here, though, and you've got all the worries
0:16:26 > 0:16:29of your world on your shoulders and you just step out here...
0:16:29 > 0:16:32- You just forget them, don't you, for two weeks?- Two weeks of just...
0:16:32 > 0:16:36- Or a week. I know. - Better than an antidepressant.
0:16:39 > 0:16:45But, while some relax, for the other side of Llyn, daily life goes on.
0:16:45 > 0:16:48For Huw Roberts, making a living here means driving
0:16:48 > 0:16:51an eight-hour round trip most days of the week.
0:16:51 > 0:16:55It's normally about a 12-hour day, shift.
0:16:55 > 0:16:57With a full load, four hours up to Preston
0:16:57 > 0:17:03and then three-and-three-quarters back, so it's not too bad.
0:17:05 > 0:17:08Today he's taking 500 lambs to be slaughtered.
0:17:10 > 0:17:14Along with tourism, agriculture is what brings in the money on Llyn.
0:17:14 > 0:17:17The peninsula sells most of its spring lambs to one of the big
0:17:17 > 0:17:22supermarkets and this trip is one that helps keep the farmers afloat.
0:17:23 > 0:17:28You're talking about 500 lambs. £100 each. Well, you're making some.
0:17:28 > 0:17:32Between these two lorries here, we've got about near enough to 1,000 lambs
0:17:32 > 0:17:35can be fitted in both of them
0:17:35 > 0:17:40and that's going five days a week from Sunday to Thursday.
0:17:40 > 0:17:42Maybe sometimes on a Friday.
0:17:47 > 0:17:51It's a 300-mile round trip to the slaughter house in Preston
0:17:51 > 0:17:55and so Huw is keen to get going as soon as possible,
0:17:55 > 0:17:57but some of the lambs have other ideas.
0:18:06 > 0:18:09Oh, one's escaped from the tail of it.
0:18:16 > 0:18:19Both lambs are reluctantly back in the pen.
0:18:20 > 0:18:22It's nearly time to hit the road
0:18:22 > 0:18:25but there's one more farm to head to on the way.
0:18:25 > 0:18:29Bethynau, 303 there.
0:18:29 > 0:18:32So...load up and away
0:18:32 > 0:18:35fast as you can.
0:18:44 > 0:18:48Staying on Llyn is what counts for many of its young generation
0:18:48 > 0:18:50but that can be a challenge.
0:18:50 > 0:18:56Last year, 15% of 20 to 34-year-olds left Gwynedd,
0:18:56 > 0:19:00but lifelong friends Dafydd and Daryl are trying to make it work.
0:19:02 > 0:19:05These two pals grew up together on Pen Llyn
0:19:05 > 0:19:08and they've started in business together.
0:19:08 > 0:19:11Today, in Porthdinllaen, they're hoping to get
0:19:11 > 0:19:14a head start on the other more experienced fishing crews.
0:19:18 > 0:19:20Early worm that catches the bird.
0:19:20 > 0:19:22No, early bird that catches the worm, isn't it?
0:19:22 > 0:19:25HE LAUGHS
0:19:28 > 0:19:31Right next door, Pete, his son, Stuart,
0:19:31 > 0:19:35and their mate, Maldwyn, are also getting ready.
0:19:35 > 0:19:39Whelks today...hopefully.
0:19:41 > 0:19:45Porthdinllaen has the largest fishing community in Pen Llyn.
0:19:45 > 0:19:49Five of the seven crews have been fishing for the last 30 years,
0:19:49 > 0:19:53but novice fishermen Dafydd and Daryl are on their first year
0:19:53 > 0:19:54in the business.
0:19:54 > 0:19:57Five miles out in open sea,
0:19:57 > 0:20:00they're trawling for whatever they can catch.
0:20:00 > 0:20:05Good catch means a good day. Bad catch means a bad day.
0:20:05 > 0:20:08We never know until we're home. Never know.
0:20:08 > 0:20:13It was OK yesterday, so hopefully it will be OK today.
0:20:13 > 0:20:16Pot luck.
0:20:17 > 0:20:21Over on the Melissa, Pete and his crew are potting for whelks
0:20:21 > 0:20:24and they too are hauling in their catch.
0:20:24 > 0:20:28There's no market for whelks in Wales, but in South Korea
0:20:28 > 0:20:32they're considered a delicacy and so will fetch a good price.
