Pennod 5 Pobol y Rhondda

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-Shwmae!

-I'm Sion Tomos Owen, a Rhondda boy.

-I love it here. It's full of

-possibilities for artists like me.

-I always look for different ways

-of portraying the valley in my work.

-During the series, I'll speak

-to lots of interesting people.

-I'll paint pictures reflecting

-what the valley is really like.

-I'll put them together

-to create a large new map...

-..of the lives

-of the Rhondda people.

-I'm painting a new map

-of the Rhondda.

-The map is in seven parts...

-..each one representing

-a different part of the valley...

-..and with a specific theme.

-Today, I've returned to the

-Rhondda Heritage Park in Trehafod...

-..for a very good reason.

-Battling is the theme of this map.

-I was going to call it Protest...

-..but battling covers protest

-and the way we live to an extent...

-..because we're still

-battling in our lives.

-It's important to find time

-to clear the head too.

-For me, there's nothing better

-than heading for the mountain.

-Are you still enjoying yourself?

-Are you still enjoying yourself?

-

-It's harder than I remembered!

-Today, my friend Gethin Down and I

-are going up Penpych mountain...

-..in the highest part of Rhondda

-Fawr to see the place at its best.

-Geth, we're here at last,

-on top of Penpych mountain!

-We came up from Blaencwm.

-We can see all the way down

-to Blaenrhondda.

-Penpych has three corners.

-The corner we're standing on now

-is right in the middle.

-All that separates Blaencwm

-and Blaenrhondda really...

-..is the fact they've gone around

-the mountain.

-You're from Blaenrhondda.

-I am. My old house is down there.

-I lived there for about 20 years.

-One of my most vivid images

-of home...

-..is coming off the train

-and looking up at this mountain.

-It's not a high mountain.

-It might be tough to climb

-but it's not high.

-You can look down on Treherbert,

-Tynewydd, Blaenrhondda and Blaencwm.

-It looks down on the area.

-I don't think so, but a lot

-of people say it's rough up here.

-If you know the place...

-If you know the place...

-

-Have you met me?!

-If you come here, it's so quiet.

-If you come here, it's so quiet.

-

-It's not rough at all.

-People can say that about anywhere.

-It's quiet

-and it's a close-knit community.

-I was going to ask about any rivalry

-between Blaencwm and Blaenrhondda...

-..but they're so close together.

-The only rivalry was when the

-Labour Club was open in Tynewydd.

-One room was for Blaencwm people to

-drink, one room for Blaenrhondda...

-..and another room

-where everybody went to dance!

-Like West Side Story!

-Like West Side Story!

-

-Yes!

-There was a time when I never

-I planned to leave the area.

-My love for my home is very deep.

-But just in terms of employment,

-of my job...

-..it made more sense

-to move closer to the capital city.

-But I intend to come back

-when I'm older.

-If you live in higher parts...

-..or in these little cul-de-sacs

-off the main valley...

-..the roots are very deep.

-It's a close community,

-like a close family too...

-..because of the remote location.

-A couple of years ago, I started

-studying tai chi and kung fu.

-Anyone who takes these seriously

-they become a part of their life.

-They have to take them seriously.

-They almost become

-ingrained in a person's bones...

-..because it affects the way they

-think, move and live their life.

-I passed my black belt in kung fu

-about two weeks ago.

-Gosh. Congratulations!

-Gosh. Congratulations!

-

-Thank you!

-I was shattered after it.

-I was shattered after it.

-

-How long does it take?

-I had a written test

-a couple of days before it.

-An exam?!

-An exam?!

-

-Yes. I had to write an essay too.

-The test took about four hours,

-which is actually quite quick.

-It can take eight hours

-but thankfully it didn't...

-..because I was on my knees

-by the end!

-Physically, it was one of the

-toughest things I've ever had to do.

-As you're an instructor now,

-why don't you teach me?

-Though it'd look awesome

-to do tai chi up here...

-..maybe we should look for a

-more suitable place in Hopkinstown.

-Follow me, grasshopper!

-First, I have another appointment.

-Radio Cymru are recording an episode

-of Hawl i Holi in the Rhondda.

-Thanks to my Twitter rants, I've

-been offered a place on the panel.

-First, I got a team talk

-from none other than Dewi Llwyd.

-Are you happy with the questions?

-Are you happy with the questions?

-

-Yes. Definitely.

-So, no swearing.

-So, no swearing.

-

-Oh, I didn't know that.

-We'll be fine.

-You can interrupt or whatever.

-So... How's Mam?

-Good. She says hello.

-Good. She says hello.

-

-Tell her I say hello back.

-I hope you enjoy it.

-Good evening. We've travelled to the

-most famous valley in South Wales.

-We're in a village called Llwynypia.

-Tonight, the people of Rhondda

-get the chance to ask questions.

-Sion Tomos Owen.

-Welsh is treated

-as a second language...

-..even though

-it's a devolved matter.

-Welsh is treated as second-class.

-I've worked in schools

-all over South Wales.

-We're scraping the barrel

-for resources.

