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0:00:33 > 0:00:36- There's something amazing - about Aber.
0:00:37 > 0:00:40- The pace is quite relaxed.
0:00:43 > 0:00:46- What Aber has offered me...
0:00:47 > 0:00:51- ..has shaped who I am now as - a musician and as a presenter too.
0:00:51 > 0:00:55- Aberystwyth's spirit - never leaves you.
0:01:00 > 0:01:04- The reason why - I chose South Beach...
0:01:04 > 0:01:08- ..is because this is where - young Aberystwyth people would come.
0:01:08 > 0:01:13- You'd have parties here - that could go on all night.
0:01:13 > 0:01:15- You'd light a fire.
0:01:15 > 0:01:16- All sorts.
0:01:16 > 0:01:19- It's somewhere that felt safe.
0:01:20 > 0:01:21- It's quieter than the prom.
0:01:22 > 0:01:26- The prom is busier. You get - holidaymakers eating ice cream.
0:01:27 > 0:01:30- Over here, it's quieter.
0:01:30 > 0:01:35- I always felt comfortable here.
0:01:39 > 0:01:45- I grew up in Aber with Mam and Dad - and Nain, who lived with us too.
0:01:46 > 0:01:48- We moved from South Wales.
0:01:49 > 0:01:52- We lived in Llantwit Major - until I was three.
0:01:53 > 0:01:55- Mam comes from the Midlands.
0:01:55 > 0:01:58- Dad comes from Tonyrefail - near the Rhondda.
0:01:58 > 0:02:03- Mam came to Cardiff to study Law - when she was 18...
0:02:03 > 0:02:05- ..while Dad had been away a lot.
0:02:06 > 0:02:09- I see a lot of myself - in Dad's story.
0:02:09 > 0:02:13- He decided when he was 16 - that he wanted to see the world.
0:02:14 > 0:02:17- He managed to persuade Nain, - his mother...
0:02:17 > 0:02:23- ..to take him down to Cardiff Docks, - to the Merchant House...
0:02:23 > 0:02:25- ..to sign up to go out to sea.
0:02:25 > 0:02:29- She thought, - "Right, OK. Fair enough."
0:02:29 > 0:02:32- She wore her best clothes, - took him down and he signed up.
0:02:32 > 0:02:34- He was away for years.
0:02:34 > 0:02:35- He'd come and go.
0:02:36 > 0:02:38- Teaching was one thing he did.
0:02:38 > 0:02:40- He did all sorts of jobs.
0:02:40 > 0:02:45- It's something I've grown up with - - you don't have to be one thing.
0:02:45 > 0:02:50- It's good because I don't think - I could choose just one thing.
0:02:59 > 0:03:03- I remember my first few days - at Ysgol Gymraeg Aberystwyth.
0:03:03 > 0:03:06- I remember realizing - there was a difference...
0:03:07 > 0:03:09- ..between me and the other children.
0:03:10 > 0:03:12- "It's not going to be a problem...
0:03:12 > 0:03:16- "..but I have to learn - to speak the same language as them."
0:03:16 > 0:03:20- Within a few months, - it was no longer a problem.
0:03:20 > 0:03:24- I must have just - absorbed the Welsh language.
0:03:24 > 0:03:29- I remember going home and trying - to speak Welsh to Mam and Dad.
0:03:30 > 0:03:32- I remember them - just looking at me...
0:03:32 > 0:03:36- ..and thinking, - "OK, this is happening again!"
0:03:43 > 0:03:45- I was a really happy child.
0:03:46 > 0:03:48- I liked having a joke.
0:03:48 > 0:03:53- I could also be quite introverted - and serious.
0:03:54 > 0:03:57- I still have those sides to me.
0:03:57 > 0:04:01- I enjoy performing on one hand - but I'm also quite shy.
0:04:01 > 0:04:03- That paradox was always there.
0:04:12 > 0:04:14- This is the Arts Centre.
