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0:00:00 > 0:00:02- Subtitles- - Subtitles
0:00:03 > 0:00:05- Welsh centenarians.
0:00:06 > 0:00:11- A series about Welsh people who were - born before the outbreak of WWI.
0:00:11 > 0:00:14- I was starting school...
0:00:14 > 0:00:18- ..at the beginning - of the First World War.
0:00:18 > 0:00:20- Schooldays.
0:00:20 > 0:00:23- Schooldays.- - One female teacher was very strict.
0:00:24 > 0:00:25- You'd get a slap.
0:00:25 > 0:00:28- You'd get a slap.- - You showed your hands were clean.
0:00:28 > 0:00:30- Memories spanning 100 years.
0:00:31 > 0:00:33- My wife feeding new-born lambs.
0:00:34 > 0:00:36- We were the ones - who had the first bath.
0:00:37 > 0:00:42- In this episode, we focus on Hugh - Lloyd Jones, who's 101 years old.
0:00:42 > 0:00:46- The entrepreneur - who became the Mayor of Aberconwy.
0:00:48 > 0:00:50- I had the Midas touch.
0:00:51 > 0:00:53- It boils down to luck.
0:00:53 > 0:00:57- Everything I touched...
0:00:58 > 0:01:00- ..turned to gold.
0:01:15 > 0:01:17- Isn't it refreshing...
0:01:17 > 0:01:20- ..that we've reached - this ripe old age...
0:01:20 > 0:01:24- ..and are able to sit around - in a room like this.
0:01:26 > 0:01:28- They have to keep order sometimes.
0:01:28 > 0:01:31- Some of us get out of hand at times.
0:01:31 > 0:01:34- Naming no names, of course.
0:01:36 > 0:01:38- But notice which way I'm looking.
0:01:40 > 0:01:44- I was born on 22 March...
0:01:45 > 0:01:48- ..1913.
0:01:51 > 0:01:55- I was christened Hugh Lloyd Jones.
0:01:55 > 0:01:59- They tell me I was called Lloyd...
0:01:59 > 0:02:03- ..because Lloyd George - gave money to children...
0:02:03 > 0:02:05- ..who were born during that era.
0:02:06 > 0:02:08- My mother was raised on a farm.
0:02:09 > 0:02:11- My father was a quarryman.
0:02:11 > 0:02:15- I was the baby, - the youngest of three boys.
0:02:16 > 0:02:18- I was a year and a half...
0:02:19 > 0:02:22- ..at the outbreak - of the First World War.
0:02:23 > 0:02:27- My grandparents - farmed here in Llanfairfechan.
0:02:27 > 0:02:33- From an early age, - I helped my mother on the farm.
0:02:33 > 0:02:36- There was no better way - to spend time.
0:02:36 > 0:02:39- I was with the hens and the lambs, - collecting eggs...
0:02:40 > 0:02:42- ..harvesting hay with the horse.
0:02:43 > 0:02:47- I'd feed the suckling lambs - and things like that...
0:02:48 > 0:02:50- ..when they were a little older.
0:02:50 > 0:02:54- I did that until I went to school - at the age of five.
0:02:54 > 0:02:59- Some of the boys - were a little older than me.
0:02:59 > 0:03:02- They suggested...
0:03:03 > 0:03:06- ..that I was - somewhat of a teacher's pet.
0:03:06 > 0:03:10- But from being a small boy...
0:03:10 > 0:03:15- ..I realized what I was - and I played on that all my life.
0:03:16 > 0:03:19- If you want - to get on in the world...
0:03:20 > 0:03:22- ..you have to...
0:03:22 > 0:03:24- ..cultivate people.
0:03:26 > 0:03:30- To enjoy one's schooldays...
0:03:30 > 0:03:34- ..there was no use - being cantankerous and boisterous.
0:03:34 > 0:03:40- You had to get on - with your teachers.
0:03:42 > 0:03:45- That's why - I enjoyed being at school.
0:03:49 > 0:03:53- I think that's a photograph - of me on the farm.
0:03:58 > 0:04:02- Even to this day, I still - have strong ties with the school.
0:04:04 > 0:04:06- But talk about change!
0:04:06 > 0:04:08- Children and teachers nowadays...
0:04:09 > 0:04:11- ..are friends.
0:04:11 > 0:04:15- Small children run from their desks - to their teacher.
0:04:15 > 0:04:17- I could never have done that.
0:04:17 > 0:04:22- I'd have had a slap across the face - if I'd run at the teacher.
0:04:22 > 0:04:25- Things like that - have drastically changed.