0:20:37 > 0:20:39Once the whelks are emptied,
0:20:39 > 0:20:42it's time to get the bait ready for the next haul.
0:20:42 > 0:20:46We need two boxes of dogfish
0:20:46 > 0:20:50and about six boxes of spidercrab a day.
0:20:50 > 0:20:54We gets this from Dafydd and Daryl, the new trawler, Steel Venture.
0:21:00 > 0:21:06But on the Steel Venture, the first haul isn't as promising as it looks.
0:21:06 > 0:21:08Most of this will be going back.
0:21:08 > 0:21:10It's undersize...
0:21:10 > 0:21:13Most will be bait for Pete's boat.
0:21:13 > 0:21:17Unlike the whelks, Dafydd's catch isn't going overseas.
0:21:17 > 0:21:18To make his money,
0:21:18 > 0:21:21he'll need to sell what he can to local restaurants.
0:21:21 > 0:21:24We sell them to private people so we get a higher price for them
0:21:24 > 0:21:25at the end of the day.
0:21:27 > 0:21:31The markets are so far away. There's no markets in Wales any more.
0:21:31 > 0:21:33Milford was the last one, but that's miles away,
0:21:33 > 0:21:39so we can't be out fishing and transporting the fish every day.
0:21:39 > 0:21:41It's not possible.
0:21:46 > 0:21:51But the old hands and new kids on the block look out for each other.
0:21:51 > 0:21:54They look after me. Everybody looks out for each other.
0:21:55 > 0:21:57Help me out.
0:21:57 > 0:22:01Tell me, "Don't do this, don't do that, do this, do that," you know?
0:22:04 > 0:22:07Back go the nets.
0:22:09 > 0:22:13Whatever the haul, for Dafydd, living on Llyn more than makes up.
0:22:15 > 0:22:18Wouldn't do anything else. Can't imagine being anywhere else.
0:22:18 > 0:22:21I'd hate to be anywhere else right now.
0:22:22 > 0:22:26Making a living on Llyn, whatever the odds, carries on.
0:22:28 > 0:22:30Huw Roberts is on his last pick up of the day.
0:22:32 > 0:22:36At Berthyr Farm, Margiad and Robert Williams have got
0:22:36 > 0:22:40over 300 lambs waiting to go to the slaughterhouse in Preston.
0:22:42 > 0:22:47We've got 317, but I think he can't take that much so it's 307.
0:22:49 > 0:22:52Prices for lambs vary from day to day.
0:22:52 > 0:22:55The more they get on the lorry, the better the pay.
0:22:56 > 0:23:00And selling the lambs at Berthyr brings in the money,
0:23:00 > 0:23:03so there's no time to be sentimental.
0:23:03 > 0:23:06I'm a bit soft-hearted myself.
0:23:06 > 0:23:10Yes, it does get to you, but I think these lads and their father,
0:23:10 > 0:23:12they're hardened.
0:23:12 > 0:23:16At the end of the day, we've got bills to pay. That's life.
0:23:16 > 0:23:18- What have you got on?- 27.
0:23:18 > 0:23:20- 27?- Yeah.
0:23:20 > 0:23:24Margiad has always been very hands-on on the farm,
0:23:24 > 0:23:27but she's now making way for the next generation.
0:23:27 > 0:23:31It's a young industry here in Llyn. Yes, that is true.
0:23:31 > 0:23:36Tomos, the eldest, is 26 now, just had his 26th birthday,
0:23:36 > 0:23:41and Dafydd is 22,
0:23:41 > 0:23:47and they're coming into farming, so, yes, it looks quite good.
0:23:48 > 0:23:51We've got another young generation coming along.
0:23:53 > 0:23:56I've been doing that as well but they've taken over now
0:23:56 > 0:23:59so I'm back of the queue.
0:23:59 > 0:24:02I'll be on the lorry next(!)
0:24:02 > 0:24:05SHE LAUGHS
0:24:13 > 0:24:15For those who live on Llyn,
0:24:15 > 0:24:18its way of life is something they hold close...
0:24:18 > 0:24:22Oh, goodness, a jar of jam that I've forgotten about.
0:24:22 > 0:24:26..and perhaps Llyn's qualities mean more when you're about to leave.
0:24:28 > 0:24:32I think anybody who moves house has to face the fact that they've
0:24:32 > 0:24:35acquired a lot of stuff they don't really need.