0:04:14 > 0:04:18- I spent - what feels like half my life here.
0:04:19 > 0:04:23- I did so much - in this incredible building.
0:04:28 > 0:04:31- I have early memories - of being on the Great Hall stage.
0:04:32 > 0:04:35- There's a lot of wood there.
0:04:35 > 0:04:39- I remember realizing there was an - echo when you walked on the stage...
0:04:39 > 0:04:41- ..which scared me.
0:04:42 > 0:04:44- I did a lot of choral singing.
0:04:45 > 0:04:46- I didn't sing by myself much.
0:04:47 > 0:04:52- I played instruments and I was happy - enough playing those by myself.
0:04:52 > 0:04:56- Singing by myself - felt a step too far at the time.
0:05:02 > 0:05:07- The story of how I started playing - the harp is quite unexpected.
0:05:07 > 0:05:10- I was in Ysgol Gymraeg one day.
0:05:10 > 0:05:12- I was seven years old.
0:05:12 > 0:05:16- Everyone was told to think about - an instrument they wanted to play.
0:05:17 > 0:05:19- They went down the register...
0:05:19 > 0:05:23- ..and asked which instrument - everyone wanted to play.
0:05:23 > 0:05:27- I thought of choosing the clarinet - as I thought it was cool.
0:05:27 > 0:05:31- By the time - they'd reached Williams...
0:05:31 > 0:05:37- ..I was told there wasn't any room - left in the clarinet classes.
0:05:37 > 0:05:42- "No-one's chosen the harp. - Would you like to play the harp?"
0:05:42 > 0:05:45- I remember thinking, "OK. Fine."
0:05:45 > 0:05:48- I didn't think about it - as a life decision.
0:05:48 > 0:05:50- Something that would be binding.
0:05:51 > 0:05:56- It wasn't quite my decision - - fate led me to play the harp.
0:06:01 > 0:06:03- I was a good pupil.
0:06:03 > 0:06:06- I didn't always enjoy practising.
0:06:06 > 0:06:11- I was a little all or nothing - with that concept.
0:06:11 > 0:06:15- I'd have spells of wanting to please - and wanting to learn...
0:06:15 > 0:06:18- ..and making sure - I passed the grades...
0:06:18 > 0:06:22- ..while at other times, I'd rebel - against having to practise.
0:06:22 > 0:06:26- I'd decide - I would find my own technique.
0:06:27 > 0:06:32- I was always somewhere between - being formal and rebelling.
0:06:32 > 0:06:37- I think - I'm still somewhere between the two.
0:07:00 > 0:07:03- I started thinking - of making my own music...
0:07:03 > 0:07:07- ..in the short period of time - between leaving the sixth form...
0:07:08 > 0:07:10- ..and preparing to go to Cambridge.
0:07:11 > 0:07:16- It felt like - I was between two worlds.
0:07:17 > 0:07:21- I was nervous about leaving Aber - but I was also very excited.
0:07:22 > 0:07:27- I knew there was a big world opening - up to me full of possibilities.
0:07:28 > 0:07:33- As a part of that, I felt I had - confidence I didn't have before...
0:07:33 > 0:07:35- ..to start to try and write.
0:07:42 > 0:07:47- Around the same time, - I started to see music differently.
0:07:47 > 0:07:50- Music had been something - that you were taught...
0:07:51 > 0:07:53- ..you were classically trained.
0:07:53 > 0:07:57- But I remember thinking there were - other things I could do on the harp.
0:07:58 > 0:08:01- At the time, - I loved listening to folk music...
0:08:01 > 0:08:04- ..by people like Bert Jansch - and John Renbourn.
0:08:04 > 0:08:08- People who played guitar - in the finger-picking style.
0:08:08 > 0:08:13- I couldn't play the guitar but I - thought I could try it on the harp.
0:08:14 > 0:08:17- I was trying to develop a style...
