Pennod 1 Traed Lan

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-The world is changing.

-Life is changing.

-Even death is changing.

-Black isn't the only colour

-any more.

-The work of the undertaker

-is changing.

-The next three programmes...

-..allow us to raise the curtain

-on the undertaker's private world.

-Gareth Jenkins

-is an undertaker in Port Talbot.

-Occasionally, he arranges

-Hollywood-style funerals...

-..in the home town of Michael Sheen,

-Richard Burton and Anthony Hopkins.

-But most of his clients

-belong to a very different world.

-Many of them live and die

-on the Sandfields estate...

-..one of Wales'

-most deprived neighbourhoods.

-I still get lost here at night,

-even after all these years.

-Lots of streets look the same.

-Unemployment is rife in Port Talbot.

-Most families here

-have no work to go to.

-Lots of them have no income at all.

-But money isn't a problem

-for everybody.

-Port Talbot's gypsies spend

-a fortune burying loved ones...

-..especially on flowers.

-I think the most I've ever seen...

-..is two articulated lorries

-full of flowers.

-The cost of the flowers alone

-came to 60,000.

-Gareth has spent 25 years

-growing his business...

-..and is now one of Port Talbot's

-principal undertakers.

-He and his wife now share their home

-with the deceased.

-The staff call it

-the garage of rest.

-It used to be a garage at one time,

-but it's been converted.

-This is where the drivers

-make their coffees.

-There's a microwave

-for all the pies they eat!

-Next door is the mortuary.

-It's like a fridge in here.

-And here we are, entering

-the other world behind the curtain.

-Beyond the public display

-of condolence...

-..is a secret room

-and secret rituals.

-The final pampering rituals.

-This is where we do the hair

-and make-up, and shave the men.

-Up here is the Botox.

-We store a wide range of colours

-for the women.

-From styling their hair and make-up

-to dressing them...

-..Gareth handles bodies

-of every description.

-The heaviest

-I've tended to was 40 stone.

-We had to buy this afterwards.

-It saves you

-having to carry the coffin.

-My back has suffered

-over the years...

-..but there are things like this

-to help me these days.

-"There are new challenges every day

-- things ordinary people never see."

-In Lampeter, one company of funeral

-directors spans three generations.

-Gwilym Price, his son, Cerdin,

-and his grandson, Rhys.

-Despite assisting

-in all aspects of the business...

-..Rhys is still at school.

-It was a natural step to take.

-Dad followed Tad-cu

-into the business.

-I've always enjoyed the work.

-There are new challenges every day.

-Things ordinary people never see

-in their everyday lives.

-After finishing his A Levels...

-..he has a future

-in the family business.

-But whose business is it?

-I'm not sure who's the boss,

-but it's either Dad or Tad-cu.

-Who's the boss? I'm the boss.

-Who's the boss? I'm the boss.

-

-I'm the worker.

-Gwilym Price

-began his career as a carpenter.

-But over the years,

-the undertaking business grew.

-He became a source of comfort

-for loved ones left behind.

-These are some of the letters

-of thanks we receive.

-This was the cost

-of a funeral in 1967.

-The total came to 58.

-I was eleven years old

-when I saw my first body.

-I remember I was wearing a jumper.

-I pulled it over my hands

-because I didn't have gloves.

-I was afraid

-of touching something so cold.

-That's the first memory I have.

-From the outset, Cerdin has had

-to learn his trade on the job.

-That was difficult when dealing

-with road traffic accidents.

-In the early days, there were

-no tools to free casualties.

-I cut them loose myself.

-When police call us, all they say

-is that there's been an accident.

-Only when you get to the scene...

-..do you realize

-it may be someone you know.

-"I see more bodies in five hours

-than most people see in a lifetime."

-Dorian Harries, the embalmer,

-is an invisible figure.

-He's a man

-who the undertakers rely on...

-..to ensure the deceased

-can be seen by the living.

-The unsung hero, as they say.

-Nobody knows me. Nobody sees me.

-I'm called in

-to take care of the body...

-..but the funeral directors

-get all the praise...

-..though they do nothing!

-Don't put that in!

-It's half past six now.

-In four hours' time,

-I'll have seen four or five bodies.

-I see more in five hours

-than most people see in a lifetime.

-That's the career I've chosen,

-so don't moan about it, as they say.

-"Coffins come in all shapes

-and colours."

-"Tardis, Grand Slam

-or a pack of cigarettes."

-Like all modern things, Gareth and

-staff must assemble the coffin...

