New: Straeon y Ffin Straeon y Ffin

-Subtitles

-Subtitles

-

-Subtitles

-Boundaries are there to be pushed.

-I'm Gareth Potter,

-a DJ and actor by profession.

-My parents didn't speak Welsh.

-I've always been aware

-of linguistic boundaries.

-This series is about

-a real, geographical boundary.

-I want to understand the

-borderlands' history and culture...

-..and meet the people who live here.

-Does living on a border

-create its own unique identity?

-Come with me on a journey

-to find out.

-I remember once when

-a crowd of us worked in Wrexham.

-We were in the pub after work.

-We noticed a sign that said...

-.."Welcome To Wales."

-After a few pints...

-..we decided to move the sign.

-I remember a punk song

-from my youth...

-.."Revolution Starts

-At Closing Time."

-It was a daft, rebellious

-thing to do. But it was a laugh.

-There was a purpose to it.

-Any border is fairly artificial.

-They have been created...

-..and moved

-back and forth across the centuries.

-We assume geographical borders

-are cast in stone. But they're not.

-A thousand years ago, these islands'

-borders were completely different.

-There were tribal borders...

-..natural borders

-of rivers and mountains.

-In the 8th century...

-..King Offa...

-..ordered the construction

-of this dyke.

-It was the first definitive border.

-Today's border is a result

-of history, battles and politics.

-It's been in place, more or less,

-since 1536.

-My journey begins in Chester,

-on the modern border.

-The football stadium's entrance

-is in England, the pitch in Wales.

-I'm going from Chester to Deva,

-as the old oppressors called it.

-I know I look odd walking

-around Chester like this...

-..but the city

-is a journey back in time.

-The city walls and Chester Rows

-date back to the Middle Ages.

-The streets are unique to the area.

-I'm going all the way back

-to Roman times.

-The Roman remains...

-..seen on the streets

-and many shop and cafe cellars...

-..include mosaics, huge

-pillar bases and an amphitheatre.

-I'm going there to learn to fight.

-And then you can come in

-with an attack.

-I'm out of breath after two minutes,

-and I'm quite fit!

-Blimey! I wouldn't last ten seconds

-in an amphitheatre.

-Despite the training...

-..no-one mentioned fighting a bear.

-SCREAMS

-To banish the memory of being

-beaten by a man in a bear suit...

-..I arranged to meet Mark Parry

-from Cheshire.

-He decided to learn Welsh.

-Hello, Mark.

-Hello, Mark.

-

-How are you?

-I always enjoyed visiting Wales...

-..and walking in Snowdonia.

-I saw the Welsh language

-on signposts.

-It was mysterious and charismatic.

-I wanted to learn the language.

-In 2010, I had time to learn.

-I lived in Scotland

-when I was younger.

-There is a big difference between

-the England-Scotland border...

-..and the Wales-England border.

-Once you cross the border

-into Scotland...

-..you hear the Scottish accent.

-If you go from Chester to Wales...

-..there isn't such

-a marked difference in accents.

-You come from Chester.

-Are the local people...

-..aware they're next

-to another country...

-..and another culture?

-Generally, people know Wales exists.

-The Welsh language isn't important

-to the people of Chester.

-There is no real awareness of it.

-I wouldn't say there is.

-Thanks, Mark.

-Thanks, Mark.

-

-You're welcome. Take care.

-I left Mark to continue my journey.

-You can't get closer

-to the border than this place.

-One road is split

-between Flintshire in Wales...

-..and Cheshire in England.

-Boundary Lane, Saltney.

-The right side is in Wales,

-the left in England.

-The border runs right through me.

-I'm here to meet a member of one

-of my favourite eighties bands...

-..Phil Bradley from Brodyr Y Ffin.

-# A OES HEDDWCH? #

-Brodyr Y Ffin

-I'll never forget seeing Y Brodyr

-for the first time in the eighties.

-They were new, and unlike

-anything I'd heard before in Welsh.

-The band formed in Holyhead.

-They moved to Chester

-to get more gigs.

-We had a lift from some bloke. He

-asked us what brought us to Chester.

-I explained to him. He said,

-"I've just bought two houses.

-"They're a bit derelict.

-"You can stay there temporarily

-until you find a place."

-"Thanks very much," we said.

-We moved into one of the houses.

-We were there

-for three or four years!

-We lived on Boundary Lane.

-One side of the road was in Wales.

-But if we walked out of

-the back door, we were in England.

-Amazing.

-Saltney is pivotal

-to Brodyr Y Ffin's story.

-The town has an interesting history.

-Saltney was built on salt marshes

-on the River Dee...

-..hence the name.

-It was open marshland

-until the 18th century.

-It developed into a port

-to serve the Chester area.

-Boundary Lane

-was an industrial area.

-There were strong ties

-to the railways...

-..and bringing coal in

-from Saltney Junction.