0:08:18 > 0:08:21- ..which moved me away - from the classic style.
0:08:23 > 0:08:27- I remember thinking I wanted to - sing stuff which made sense to me.
0:08:27 > 0:08:29- I wanted to write the lyrics.
0:08:30 > 0:08:33- I started thinking - about wanting to have a voice.
0:08:36 > 0:08:40- My first songs - were all about friends.
0:08:41 > 0:08:44- I was aware that I was - leaving something behind.
0:08:44 > 0:08:48- I was moving away - to go to university...
0:08:48 > 0:08:51- ..so I felt I wanted to document - the friends I had in Aber.
0:08:52 > 0:08:54- I wrote about Fflur, my best friend.
0:08:55 > 0:08:58- I felt - it was an important thing to do.
0:09:00 > 0:09:05- # When the days are long, Fflur #
0:09:05 > 0:09:09- I remember filming - for a programme called Nodyn here.
0:09:09 > 0:09:13- It was an experience! - It was a similar day to today.
0:09:13 > 0:09:16- It stays in the memory.
0:09:17 > 0:09:20- # When everything turns sour, - Fflur, don't worry
0:09:21 > 0:09:23- # It'll be fine, you'll see #
0:09:24 > 0:09:29- Coming back to Aber - is always so lovely.
0:09:30 > 0:09:35- I'm lucky I can come back regularly - because Mam and Dad still live here.
0:09:35 > 0:09:39- It's still home. - Aber is still home for me.
0:09:39 > 0:09:44- When I finished school or when - I was preparing to finish school...
0:09:44 > 0:09:46- ..I was ready to leave.
0:09:47 > 0:09:49- I was ready to see something new.
0:09:58 > 0:10:01- Here we are in Newnham College, - Cambridge.
0:10:02 > 0:10:04- I studied English Literature.
0:10:04 > 0:10:08- It was great - because I knew from the start...
0:10:09 > 0:10:11- ..that I didn't want - to be an academic...
0:10:12 > 0:10:15- ..or anything - where I had to use my degree.
0:10:15 > 0:10:19- So there wasn't any pressure on me.
0:10:22 > 0:10:25- It certainly - increased my confidence.
0:10:25 > 0:10:26- At the beginning...
0:10:27 > 0:10:31- ..I was scared of expressing - my views in a roomful of people.
0:10:31 > 0:10:35- That changed over time. - It was an important lesson to learn.
0:10:39 > 0:10:42- The history of Newnham College - is very interesting.
0:10:43 > 0:10:46- As a feminist, - it's a very important place.
0:10:47 > 0:10:50- It was founded in 1880...
0:10:50 > 0:10:55- ..because there was no university - education for women at the time.
0:10:55 > 0:10:57- It was a controversial idea.
0:10:58 > 0:11:01- Cambridge University - were dead against the idea.
0:11:01 > 0:11:07- But after a lot of campaigning and - battling by some amazing women...
0:11:07 > 0:11:09- ..the college was established.
0:11:10 > 0:11:13- But it was decades - between founding the college...
0:11:13 > 0:11:18- ..and the university accepting women - as official students.
0:11:18 > 0:11:23- Though women came here for three - years, studying as hard as men...
0:11:23 > 0:11:27- ..they didn't receive an - official degree from the college...
0:11:28 > 0:11:30- ..until the '40s!
0:11:30 > 0:11:34- So many incredible minds - have walked through these gardens.
0:11:34 > 0:11:38- It makes you feel part - of a special tribe of women.
0:11:38 > 0:11:40- It makes me feel very proud.
0:11:43 > 0:11:46- Being here for three years - was great...
0:11:46 > 0:11:49- ..because you lived - in some sort of museum...
0:11:49 > 0:11:51- ..but one that's alive.
0:11:51 > 0:11:56- I lived in the Peile building, - which was lovely...
0:11:56 > 0:12:00- ..because it has - original William Morris wallpaper.