0:04:29 > 0:04:33- I was in the 11-plus class.
0:04:33 > 0:04:37- Back then, - you had to pass a scholarship.
0:04:37 > 0:04:39- It was important.
0:04:40 > 0:04:41- I did alright.
0:04:41 > 0:04:43- I wouldn't say - I was top of the class...
0:04:44 > 0:04:47- ..but I was certainly - not bottom of the class.
0:04:47 > 0:04:52- But my friends were boys who all - wanted to go and work in the quarry.
0:04:52 > 0:04:57- I used to tell them, - "I don't want to go to the quarry.
0:04:57 > 0:05:02- "I want a job - where I can keep my hands clean."
0:05:02 > 0:05:07- They looked at me and must have - thought I was a right so-and-so.
0:05:08 > 0:05:10- "He's not a tough guy at all."
0:05:12 > 0:05:15- I felt under pressure - from then on...
0:05:15 > 0:05:21- ..because I didn't want - to leave Llanfairfechan.
0:05:22 > 0:05:26- Almost everyone I knew - who was older than me...
0:05:26 > 0:05:29- ..who had gone to Friars School...
0:05:29 > 0:05:32- ..and had done well - for themselves...
0:05:32 > 0:05:36- ..had jobs which took them - out of Llanfairfechan.
0:05:37 > 0:05:41- For me, - the Llanfairfechan brain drain...
0:05:41 > 0:05:44- ..was Friars School - and county school.
0:05:46 > 0:05:48- Strangely enough...
0:05:51 > 0:05:54- ..I believe in the end...
0:05:54 > 0:05:57- ..that I did better...
0:05:57 > 0:06:01- ..than all those in my class...
0:06:02 > 0:06:06- ..who went to county school - or Friars.
0:06:11 > 0:06:15- You switched on the lights - in Llanfair.
0:06:15 > 0:06:20- I was the first - apprentice electrician in Llanfair.
0:06:20 > 0:06:25- You have to remember - that I was 16 years old...
0:06:25 > 0:06:29- ..before Llanfairfechan - had electricity.
0:06:29 > 0:06:31- These young people...
0:06:32 > 0:06:34- ..who we live amongst nowadays...
0:06:34 > 0:06:39- ..can't believe how we - used to live without electricity.
0:06:40 > 0:06:44- Mostly everything - relies on electricity these days.
0:06:44 > 0:06:46- But we made do somehow.
0:06:47 > 0:06:53- I was the first in Llanfairfechan - to switch on the lights.
0:06:53 > 0:06:55- I was called in by the engineer...
0:06:55 > 0:06:59- ..who was responsible - for all of Llanfairfechan.
0:06:59 > 0:07:03- He said, "Since you're - Llanfair's first apprentice...
0:07:03 > 0:07:06- "..and born and bred - in Llanfairfechan...
0:07:07 > 0:07:09- "..you can say in time...
0:07:09 > 0:07:12- "..that you were - the first to switch on the lights."
0:07:13 > 0:07:15- After they tested the panel...
0:07:15 > 0:07:19- ..to make sure the electricity - had travelled from Dolgarrog...
0:07:20 > 0:07:22- ..over to Llanfairfechan...
0:07:22 > 0:07:25- ..I switched on the lights.
0:07:25 > 0:07:30- This was from underneath - the town hall's stage...
0:07:30 > 0:07:34- ..where they had a room at the time.
0:07:45 > 0:07:48- I don't know how the rest of you...
0:07:48 > 0:07:51- ..spent your honeymoon.
0:07:51 > 0:07:53- I'm sure you did all kinds.
0:07:53 > 0:07:55- We spent ours in London.
0:07:56 > 0:07:59- Louie said, - "I'd like us to work together."
0:07:59 > 0:08:02- She wanted to be with me. - I said, "What do you want?
0:08:03 > 0:08:05- "A pair of overalls and a kit bag?"
0:08:05 > 0:08:07- She said, "No.
0:08:08 > 0:08:13- "You work - from morning until night...
0:08:13 > 0:08:15- "..wiring homes...
0:08:15 > 0:08:18- "..and you work very hard."
0:08:18 > 0:08:23- Your customers say, "Very nice, - Mr Jones. Thank you very much."
0:08:23 > 0:08:26- And then they go - to Llandudno or Bangor...
0:08:27 > 0:08:32- ..to buy a vacuum cleaner, an - electric kettle, toaster or an iron.
0:08:32 > 0:08:38- She said, "They make more out of you - than you make for yourself.
0:08:38 > 0:08:40- "So we'll look for a shop.
0:08:41 > 0:08:43- "I'll be the shopkeeper...
