0:00:00 > 0:00:00- 888
0:00:00 > 0:00:02- 888- - 888
0:00:07 > 0:00:09- 888
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0:00:21 > 0:00:23- 888
0:00:44 > 0:00:47- "Fishing was his life
0:00:47 > 0:00:50- "If it rained, never mind, - the sun would soon shine
0:00:51 > 0:00:56- "His clothes were always damp, - he had to wait a long, long time
0:00:56 > 0:01:01- "But by now, he was out of his mind - as the fire dried clothes so slowly"
0:01:04 > 0:01:06- My grandfather wrote that.
0:01:18 > 0:01:20- We're here.
0:01:20 > 0:01:22- Ty Poeth forge.
0:01:24 > 0:01:27- It's changed - since my grandparents lived here.
0:01:28 > 0:01:30- They were my mother's parents.
0:01:30 > 0:01:32- I called them Mam and Dat.
0:01:33 > 0:01:37- I called my father's parents - Mam-gu and Tad-cu.
0:01:37 > 0:01:40- They lived in Pontyberem.
0:01:40 > 0:01:44- Since we were so close - - Llangeler is four miles from here...
0:01:44 > 0:01:47- ..I'd see Mam and Dat Ty Poeth...
0:01:48 > 0:01:52- ..far more often - than Mam-gu in Pontyberem.
0:01:52 > 0:01:56- For that reason, they had - a greater influence on my life.
0:01:56 > 0:01:58- They were kind-natured.
0:01:59 > 0:02:03- Mam was blind - during her final few years.
0:02:04 > 0:02:06- One thing I remember...
0:02:06 > 0:02:10- ..is the tremendous love - they had for each other.
0:02:10 > 0:02:13- They always treated each other well.
0:02:14 > 0:02:19- He'd go out to the barn and carve - walking sticks or love spoons...
0:02:20 > 0:02:25- ..and then he'd come in and read the - Journal and the Tivy-Side to her.
0:02:26 > 0:02:29- "Let's have a cup of tea, Mari. - What do you say?"
0:02:29 > 0:02:30- "OK, Tom."
0:02:32 > 0:02:34- Life was so laid-back here.
0:02:43 > 0:02:47- Ty Poeth was a special place - for Huw and me.
0:02:47 > 0:02:51- We have fond memories of having fun - at Ty Poeth.
0:02:51 > 0:02:54- I remember going fishing with Huw.
0:02:54 > 0:02:58- I wasn't allowed to move, - or throw anything into the water.
0:02:58 > 0:03:03- I had to stand still until - the hook got stuck the other side.
0:03:03 > 0:03:05- Huw thought he'd hooked a fish.
0:03:06 > 0:03:11- When he realized it was stuck, - he sent me over to get the hook.
0:03:11 > 0:03:14- I waded over, - the water was above my wellies...
0:03:14 > 0:03:16- ..and then I fell in the river.
0:03:17 > 0:03:19- "You're wet now - - go and get the hook!"
0:03:19 > 0:03:21- I didn't go.
0:03:28 > 0:03:33- A lot of things I remember - aren't around any longer.
0:03:33 > 0:03:37- By the fireplace in the kitchen...
0:03:38 > 0:03:41- ..they had a louvre chimney - and an open fireplace.
0:03:42 > 0:03:47- A chain hung down - onto which you'd hang the kettle.
0:03:47 > 0:03:50- The kettle hung above the fire - all day.
0:03:50 > 0:03:53- When it had boiled, - it was moved up the chain.
0:03:54 > 0:03:57- It would hang there, - whistling quietly.
0:04:00 > 0:04:04- The other sound I remember - is the sound of chairs...
0:04:04 > 0:04:07- ..being dragged along - the slate floor.
0:04:09 > 0:04:11- That's another sound - that's disappeared.
0:04:13 > 0:04:16- This has probably happened - to everyone.
0:04:16 > 0:04:18- When you were a child...
0:04:19 > 0:04:22- ..parents would threaten you...
0:04:22 > 0:04:26- ..with some being...
0:04:27 > 0:04:28- ..from another world.
0:04:29 > 0:04:32- If you didn't behave, - the bogeyman would get you.
0:04:32 > 0:04:34- He lived under the stairs.
0:04:35 > 0:04:38- In my case, it was a neighbour's - bull - the Talgoed bull.
0:04:38 > 0:04:40- Talgoed was a nearby farm.
0:04:40 > 0:04:43- I'd seen the bull - - it was a beast...
0:04:43 > 0:04:47- ..but in the imagination - of a four-year-old boy...
