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# We'll keep a welcome in the hillside... # | 0:00:02 | 0:00:05 | |
'Singing is in the blood of the Welsh | 0:00:05 | 0:00:07 | |
'and I began here at an early age, before taking to the West End stage. | 0:00:07 | 0:00:11 | |
'My singing career started in church | 0:00:11 | 0:00:13 | |
'in the Good News choir, in Pembrokeshire, | 0:00:13 | 0:00:16 | |
'and this quaint chapel in my home village of Hayscastle | 0:00:16 | 0:00:20 | |
'is one of my favourites.' | 0:00:20 | 0:00:22 | |
There's something about Pembrokeshire | 0:00:22 | 0:00:24 | |
that draws people back. | 0:00:24 | 0:00:25 | |
Today, for Songs of Praise, I've come to revisit | 0:00:25 | 0:00:28 | |
the places of my childhood and meet people who have also returned | 0:00:28 | 0:00:31 | |
to the land of their fathers and resettled back in Wales. | 0:00:31 | 0:00:35 | |
I meet a singing star | 0:00:36 | 0:00:38 | |
who rediscovered her faith on her return to Wales, | 0:00:38 | 0:00:40 | |
catch up with a man who literally has a cross to bear, | 0:00:40 | 0:00:44 | |
fellow West End star John Owen Jones performs for us, | 0:00:44 | 0:00:47 | |
and we have a wealth of wonderful Welsh hymns. | 0:00:47 | 0:00:50 | |
'I moved to Pembrokeshire when I was four. | 0:01:03 | 0:01:06 | |
'For me, growing up here, | 0:01:06 | 0:01:08 | |
'the beaches, coves and fields were my playground.' | 0:01:08 | 0:01:11 | |
Wales is, of course, the land of song | 0:01:11 | 0:01:14 | |
so today, all our music comes from Welsh artists both old and new. | 0:01:14 | 0:01:18 | |
Let's start with a Welsh classic, | 0:01:18 | 0:01:20 | |
sung in Pembrokeshire's own cathedral at St David's, | 0:01:20 | 0:01:24 | |
Guide Me, O Thou Great Redeemer. | 0:01:24 | 0:01:26 | |
'Saundersfoot has been home to a Beach Mission | 0:04:24 | 0:04:27 | |
'since 1956, when it was started by a local vicar, | 0:04:27 | 0:04:30 | |
'Reverend Norman Ellison. | 0:04:30 | 0:04:31 | |
'A young John Welsby and his future wife Cherry joined Norman | 0:04:31 | 0:04:36 | |
'and took it over in 1978.' | 0:04:36 | 0:04:38 | |
I think I'm going to come and see if you want some gold! | 0:04:38 | 0:04:42 | |
'Now it's the turn of daughter Robyn and her generation to teach | 0:04:42 | 0:04:46 | |
'holidaymakers and their children about the Bible and its message.' | 0:04:46 | 0:04:50 | |
Robyn, tell me, what does a giant tarantula have to do | 0:04:50 | 0:04:55 | |
with telling stories of the Bible? | 0:04:55 | 0:04:57 | |
Yes, well, this is Boris the spider, and he... | 0:04:57 | 0:04:59 | |
-He's not in the Bible, right? -He's not in the Bible. | 0:04:59 | 0:05:02 | |
But we do use him as part of our props for dramas | 0:05:02 | 0:05:05 | |
and telling different stories and quizzes and all the fun things | 0:05:05 | 0:05:08 | |
that we do on the beach with the kids and families in the summer, | 0:05:08 | 0:05:11 | |
so sometimes we don't use Boris because he's a little bit scary | 0:05:11 | 0:05:15 | |
for the younger ones, but we do have a lot of fun with using props. | 0:05:15 | 0:05:18 | |
He's scary for me. So tell me more about the beach missions. | 0:05:18 | 0:05:21 | |
How long have you been involved with the beach missions in Saundersfoot? | 0:05:21 | 0:05:24 | |
Oh, well, I suppose I've grown up with it, really, so even | 0:05:24 | 0:05:27 | |
