Ifan Huw Dafydd 3 Lle

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-"Fishing was his life

-"If it rained, never mind,

-the sun would soon shine

-"His clothes were always damp,

-he had to wait a long, long time

-"But by now, he was out of his mind

-as the fire dried clothes so slowly"

-My grandfather wrote that.

-We're here.

-Ty Poeth forge.

-It's changed

-since my grandparents lived here.

-They were my mother's parents.

-I called them Mam and Dat.

-I called my father's parents

-Mam-gu and Tad-cu.

-They lived in Pontyberem.

-Since we were so close -

-Llangeler is four miles from here...

-..I'd see Mam and Dat Ty Poeth...

-..far more often

-than Mam-gu in Pontyberem.

-For that reason, they had

-a greater influence on my life.

-They were kind-natured.

-Mam was blind

-during her final few years.

-One thing I remember...

-..is the tremendous love

-they had for each other.

-They always treated each other well.

-He'd go out to the barn and carve

-walking sticks or love spoons...

-..and then he'd come in and read the

-Journal and the Tivy-Side to her.

-"Let's have a cup of tea, Mari.

-What do you say?"

-"OK, Tom."

-Life was so laid-back here.

-Ty Poeth was a special place

-for Huw and me.

-We have fond memories of having fun

-at Ty Poeth.

-I remember going fishing with Huw.

-I wasn't allowed to move,

-or throw anything into the water.

-I had to stand still until

-the hook got stuck the other side.

-Huw thought he'd hooked a fish.

-When he realized it was stuck,

-he sent me over to get the hook.

-I waded over,

-the water was above my wellies...

-..and then I fell in the river.

-"You're wet now -

-go and get the hook!"

-I didn't go.

-A lot of things I remember

-aren't around any longer.

-By the fireplace in the kitchen...

-..they had a louvre chimney

-and an open fireplace.

-A chain hung down

-onto which you'd hang the kettle.

-The kettle hung above the fire

-all day.

-When it had boiled,

-it was moved up the chain.

-It would hang there,

-whistling quietly.

-The other sound I remember

-is the sound of chairs...

-..being dragged along

-the slate floor.

-That's another sound

-that's disappeared.

-This has probably happened

-to everyone.

-When you were a child...

-..parents would threaten you...

-..with some being...

-..from another world.

-If you didn't behave,

-the bogeyman would get you.

-He lived under the stairs.

-In my case, it was a neighbour's

-bull - the Talgoed bull.

-Talgoed was a nearby farm.

-I'd seen the bull -

-it was a beast...

-..but in the imagination

-of a four-year-old boy...

-..during the night, the bull

-would walk down to the forest...

-..just beyond the meadow.

-That's where the bull lived

-at night.

-My parents found out about this.

-If I misbehaved in Ty Poeth...

-..the warning was always the same.

-"Watch out,

-the Talgoed bull will get you."

-That really did scare me.

-It backfired on them, though.

-This is how I found out...

-..that there were was

-another language besides Welsh.

-For about a fortnight...

-..my parents had been speaking

-a language I didn't understand.

-"Da-da-da-da hot-house."

-"Hot house"?

-What were they talking about?

-As it happened,

-my sister, my parents and I...

-..set off in the Morris Minor...

-..and we came up to Ty Poeth.

-About six o'clock,

-it was time to go home.

-I soon realized

-that they were leaving me here...

-..my sister and me.

-Me, my sister and the Talgoed bull.

-There was no way I was staying here,

-no way at all.

-My parents got into the Morris

-Minor and set off for Llandysul.

-I was running full-pelt after them,

-tears streaming down my cheeks...

-..fearing that the Talgoed bull

-was going to get me.

-They stopped the car

-and took me back to Llangeler.

-They couldn't go to the eisteddfod

-the following day.

-That's why they'd spoken English

-for the past fortnight.

-They were going to leave us with

-Mam and Dat, our grandparents...

-..and go to the eisteddfod.

-No, they had to stay at home

-as I was scared of the Talgoed bull.

-The "hot-house" was Ty Poeth.

-That's how I was introduced

-to the English language.

-My grandfather, Dat, died in 1970.

-My grandmother, Mam, had died

-about two or three years earlier.

-This is the second time

-I've been here since.

-I've been here fishing many times,

-and parked outside...

-..but it's only the second time

-I've been in the house.

-They've done some remarkable work.

-I never imagined that the forge

-could look like this.