-The steelworks made chains

-and anchors that weighed 50 tons.

-The old buildings were still here...

-..in Boundary Lane...

-..although the industry had gone.

-There was a scrap yard here.

-Dave went to the scrap yard

-every now and then...

-..to collect cans.

-He bashed them with wood and metal.

-He made sure the sound was right.

-He brought them back to the house...

-..made them into a certain shape...

-..and got the sound right.

-The cans became musical instruments,

-his drums.

-# BREUDDWYD MEWN CAN #

-Brodyr Y Ffin

-Standing on Boundary Lane felt like

-I'd been on a musical pilgrimage.

-I concentrated on

-the modern border in the first part.

-In part two, the old border.

-I visit Holywell,

-ten miles from England.

-In the 8th century...

-..it was slap bang on the border.

-.

-Subtitles

-Subtitles

-

-Subtitles

-My border journey continues.

-I've visited the modern border

-in Chester and Saltney.

-Now I've come 15 miles west.

-The border was here

-in the 8th century.

-Holywell was on the wrong side

-when Offa's Dyke was built.

-I've never been here before.

-There's a well here somewhere,

-apparently. Let's go for a look.

-Ieuan ap Sion comes from Holywell.

-I want to find out more

-about the town and its well.

-Hiya.

-Hiya.

-

-How are you?

-We're meeting at one of

-the Seven Wonders Of Wales.

-Winifred's Well

-puts the "well" in Holywell.

-This is the well.

-This is the well.

-

-What's the history?

-It dates back to the 6th century.

-Winifred lived in the area.

-Her uncle, Beuno...

-..himself a saint...

-..lived in the area, too.

-A local prince from Hawarden...

-..which isn't far from here...

-..wanted to marry Winifred.

-She ran away.

-She wanted to dedicate her life

-to God.

-He was angry. He came after her,

-and took out his sword.

-He chopped her head off

-and killed her.

-Her head rolled down here.

-There was a church here.

-Beuno was preaching.

-A spring rose from the ground...

-..where her head landed.

-The water flowed down the valley.

-Beuno prayed.

-He put the head back on her

-shoulders and she came back to life.

-She lived for fifteen more years.

-This has been a place of pilgrimage,

-probably ever since.

-My grandfather was born

-at the end of the Victorian era.

-He used to say if you were ill

-or had hurt your hand or finger...

-..you put it in the water,

-you were healed...

-..thanks to the water's

-healing properties.

-Perhaps faith counted

-for a lot with the healing.

-I think I'd better take

-some of the water with me.

-Good idea.

-From 6th century miracles,

-we go to Holywell's workhouse.

-It was opened in 1840

-and housed up to 400 people.

-Now, it's a building site.

-But it was a working hospital

-until 15 years ago...

-..Lluesty Hospital.

-Ieuan said that the workhouse

-also had a cultural significance...

-..linked to folk songs.

-Years ago, a certain

-Lady Herbert Lewis lived in Caerwys.

-She was famous in Wales.

-The phonograph

-had just been invented.

-It was a kind

-of primitive tape recorder.

-She was far-seeing.

-She realized old melodies

-should be recorded...

-..before they were lost.

-She unearthed a treasure

-trove of songs here.

-Two women in the workhouse

-were renowned singers.

-It was arranged

-for Lady Herbert Lewis...

-..to talk to one woman

-and listen to her songs.

-But the woman's language was

-unseemly and she'd been drinking.

-They were afraid that Lady Herbert

-Lewis would hear bad language.

-So they went to her 90-year-old

-sister, Mrs Jane Williams.

-She knew many songs like "Y Bachgen

-Main" and "Lliw Gwyn Rhosyn Yr Haf."

-# Good day to you, bright star #

-There were some English songs too.

-OLD RECORDING

-# Oh, I'm a lad from Wales

-# Living far from his land

-# I have lost my ship and load

-# And my crew has drowned #

-Do you sing some of the songs?

-I know them all, really.

-I know them all, really.

-

-Fantastic.

-We sang Cadi Ha as children,

-like my father and grandfather.

-Do you want to hear it?

-Do you want to hear it?

-

-I'd love to.

-There are different versions,

-but my grandfather gave me this one.

-# Hoo ha wen, Cadi ha

-# Morris stout,

-for the highest leaping

-# Hoo, that will do

-# And tail of cow and tail of calf,

-the blacksmith Richard Parry's too

-# Hoo, that will do,

-lada lee, lada lo

-# Lada gisa borrow, hoo that will do

-# And tail of cow and tail of calf,

-the blacksmith Richard Parry's too

-# Hoo, that will do #

-That's it.

-Thank you very much. Fantastic.

-Wow!

-The rain wouldn't stop.

-Time for a cuppa.

-I had an opportunity

-to learn more about the town.

-The area developed rapidly

-during the Industrial Revolution.