when I was a baby, I was brought down to the beach | 0:05:27 | 0:05:29 | |
-to see my dad doing that. -Did you wear one of these? | 0:05:29 | 0:05:32 | |
-Well, I'm sure... -Quite fetching. | 0:05:32 | 0:05:34 | |
I'm sure I was given equally embarrassing things | 0:05:34 | 0:05:36 | |
to be involved with, but, no, I started being involved with them | 0:05:36 | 0:05:41 | |
when I was 16, when I was old enough, so, yeah, | 0:05:41 | 0:05:44 | |
it was very influential in my growing-up years | 0:05:44 | 0:05:46 | |
because every summer, we would have an influx of people who'd... | 0:05:46 | 0:05:49 | |
you know, whose lives had been changed by the love of God | 0:05:49 | 0:05:51 | |
and who wanted to share it, so it was exciting. | 0:05:51 | 0:05:53 | |
-We were in school at the same time, weren't we? -I believe we were. | 0:05:53 | 0:05:57 | |
And I remember your face from around town | 0:05:57 | 0:05:59 | |
because we had a Christian bookshop in Haverfordwest, | 0:05:59 | 0:06:03 | |
which I believe is still there. | 0:06:03 | 0:06:05 | |
It is, yes, that was started way back with Reverend Ellison in his house | 0:06:05 | 0:06:09 | |
and then it developed into a stall in the market and, from there, | 0:06:09 | 0:06:13 | |
a shop in town. | 0:06:13 | 0:06:15 | |
'Robyn trained to be a music teacher | 0:06:15 | 0:06:17 | |
'and taught at a school in India for three years, | 0:06:17 | 0:06:19 | |
'but she realised she also wanted to teach children about God.' | 0:06:19 | 0:06:24 | |
The Lord opened the way for me | 0:06:24 | 0:06:25 | |
to study Theology for two years in Hertfordshire | 0:06:25 | 0:06:28 | |
at All Nations Christian College, | 0:06:28 | 0:06:30 | |
and I'm enjoying doing two things that | 0:06:30 | 0:06:33 | |
I really love - one is music teaching in your old school... | 0:06:33 | 0:06:37 | |
-Oh, really?! -Yes. | 0:06:37 | 0:06:38 | |
..and the other is doing a programme called | 0:06:38 | 0:06:41 | |
Bible Explorer, which is going into primary schools | 0:06:41 | 0:06:44 | |
and is telling Bible stories, and it's a real privilege to do it | 0:06:44 | 0:06:50 | |
because those stories have been the foundations of my life | 0:06:50 | 0:06:53 | |
and it's lovely to be able to pass them on. | 0:06:53 | 0:06:56 | |
# Give us, O Lord, a sight | 0:07:03 | 0:07:06 | |
# Of Calvary | 0:07:06 | 0:07:11 | |
# Let this land be broken | 0:07:11 | 0:07:16 | |
# And set free | 0:07:16 | 0:07:20 | |
# Tear open our hearts | 0:07:20 | 0:07:25 | |
# As we see the cross | 0:07:25 | 0:07:30 | |
# I'm glad to know | 0:07:30 | 0:07:35 | |
# The heart that bled for love | 0:07:35 | 0:07:43 | |
# Then sings my soul | 0:07:55 | 0:07:58 | |
# Then sings my soul | 0:07:58 | 0:08:02 | |
# Then sings my soul | 0:08:02 | 0:08:07 | |
# Then sings my soul | 0:08:07 | 0:08:11 | |
# Then sings my soul | 0:08:11 | 0:08:14 | |
# O, my Saviour gone | 0:08:14 | 0:08:16 | |
# To Thee | 0:08:16 | 0:08:18 | |
# How great Thou art | 0:08:18 | 0:08:24 | |
# How great Thou art | 0:08:24 | 0:08:27 | |
# Then sings my soul | 0:08:27 | 0:08:30 | |
# My Saviour God | 0:08:30 | 0:08:33 | |
# To Thee | 0:08:33 | 0:08:36 | |
# How great Thou art | 0:08:36 | 0:08:39 | |
# How great Thou art | 0:08:39 | 0:08:44 | |
# Give us, O Lord, a sight | 0:08:46 | 0:08:48 | |
# Of Calvary | 0:08:48 | 0:08:49 | |
# Let