-It does take me back.

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-There was never a conscious decision

-to become an actor.

-It was just a way of staying

-in college for another year.

-I'd never been to the theatre

-properly before that.

-I'd only been to a cinema

-three times.

-After a year in the

-Welsh College of Music and Drama...

-..Wilbert Lloyd Roberts offered me

-a placement with Cwmni Theatr Cymru.

-It was a dream come true for me.

-It was my ambition.

-It was quite an achievement for me.

-I'd never been further north

-than Aberystwyth.

-I drove to Bangor to look for digs.

-I remember my first production -

-goodness me!

-Sweat!

-I struggled to talk before going on

-- I was so nervous.

-By the end of the tour...

-..I'd performed the show

-over a hundred times.

-We had a lot of fun.

-I felt more at ease on stage,

-thank goodness.

-After that, I was offered...

-..a role that became

-such an important part of my life...

-..for around 12 years.

-Dic Deryn in Pobol Y Cwm.

-It was a lot of fun.

-I learned such a lot on Pobol Y Cwm.

-I enjoyed it.

-So you're still here, are you?

-But I didn't go into acting

-to become another Ken Barlow.

-I couldn't have spent my life

-portraying just one character.

-I had to move on,

-to see what was beyond that.

-When I'm offered a job in one

-of Theatr Clwyd's productions...

-..when I arrive here,

-it feels as if I've come home.

-I've performed

-around 20 productions here by now.

-With my hand on my heart...

-..I can say I've learnt

-something new in every production.

-I believe that actors in Wales

-owe a large debt to Terry.

-It's been his policy...

-..to employ a large number

-of actors...

-..who live in Wales

-or who have Welsh roots.

-He's given Welsh actors

-so many opportunities.

-I never thought I'd act

-in a Shakespeare play.

-Terry's productions

-are targeted to a Welsh audience.

-I'd never auditioned Huw.

-I simply begged him to come.

-The reality of Huw is warmth.

-He's anarchic, he's mischievous.

-He's um...

-..highly political...

-..very, very aware

-of what goes on in the country.

-And you want

-that off and on-stage persona...

-..to be the same.

-For me, he's about as complete

-an actor as one could be.

-There's always been a duality

-about acting for me.

-Is it a respectable job

-for a man of my age?

-Taking to the stage at 7.30pm,

-or 6.00am for TV work...

-..pretending to be someone else.

-Then I think I could be doing

-a far worse job.

-Is it a worthwhile job?

-Yes, I think. Yes.

-Especially

-if you're doing something...

-..you feel says something

-about, I don't know...

-..society and people.

-Don't you ever talk about Gwen.

-Ever.

-Are you listening?

-I believe that Martha, Jac A Sianco

-was worthwhile and The Drawer Boy.

-Festen was certainly worthwhile.

-My father couldn't understand why

-I'd turned down the opportunity...

-..to do research in the

-Sociology Department in Cardiff.

-For him, acting was such

-an unstable profession.

-At the time,

-I know that he felt let down by me.

-By the end, he'd come around

-to the fact that I was an actor.

-I think Mam was proud when

-I was with her in Carmarthen market.

-Someone would come up and say,

-"Ooh, you're in Pobol Y Cwm."

-Mam would pretend to be shy but I

-could see a wry smile on her face.

-I think they both accepted it

-eventually.

-When I visit Huw, it's such a shame

-that Mam and Dad can't see him now.

-They'd be so proud

-of everything he's achieved.

-He's done so well for himself.

-They'd be very proud of him.

-I couldn't leave Theatr Clwyd

-without mentioning...

-..the one drama

-that impacted most on my life.

-It's connected to

-Martha, Jac A Sianco in many ways.

-If Martha, Jac A Sianco was

-a celebration of the ordinary man...

-..and what an ordinary man would do

-in certain circumstances...

-..Memory was exactly the same.

-I played a Palestinian in Memory.

-His house was to be blown up

-by the Jewish army.

-He befriends the Jewish soldier...

-..who comes to blow up his house.

-In essence,

-they were two ordinary people.

-They were coping as well as

-they could in the circumstances.

-The best example of this

-emerged during rehearsals.

-Terry said,

-"Think of the Christmas truce."

-During World War I,

-ordinary men on both sides...

-..they didn't want to fight.

-They were there as a result of

-the politics of "the men in charge".

-I think those plays

-have the greatest appeal to me.

-They celebrate the lives

-of the ordinary man...