-The lead, copper and cotton

-works were very important.

-Good cuppa.

-Good cuppa.

-

-The population and town grew.

-But now, there are only vestiges

-of the former industry.

-It brought great wealth to Holywell.

-Two centuries ago...

-..it was a very prosperous place.

-Of course, children

-worked in the factories.

-The factories were terrible places.

-They were dusty and poisonous,

-for example the copper works.

-Arsenic comes from copper.

-The factory workers,

-two centuries ago, were advised...

-..to wash their whole bodies

-once a week, to get rid of the dust.

-Before eating their lunch,

-their "snapin"...

-..they had to wash their hands.

-But they still

-fell ill and threw up.

-The vomit was green, because

-of the arsenic in the copper.

-Ieuan's accent is unfamiliar to me.

-It's fab to hear

-the natural Holywell dialect.

-We haven't heard much

-of this Welsh dialect today.

-I'm interested in hearing

-how Ieuan sees his home town now.

-We are in Wales, don't worry

-about that. We are indeed.

-It's not as Welsh

-as it was long ago.

-When I was a child in the 1950s...

-..a lot of Holywell's old people,

-the late Victorians, spoke Welsh.

-But by the 1960s, they had died.

-There were no more.

-But there's a Welsh medium school

-here. Ysgol Gwenffrwd is prospering.

-Did you go to a Welsh medium school?

-No, I went to the English school.

-Almost no Welsh was taught.

-A lot of country children, say

-from Lixwm, were anglicized there.

-But in this area,

-it's under the surface.

-The names of hills, farms

-and houses are all Welsh.

-But sadly, the language

-is declining here.

-I think I know Holywell

-a little better now.

-If you want to get to know

-a place in a few hours...

-..find an interesting local.

-From Holywell, I catch a bus

-to the village of Hendre...

-..to taste some

-of the local produce.

-I like nothing better

-than a proper pub...

-..and a pint of local beer.

-This place has

-an excellent choice of beer.

-So let's go in to taste it.

-Local microbreweries

-flourish in this area.

-There are about ten

-within twenty miles of this pub.

-Hiya.

-Hiya.

-

-Hello.

-I'm here to taste a beer

-that is not only brewed locally...

-..but is full of local

-ingredients too.

-This is a Hafod beer.

-The owner is Phill.

-It's quite dark.

-He uses flowers

-like gorse from Moel Famau...

-..and makes different

-flavoured beers.

-He has at least

-half a dozen different beers.

-It's all based

-on what grows on Moel Famau.

-I like it.

-Young people are turning away from

-drinks like lagers to draught beer.

-I think many more women

-drink draught beer.

-Right.

-Do you think people in this area...

-..are different from the people

-in the rest of Wales?

-Yes, they are slightly different.

-The influence

-of the English language...

-..and Englishness...

-..has really affected them.

-If you came to this pub

-fifty years ago...

-..you might have heard

-nothing but Welsh here.

-Many people have moved

-to live in the villages.

-They're not Welsh speakers...

-..and not Welsh, in a way.

-Having said that...

-..people from the area...

-..are very loyal

-to their background and culture.

-If you go back

-to the age of the bards...

-..Wales's greatest poets

-came from this area.

-Elizabeth I insisted

-that Welsh poets had a licence.

-People used to say

-they were poets...

-..and went to the grand houses.

-The bloke said, "I have

-a big feast in a fortnight.

-"I want an ode for my guest."

-"Alright, I'll write

-an ode, no problem."

-The night before the feast,

-he'd open the window and be off.

-The lord would have no ode.

-There were complaints

-back in Elizabeth I's reign.

-She said the poets

-had to have a licence.

-These were distributed

-at the Caerwys eisteddfod.

-The next time a poet arrived...

-..the lord could ask,

-"Where's your licence, pal?"

-Ah!

-To try and stop them!

-Different words are used

-in the Welsh spoken here.

-When I first came here,

-people used the word "crugo".

-They said, "Dwi'n crugo."

-I wondered what the hell it meant.

-Is the person in pain or dying,

-or has he won the pools?

-It means "I'm sorry".

-Right!

-If someone in this area

-says that, it means "I'm sorry."

-They talked about the "cor".

-I'm from Anglesey, where "cor"

-is a group of people singing.

-Here, it isn't.

-It can mean a choir.

-But it can also mean a cowshed.

-So they keep cows in the "cor".

-I hadn't come across it before.

-I've never heard that before.

-Thanks for sharing your stories.

-Fantastic.

-Fantastic.

-

-It's a pleasure.

-Brilliant. Thanks.

-Brilliant. Thanks.

-

-You're welcome.

-What a fine start to the journey!

-The people and their

-dialect are unique.

-Next week, I travel

-from Chirk to Oswestry...

-..looking for more border stories.

-LAUGHS

-S4C Subtitles by Gwead

-.