this land be broken | 0:08:49 | 0:08:52 | |
# And set free | 0:08:52 | 0:08:54 | |
# Tear open our hearts | 0:08:54 | 0:08:56 | |
# As we see the cross | 0:08:56 | 0:08:58 | |
# I'm glad to know | 0:08:58 | 0:09:00 | |
# The heart that bled for love | 0:09:00 | 0:09:02 | |
# Give us, O Lord, a sight | 0:09:02 | 0:09:04 | |
# Of Calvary | 0:09:04 | 0:09:07 | |
# Let this land be broken | 0:09:07 | 0:09:08 | |
# And set it free | 0:09:08 | 0:09:10 | |
# Tear open our hearts | 0:09:10 | 0:09:12 | |
# As we see the cross | 0:09:12 | 0:09:14 | |
# I'm glad to know | 0:09:14 | 0:09:16 | |
# The heart that bled for us | 0:09:16 | 0:09:21 | |
# How great Thou art | 0:09:25 | 0:09:29 | |
# How great Thou art | 0:09:29 | 0:09:34 | |
# Then sings my soul | 0:09:34 | 0:09:37 | |
# My Saviour God, to Thee | 0:09:37 | 0:09:42 | |
# How great Thou art | 0:09:42 | 0:09:45 | |
# How great Thou art. # | 0:09:45 | 0:09:52 | |
Freshwater West is used to unusual sights. | 0:10:05 | 0:10:08 | |
When I was 12, I made a music video here | 0:10:08 | 0:10:11 | |
as part of the Good News Choir. | 0:10:11 | 0:10:13 | |
It is also a popular location for Hollywood films. | 0:10:13 | 0:10:16 | |
It's been featured in Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows | 0:10:16 | 0:10:19 | |
and in Robin Hood, but at Eastertime, | 0:10:19 | 0:10:22 | |
it witnessed a seasonal, but strange sight. | 0:10:22 | 0:10:25 | |
For the past two Easters, Andy Garratt and Jonathan Beharral | 0:10:33 | 0:10:36 | |
have walked along the coastal path here, | 0:10:36 | 0:10:38 | |
carrying a seven-foot cross, made out of driftwood | 0:10:38 | 0:10:41 | |
collected from the beach. | 0:10:41 | 0:10:45 | |
Last year, we did it as a prayer for witness to Open Doors | 0:10:45 | 0:10:49 | |
and the Persecuted Church | 0:10:49 | 0:10:50 | |
and this year, we did it for SASRA, | 0:10:50 | 0:10:53 | |
the Soldiers' And Airmen's Scripture Reading Association, and prayerfully | 0:10:53 | 0:10:58 | |
considering those suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. | 0:10:58 | 0:11:03 | |
How long did you walk for? | 0:11:03 | 0:11:06 | |
-Last year, we walked for 24 hours. -Wow! | 0:11:06 | 0:11:09 | |
And this year, thankfully, we did it a bit shorter | 0:11:09 | 0:11:13 | |
at about five-and-a-half hours, six hours, about 15 miles. | 0:11:13 | 0:11:18 | |
Jonathan, what was the reaction like from those that you met? | 0:11:18 | 0:11:21 | |
For the majority of the time it was very positive. | 0:11:21 | 0:11:26 | |
But we do remember, and the Scriptures tell us this, | 0:11:26 | 0:11:30 | |
that the cross is a stumbling block for those who struggle to believe. | 0:11:30 | 0:11:36 | |
And although we do not set out to provoke a reaction, | 0:11:37 | 0:11:41 | |
we are aware that the cross will provoke a reaction. | 0:11:41 | 0:11:46 | |
-Are you encouraging others to walk with you? -We are indeed. | 0:11:46 | 0:11:50 | |
And others who've joined us for a short time | 0:11:50 | 0:11:53 | |
consent to know what it is all about. | 0:11:53 | 0:11:55 | |
-Not 24 hours, though, right? -That's yet to happen. | 0:11:55 | 0:11:59 | |
Andy, you weren't always in Pembrokeshire, were you? | 0:12:01 | 0:12:04 | |
No, I was brought up in Pembrokeshire and I went away | 0:12:04 | 0:12:07 | |
when I was younger and joined the military | 0:12:07 | 0:12:10 | |