-..before dressing it.

-We use newspapers

-to stuff the pillow.

-It must be biodegradable,

-which is why we use newspaper.

-Choice is essential to us

-in life and even in death.

-We buried one man

-who was a Dr Who fanatic...

-..so we made the coffin

-like the Tardis.

-We created Old Trafford

-for a Man United fan.

-We've also made a Grand Slam coffin.

-One woman, who was 91,

-smoked Benson & Hedges cigarettes...

-..so the family wanted the coffin

-to resemble the pack.

-They said it as a joke

-but I said we could do it.

-Instead of throwing flowers into the

-coffin, they threw Benson & Hedges!

-The coffin

-was full of cigarettes in the end!

-"These days, people

-want to keep the body at home...

-"..for a week, a fortnight

-or even a month."

-Embalming is the craft

-of preserving a body...

-..so that it can be seen

-for the very last time.

-I'm looking for a vein in the body

-into which I can insert the needle.

-I inject the embalming solution,

-which courses around the body.

-It's pushing through the needle

-like a body's heartbeat.

-Notice that the small veins

-are visible here...

-..because the fluid

-is coursing through the entire body.

-By doing that,

-a body can be kept for a week...

-..a fortnight, up to a month,

-if needs be, at a person's home.

-Years ago, funerals were arranged

-in four or five days.

-Now they're arranged

-in a week or two.

-We're living in a different age.

-Due care and respect

-is shown at all times...

-..but sometimes things go wrong.

-I once dressed the body

-in the funeral director's suit.

-Mistakes happen.

-What happened was,

-the funeral director said...

-.."The suit is behind the door."

-I went upstairs

-and the suit was hanging up.

-It didn't fit at the back.

-He took a scissors to it and cut

-the back of the suit for it to fit.

-He came back and I said,

-"Dorian, that's my suit."

-He'd cut the wrong suit.

-That's why we label

-the deceased's clothes nowadays.

-So that I know.

-For his benefit.

-"You're required to be quiet

-at all times."

-It's not just behind the scenes

-that things sometimes go wrong.

-The hearse is parked

-and the keys are hidden.

-At least the hearse

-will be here when we come out.

-Cerdin wants to rejoin the service.

-Cerdin wants to rejoin the service.

-

-Do you want to go inside?

-Without drawing attention

-to himself.

-This is bound to make a noise.

-BOLT CLANKS

-We'll leave it a minute.

-Poor thing.

-But there's worse to come.

-Keep an eye

-on the door in the background.

-Disaster!

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-Gareth Jenkins is arranging the

-funeral of a lady in Port Talbot.

-The first task

-is to find her grave.

-We begin with As, Bs, Cs...

-..H, we're looking for Rs.

-N, O, P, Q, R,

-so this is probably N.

-Here we are -

-we're in the R section.

-Here it is.

-It's shaped like two hearts.

-Some take years

-to organize a wedding...

-..but funeral directors only have

-days to get every detail right.

-There's no place to turn around.

-I have to work out

-where we're going to park the car...

-..and how we're going to walk

-to the graveside.

-I don't want to tread

-on other graves.

-What I have to do now is get

-the stonemason to move that...

-..before they can start

-preparing the grave.

-The wife's name

-will be engraved this side.

-It's a former

-Neath Borough Council tip...

-..so I suppose you could call it

-a form of recycling!

-Since he spends

-so much of his time in cemeteries...

-..has Gareth given

-his own funeral much thought?

-I'm not being buried,

-I'm being cremated.

-Where will your ashes be scattered?

-They'll go in a rocket.

-You can get rockets made these days.

-I want friends to throw a party

-and launch the rocket.

-Go out with a blaze of glory.

-"There he goes!"

-I want colours and all sorts.

-I want them to toast me

-with champagne, then I'll be happy.

-"One family chose to turn the ashes

-into a diamond."

-People now depart this world

-in ever more diverse ways...

-..as Iolo Owen from Penygroes

-can testify.

-Many ask for their cremated ashes

-to be thrown...

-..into the Snowdonia

-steam train's furnaces.

-People ask to go up in an aeroplane.

-The ashes can be incorporated

-into acrylic paint...

-..so that a painting

-can be made of the departed.

-That gives a new meaning

-to self-portrait!

-There was one lovely family...

-..who chose to turn the ashes

-of their loved one into a diamond.

-It's a relatively new process

-that has been around for ten years.

-Winnie Piercy's family chose

-to turn her ashes into a diamond.