0:04:47 > 0:04:52- ..during the night, the bull - would walk down to the forest...
0:04:52 > 0:04:54- ..just beyond the meadow.
0:04:54 > 0:04:58- That's where the bull lived - at night.
0:04:58 > 0:05:02- My parents found out about this.
0:05:02 > 0:05:05- If I misbehaved in Ty Poeth...
0:05:05 > 0:05:08- ..the warning was always the same.
0:05:08 > 0:05:11- "Watch out, - the Talgoed bull will get you."
0:05:12 > 0:05:16- That really did scare me.
0:05:17 > 0:05:20- It backfired on them, though.
0:05:22 > 0:05:24- This is how I found out...
0:05:24 > 0:05:28- ..that there were was - another language besides Welsh.
0:05:28 > 0:05:30- For about a fortnight...
0:05:31 > 0:05:36- ..my parents had been speaking - a language I didn't understand.
0:05:37 > 0:05:39- "Da-da-da-da hot-house."
0:05:39 > 0:05:42- "Hot house"?
0:05:42 > 0:05:44- What were they talking about?
0:05:44 > 0:05:49- As it happened, - my sister, my parents and I...
0:05:49 > 0:05:51- ..set off in the Morris Minor...
0:05:51 > 0:05:54- ..and we came up to Ty Poeth.
0:05:55 > 0:05:58- About six o'clock, - it was time to go home.
0:05:58 > 0:06:02- I soon realized - that they were leaving me here...
0:06:02 > 0:06:04- ..my sister and me.
0:06:04 > 0:06:08- Me, my sister and the Talgoed bull.
0:06:10 > 0:06:13- There was no way I was staying here, - no way at all.
0:06:14 > 0:06:18- My parents got into the Morris - Minor and set off for Llandysul.
0:06:18 > 0:06:24- I was running full-pelt after them, - tears streaming down my cheeks...
0:06:24 > 0:06:28- ..fearing that the Talgoed bull - was going to get me.
0:06:28 > 0:06:32- They stopped the car - and took me back to Llangeler.
0:06:32 > 0:06:36- They couldn't go to the eisteddfod - the following day.
0:06:36 > 0:06:40- That's why they'd spoken English - for the past fortnight.
0:06:40 > 0:06:44- They were going to leave us with - Mam and Dat, our grandparents...
0:06:45 > 0:06:46- ..and go to the eisteddfod.
0:06:47 > 0:06:51- No, they had to stay at home - as I was scared of the Talgoed bull.
0:06:52 > 0:06:55- The "hot-house" was Ty Poeth.
0:06:56 > 0:06:59- That's how I was introduced - to the English language.
0:07:04 > 0:07:07- My grandfather, Dat, died in 1970.
0:07:09 > 0:07:13- My grandmother, Mam, had died - about two or three years earlier.
0:07:16 > 0:07:19- This is the second time - I've been here since.
0:07:19 > 0:07:22- I've been here fishing many times, - and parked outside...
0:07:22 > 0:07:25- ..but it's only the second time - I've been in the house.
0:07:26 > 0:07:28- They've done some remarkable work.
0:07:29 > 0:07:33- I never imagined that the forge - could look like this.
0:07:33 > 0:07:35- It does take me back.
0:07:54 > 0:07:55- .
0:07:57 > 0:07:57- 888
0:07:57 > 0:07:59- 888- - 888
0:08:09 > 0:08:13- There was never a conscious decision - to become an actor.
0:08:15 > 0:08:19- It was just a way of staying - in college for another year.
0:08:19 > 0:08:24- I'd never been to the theatre - properly before that.
0:08:24 > 0:08:27- I'd only been to a cinema - three times.
0:08:41 > 0:08:44- After a year in the - Welsh College of Music and Drama...
0:08:44 > 0:08:50- ..Wilbert Lloyd Roberts offered me - a placement with Cwmni Theatr Cymru.
0:08:51 > 0:08:53- It was a dream come true for me.
0:08:53 > 0:08:55- It was my ambition.
0:08:57 > 0:09:00- It was quite an achievement for me.
0:09:00 > 0:09:03- I'd never been further north - than Aberystwyth.
0:09:03 > 0:09:05- I drove to Bangor to look for digs.
0:09:06 > 0:09:09- I remember my first production - - goodness me!
0:09:09 > 0:09:10- Sweat!
0:09:11 > 0:09:14- I struggled to talk before going on - - I was so nervous.
0:09:14 > 0:09:16- By the end of the tour...
0:09:16 > 0:09:19- ..I'd performed the show - over a hundred times.
0:09:20 > 0:09:21- We had a lot of fun.