0:08:44 > 0:08:48- "..and maybe - your existing customers...
0:08:48 > 0:08:50- "..whose houses you've wired...
0:08:50 > 0:08:54- "..will come to me - to buy things for their homes."
0:08:54 > 0:08:58- It became a competition - between Louie and myself.
0:08:58 > 0:09:01- Did I make - the most profit from wiring...
0:09:01 > 0:09:04- ..or did she make the most profit - from selling the gear?
0:09:04 > 0:09:06- It went like clockwork.
0:09:10 > 0:09:13- Lou and I became workaholics.
0:09:14 > 0:09:18- We worked every waking hour.
0:09:18 > 0:09:21- I don't think I'd do it again.
0:09:23 > 0:09:26- But the War broke out...
0:09:26 > 0:09:28- ..in 1939.
0:09:28 > 0:09:33- We'd only been married - for 18 months.
0:09:34 > 0:09:36- By this time...
0:09:36 > 0:09:39- ..we had a child...
0:09:39 > 0:09:44- ..who was born - five days after war was declared.
0:09:45 > 0:09:49- Aled had his birthday - on 8 September...
0:09:49 > 0:09:53- ..and war was declared - on 3 September.
0:09:56 > 0:09:58- The shop closed.
0:09:58 > 0:10:03- We lost what we'd worked so hard - to achieve over ten years.
0:10:03 > 0:10:07- I lost hundreds of pounds - because we had to give away stock.
0:10:08 > 0:10:11- I was called up for the RAF.
0:10:12 > 0:10:15- I served for four and a half years.
0:10:16 > 0:10:19- Four years overseas...
0:10:22 > 0:10:24- ..in the Azores.
0:10:24 > 0:10:29- She had this taken - by a professional photographer.
0:10:29 > 0:10:32- He had a place in Penmaenmawr.
0:10:32 > 0:10:35- She sent me this photograph - to show me...
0:10:35 > 0:10:38- ..what they both looked like.
0:10:41 > 0:10:45- I had to go through - a series of tests and so on...
0:10:45 > 0:10:50- ..and they told me I'd be trained - to do airfield control.
0:10:51 > 0:10:53- So we reached the Azores...
0:10:54 > 0:11:00- ..a cluster of islands - off the west coast of Africa.
0:11:00 > 0:11:06- We had specific duties - once we'd settled there.
0:11:06 > 0:11:09- We'd been there six months.
0:11:09 > 0:11:11- Half a dozen - small aircraft came there.
0:11:12 > 0:11:15- Some were biplanes - with two fixed wings.
0:11:15 > 0:11:20- They'd fly around twice a day...
0:11:20 > 0:11:24- ..to check the weather.
0:11:24 > 0:11:27- I thought, "Goodness me...
0:11:27 > 0:11:33- "..they've brought us all the way - out here just to check the weather."
0:11:33 > 0:11:36- So that a farmer - knew when to harvest straw...
0:11:36 > 0:11:40- ..or for someone to go on holiday.
0:11:40 > 0:11:44- They'd sent me there - to mess about with the weather...
0:11:45 > 0:11:48- ..after my own business had folded.
0:11:48 > 0:11:52- I had to leave my young wife and my - child, who was merely months old.
0:11:54 > 0:11:56- We'd come to the conclusion...
0:11:56 > 0:11:59- ..that we were a useless bunch...
0:11:59 > 0:12:04- ..and that they'd sent us - as far away as possible...
0:12:04 > 0:12:08- ..so that we wouldn't be a nuisance - to anyone.
0:12:09 > 0:12:13- The island itself - was a heavenly place.
0:12:14 > 0:12:18- People spend 1,000 nowadays - to go there on a ten-day holiday...
0:12:18 > 0:12:22- ..while we were sent there - by the King for free.
0:12:22 > 0:12:27- They sent weather data - to the Admiralty or wherever.
0:12:27 > 0:12:29- We weren't sure where.
0:12:29 > 0:12:32- We had no idea - what they did with that data.
0:12:32 > 0:12:38- They told us - after coming out on 4 June...
0:12:39 > 0:12:43- ..that 5 June - was going to be rather stormy...
0:12:43 > 0:12:45- ..in the English Channel.
0:12:45 > 0:12:49- "But it's only a blip.
0:12:50 > 0:12:52- "The sixth will be better."
0:12:52 > 0:12:56- We thought - maybe one of the admirals...
0:12:56 > 0:13:00- ..or the wing commanders - wanted to go on holiday...
0:13:00 > 0:13:04- ..so we said, "Don't go - on the fifth, go on the sixth."