-The process of extracting

-the carbon from her ashes...

-..and turning it into a precious

-stone will take four months.

-Nain was a second mother to me.

-After her death in March,

-we all decided...

-..that her ashes

-would be turned into a diamond.

-It will be set in a ring...

-..and passed down

-first to my mother and then me.

-That way she will always be with us.

-"Losing a mother cuts like a knife."

-While Gwilym, Cerdin and Rhys Price

-arrive at the chapel in Lampeter...

-..the grave

-is being prepared in the cemetery.

-In the past two or three years...

-..we've noticed an increase

-in larger bodies.

-Forget what we used to dig

-five years ago.

-We now have to dig a hole

-seven foot deep by a yard wide.

-It's a young man's job.

-It can take anything from half a day

-to a full day's work.

-We tend to hire mini diggers

-and equipment like that.

-When it's busy, we don't

-have much choice in the matter.

-I'm fortunate

-to have great lads working with me.

-It's not up to me to say that.

-As long as the family is happy.

-It's all about teamwork.

-If we can see it through with

-relative ease, we've done our job.

-The funeral might be over,

-but the working day continues.

-The Prices

-will chaperone the body...

-..of a loving mother

-back to the care of her family.

-The plate on the front of the coffin

-is being engraved...

-..so that the family

-can see her name and age.

-We're here

-to assist the family in their grief.

-Everybody dies.

-None of us can escape death.

-You have to play

-the cards you've been dealt.

-There's no point thinking what

-could happen until it does happen.

-You'll only work yourself up.

-Returning the departed's body

-to the home...

-..is a less common occurrence

-these days.

-Yes, it would happen years ago.

-They would carry the coffin

-to the funeral.

-Sometimes, they would walk

-three quarters of a mile.

-Yes, it was commonplace.

-She'll stay there for two

-or three days until the funeral.

-It's important that

-the family's wish has been granted.

-She was a mother, after all.

-Losing a mother cuts like a knife,

-as I always say.

-We started work

-at seven this morning...

-..and it's almost seven o'clock now.

-I'm going home for something to eat.

-Goodness knows

-what might happen during the night.

-"It's always hard for the family

-to see the body for the first time."

-This lady's children

-have asked Gareth to dress her...

-..as she was in this photograph

-of a happy occasion.

-The family is coming to see Carmen.

-They've flown all the way

-from Canada to see her.

-It will be difficult for them

-when they walk in here.

-They've asked me

-to put mementos in her coffin.

-Photographs and a little angel.

-I'll see to the roses.

-I give them out to you then...

-..at the graveside.

-She's going to be cold, OK?

-There we are.

-I'll just leave you alone now, OK?

-In North Wales...

-..Nain is on her way home,

-not as a body but as a stone.

-A stone that will last forever more.

-And here it is.

-It's pretty.

-There you go, there's my mum.

-I'm very happy.

-She's back with us the way she was.

-She's sparkling

-and she's lovely, so I am happy.

-"I've done this thousands of times

-but I feel nervous every time."

-It's the day of Carmen's funeral.

-A funeral is a spectacle of respect

-and the attire must be perfect...

-..with the aid of a few props.

-This is my crystal ball.

-It tells me if it's going to rain.

-Perhaps it'll rain.

-That's why I have the umbrella.

-Hopefully

-there's going to be police there.

-Then we're going through town.

-I think there's police

-going to be up on the...

-Yes, losing a mother

-cuts like a knife.

-Mistakes must be prevented

-at such a distressing time.

-I've done this thousands of times.

-But I can't help it,

-I still feel nervous every time.

-BELL TOLLS

-Two steps back and place the coffin

-onto the trolley.

-Good afternoon and a warm welcome

-to you all to St Illtyd's Church.

-Death is the final scene

-in life's drama.

-A scene which commands

-the sympathy of the audience...

-..and the protagonists, no matter

-how familiar they are with the play.

-We'll remove the flowers first

-before calling the family down.

-No falling over

-with your heels in the grass.

-We did have a bearer yesterday

-whose trousers fell down in church.

-Carmen would really enjoy that

-as well.

-You can shed tears she is gone

-or you can smile...

-The family's happy that it went OK.

-The rain has kept away.

-They told me they were ready

-to go back to the house...

-..and have a large G&T.

-They deserve one.

-In the next episode...

-..we venture further behind

-the scenes into the back room...

-..to witness the strain and relief

-of those who work there.

-Yes, it's tight.

-S4C Subtitles by Adnod Cyf.

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