0:09:21 > 0:09:25- I felt more at ease on stage, - thank goodness.
0:09:29 > 0:09:31- After that, I was offered...
0:09:33 > 0:09:37- ..a role that became - such an important part of my life...
0:09:38 > 0:09:39- ..for around 12 years.
0:09:40 > 0:09:42- Dic Deryn in Pobol Y Cwm.
0:09:43 > 0:09:45- It was a lot of fun.
0:09:46 > 0:09:49- I learned such a lot on Pobol Y Cwm.
0:09:49 > 0:09:51- I enjoyed it.
0:09:52 > 0:09:54- So you're still here, are you?
0:09:55 > 0:09:59- But I didn't go into acting - to become another Ken Barlow.
0:09:59 > 0:10:04- I couldn't have spent my life - portraying just one character.
0:10:05 > 0:10:09- I had to move on, - to see what was beyond that.
0:10:18 > 0:10:23- When I'm offered a job in one - of Theatr Clwyd's productions...
0:10:24 > 0:10:29- ..when I arrive here, - it feels as if I've come home.
0:10:30 > 0:10:34- I've performed - around 20 productions here by now.
0:10:34 > 0:10:36- With my hand on my heart...
0:10:36 > 0:10:40- ..I can say I've learnt - something new in every production.
0:10:43 > 0:10:48- I believe that actors in Wales - owe a large debt to Terry.
0:10:49 > 0:10:51- It's been his policy...
0:10:51 > 0:10:54- ..to employ a large number - of actors...
0:10:55 > 0:10:58- ..who live in Wales - or who have Welsh roots.
0:10:59 > 0:11:04- He's given Welsh actors - so many opportunities.
0:11:04 > 0:11:09- I never thought I'd act - in a Shakespeare play.
0:11:09 > 0:11:14- Terry's productions - are targeted to a Welsh audience.
0:11:14 > 0:11:16- I'd never auditioned Huw.
0:11:16 > 0:11:19- I simply begged him to come.
0:11:20 > 0:11:22- The reality of Huw is warmth.
0:11:23 > 0:11:27- He's anarchic, he's mischievous.
0:11:27 > 0:11:29- He's um...
0:11:29 > 0:11:31- ..highly political...
0:11:31 > 0:11:35- ..very, very aware - of what goes on in the country.
0:11:35 > 0:11:40- And you want - that off and on-stage persona...
0:11:41 > 0:11:42- ..to be the same.
0:11:43 > 0:11:48- For me, he's about as complete - an actor as one could be.
0:11:53 > 0:11:56- There's always been a duality - about acting for me.
0:11:56 > 0:11:59- Is it a respectable job - for a man of my age?
0:12:00 > 0:12:03- Taking to the stage at 7.30pm, - or 6.00am for TV work...
0:12:03 > 0:12:06- ..pretending to be someone else.
0:12:06 > 0:12:10- Then I think I could be doing - a far worse job.
0:12:12 > 0:12:14- Is it a worthwhile job?
0:12:17 > 0:12:20- Yes, I think. Yes.
0:12:20 > 0:12:23- Especially - if you're doing something...
0:12:23 > 0:12:28- ..you feel says something - about, I don't know...
0:12:28 > 0:12:31- ..society and people.
0:12:31 > 0:12:34- Don't you ever talk about Gwen.
0:12:35 > 0:12:37- Ever.
0:12:37 > 0:12:39- Are you listening?
0:12:39 > 0:12:44- I believe that Martha, Jac A Sianco - was worthwhile and The Drawer Boy.
0:12:44 > 0:12:46- Festen was certainly worthwhile.
0:12:49 > 0:12:54- My father couldn't understand why - I'd turned down the opportunity...
0:12:54 > 0:12:58- ..to do research in the - Sociology Department in Cardiff.
0:12:59 > 0:13:02- For him, acting was such - an unstable profession.
0:13:02 > 0:13:06- At the time, - I know that he felt let down by me.
0:13:06 > 0:13:10- By the end, he'd come around - to the fact that I was an actor.
0:13:11 > 0:13:15- I think Mam was proud when - I was with her in Carmarthen market.
0:13:15 > 0:13:19- Someone would come up and say, - "Ooh, you're in Pobol Y Cwm."
0:13:20 > 0:13:24- Mam would pretend to be shy but I - could see a wry smile on her face.
0:13:24 > 0:13:27- I think they both accepted it - eventually.
0:13:29 > 0:13:34- When I visit Huw, it's such a shame - that Mam and Dad can't see him now.
0:13:34 > 0:13:40- They'd be so proud - of everything he's achieved.
