Pennod 4 Pobol y Rhondda

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-Shwmae!

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

-I was born here,

-and I still live in Treorchy.

-Can I have

-six thick cuts of bacon, please?

-Where are we on the map?

-Here!

-The Rhondda is about 14 miles long

-from Rhigos to Trehafod...

-..and three miles wide

-from Cwmclydach to Blaenllechau.

-At the moment,

-it's home to about 70,000 people.

-Everyone is familiar

-with the usual images.

-But there's a lot more

-to the Rhondda.

-LAUGHTER

-That's class. I'm bonkers

-about the place. Drinks on me!

-I love going round to sing, laugh...

-..and draw cartoons.

-Sion!

-Today, I'm going shopping.

-I go to the Lion Festival

-in Treorchy.

-And I meet a local hero.

-Do we call you Gary?

-Do we call you Gary?

-

-What else would you call me?

-I want to put

-the Rhondda on the map.

-No - I want to create a new map

-of the Rhondda and its people.

-Nothing beats a bit of heavy metal.

-I'm having a proper dose of it

-with Anthony Bollard.

-He owns Sovereign Steel

-in Tonyrefail.

-I started in 1992.

-It was a small set-up back then.

-We eventually bought this place.

-The company grew.

-Our work is mostly for schools...

-..as well as gates for

-Mr and Mrs Jones down the road.

-We do canopies...

-..and school fences...

-..to keep the pupils safe.

-They're big things.

-They're big things.

-

-Yes, big jobs.

-Anthony started

-in his father's cellar.

-He moved to an industrial unit...

-..and to this factory

-in Tonyrefail ten years ago.

-I did Art and Technical Drawing

-in school.

-I went to Cardiff Art College.

-When I was 17 or 18,

-I wanted money to go out.

-I had a draughtsman apprenticeship.

-The youngest member of staff

-has been with me for ten years.

-Some have been here 25 years.

-People have tried

-to learn the job...

-..but they didn't want to learn,

-or they didn't have the aptitude.

-What skills do you look for

-when you're recruiting?

-It's good to have Maths

-and to be practical.

-If people played

-with Lego or Meccano as children...

-..they might be

-interested in creative work.

-We create things from nothing.

-It's quite stressful work.

-How do you switch off?

-I work long hours.

-It's hard to switch off.

-I go down to the basement, switch

-the amp on and play the guitar.

-That's your passion.

-Yes.

-GUITAR CHORD

-SION LAUGHS

-Flipping heck. This is class!

-You had a dream

-and brought it to life!

-It's a man cave!

-It's a man cave!

-

-It's awesome.

-They are popular. I needed

-somewhere to store my guitars.

-Not bad!

-It started off

-as a place to keep my guitars.

-I only had three guitars.

-I have about twenty now.

-It didn't start off as a man cave.

-It was for storage.

-Come up.

-There are more guitars here.

-It's awesome.

-Is that a proper one? Flipping heck.

-Is that a proper one? Flipping heck.

-

-There's a guitar in the bar, too!

-It's my dream

-to create something like this!

-I made lights out of old drums.

-Incredible.

-I played the piano,

-harp and violin in school.

-The harp?!

-It's hard to take a harp on the bus,

-so I swapped it for the violin.

-When I was 17, I wanted to be in

-a band. The violin wasn't very cool.

-I started to learn the guitar.

-I joined a band when I was 18.

-When I was 21, I was with Kooga.

-That's the biggest band

-I played with.

-# Stalemate #

-Kooga

-Kooga was one of the Valleys'

-most popular bands in the eighties.

-Here's Anthony, in white leather...

-..on stage

-at the Park And Dare Theatre.

-We were quite big. We released

-an album and appeared on TV.

-The Park And Dare concert on HTV

-was the first I did with them.

-# Stalemate #

-Kooga

-We'd go to London

-from Friday until Monday.

-Doing the circuit.

-We played

-the Marquee a few times.

-I went back to work

-in the late eighties.

-We still played in pubs,

-but just doing covers.

-I've been creating my own music

-for the past two years.

-A friend and I sit

-and play what sounds right.

-We produced it in a studio.

-We have an album out now.

-The Outlaw Gods

-only have two members.

-I wondered if they need a drummer.

-Am I in the band?

-Am I in the band?

-

-No.

-Oh, well. I can't play the drums,

-but I can draw.

-That's really good. Who is it?!

-So Anthony is on the map,

-near his home in Trealaw.

-There are a lot of small shops

-in the valley.

-Let's visit some of them.

-We'll start in this amazing place

-in Penygraig.

-Heroes, Aliens And Monsters

-is Paul and Janet Mohamed's shop.

-It started as Paul's hobby.

-They've been on Penygraig

-high street for five years.

-Do your customers mainly

-walk in off the street?