0:12:00 > 0:12:04- I didn't realize that at the time. - I just thought it was nice.
0:12:04 > 0:12:07- Apparently, it's very important.
0:12:11 > 0:12:16- I feel that image I've given of - life in Cambridge is quite sedate.
0:12:17 > 0:12:19- But I enjoyed myself here too.
0:12:19 > 0:12:22- It's a town - where you can enjoy yourself.
0:12:22 > 0:12:24- It's a small town centre.
0:12:24 > 0:12:28- You can walk from here to the centre - in 10-15 minutes.
0:12:28 > 0:12:30- I had good times here.
0:12:30 > 0:12:32- So, yes, I enjoyed myself.
0:12:41 > 0:12:46- I sat on that bench on the day - I finished my third year exams...
0:12:46 > 0:12:48- ..and drank champagne for hours.
0:12:48 > 0:12:51- It felt quite decadent at the time!
0:12:52 > 0:12:54- I had company - I wasn't alone.
0:12:59 > 0:13:03- There was a moment - before I went to Cambridge...
0:13:03 > 0:13:06- ..where I had to decide - what I was going to pack.
0:13:06 > 0:13:10- I remember thinking - if I was going to take the harp.
0:13:10 > 0:13:15- I remember thinking, "It is big! - Is it a daft idea?"
0:13:15 > 0:13:19- Something inside me - said that I had to take it.
0:13:19 > 0:13:22- If I didn't, - maybe I wouldn't play it again.
0:13:24 > 0:13:29- I'm so glad looking back that - I decided to bring the harp with me.
0:13:29 > 0:13:33- Otherwise, I wouldn't have written - those early songs...
0:13:33 > 0:13:37- ..I wouldn't have - thought about recording them...
0:13:37 > 0:13:41- ..and I wouldn't have sent them - to Adam Walton at Radio Wales.
0:13:41 > 0:13:44- Adam Walton - decided to play one of my songs.
0:13:44 > 0:13:46- That's when everything started.
0:13:47 > 0:13:50- Within a week of sending the song - to Adam Walton...
0:13:50 > 0:13:56- ..I received a phone call from - Radio Cymru expressing an interest.
0:13:57 > 0:14:00- That really spurred me on.
0:14:00 > 0:14:04- I saw that people - seemed to like the songs.
0:14:08 > 0:14:12- I felt to some extent that I had a - split personality while I was here.
0:14:13 > 0:14:15- Though I did gigs here - and wrote here...
0:14:15 > 0:14:18- ..everything else - was happening back home.
0:14:19 > 0:14:20- It felt odd.
0:14:20 > 0:14:25- I also felt that I had peace - to try things out...
0:14:25 > 0:14:29- ..so it was the perfect situation - looking back.
0:14:29 > 0:14:34- # I came back after a while
0:14:34 > 0:14:39- # Vivid memories filling my mind #
0:14:39 > 0:14:41- What's so amazing about life...
0:14:41 > 0:14:45- ..is the thread - that goes from one thing to another.
0:14:45 > 0:14:48- Everything is linked.
0:14:48 > 0:14:53- If I think now - about the decision to leave Aber...
0:14:53 > 0:14:57- ..to bring the harp with me - and to start writing...
0:14:57 > 0:15:02- ..which would all eventually lead - to me working on the radio...
0:15:02 > 0:15:07- ..it's great, and it's something - I couldn't have scripted for myself.
0:15:08 > 0:15:10- You don't realize at the time...
0:15:10 > 0:15:14- ..that every decision you make - carries such importance.
0:15:14 > 0:15:16- I've been very lucky.
0:15:16 > 0:15:18- I'm still amazed!
0:15:24 > 0:15:24- .
0:15:28 > 0:15:28- Subtitles
0:15:28 > 0:15:30- Subtitles- - Subtitles
0:15:41 > 0:15:45- The Lleyn Peninsula - means so many things to me.