0:13:40 > 0:13:42- He's done so well for himself.
0:13:43 > 0:13:45- They'd be very proud of him.
0:13:47 > 0:13:52- I couldn't leave Theatr Clwyd - without mentioning...
0:13:53 > 0:13:57- ..the one drama - that impacted most on my life.
0:13:57 > 0:14:01- It's connected to - Martha, Jac A Sianco in many ways.
0:14:02 > 0:14:06- If Martha, Jac A Sianco was - a celebration of the ordinary man...
0:14:06 > 0:14:11- ..and what an ordinary man would do - in certain circumstances...
0:14:11 > 0:14:13- ..Memory was exactly the same.
0:14:13 > 0:14:16- I played a Palestinian in Memory.
0:14:16 > 0:14:20- His house was to be blown up - by the Jewish army.
0:14:21 > 0:14:24- He befriends the Jewish soldier...
0:14:24 > 0:14:26- ..who comes to blow up his house.
0:14:27 > 0:14:32- In essence, - they were two ordinary people.
0:14:32 > 0:14:36- They were coping as well as - they could in the circumstances.
0:14:37 > 0:14:40- The best example of this - emerged during rehearsals.
0:14:41 > 0:14:44- Terry said, - "Think of the Christmas truce."
0:14:46 > 0:14:50- During World War I, - ordinary men on both sides...
0:14:50 > 0:14:53- ..they didn't want to fight.
0:14:53 > 0:14:58- They were there as a result of - the politics of "the men in charge".
0:14:59 > 0:15:03- I think those plays - have the greatest appeal to me.
0:15:03 > 0:15:07- They celebrate the lives - of the ordinary man...
0:15:08 > 0:15:11- ..in the hope - that his day will come.
0:15:28 > 0:15:33- If Wales was in a position to build - an embassy anywhere in the world...
0:15:34 > 0:15:36- ..they should build it here.
0:15:36 > 0:15:39- There's more Welsh blood - in this earth...
0:15:40 > 0:15:43- ..than there is - anywhere else in the world.
0:15:51 > 0:15:53- Ever since I was a young boy...
0:15:53 > 0:15:58- ..every time we travelled - to Llangrannog, we'd pass Aberbanc.
0:15:58 > 0:16:03- There's a memorial in Aberbanc - with a white marble soldier on it.
0:16:03 > 0:16:09- You see white soldiers on memorials - in almost every Welsh village.
0:16:09 > 0:16:14- The memorial in Aberbanc - always sent a chill down my spine.
0:16:15 > 0:16:20- There was something very chilling - about this white soldier.
0:16:21 > 0:16:25- That's how I became aware - of Hedd Wyn.
0:16:25 > 0:16:28- I asked Mam about the white soldier.
0:16:29 > 0:16:34- She told me the story - behind the Aberbanc memorial...
0:16:34 > 0:16:36- ..and the story of Hedd Wyn.
0:16:36 > 0:16:40- I remember both of us - crying our eyes out.
0:16:40 > 0:16:44- I decided to find out more - about the names on the memorial.
0:16:45 > 0:16:48- That's why I visited the Sommes - for the first time.
0:16:49 > 0:16:54- I followed the trail - from the memorial in Aberbanc.
0:16:54 > 0:16:57- I ended up here, in Mametz Wood.
0:17:07 > 0:17:10- After the first visit, - I did a lot of research...
0:17:11 > 0:17:13- ..into what actually happened here.
0:17:13 > 0:17:17- I knew about the massacre - that took place here...
0:17:17 > 0:17:21- ..but I had no idea why it happened.
0:17:22 > 0:17:26- I think the Welsh showed - immense courage...
0:17:27 > 0:17:33- ..greater courage than many other - battles asked of their soldiers.
0:17:34 > 0:17:39- They have never received the - merit or the praise they deserved...
0:17:39 > 0:17:41- ..for what they did here.
0:17:41 > 0:17:46- They certainly didn't receive the - praise they deserved at the time.
0:17:59 > 0:18:03- Who were these men who made up - the 38th Welsh Division?
0:18:04 > 0:18:10- They were men who responded to Lloyd - George's call to form a Welsh army.
0:18:10 > 0:18:15- They were often referred to, - with contempt at times...
0:18:15 > 0:18:18- ..as "Lloyd George's Welsh Army".
0:18:22 > 0:18:26- The 38th Welsh - were trained hurriedly.
0:18:26 > 0:18:31- They marched up and down Rhyl beach - for a fortnight...
0:18:31 > 0:18:36- ..doing drills with guns that - had been condemned for being unsafe.