-What is the language situation

-by the time you get to your age?

-How about your peers?

-The Welsh speakers

-tend to be eisteddfod-goers.

-They sing in choirs.

-The perception is...

-..that Welsh is spoken

-by musical and eisteddfod-types.

-That's why speaking it socially

-is so important.

-People find it weird

-when I speak Welsh to my brother...

-..when we go to the pub.

-Since presenting the first series

-of Pobol Y Rhondda...

-..parents my age

-who have small children...

-..switch to speaking Welsh

-to their children when they see me.

-That's something.

-It's where it begins.

-Speaking Welsh needs to be

-normalized outside education.

-What would your reaction be if

-Donald Trump was elected President?

-I take it you wouldn't be happy,

-Sion.

-No. As a cartoonist,

-it would be fantastic!

-I'm just glad

-I don't live over there.

-What's the link

-between Blaenllechau, Ferndale...

-..and some of Europe's

-greatest opera houses?

-The answer

-is musician John Asquith...

-..who's equally at home

-in any of them.

-John, thanks for welcoming us

-to your home.

-Are you from the Rhondda?

-No. The family history

-is quite complicated.

-One branch comes from North Wales,

-another from England...

-..and another from Russia.

-A broad spectrum.

-A broad spectrum.

-

-Yes.

-I've lived in Yorkshire, London,

-Russia itself and in Hungary.

-But I always like

-coming back to Blaenllechau.

-It's great.

-I had friends in Ferndale,

-the other side of the valley.

-Early one June morning...

-..I was driving over the mountain

-and I saw a view over the valley.

-I saw a house. This house.

-I decided that it was the house

-I wanted to buy.

-I work with opera companies.

-Perhaps more importantly,

-I conduct choirs too...

-..in Argentina, Hungary,

-Russia, Poland.

-I love travelling the world.

-John also conducts a choir

-in his home patch.

-There's a choral tradition

-in the valley...

-..but there isn't for opera.

-So what's it like

-mixing opera with choral singing?

-I conduct Cor Meibion Morlais

-in Ferndale.

-The Morlais choir

-sings lots of operatic works.

-Singing in an opera or in a choir

-is the same art form.

-The skill involved is the same.

-Did you study Music at university?

-No.

-I studied modern languages -

-Russian and French.

-Also, Welsh language legends

-and romances in the Middle Ages.

-The Dream of Rhonabwy, The Four

-Branches of the Mabinogi and so on.

-Do you think

-you can teach anyone to sing?

-Yes...

-..but they must be open

-to the language.

-They shouldn't compare

-one language to another.

-# Rhyfelgyrch Gwyr Harlech

-Men of Harlech #

-To sing properly...

-..you have to know

-where to produce the sound.

-After that,

-every language is possible.

-It's almost like

-you learn a singing accent.

-That's it. Yes. A singing accent.

-# Gorfoleddwn yn ei alaeth #

-It's a matter of listening,

-listening, listening.

-After that,

-the correct sound will come.

-# Cymru fo am byth! #

-In part two, I'll talk to the winner

-of the Urdd Eisteddfod Chair...

-..about his poem to the Valleys...

-..add more faces to the map...

-..and join Gethin in the dojo.

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-Injustice.

-"Like an accidental tattoo

-on a drunken night

-"This place was scarred

-deep into its flesh

-"It wasn't my fate

-"It wasn't my choice to wake up

-to a valley of graffiti and gum

-"Where crows sit upon

-the pubs, chapels and shops"

-That's part of the poem that won

-the 2016 Urdd Eisteddfod Chair...

-..for Gwynfor Dafydd.

-He composed it as a response

-to an item on the BBC News website.

-We're at Clydach lakes.

-The scenery is beautiful.

-It's a contrast to your poem

-which is based on an article...

-..entitled The Unbearable Sadness

-of the Welsh Valleys.

-Is that what spurred you to do it?

-Is that what spurred you to do it?

-

-Definitely.

-The article showed that we in the

-Rhondda have experienced injustice.

-In the 1980s,

-coal mines were closed down.

-The heavy industries came to an end.

-Since then,

-there's more poverty in this area...

-..than other parts of Britain and

-there's unemployment and depression.

-I wanted to portray the injustice

-experienced by people in the poem.

-But it's not a criticism

-of the people.

-If anything, it praises them.

-It shows a core strength that

-belongs to the people of Rhondda...

-..to fight against these

-tough conditions that we live in.

-Was it a fair article?

-Did the poem try to add to it

-or fight against it?

-It's difficult.

-I ask in the poem "are we

-your people or your hostages?"

-I almost challenge the Valleys

-and I pose a question.

-Do the mountains that surround us

-imprison us or keep us safe?

-There's a feeling that if

-you've been born in the Valleys...

-..you're almost fated

-to live there all your life.

-It's how people feel -

-"I'm a Valleys boy."

-That's a quote from the article.

-That's a quote from the article.

-

-May I translate another poet?