0:15:45 > 0:15:48- There's magic here.
0:15:48 > 0:15:52- It feels so different. - The light feels different.
0:15:52 > 0:15:58- The fact that it's a peninsula - with the sea surrounding you almost.
0:16:04 > 0:16:08- The Lleyn Peninsula was - where we went for family holidays.
0:16:09 > 0:16:12- We came here - almost every Easter and summer.
0:16:12 > 0:16:15- We'd stay for about three weeks - at a time.
0:16:16 > 0:16:19- We had a caravan, - so that was always interesting.
0:16:21 > 0:16:25- One of my first memories - is the place names.
0:16:25 > 0:16:28- Places like Anelog and Garn Fadryn.
0:16:28 > 0:16:33- They sound different to the Welsh - I was familiar with in Aberystwyth.
0:16:33 > 0:16:38- There was even magic to the language - that was part of the landscape.
0:16:39 > 0:16:44- One of the places that stays - in my memory looking back...
0:16:45 > 0:16:46- ..is Whistling Sands...
0:16:47 > 0:16:51- ..where the sand literally whistles - when you walk on it.
0:16:52 > 0:16:58- # Yes, there came a dawn once more
0:16:58 > 0:17:04- # Yes, the morning came around #
0:17:04 > 0:17:08- We'd spend days by the sea on Lleyn.
0:17:08 > 0:17:11- Swimming in the sea, - climbing the rocks.
0:17:11 > 0:17:15- Though I was raised by the sea - in Aberystwyth...
0:17:15 > 0:17:18- ..there was a different feeling - here.
0:17:18 > 0:17:21- I felt closer to the sea somehow.
0:17:21 > 0:17:26- I remember the first time we went - to Bardsey Island on a boat.
0:17:26 > 0:17:28- That was an experience.
0:17:28 > 0:17:32- You could see why the pilgrims - went there a long time ago.
0:17:32 > 0:17:37- There's something incredible - about reaching an island on a boat.
0:17:38 > 0:17:42- We did a lot here but those are - the things that stick in the memory.
0:17:44 > 0:17:52- # Etrai
0:17:53 > 0:17:57- # Summer's on its way
0:17:58 > 0:17:59- # Etrai #
0:18:01 > 0:18:04- What was lovely about coming here - as a child...
0:18:04 > 0:18:08- ..was that I could meet - local children who spoke Welsh.
0:18:09 > 0:18:12- That was something new. - They also had a different accent.
0:18:12 > 0:18:16- I was meeting Northwalians - for the first time.
0:18:16 > 0:18:20- I always thought it would be nice - to marry someone from Lleyn.
0:18:20 > 0:18:22- It was a fantasy of mine.
0:18:22 > 0:18:24- It's funny because it's come true.
0:18:28 > 0:18:31- I met Iwan - when he was living in Llithfaen...
0:18:31 > 0:18:34- ..with his brothers, - Dafydd and Aled.
0:18:36 > 0:18:38- He said he'd take me - to Nant Gwrtheyrn...
0:18:38 > 0:18:41- ..as he couldn't believe - I'd never been.
0:18:42 > 0:18:45- I remember us going there - and it was a fantastic day.
0:18:48 > 0:18:51- It's an experience - walking down this hill.
0:18:51 > 0:18:54- Something new is revealed - at every turn.
0:18:57 > 0:19:01- As you walk over the hill - and start to wander down...
0:19:01 > 0:19:06- ..you see the trees and you know - they lead to something...
0:19:06 > 0:19:08- ..but you're not sure what.
0:19:10 > 0:19:13- That's until - you go through the trees...
0:19:13 > 0:19:16- ..and see how steep the road is.
0:19:17 > 0:19:21- You then see there's something - in the valley.
0:19:25 > 0:19:28- Then you start to notice - little things.
0:19:28 > 0:19:33- You see the history - - that it used to be a quarry.