0:24:36 > 0:24:40And out it goes.
0:24:40 > 0:24:43High above the hills of the village of Sarn Meyllteyrn,
0:24:43 > 0:24:47four miles inland, Sister Theresa Margiad is packing.
0:24:48 > 0:24:53After 19 years living as a solitary nun on Llyn, Sister Margaret
0:24:53 > 0:24:57is leaving to rejoin her convent in Derby.
0:24:57 > 0:24:58Along those years,
0:24:58 > 0:25:04Llyn's landscape has offered her the perfect location for meditation.
0:25:04 > 0:25:06Some of the locals talking to each other, it was reported to me
0:25:06 > 0:25:09one said, "What does she do all the time?"
0:25:09 > 0:25:12That's by a long stretch, when, in the eyes of other people,
0:25:12 > 0:25:15I would look to be doing nothing.
0:25:15 > 0:25:18That eccentric nun living at the top of the hill.
0:25:18 > 0:25:20SHE LAUGHS
0:25:25 > 0:25:29I wanted to be somewhere that was good for what
0:25:29 > 0:25:33I was searching for, which is a place where I could centre my attention
0:25:33 > 0:25:39on prayer and meditation and also continue my craft which
0:25:39 > 0:25:42I was trained in, which is painting.
0:25:42 > 0:25:46And which was... had space around it.
0:25:48 > 0:25:51To me, the peninsula, it's as if it's an island
0:25:51 > 0:25:56and I get a feeling of being very ancient and yet still alive somehow.
0:25:57 > 0:26:00It's inhabited by the creatures and by the people that are working.
0:26:00 > 0:26:03They're working people and they're continuing life all the time.
0:26:03 > 0:26:06It's a very rich place, I think, Llyn.
0:26:09 > 0:26:13The peninsula, it's very rooted in its past
0:26:13 > 0:26:16and that gives it strength in the present, I think.
0:26:16 > 0:26:19I need to find another box.
0:26:19 > 0:26:22I hope there will always be a continuity around it.
0:26:22 > 0:26:25Even if I'm moving away from here, I'll take quite a bit of it, I think,
0:26:25 > 0:26:30with me in my memories, in my heart and they'll be in my prayers too.
0:26:30 > 0:26:35This place, not too many younger people will have to leave it in order
0:26:35 > 0:26:40to search for a living and a way to live that's helpful to them,
0:26:40 > 0:26:42but it's not in their hands too often, is it?
0:26:44 > 0:26:47Breakable things go into good, strong containers like this.
0:26:52 > 0:26:56On Llyn, another spring day comes to a close.
0:26:56 > 0:26:58You don't get much.
0:26:58 > 0:27:02Just try and keep going over the summer.
0:27:07 > 0:27:10And on Nefyn Beach, before summer visitors arrive,
0:27:10 > 0:27:13there's just one more job to get done.
0:27:17 > 0:27:21All done. 42 of them.
0:27:21 > 0:27:24Till September now, then start taking them all down.
0:27:29 > 0:27:32SISTER MARGARET: I hope that it continues to be able to be
0:27:32 > 0:27:34a welcoming place, because I can see a lot of the income
0:27:34 > 0:27:37that comes into it is from holiday people.
0:27:37 > 0:27:39Visitors who value it so much.
0:27:39 > 0:27:42Year after year, the same people come and they love it.
0:27:42 > 0:27:45Blessings on Llyn.
0:27:49 > 0:27:53But, as a new season beckons, there's a challenge for the future.
0:27:53 > 0:27:57How do we sustainably manage tourism without spoiling the very
0:27:57 > 0:28:00thing that people want to see?
0:28:00 > 0:28:03That's some challenge, isn't it?
0:28:08 > 0:28:12Next time, the peninsula prepares to be transformed...
0:28:13 > 0:28:16..as summer on Llyn starts to pull in the crowds.
0:28:16 > 0:28:18Oh, Mags!
0:28:18 > 0:28:21For some, it's a new Welsh way of life...
0:28:21 > 0:28:24We didn't have anything like this where we used to live before.
0:28:24 > 0:28:28..but, for others, that future is balancing on a knife-edge.
0:28:30 > 0:28:33You know, there won't be a Welsh heartland in Llyn
0:28:33 > 0:28:37if it's going to continue to be like that.