-"It is just fluke and accident

-that I live within her confines"

-"The place tonight

-is as still as God

-"As it is every day

-"Its progress stopped

-and shutters down on all the shops

-"Rows and rows of locked doors

-hissing

-"Where once there was a welcome

-"Tonight, there is a community

-in the dump playing dead

-"An old, grey place gathering dust

-"An old home

-in a lonely, empty desert

-"Because to the valley came shackles

-where once there were ties."

-It's undeniable that there is more

-poverty and unemployment here.

-The article is correct in that way.

-However, it doesn't paint

-a full picture...

-..of the people and the spirit here.

-So what's your message of hope

-in the poem?

-The community has to come together

-and challenge the establishment...

-..for a fairer community...

-..where we receive investment

-rather than cuts and more cuts.

-What the Valleys needs is more jobs.

-"But hear the drum beating loudly

-"Between the bodies

-which fed the earth with their blood

-"Which today is a seed

-for the young

-"Who will grow from the anger

-beneath their feet

-"Poverty sullies our roads

-"Poverty which follows a postcode

-"The fate is the same

-both sides of the border

-"We are all counting the cost"

-You mentioned jobs.

-We're on the site

-of the old industry - the mines.

-They won't come back.

-However, this is now a place to eat

-and to come for a walk.

-The way forward for the Rhondda

-might be to build on its history.

-Definitely. As you said, coal

-isn't coming back, and that's good.

-I'm not suggesting they should.

-But this place

-is testimony to the fact...

-..that you can sustain

-community spirit and create jobs...

-..from the ones that were lost

-when the mines shut.

-So there's hope for us all.

-From one poet to another,

-good luck for the future.

-Yes, there's plenty to discuss

-in the poem.

-It raises valid points

-about the valley's future.

-I also need

-to think about the past...

-..as I return to my map

-in the Heritage Park.

-Every person in this mural

-is based on someone real.

-The miners

-are from the famous picture...

-..of the street in Tonypandy

-packed with colliers.

-The banner was carried

-by the wives and sisters in Maerdy.

-So many untruths have been told

-about the people of Rhondda.

-We've been portrayed

-as unemployed scroungers.

-These pictures

-show that we are fighting.

-We want things to change

-and to get better.

-We've been doing it for centuries.

-Asking for a kung fu lesson

-sounded like a good idea earlier.

-But when I go to meet Gethin in

-Hopkinstown, I'm not quite as sure.

-Geth!

-Geth!

-

-Shwmae!

-This is mental!

-Welcome to Little China

-in Hopkinstown.

-It doesn't seem like

-we're in Hopkinstown!

-Have you got your kit?

-Have you got your kit?

-

-Yes.

-Wow!

-This place is great, but I'm worried

-that this is Gethin's chance...

-..to get me back

-for years of leg-pulling.

-We're going to have an overview

-of the art of tai chi and kung fu...

-..and how you train your mind

-during the sessions.

-OK. Well, train my mind!

-I always say to push your shoulder

-forward as much as you can...

-..and relax.

-Without doing anything to your back!

-What you do is this.

-Like this.

-What are you teaching your body?

-You're teaching your hands to move

-in different ways. In and out.

-You'll find every kind of block

-you'd ever do in this exercise.

-Breathe in.

-Go to the left.

-To the right.

-Look up.

-Look down to the ground.

-Breathe in.

-Put your left hand first

-just below your belly button.

-Then move your left foot

-towards your right.

-That's the warm-up.

-All that's left now is

-come on then!

-Come on then!

-What do we do now - fight or what?

-What do we do now - fight or what?

-

-Why not?!

-Some people

-are too ready to hit someone.

-Others aren't ready for that.

-So just touch

-because the movement's the same.

-We're just going to do this.

-You touch with the other hand.

-And again. And again.

-You're going to do the same.

-This is like watching Baloo

-on The Jungle Book! This is silly!

-Stop there.

-Again. Stop.

-I'll explain what happens.

-I'm taking your balance.

-The easiest way if you did this,

-as a beginner...

-..is to hook rather than grab.

-Then you move forwards.

-From here, I step in.

-From here, I step in.

-

-Aargh!

-I step in.

-I'm now going to push you down.

-Down! Then pull you forwards.

-Tap!

-So, if you want to try it,

-this is what you do.

-You block first of all.

-If you're taking the arm back

-to hit again, you do this.

-So, you do this.

-You touch first, hook, then pull.

-I know the rest!

-So, like that.

-Pull.

-Step in with that leg.

-Push me down.

-Now, you push with your hip

-to the left.

-More force.

-Then pull me over there.

-Quite simple.

-Quite simple.

-

-A lot of fuss.

-Now that I've succeeded

-in putting Geth on the ground...

-..he's determined to get revenge

-and show who's boss.

-Aargh!

-Aargh! Stop!

-Tap!

-That's your first lesson.

-This is one of my favourites so far.

-Because Battle

-is the title of the drawing...

-..some bits aren't tidy,

-there are fists everywhere...

-..and the faces

-are just splodges of paint.

-It's worked out

-exactly how I wanted.

-It's blocky. It's angry.

-I'm chuffed with it.

-S4C Subtitles by Testun Cyf.

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