and served in the armed forces for a number of years | 0:12:10 | 0:12:15 | |
and then joined the police service. | 0:12:15 | 0:12:18 | |
And 12 years ago, came back home to Powys Police | 0:12:18 | 0:12:23 | |
and I have been living here ever since. So it is great to be back. | 0:12:23 | 0:12:27 | |
-It is lovely. -Andy, it looks like it might be getting heavy now. | 0:12:27 | 0:12:31 | |
-Could I maybe have a go? -Yes, sure. -I'll bear the load. | 0:12:31 | 0:12:34 | |
It's heavier than I thought. And you carried this for how long, you say? | 0:12:37 | 0:12:42 | |
We did 24 hours and then five hours. | 0:12:42 | 0:12:45 | |
But we were changing who was carrying it regularly as a team. | 0:12:46 | 0:12:51 | |
I would be changing very regularly. This is quite heavy. | 0:12:51 | 0:12:53 | |
-Well, you are part of the team. -I am now. | 0:12:53 | 0:12:57 | |
Maureen Guy and myself have a lot in common. | 0:15:43 | 0:15:46 | |
The mezzo soprano also grew up in Wales, she sang at the Eisteddfod | 0:15:46 | 0:15:50 | |
and we both left as teenagers | 0:15:50 | 0:15:52 | |
to pursue our singing careers in London. | 0:15:52 | 0:15:54 | |
-How old were you when you left Wales? -I was just 18. | 0:15:56 | 0:16:01 | |
How did that feel, leaving your homeland? | 0:16:01 | 0:16:04 | |
I was burning with ambition. | 0:16:06 | 0:16:08 | |
Sounds like me. | 0:16:08 | 0:16:10 | |
And I felt I wanted to go places, I wanted to meet people. | 0:16:10 | 0:16:16 | |
I felt it was a phase of life I wanted to go for. | 0:16:16 | 0:16:20 | |
I can see from the photos you have got here, | 0:16:20 | 0:16:22 | |
your career took you all over the world. | 0:16:22 | 0:16:25 | |
What would you say your highlights have been? | 0:16:25 | 0:16:28 | |
Working with some very, very fine conductors. | 0:16:29 | 0:16:33 | |
I did the concert that was given for Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space. | 0:16:33 | 0:16:40 | |
This has to be a highlight surely, | 0:16:40 | 0:16:41 | |
the Investiture Of The Prince Of Wales. | 0:16:41 | 0:16:44 | |
Oh, yes. | 0:16:44 | 0:16:45 | |
Yes, I enjoyed that. | 0:16:49 | 0:16:51 | |
It was wonderful being chosen as one of the Welsh soloists | 0:16:51 | 0:16:56 | |
to sing at the investiture. | 0:16:56 | 0:16:57 | |
Somewhere along the way, you met your husband, John. | 0:16:59 | 0:17:02 | |
Well, I met John, you know, | 0:17:02 | 0:17:04 | |
when I was in the early days of Sadler's Wells. | 0:17:04 | 0:17:07 | |
Was it love at first note? | 0:17:07 | 0:17:09 | |
No, I just admired him as an artist. | 0:17:09 | 0:17:12 | |
-And we worked up from there. -He followed you back to Wales. | 0:17:14 | 0:17:18 | |
And he followed me back to Wales, yes. | 0:17:18 | 0:17:20 | |
'John was also an internationally-renowned singer | 0:17:21 | 0:17:24 | |
'who was born in the Lancashire village of Blackrod. | 0:17:24 | 0:17:27 | |
'But when it became time to retire 13 years ago, | 0:17:27 | 0:17:30 | |
'they both agreed Pembrokeshire was the place. | 0:17:30 | 0:17:33 | |
'Since being here, | 0:17:33 | 0:17:34 | |
'they've rediscovered their all-important faith.' | 0:17:34 | 0:17:37 | |
When you were growing up, were you always chapel-goers? | 0:17:37 | 0:17:40 | |
Yes, yes, I was brought up in the chapel, christened there | 0:17:40 | 0:17:45 | |