-We also offer an online

-and postal service.

-People from Cardiff, Bristol,

-Swansea and Hereford come here.

-A few come every six months

-from Birmingham and Manchester.

-They come all the way

-to the Rhondda.

-It was quite geeky years ago.

-It's much more popular now.

-I think it was overlooked.

-People recognize

-that it's an art form.

-You have to be creative

-to write Sci-Fi...

-..and sketch.

-People acknowledge that.

-It crosses over into film and TV.

-You can have a granddad and

-grandchild coming in the same time.

-Exactly.

-Do you order them in,

-or are you collectors?

-Paul is a collector.

-SciFi shop owners...

-..buy and sell for each other.

-He goes to fairs, too. A lot of

-stuff comes from private collectors.

-It's been amazing.

-It's like a trip back in time...

-..and seeing

-the comics and films I like.

-It was a pleasure to meet you.

-Brilliant. I can't leave

-without buying something!

-I would like to buy this, please.

-I would like to buy this, please.

-

-Indeed you may, Sion!

-Thank you very much.

-Thank you very much.

-

-You're very welcome. Thank you.

-I can't leave without

-a visit to Mr Creemy's.

-They sell

-the world's best ice cream.

-Thank you very much.

-Stonking. Absolutely stonking.

-It's up to Tylorstown in the

-Rhondda Fach for the next course.

-Ken Bailey makes

-the best faggots in the valley.

-How long have you been here?

-How long have you been here?

-

-Thirty years.

-In this business as well?

-In this business as well?

-

-Yes. I had a full head of hair then.

-A friend had a butcher's shop.

-Me and my brother took it over.

-We used to do faggots as kids.

-We decided to have a go

-at the faggots.

-We started with one oven.

-Everything is weighed.

-I know that last week's faggots

-are the same as this week's.

-We got the recipe 30 years ago. We

-thought, this is it. We stuck to it.

-The company sells

-faggots to every butcher...

-..in the Rhondda Fawr

-and Rhondda Fach...

-..as well as

-Pontypridd and Aberdare markets.

-What's the most

-you've rolled in a day?

-Before the supermarkets,

-about 2,000 a day.

-2,000 faggots a day?!

-2,000 faggots a day?!

-

-That's on a good day.

-How many ways are there

-of eating them?

-Faggot sandwich,

-faggots, peas and gravy.

-And you had that every day?

-It used to be more.

-I eat them once a week now.

-Do you slice it in a sandwich?

-Do you slice it in a sandwich?

-

-Yes.

-It's surprising how many sandwiches

-you can make out of one faggot.

-Only one thing left to do.

-Guess what I'm having for supper!

-Everyone loves me. I can't go

-to Lidl without being recognized.

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-From the family home in Glyncoli...

-..you can see across the Rhondda,

-over Treorchy and up to Bwlch.

-I grew up here.

-You bought this place.

-You wanted to keep chickens out.

-So you created me.

-Well, no. You were ten months

-old when we came here.

-You taught me to walk first,

-to chase them.

-There was no fence. We had

-to put fences up when we came here.

-To keep me in, not the chickens out.

-To keep me in, not the chickens out.

-

-No.

-It's hard to believe,

-but I wasn't a good boy.

-Oh! You were a naughty boy.

-Not bad, just a typical little boy.

-Damien!

-You wanted to go everywhere

-and do everything.

-There was no family here, really.

-There was no family here, really.

-

-No.

-My family!

-Not family to play with.

-Not family to play with.

-

-No.

-Dad wasn't very good.

-Dad was old then!

-LAUGHTER

-Two girls lived next door,

-but they were much older than you.

-Dan wasn't born until

-five and a half years later.

-Yes.

-That's why I built a park,

-not for family, but for friends.

-We thought of moving.

-To tempt children up

-to play with me.

-"Come play with him."

-"We don't want to!"

-"I built a park."

-He did!

-GROWLS

-GROWLS

-

-Come and play.

-You know the zip wire

-in Penrhyn Quarry?

-Dad built one going from

-one end of the garden to the other.

-That worked.

-When we talk about playing here,

-everyone remembers that.

-The death slide!

-The death slide!

-

-Yes!

-We came back,

-the garden was full of kids!

-We'd been on holiday in France.

-He said, "There are

-children in the garden!"

-We could hear them. There was a

-queue and one lad selling ice cream!

-How old was I? Ten?

-How old was I? Ten?

-

-I was young.

-He was young.

-He had more fun. He was small.

-He looked like an angel too.

-Ah!

-Anyone would, compared to you!

-LAUGHTER

-This is the Lion, a busy pub

-in Treorchy town centre.

-This was where I played

-after growing up.

-It was the day

-of the Lion Festival when we filmed.

-The place was bouncing.

-DANCE MUSIC

-Have you met Sion?

