Georgia Ruth Williams 3 Lle

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-There's something amazing

-about Aber.

-The pace is quite relaxed.

-What Aber has offered me...

-..has shaped who I am now as

-a musician and as a presenter too.

-Aberystwyth's spirit

-never leaves you.

-The reason why

-I chose South Beach...

-..is because this is where

-young Aberystwyth people would come.

-You'd have parties here

-that could go on all night.

-You'd light a fire.

-All sorts.

-It's somewhere that felt safe.

-It's quieter than the prom.

-The prom is busier. You get

-holidaymakers eating ice cream.

-Over here, it's quieter.

-I always felt comfortable here.

-I grew up in Aber with Mam and Dad

-and Nain, who lived with us too.

-We moved from South Wales.

-We lived in Llantwit Major

-until I was three.

-Mam comes from the Midlands.

-Dad comes from Tonyrefail

-near the Rhondda.

-Mam came to Cardiff to study Law

-when she was 18...

-..while Dad had been away a lot.

-I see a lot of myself

-in Dad's story.

-He decided when he was 16

-that he wanted to see the world.

-He managed to persuade Nain,

-his mother...

-..to take him down to Cardiff Docks,

-to the Merchant House...

-..to sign up to go out to sea.

-She thought,

-"Right, OK. Fair enough."

-She wore her best clothes,

-took him down and he signed up.

-He was away for years.

-He'd come and go.

-Teaching was one thing he did.

-He did all sorts of jobs.

-It's something I've grown up with -

-you don't have to be one thing.

-It's good because I don't think

-I could choose just one thing.

-I remember my first few days

-at Ysgol Gymraeg Aberystwyth.

-I remember realizing

-there was a difference...

-..between me and the other children.

-"It's not going to be a problem...

-"..but I have to learn

-to speak the same language as them."

-Within a few months,

-it was no longer a problem.

-I must have just

-absorbed the Welsh language.

-I remember going home and trying

-to speak Welsh to Mam and Dad.

-I remember them

-just looking at me...

-..and thinking,

-"OK, this is happening again!"

-I was a really happy child.

-I liked having a joke.

-I could also be quite introverted

-and serious.

-I still have those sides to me.

-I enjoy performing on one hand

-but I'm also quite shy.

-That paradox was always there.

-This is the Arts Centre.

-I spent

-what feels like half my life here.

-I did so much

-in this incredible building.

-I have early memories

-of being on the Great Hall stage.

-There's a lot of wood there.

-I remember realizing there was an

-echo when you walked on the stage...

-..which scared me.

-I did a lot of choral singing.

-I didn't sing by myself much.

-I played instruments and I was happy

-enough playing those by myself.

-Singing by myself

-felt a step too far at the time.

-The story of how I started playing

-the harp is quite unexpected.

-I was in Ysgol Gymraeg one day.

-I was seven years old.

-Everyone was told to think about

-an instrument they wanted to play.

-They went down the register...

-..and asked which instrument

-everyone wanted to play.

-I thought of choosing the clarinet

-as I thought it was cool.

-By the time

-they'd reached Williams...

-..I was told there wasn't any room

-left in the clarinet classes.

-"No-one's chosen the harp.

-Would you like to play the harp?"

-I remember thinking, "OK. Fine."

-I didn't think about it

-as a life decision.

-Something that would be binding.

-It wasn't quite my decision -

-fate led me to play the harp.

-I was a good pupil.

-I didn't always enjoy practising.

-I was a little all or nothing

-with that concept.

-I'd have spells of wanting to please

-and wanting to learn...

-..and making sure

-I passed the grades...

-..while at other times, I'd rebel

-against having to practise.

-I'd decide

-I would find my own technique.

-I was always somewhere between

-being formal and rebelling.

-I think

-I'm still somewhere between the two.

-I started thinking

-of making my own music...

-..in the short period of time

-between leaving the sixth form...

-..and preparing to go to Cambridge.

-It felt like

-I was between two worlds.

-I was nervous about leaving Aber

-but I was also very excited.

-I knew there was a big world opening

-up to me full of possibilities.

-As a part of that, I felt I had

-confidence I didn't have before...

-..to start to try and write.

-Around the same time,

-I started to see music differently.

-Music had been something

-that you were taught...

-..you were classically trained.

-But I remember thinking there were

-other things I could do on the harp.

-At the time,

-I loved listening to folk music...

-..by people like Bert Jansch

-and John Renbourn.

-People who played guitar

-in the finger-picking style.