and made a member of Bethel chapel. | 0:17:45 | 0:17:49 | |
-And we got married there. -Yes. | 0:17:49 | 0:17:52 | |
Has moving back to Wales helped your faith? | 0:17:52 | 0:17:55 | |
I feel I belong here. I'm Welsh. When we moved here, we bought a house. | 0:17:55 | 0:18:01 | |
And we met a gentleman taking a walk | 0:18:01 | 0:18:04 | |
and we started talking about chapels | 0:18:04 | 0:18:07 | |
and how we would like to settle down here and so forth and he said, | 0:18:07 | 0:18:12 | |
"Why don't you come and see Carew?" So we did. | 0:18:12 | 0:18:20 | |
We loved the people and they have been... | 0:18:20 | 0:18:23 | |
It is an extension of the family. | 0:18:23 | 0:18:26 | |
-And we have been happy here ever since, haven't we? -Yes. | 0:18:26 | 0:18:30 | |
Although Blackrod is still in me, | 0:18:30 | 0:18:33 | |
it is not as much now as it was ever before. | 0:18:33 | 0:18:37 | |
I feel far more Welsh than Blackrodian. | 0:18:37 | 0:18:42 | |
-Maybe that's because the Welsh are better singers. -I don't know. | 0:18:42 | 0:18:45 | |
I don't know. They're not bad in Blackrod. | 0:18:45 | 0:18:48 | |
# Every morning when I wake | 0:18:50 | 0:18:56 | |
# Dear Lord, a little prayer I make | 0:18:56 | 0:19:03 | |
# O please to keep thy loving eye | 0:19:03 | 0:19:09 | |
# On all poor creatures born to die | 0:19:09 | 0:19:16 | |
# And every evening at sun-down | 0:19:18 | 0:19:25 | |
# I ask a blessing on the town | 0:19:25 | 0:19:31 | |
# For whether we last the night or no | 0:19:31 | 0:19:38 | |
# I'm sure is always touch-and-go | 0:19:38 | 0:19:46 | |
# We are not wholly bad or good | 0:19:48 | 0:19:54 | |
# Who live our lives under Milk Wood | 0:19:54 | 0:20:00 | |
# And thou, I know, wilt be the first | 0:20:00 | 0:20:07 | |
# To see our best side, not our worst | 0:20:07 | 0:20:14 | |
# O let us see another day | 0:20:16 | 0:20:22 | |
# Bless us all this night, I pray | 0:20:22 | 0:20:30 | |
# And to the sun we all will bow | 0:20:30 | 0:20:37 | |
# And say goodbye | 0:20:37 | 0:20:39 | |
# But just for now. # | 0:20:41 | 0:20:47 | |
Pembrokeshire National Park stretches for 260 miles along | 0:20:49 | 0:20:53 | |
the Welsh coast and receives over four million visitors every year. | 0:20:53 | 0:20:59 | |
One of the best ways to see the coast is from the water, | 0:20:59 | 0:21:02 | |
so today I'm off with three generations of the same family | 0:21:02 | 0:21:05 | |
to explore the coastline by kayak. | 0:21:05 | 0:21:08 | |
George Middleton, his daughter-in-law Sarah, | 0:21:17 | 0:21:20 | |
and granddaughter Alice regularly take to the sea around St David's | 0:21:20 | 0:21:24 | |
but they aren't just out for a day trip. | 0:21:24 | 0:21:26 | |
They are water-bound Wombles, clearing the coastline | 0:21:26 | 0:21:29 | |
and beaches of rubbish. | 0:21:29 | 0:21:31 | |
Alice, when you are kayaking you don't see the rubbish | 0:21:35 | 0:21:38 | |
but it totally washes up. | 0:21:38 | 0:21:40 | |
Yes, not only does it look ugly on this beautiful beach | 0:21:40 | 0:21:42 | |
but it is also causing huge amount of damage to the wildlife. | 0:21:42 | 0:21:47 | |
Every year, 100,000 mammals and one million sea birds die from ingestion | 0:21:47 | 0:21:53 | |
of plastic and also entanglement in things like these fishing lines. | 0:21:53 | 0:21:57 | |
How often do you come out? | 0:21:57 | 0:21:59 | |