-Wrong picture, Sion's by here, mun!

-The pub owner Adrian Emmett has

-worked in the industry for 20 years.

-After a time away, he decided

-to return to the valley...

-..to set up a business.

-I come from the Rhondda.

-I went to Ysgol Ynyswen, then Cymer.

-I played rugby for Treherbert.

-Oh!

-I know.

-I have family in the area

-and a lot of friends too.

-I went to university in Bristol.

-Then I moved to Nottingham,

-Coventry, Glasgow and Wigan.

-About four years ago,

-when the Lion was closed...

-..I came home.

-I'd seen the Lion's potential

-for years.

-This is, and was, my local.

-All my friends drank here.

-I decided to go for it.

-We do a lot in the community.

-The main thing we do...

-..is the Lion Attendance Challenge.

-We do it in 39 primary schools

-and five comprehensive schools.

-So it's all the Rhondda.

-If their attendance is good,

-every child gets a golden ticket...

-..like Charlie

-And The Chocolate Factory.

-I remember distributing

-them in school.

-They won things like Kindles.

-I've bought about a hundred Kindles

-in the three years we've done it.

-The children get a prize...

-..a gift bag with things in it.

-The family gets money off food too.

-A lot of families come here now.

-Adrian and the Lion

-have won a number of prizes...

-..at the Great British Pub Awards,

-the industry's Oscars...

-..including Wales's

-Best Community Pub in 2015.

-The community backs the Lion.

-It's not just me, it's the staff.

-We have about twenty staff.

-They're all local.

-They're all local?

-Yes.

-Many are former Cymer pupils.

-I can speak Welsh

-when I order a pint.

-Did you choose local

-people on purpose?

-Yes, they have to be local.

-Their families live

-in the streets behind the Lion.

-That attracts people,

-because they know the staff.

-Yes.

-It's about having personalities,

-not just robots who serve beer.

-And not just take money.

-There are definitely

-characters in the Lion!

-Yes, the Lion crew are very happy

-to support their local characters.

-Gary, Gary!

-I'm mad about Gary!

-Gary B!

-I love Gary!

-Gary, Gary!

-Gary, Gary!

-Gary is my hero!

-Gary Bendwr? Who is he?

-Well, you know him better

-as Dan, my little brother.

-For five years, he's been

-the brains behind videos...

-..about Gary Bendwr and his scooter.

-# My name is Gary Bendwr #

-They were filmed round

-the Rhondda and here in Glyncoli.

-# The scooter is part of me #

-He has even drawn Mam and Dad

-into his bonkers world.

-SIREN

-SIREN

-

-Why the hell is this here?

-Today, I get to know

-the character behind the brother.

-CLATTERING

-Alright?

-Alright?

-

-Shwmae, Gary.

-Do we call you Gary?

-Yes. What else would you call me?

-We're meeting interesting

-people in the Rhondda.

-Your name cropped up

-with quite a lot of people.

-Right.

-I'm not quite sure.

-What exactly do you do?

-I'm a professional scooterer.

-What is that?

-I beat other people

-at scootering, like.

-Because I'm better than them.

-Is there a league? Do you race?

-There was, until I beat everyone.

-They just don't try now.

-I know I'm better than them, like.

-Is it difficult,

-not having anyone to race against?

-It's quite easy to be

-really good at something, like...

-..especially when you do

-the maintenance stuff I do.

-It's really easy

-to be slick and do good tricks.

-I practise all day, every day, like.

-You don't have a crew?

-I am the crew.

-You're the crew.

-So you work on your own.

-Yes.

-Is it lonely?

-No.

-I haven't scootered for a while.

-I had an injury.

-You can see it here.

-These spokes spiked off

-when I did a big trick.

-I landed like this.

-It spiked in and went up here.

-It hurt, so Mam said

-I couldn't ride for a while.

-Dad doesn't like what I do, like.

-It's ridiculous that

-you are on a scooter.

-No son of mine

-should be on a scooter.

-He only likes...

-..strict biking...

-..and wheels bigger than 26 inches.

-He doesn't like what I do.

-Get out of here with that!

-Go to your room.

-Stay there with that thing!

-Stay there with that thing!

-

-I'm going!

-Did you get backing from the valley

-after the documentary went out?

-Loads. Everyone supports me

-and really likes me.

-I can't go to Lidl without

-people recognizing me, like.

-They chase me about...

-..and try to get me to sign

-autographs on their babies and all.

-LAUGHTER

-Oh, well. Dan is back.

-But if you want to see more

-of Gary, go to his website...

-..to see his latest video.

-LAUGHTER

-Nice!

-Yes, Gary deserves

-his place on the map.

-He, and the other characters we met,

-all add colour to the valley.

-LAUGHTER

-S4C Subtitles by Gwead

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