-I couldn't play the guitar but I

-thought I could try it on the harp.

-I was trying to develop a style...

-..which moved me away

-from the classic style.

-I remember thinking I wanted to

-sing stuff which made sense to me.

-I wanted to write the lyrics.

-I started thinking

-about wanting to have a voice.

-My first songs

-were all about friends.

-I was aware that I was

-leaving something behind.

-I was moving away

-to go to university...

-..so I felt I wanted to document

-the friends I had in Aber.

-I wrote about Fflur, my best friend.

-I felt

-it was an important thing to do.

-# When the days are long, Fflur #

-I remember filming

-for a programme called Nodyn here.

-It was an experience!

-It was a similar day to today.

-It stays in the memory.

-# When everything turns sour,

-Fflur, don't worry

-# It'll be fine, you'll see #

-Coming back to Aber

-is always so lovely.

-I'm lucky I can come back regularly

-because Mam and Dad still live here.

-It's still home.

-Aber is still home for me.

-When I finished school or when

-I was preparing to finish school...

-..I was ready to leave.

-I was ready to see something new.

-Here we are in Newnham College,

-Cambridge.

-I studied English Literature.

-It was great

-because I knew from the start...

-..that I didn't want

-to be an academic...

-..or anything

-where I had to use my degree.

-So there wasn't any pressure on me.

-It certainly

-increased my confidence.

-At the beginning...

-..I was scared of expressing

-my views in a roomful of people.

-That changed over time.

-It was an important lesson to learn.

-The history of Newnham College

-is very interesting.

-As a feminist,

-it's a very important place.

-It was founded in 1880...

-..because there was no university

-education for women at the time.

-It was a controversial idea.

-Cambridge University

-were dead against the idea.

-But after a lot of campaigning and

-battling by some amazing women...

-..the college was established.

-But it was decades

-between founding the college...

-..and the university accepting women

-as official students.

-Though women came here for three

-years, studying as hard as men...

-..they didn't receive an

-official degree from the college...

-..until the '40s!

-So many incredible minds

-have walked through these gardens.

-It makes you feel part

-of a special tribe of women.

-It makes me feel very proud.

-Being here for three years

-was great...

-..because you lived

-in some sort of museum...

-..but one that's alive.

-I lived in the Peile building,

-which was lovely...

-..because it has

-original William Morris wallpaper.

-I didn't realize that at the time.

-I just thought it was nice.

-Apparently, it's very important.

-I feel that image I've given of

-life in Cambridge is quite sedate.

-But I enjoyed myself here too.

-It's a town

-where you can enjoy yourself.

-It's a small town centre.

-You can walk from here to the centre

-in 10-15 minutes.

-I had good times here.

-So, yes, I enjoyed myself.

-I sat on that bench on the day

-I finished my third year exams...

-..and drank champagne for hours.

-It felt quite decadent at the time!

-I had company - I wasn't alone.

-There was a moment

-before I went to Cambridge...

-..where I had to decide

-what I was going to pack.

-I remember thinking

-if I was going to take the harp.

-I remember thinking, "It is big!

-Is it a daft idea?"

-Something inside me

-said that I had to take it.

-If I didn't,

-maybe I wouldn't play it again.

-I'm so glad looking back that

-I decided to bring the harp with me.

-Otherwise, I wouldn't have written

-those early songs...

-..I wouldn't have

-thought about recording them...

-..and I wouldn't have sent them

-to Adam Walton at Radio Wales.

-Adam Walton

-decided to play one of my songs.

-That's when everything started.

-Within a week of sending the song

-to Adam Walton...

-..I received a phone call from

-Radio Cymru expressing an interest.

-That really spurred me on.

-I saw that people

-seemed to like the songs.

-I felt to some extent that I had a

-split personality while I was here.

-Though I did gigs here

-and wrote here...

-..everything else

-was happening back home.

-It felt odd.

-I also felt that I had peace

-to try things out...

-..so it was the perfect situation

-looking back.

-# I came back after a while

-# Vivid memories filling my mind #

-What's so amazing about life...

-..is the thread

-that goes from one thing to another.

-Everything is linked.

-If I think now

-about the decision to leave Aber...

-..to bring the harp with me

-and to start writing...

-..which would all eventually lead

-to me working on the radio...

-..it's great, and it's something

-I couldn't have scripted for myself.

-You don't realize at the time...

-..that every decision you make

-carries such importance.

-I've been very lucky.

-I'm still amazed!

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-The Lleyn Peninsula

-means so many things to me.

-There's magic here.