0:13:04 > 0:13:06- We were none the wiser.
0:13:07 > 0:13:10- The D-Day Landings - happened on 6 June.
0:13:11 > 0:13:13- If they'd gone on the fifth...
0:13:13 > 0:13:17- ..hundreds more soldiers - would have been killed...
0:13:17 > 0:13:20- ..if they'd sunk the boats...
0:13:20 > 0:13:23- ..between the storm, - the guns and the aeroplanes.
0:13:24 > 0:13:26- The decision, which came from us...
0:13:27 > 0:13:30- ..although we were - unaware of it at the time...
0:13:30 > 0:13:33- ..saved hundreds of souls.
0:13:42 > 0:13:48- When I was demobbed, I reached - Llanfair and was exhausted.
0:13:48 > 0:13:52- I threw chippings - at Lou's bedroom window...
0:13:52 > 0:13:57- ..because I'd told her I'd be home - but I hadn't said when.
0:13:57 > 0:14:00- Suddenly, - the window opened a little.
0:14:01 > 0:14:03- Whoo! She saw me standing there.
0:14:04 > 0:14:06- She came down and opened the door.
0:14:07 > 0:14:11- She said, "You've walked - all this way, you must be exhausted.
0:14:11 > 0:14:13- "Sit down and I'll make a cuppa."
0:14:14 > 0:14:16- The following morning, Lou said...
0:14:17 > 0:14:20- .."I'll get up to make breakfast - and wake up Aled...
0:14:21 > 0:14:24- "..and you can see him - once you've rested."
0:14:24 > 0:14:28- So Lou went down and made breakfast - while I stayed in bed.
0:14:28 > 0:14:31- I heard a pitter-patter - across the landing.
0:14:32 > 0:14:34- Aled was five years old at the time.
0:14:34 > 0:14:37- "Mam, there's a man in your bed!"
0:14:40 > 0:14:43- He didn't remember me at all.
0:14:49 > 0:14:49- .
0:14:51 > 0:14:51- Subtitles
0:14:51 > 0:14:53- Subtitles- - Subtitles
0:15:05 > 0:15:08- # Through your window - you see your world
0:15:08 > 0:15:11- # Revolving, in a race against time
0:15:11 > 0:15:15- # Wonders to witness every day
0:15:16 > 0:15:22- # Your reflection's - in the window pane
0:15:23 > 0:15:28- # And between the frame - you'll get an honest answer
0:15:29 > 0:15:32- # You've seen it all
0:15:34 > 0:15:39- # Hard times, better times #
0:15:39 > 0:15:42- What makes me feel old...
0:15:42 > 0:15:45- ..is seeing these women - looking so young.
0:15:45 > 0:15:50- You wouldn't believe - that I remember their parents.
0:15:50 > 0:15:55- With some of them, - I even remember their grandparents.
0:15:56 > 0:15:59- Looking at you from here, - you all look remarkably good.
0:16:00 > 0:16:05- The hairdressers have worked their - magic on you over the past few days.
0:16:06 > 0:16:08- I'm sure of that.
0:16:15 > 0:16:17- Up on the hill here...
0:16:18 > 0:16:21- ..is the Pen Y Bryn Hotel.
0:16:21 > 0:16:23- I remember their first bus.
0:16:24 > 0:16:26- We called it the toast rack.
0:16:27 > 0:16:31- You got on - and there were rows of benches.
0:16:31 > 0:16:33- That was the first bus I remember.
0:16:34 > 0:16:36- I remember it had hard tyres.
0:16:36 > 0:16:42- A man named Mr Pickering, - Arthur Pickering was the bus driver.
0:16:42 > 0:16:48- Cars back then were just engines. - They were very basic.
0:17:08 > 0:17:09- This was ours.
0:17:09 > 0:17:13- Do you see where that car is, - with the garage in front of it?
0:17:13 > 0:17:18- Our sheds used to be there, - at the side of the house.
0:17:18 > 0:17:24- Where that garage is now, - that's where the toilet was.
0:17:25 > 0:17:27- An outside toilet.
0:17:27 > 0:17:32- There was a peg on the wall - around the corner by the garage.
0:17:32 > 0:17:36- We hung our bath on that hook, - to remind us.
0:17:37 > 0:17:41- Friday night - was the main bath night.
0:17:50 > 0:17:55- We're here - in front of the old Ysgol Nant...
0:17:56 > 0:17:59- ..which was an important part - of my early childhood.
0:18:00 > 0:18:03- I was baptized here, or so I'm told.
0:18:03 > 0:18:08- The Sunday school was very popular, - attended by around 50 children...