0:18:39 > 0:18:43- Who was waiting in the woods - for these poor dabs from Wales?
0:18:45 > 0:18:48- The Lehr Regiment from Prussia, - no less.
0:18:48 > 0:18:51- The cream of the German army.
0:18:53 > 0:18:55- The Welsh didn't stand a chance.
0:18:57 > 0:19:02- The 38th reached this point.
0:19:02 > 0:19:07- They crawled on their bellies - searching for any kind of shelter.
0:19:07 > 0:19:08- In the mud.
0:19:09 > 0:19:14- They dug into the mud to create - any kind of shelter from the bullets
0:19:14 > 0:19:18- That's where they stayed - until late into the afternoon.
0:19:18 > 0:19:21- They were ordered to retreat.
0:19:23 > 0:19:27- That afternoon, or that morning - actually, 400 men died.
0:19:28 > 0:19:32- That's when they were given - a reputation...
0:19:32 > 0:19:35- ..for not being decisive...
0:19:37 > 0:19:40- ..in their attack on Mametz Wood.
0:19:51 > 0:19:53- After the failure of 7th July...
0:19:54 > 0:19:57- ..the 38th Welsh were ordered - to attack again...
0:19:57 > 0:19:59- ..on the dawn of 10th July.
0:19:59 > 0:20:01- The previous night...
0:20:01 > 0:20:06- ..the soldiers - who couldn't speak Welsh...
0:20:06 > 0:20:10- ..had sung quietly to themselves - Abide With Me.
0:20:11 > 0:20:14- The Welsh speakers responded...
0:20:14 > 0:20:19- ..by singing Iesu Cyfaill F'Enaid Cu - to the hymn tune Aberystwyth.
0:20:19 > 0:20:22- It turned into - a sort of "cymanfa ganu"...
0:20:23 > 0:20:26- ..but instead of being - a cymanfa of joy...
0:20:27 > 0:20:31- ..it was a cymanfa of hope - - the hope of seeing another day.
0:20:31 > 0:20:33- It was a cymanfa of prayer.
0:20:46 > 0:20:50- One story has always stayed with me.
0:20:50 > 0:20:54- A story of two brothers - from Ferndale, Rhondda...
0:20:54 > 0:20:56- ..Tom and Henry Hardwidge.
0:20:57 > 0:20:59- It happened somewhere around here.
0:21:00 > 0:21:02- Tom was shot by a sniper.
0:21:02 > 0:21:04- Henry saw it happening.
0:21:04 > 0:21:09- He ran to his brother, - to care for him.
0:21:09 > 0:21:14- As he gave him water, - he was shot by the same sniper.
0:21:14 > 0:21:17- Both died in each other's arms.
0:21:17 > 0:21:23- It's said, that for years - after the battle at Mametz Wood...
0:21:23 > 0:21:26- ..that no birdsong was heard here.
0:21:48 > 0:21:50- The dragon was built here in 1987.
0:21:51 > 0:21:55- Why the delay between the end - of the war and 1987?
0:21:57 > 0:21:59- Some have said - it was down to the stigma.
0:22:00 > 0:22:03- That the Welsh had been - cowards here in 1916.
0:22:05 > 0:22:06- I don't know.
0:22:06 > 0:22:09- I know that every other memorial...
0:22:09 > 0:22:13- ..throughout the world - to the soldiers of the Sommes...
0:22:13 > 0:22:15- ..had been built long before 1987.
0:22:16 > 0:22:19- The designer was David Peterson - from St Clears.
0:22:19 > 0:22:23- The barbed wire symbolizes - war and oppression.
0:22:23 > 0:22:26- The dragon tears up the barbed wire.
0:22:26 > 0:22:30- It symbolizes - the end of war and oppression...
0:22:31 > 0:22:34- ..and the contribution - of Wales and the 38th Division...
0:22:34 > 0:22:37- ..to the end of war and oppression.
0:22:48 > 0:22:52- # For you, dearest friend #
0:22:54 > 0:22:57- I often think - about the men of the 38th.
0:22:58 > 0:23:02- How they had to live - with the stigma of being indecisive.
0:23:02 > 0:23:05- They were accused of being cowards.
0:23:05 > 0:23:09- They walked into a barrage - of bullets and shells.
0:23:10 > 0:23:14- They fought like bears for two days - with their hands.
0:23:15 > 0:23:18- That doesn't seem like my definition - of a coward.
0:23:19 > 0:23:21- That's a hero.
0:23:59 > 0:24:01- S4C Subtitles by Adnod Cyf.
0:24:01 > 0:24:02- .