0:19:33 > 0:19:35- You see the old scars...
0:19:36 > 0:19:40- ..where old industrial buildings - have been left.
0:19:44 > 0:19:49- At last, you start to see the sea, - which is so blue here.
0:19:49 > 0:19:53- It can feel that you're abroad.
0:19:55 > 0:19:59- When I come to Nant Gwrtheyrn, - I associate it with Iwan...
0:19:59 > 0:20:04- ..which is lovely because it's - somewhere we enjoyed visiting...
0:20:04 > 0:20:07- ..when we started seeing each other.
0:20:07 > 0:20:12- So, when we were looking - for a wedding venue last year...
0:20:12 > 0:20:18- ..Nant Gwrtheyrn - seemed the obvious choice.
0:20:18 > 0:20:23- That's what happened, in May 2016...
0:20:24 > 0:20:25- ..in that chapel.
0:20:25 > 0:20:27- It was amazing.
0:20:29 > 0:20:33- I remember seeing the faces - of friends who'd come from afar...
0:20:34 > 0:20:35- ..my university friends.
0:20:36 > 0:20:39- A lot of them - had never been to Lleyn.
0:20:39 > 0:20:45- I remember thinking I was so glad - they got to see this part of Wales.
0:20:45 > 0:20:51- So many people don't know - about this part of the world.
0:20:52 > 0:20:56- Seeing people's enjoyment - and reactions was nice.
0:20:57 > 0:21:02- # The nightingale - and the pure lark #
0:21:03 > 0:21:09- Nant Gwrtheyrn - has also inspired me musically.
0:21:09 > 0:21:13- The week after I first came here...
0:21:14 > 0:21:18- ..my head was full of images - of the journey down.
0:21:18 > 0:21:23- I felt I couldn't stop - thinking about the trees...
0:21:23 > 0:21:27- ..about Llithfaen and about Nant.
0:21:27 > 0:21:31- A song just came to me - which became the album title.
0:21:31 > 0:21:35- That feeling - of having found something here...
0:21:35 > 0:21:39- ..I wasn't sure - if I could return to that feeling...
0:21:39 > 0:21:42- ..because I'd had to go back - to Cardiff.
0:21:42 > 0:21:45- It had a major influence - on my music.
0:21:46 > 0:21:52- # Just a pair of gloves so white #
0:21:52 > 0:21:56- I'm very lucky - with the response to the record.
0:21:57 > 0:22:00- I felt that people had understood - what I was trying to say.
0:22:01 > 0:22:05- It's amazing - that a collection of 12 songs...
0:22:05 > 0:22:10- ..can lead to so many things, - such as travelling.
0:22:10 > 0:22:12- I'm so lucky.
0:22:12 > 0:22:16- We went to India and Vietnam - to perform.
0:22:16 > 0:22:19- Places I wouldn't have visited - but for music.
0:22:20 > 0:22:24- I won the Welsh Music Prize - and sang with the Manics.
0:22:24 > 0:22:28- They sound quite surreal - when I say them out loud.
0:22:28 > 0:22:31- It almost doesn't feel like - they happened.
0:22:31 > 0:22:35- It's strange how creating something - can lead to more.
0:22:36 > 0:22:40- It grows and things bind together.
0:22:55 > 0:22:59- The experience of revisiting - these three incredible places...
0:23:00 > 0:23:02- ..has been lovely, to be honest.
0:23:02 > 0:23:06- It's been an opportunity - to reflect on the past...
0:23:06 > 0:23:12- ..and also to think about the future - and what I want for my family.
0:23:13 > 0:23:18- It's made me think about the - importance of a place for a child...
0:23:19 > 0:23:22- ..and how it shapes - your entire life, really.
0:23:22 > 0:23:26- It never leaves you either - - you'll keep those memories forever.
0:23:45 > 0:23:47- S4C Subtitles by Testun Cyf.
0:23:47 > 0:23:47- .