0:18:08 > 0:18:10- ..and adults of all ages.
0:18:10 > 0:18:15- Often on a Sunday, - there were about 90 members here.
0:18:15 > 0:18:18- We'd have sports day in summer...
0:18:18 > 0:18:22- ..and the usual Sunday school trips.
0:18:22 > 0:18:24- We'd have tea parties.
0:18:24 > 0:18:28- When there was a trip, - entire families would go.
0:18:28 > 0:18:32- It was nothing - to see four coaches turn up here...
0:18:32 > 0:18:37- ..to take us, - more often than not, to Rhyl.
0:18:46 > 0:18:50- There was a time - when I owned a shop...
0:18:51 > 0:18:54- ..a farm, a garage and a dairy.
0:18:55 > 0:18:58- Chris and John ran the garage.
0:18:59 > 0:19:03- Aled did most of the work - on the farm. Aled is my son.
0:19:04 > 0:19:07- Louie took care of the shop...
0:19:07 > 0:19:12- ..and I concentrated on the dairy.
0:19:12 > 0:19:17- Those who worked for me would say...
0:19:17 > 0:19:21- ..I had an easy time of it - while they did all the work!
0:19:21 > 0:19:27- People may think - that I'm preoccupied with money.
0:19:27 > 0:19:31- I wouldn't say that.
0:19:31 > 0:19:35- It wasn't something - that ruled my life.
0:19:45 > 0:19:48- I was the third Mayor of Aberconwy.
0:19:48 > 0:19:52- I was invited - to all kinds of things.
0:19:53 > 0:19:56- It was a very interesting job.
0:19:56 > 0:19:59- But...
0:19:59 > 0:20:04- ..you had to be able - to mix with people.
0:20:07 > 0:20:12- Thankfully, I was able to do that.
0:20:13 > 0:20:15- It didn't matter at all to me...
0:20:16 > 0:20:20- ..if it was a prayer meeting - in Seion Chapel, Ysbyty Ifan.
0:20:20 > 0:20:22- I could go there...
0:20:22 > 0:20:25- ..and sit - in the deacons' pew with the elders.
0:20:26 > 0:20:30- They'd ask me to say a few words.
0:20:30 > 0:20:35- Likewise, if there was - a big jamboree going on somewhere...
0:20:35 > 0:20:38- ..I'd go there, full of beans too.
0:20:38 > 0:20:44- You have to be adaptable - if you want to get on in this world.
0:20:44 > 0:20:50- Louie and I had the opportunity - to meet people...
0:20:50 > 0:20:57- ..and go to places we never dreamed - of going when we were young.
0:20:57 > 0:21:00- We never thought - we'd see that day come.
0:21:00 > 0:21:03- We met ordinary folk - as well as the Queen.
0:21:03 > 0:21:07- We went to Buckingham Palace - for tea twice.
0:21:09 > 0:21:11- I've been introduced...
0:21:12 > 0:21:17- ..and shaken hands - with the Queen and the Duke.
0:21:17 > 0:21:22- I've shaken hands with the Prince - of Wales and met Princess Diana.
0:21:31 > 0:21:34- Llanfairfechan - has changed in so many ways.
0:21:35 > 0:21:38- Linguistically...
0:21:38 > 0:21:44- ..we practically all spoke Welsh - during my childhood and my youth.
0:21:45 > 0:21:49- Nowadays, - it's almost gone the other way.
0:21:50 > 0:21:53- I lived in three places - before I got married.
0:21:54 > 0:21:57- I lived on the farm - you can see in front of us.
0:21:58 > 0:22:01- I'd open the curtains - in the morning...
0:22:02 > 0:22:05- ..and see fields, sheep and cows.
0:22:05 > 0:22:07- Now, I see houses and concrete.
0:22:12 > 0:22:14- I had the Midas touch.
0:22:15 > 0:22:18- It boils down to luck.
0:22:18 > 0:22:20- Everything I touched...
0:22:20 > 0:22:22- ..turned to gold.
0:22:23 > 0:22:25- Don't think for a moment...
0:22:25 > 0:22:28- ..that I'm claiming - to have a halo above my head.
0:22:28 > 0:22:30- I'm not saying that at all.
0:22:31 > 0:22:33- I started from nothing.
0:22:33 > 0:22:35- Zero.
0:22:35 > 0:22:39- I'd say at one point...
0:22:39 > 0:22:44- ..I was earning more than anyone - else in Llanfairfechan at the time.
0:23:11 > 0:23:13- S4C Subtitles by Adnod Cyf.
0:23:13 > 0:23:13- .