-..in the hope

-that his day will come.

-If Wales was in a position to build

-an embassy anywhere in the world...

-..they should build it here.

-There's more Welsh blood

-in this earth...

-..than there is

-anywhere else in the world.

-Ever since I was a young boy...

-..every time we travelled

-to Llangrannog, we'd pass Aberbanc.

-There's a memorial in Aberbanc

-with a white marble soldier on it.

-You see white soldiers on memorials

-in almost every Welsh village.

-The memorial in Aberbanc

-always sent a chill down my spine.

-There was something very chilling

-about this white soldier.

-That's how I became aware

-of Hedd Wyn.

-I asked Mam about the white soldier.

-She told me the story

-behind the Aberbanc memorial...

-..and the story of Hedd Wyn.

-I remember both of us

-crying our eyes out.

-I decided to find out more

-about the names on the memorial.

-That's why I visited the Sommes

-for the first time.

-I followed the trail

-from the memorial in Aberbanc.

-I ended up here, in Mametz Wood.

-After the first visit,

-I did a lot of research...

-..into what actually happened here.

-I knew about the massacre

-that took place here...

-..but I had no idea why it happened.

-I think the Welsh showed

-immense courage...

-..greater courage than many other

-battles asked of their soldiers.

-They have never received the

-merit or the praise they deserved...

-..for what they did here.

-They certainly didn't receive the

-praise they deserved at the time.

-Who were these men who made up

-the 38th Welsh Division?

-They were men who responded to Lloyd

-George's call to form a Welsh army.

-They were often referred to,

-with contempt at times...

-..as "Lloyd George's Welsh Army".

-The 38th Welsh

-were trained hurriedly.

-They marched up and down Rhyl beach

-for a fortnight...

-..doing drills with guns that

-had been condemned for being unsafe.

-Who was waiting in the woods

-for these poor dabs from Wales?

-The Lehr Regiment from Prussia,

-no less.

-The cream of the German army.

-The Welsh didn't stand a chance.

-The 38th reached this point.

-They crawled on their bellies

-searching for any kind of shelter.

-In the mud.

-They dug into the mud to create

-any kind of shelter from the bullets

-That's where they stayed

-until late into the afternoon.

-They were ordered to retreat.

-That afternoon, or that morning

-actually, 400 men died.

-That's when they were given

-a reputation...

-..for not being decisive...

-..in their attack on Mametz Wood.

-After the failure of 7th July...

-..the 38th Welsh were ordered

-to attack again...

-..on the dawn of 10th July.

-The previous night...

-..the soldiers

-who couldn't speak Welsh...

-..had sung quietly to themselves

-Abide With Me.

-The Welsh speakers responded...

-..by singing Iesu Cyfaill F'Enaid Cu

-to the hymn tune Aberystwyth.

-It turned into

-a sort of "cymanfa ganu"...

-..but instead of being

-a cymanfa of joy...

-..it was a cymanfa of hope -

-the hope of seeing another day.

-It was a cymanfa of prayer.

-One story has always stayed with me.

-A story of two brothers

-from Ferndale, Rhondda...

-..Tom and Henry Hardwidge.

-It happened somewhere around here.

-Tom was shot by a sniper.

-Henry saw it happening.

-He ran to his brother,

-to care for him.

-As he gave him water,

-he was shot by the same sniper.

-Both died in each other's arms.

-It's said, that for years

-after the battle at Mametz Wood...

-..that no birdsong was heard here.

-The dragon was built here in 1987.

-Why the delay between the end

-of the war and 1987?

-Some have said

-it was down to the stigma.

-That the Welsh had been

-cowards here in 1916.

-I don't know.

-I know that every other memorial...

-..throughout the world

-to the soldiers of the Sommes...

-..had been built long before 1987.

-The designer was David Peterson

-from St Clears.

-The barbed wire symbolizes

-war and oppression.

-The dragon tears up the barbed wire.

-It symbolizes

-the end of war and oppression...

-..and the contribution

-of Wales and the 38th Division...

-..to the end of war and oppression.

-# For you, dearest friend #

-I often think

-about the men of the 38th.

-How they had to live

-with the stigma of being indecisive.

-They were accused of being cowards.

-They walked into a barrage

-of bullets and shells.

-They fought like bears for two days

-with their hands.

-That doesn't seem like my definition

-of a coward.

-That's a hero.

-S4C Subtitles by Adnod Cyf.

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