Well, I live just a mile from here so I'm constantly on the beaches | 0:21:59 | 0:22:04 | |
and I'll do a beach clean every day if I'm on the beach. | 0:22:04 | 0:22:07 | |
Alice was married in nearby St David's like her mother before her. | 0:22:08 | 0:22:13 | |
Mum Sarah and her father-in-law George are regulars | 0:22:13 | 0:22:16 | |
at the cathedral but find the outdoors equally as spiritual. | 0:22:16 | 0:22:19 | |
I have a passion for where I live and whether it is on the water | 0:22:21 | 0:22:26 | |
or inland up on the hills, it is part of my soul, part of my lifeline. | 0:22:26 | 0:22:32 | |
You've not always been based here, though. | 0:22:33 | 0:22:36 | |
In my young twenties, I lived in London and worked as a nanny. | 0:22:36 | 0:22:39 | |
-CONNIE LAUGHS -Me too! | 0:22:39 | 0:22:41 | |
-We have something in common. -Yes! -Did you wear a habit? | 0:22:41 | 0:22:45 | |
Yes, I just couldn't quite resist that Christian look, so... | 0:22:45 | 0:22:48 | |
-Couldn't kick the habit! -Yes! | 0:22:48 | 0:22:50 | |
So what brought you back? | 0:22:50 | 0:22:51 | |
Was it the countryside, was it that you feel...? | 0:22:51 | 0:22:54 | |
There was always a calling for this area. | 0:22:54 | 0:22:57 | |
I used to find driving away from Pembrokeshire, going back - | 0:22:57 | 0:23:00 | |
whether it was to school or to work in London - I'd have tears | 0:23:00 | 0:23:04 | |
rolling down my face just thinking, "Why am I leaving this area?!" | 0:23:04 | 0:23:09 | |
And other times, coming back, as you come over a brow of a hill, | 0:23:09 | 0:23:14 | |
you just have this span of St Brides Bay opening up before you | 0:23:14 | 0:23:17 | |
and it just opens your whole being. And again, just crying because of | 0:23:17 | 0:23:21 | |
that sense of coming home to where I'm meant to be. | 0:23:21 | 0:23:23 | |
Heavenly Father, we thank you for your creation. | 0:26:23 | 0:26:26 | |
We see you in the beauty that lies all around us. | 0:26:26 | 0:26:30 | |
We thank you that we can | 0:26:31 | 0:26:33 | |
take your love with us | 0:26:33 | 0:26:35 | |
wherever in the world we find ourselves. | 0:26:35 | 0:26:39 | |
And we thank you that we can teach others about you through play, | 0:26:40 | 0:26:45 | |
prayer and preaching. | 0:26:45 | 0:26:47 | |
Amen. | 0:26:47 | 0:26:49 | |
Coming back to the place you grew up is full of potential pitfalls. | 0:30:19 | 0:30:23 | |
Will it have changed, will it be the same, | 0:30:23 | 0:30:25 | |
will my memories be ruined? | 0:30:25 | 0:30:27 | |
Well, from what I've experienced from those I've met, | 0:30:27 | 0:30:30 | |
sometimes there's no place like home. | 0:30:30 | 0:30:33 | |
Our final piece of music today is a classic hymn of thanksgiving. | 0:30:33 | 0:30:37 | |
Sung at eventides at churches all over the world, The Day Thou Gavest. | 0:30:37 | 0:30:42 | |
Next week, to celebrate Pentecost Sunday, | 0:33:27 | 0:33:30 | |
David visits Brighton and looks at the alfresco art | 0:33:30 | 0:33:32 | |
with a spiritual message, | 0:33:32 | 0:33:35 | |
meets a prayerful community, | 0:33:35 | 0:33:37 | |
chats with worship leader Stuart Townend, | 0:33:37 | 0:33:39 | |
and Lou Fellingham and Phatfish lead hymns | 0:33:39 | 0:33:41 | |
and songs to lift your spirits. | 0:33:41 | 0:33:43 | |
Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd | 0:34:02 | 0:34:05 |