-It feels so different.

-The light feels different.

-The fact that it's a peninsula

-with the sea surrounding you almost.

-The Lleyn Peninsula was

-where we went for family holidays.

-We came here

-almost every Easter and summer.

-We'd stay for about three weeks

-at a time.

-We had a caravan,

-so that was always interesting.

-One of my first memories

-is the place names.

-Places like Anelog and Garn Fadryn.

-They sound different to the Welsh

-I was familiar with in Aberystwyth.

-There was even magic to the language

-that was part of the landscape.

-One of the places that stays

-in my memory looking back...

-..is Whistling Sands...

-..where the sand literally whistles

-when you walk on it.

-# Yes, there came a dawn once more

-# Yes, the morning came around #

-We'd spend days by the sea on Lleyn.

-Swimming in the sea,

-climbing the rocks.

-Though I was raised by the sea

-in Aberystwyth...

-..there was a different feeling

-here.

-I felt closer to the sea somehow.

-I remember the first time we went

-to Bardsey Island on a boat.

-That was an experience.

-You could see why the pilgrims

-went there a long time ago.

-There's something incredible

-about reaching an island on a boat.

-We did a lot here but those are

-the things that stick in the memory.

-# Etrai

-# Summer's on its way

-# Etrai #

-What was lovely about coming here

-as a child...

-..was that I could meet

-local children who spoke Welsh.

-That was something new.

-They also had a different accent.

-I was meeting Northwalians

-for the first time.

-I always thought it would be nice

-to marry someone from Lleyn.

-It was a fantasy of mine.

-It's funny because it's come true.

-I met Iwan

-when he was living in Llithfaen...

-..with his brothers,

-Dafydd and Aled.

-He said he'd take me

-to Nant Gwrtheyrn...

-..as he couldn't believe

-I'd never been.

-I remember us going there

-and it was a fantastic day.

-It's an experience

-walking down this hill.

-Something new is revealed

-at every turn.

-As you walk over the hill

-and start to wander down...

-..you see the trees and you know

-they lead to something...

-..but you're not sure what.

-That's until

-you go through the trees...

-..and see how steep the road is.

-You then see there's something

-in the valley.

-Then you start to notice

-little things.

-You see the history -

-that it used to be a quarry.

-You see the old scars...

-..where old industrial buildings

-have been left.

-At last, you start to see the sea,

-which is so blue here.

-It can feel that you're abroad.

-When I come to Nant Gwrtheyrn,

-I associate it with Iwan...

-..which is lovely because it's

-somewhere we enjoyed visiting...

-..when we started seeing each other.

-So, when we were looking

-for a wedding venue last year...

-..Nant Gwrtheyrn

-seemed the obvious choice.

-That's what happened, in May 2016...

-..in that chapel.

-It was amazing.

-I remember seeing the faces

-of friends who'd come from afar...

-..my university friends.

-A lot of them

-had never been to Lleyn.

-I remember thinking I was so glad

-they got to see this part of Wales.

-So many people don't know

-about this part of the world.

-Seeing people's enjoyment

-and reactions was nice.

-# The nightingale

-and the pure lark #

-Nant Gwrtheyrn

-has also inspired me musically.

-The week after I first came here...

-..my head was full of images

-of the journey down.

-I felt I couldn't stop

-thinking about the trees...

-..about Llithfaen and about Nant.

-A song just came to me

-which became the album title.

-That feeling

-of having found something here...

-..I wasn't sure

-if I could return to that feeling...

-..because I'd had to go back

-to Cardiff.

-It had a major influence

-on my music.

-# Just a pair of gloves so white #

-I'm very lucky

-with the response to the record.

-I felt that people had understood

-what I was trying to say.

-It's amazing

-that a collection of 12 songs...

-..can lead to so many things,

-such as travelling.

-I'm so lucky.

-We went to India and Vietnam

-to perform.

-Places I wouldn't have visited

-but for music.

-I won the Welsh Music Prize

-and sang with the Manics.

-They sound quite surreal

-when I say them out loud.

-It almost doesn't feel like

-they happened.

-It's strange how creating something

-can lead to more.

-It grows and things bind together.

-The experience of revisiting

-these three incredible places...

-..has been lovely, to be honest.

-It's been an opportunity

-to reflect on the past...

-..and also to think about the future

-and what I want for my family.

-It's made me think about the

-importance of a place for a child...

-..and how it shapes

-your entire life, really.

-It never leaves you either -

-you'll keep those memories forever.

-S4C Subtitles by Testun Cyf.

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