1 00:00:00,681 --> 00:00:02,658 My name is Hywel Gwynfryn 2 00:00:02,658 --> 00:00:05,868 and I'm a broadcaster at the BBC 3 00:00:05,868 --> 00:00:09,503 BBC Cymru here in the capital, Cardiff 4 00:00:09,503 --> 00:00:11,916 where I live as well as work 5 00:00:11,916 --> 00:00:15,720 But my journey starts back in 1942 6 00:00:15,720 --> 00:00:19,899 That's when I was born in Llangefni, in Anglesey 7 00:00:19,899 --> 00:00:24,925 A small island on the north coast of Wales. 8 00:00:24,925 --> 00:00:29,135 Then I went to primary school when I was about six 9 00:00:29,135 --> 00:00:31,342 and I had to learn English 10 00:00:31,342 --> 00:00:34,534 because Welsh was my first language 11 00:00:34,534 --> 00:00:38,124 Welsh was the language we spoke as a family and at home 12 00:00:38,124 --> 00:00:41,114 and it had been that way for years 13 00:00:41,114 --> 00:00:44,501 certainly, when I was at school in Llangefni 14 00:00:44,509 --> 00:00:50,859 around 95% of the island's population spoke Welsh 15 00:00:50,859 --> 00:00:54,987 but that figure has dropped quite a lot since then 16 00:00:54,987 --> 00:00:58,679 Anyway, after primary school I went to secondary school 17 00:00:58,679 --> 00:01:01,814 and I thoroughly enjoyed myself there 18 00:01:01,814 --> 00:01:05,161 because it was there that I developed an interest in acting 19 00:01:05,161 --> 00:01:09,418 and I also had the chance to visit the studios in Bangor 20 00:01:09,418 --> 00:01:11,097 and be a radio actor 21 00:01:11,102 --> 00:01:13,942 My mother was an actress herself 22 00:01:13,942 --> 00:01:17,211 and I would go with her to the studio 23 00:01:17,211 --> 00:01:20,797 to watch the other actors while I sat quietly in the corner 24 00:01:20,797 --> 00:01:24,260 and then one day, I had the chance to act 25 00:01:24,260 --> 00:01:26,318 and I remember it well 26 00:01:26,318 --> 00:01:29,042 the producer came up to my mother 27 00:01:29,042 --> 00:01:34,320 to ask if she knew anyone who would like to act on the radio 28 00:01:34,320 --> 00:01:38,640 it was the part of a boy in the soap opera "Teulu'r Siop" (The Shop Family) 29 00:01:38,640 --> 00:01:41,828 the first radio soap opera in Welsh, as it happens 30 00:01:41,828 --> 00:01:44,805 and she said "well Hywel", that was me 31 00:01:44,810 --> 00:01:46,877 "Hywel's an actor" 32 00:01:46,877 --> 00:01:49,896 "Maybe he'd be interested" 33 00:01:49,896 --> 00:01:53,169 And then Wilbur Lloyd Roberts gave me the script 34 00:01:53,169 --> 00:01:55,727 and I read the script straight away 35 00:01:55,728 --> 00:01:59,218 and he said "well, the boy can act" 36 00:01:59,218 --> 00:02:01,431 I didn't know how he could possibly know that 37 00:02:01,431 --> 00:02:03,915 but it was a truly accurate prediction 38 00:02:03,915 --> 00:02:07,404 because what happened later on, to fast forward a little bit 39 00:02:07,404 --> 00:02:11,738 I came here to Cardiff in 1960 40 00:02:11,738 --> 00:02:15,447 to study at the (Royal Welsh) College of Music and Drama 41 00:02:15,452 --> 00:02:17,882 not to study acting, funnily enough 42 00:02:17,882 --> 00:02:21,823 but to become a drama teacher 43 00:02:21,823 --> 00:02:26,161 And by the way, the college itself was in the castle here in Cardiff 44 00:02:26,173 --> 00:02:28,573 inside the castle walls 45 00:02:28,573 --> 00:02:31,758 and it was a very happy two years. 46 00:02:31,763 --> 00:02:34,049 At the end of that spell 47 00:02:34,049 --> 00:02:36,258 I then got my certificate 48 00:02:36,258 --> 00:02:40,736 that proved that I was good enough to be a drama teacher 49 00:02:40,736 --> 00:02:43,487 and I actually had a job to go to 50 00:02:43,487 --> 00:02:46,169 A certificate as well as a job to go to 51 00:02:46,172 --> 00:02:48,342 just down the road in Kenfig Hill 52 00:02:48,342 --> 00:02:52,593 but what happened was that I had started working part time that summer 53 00:02:52,593 --> 00:02:57,567 during the evenings to earn some money 54 00:02:57,567 --> 00:03:00,803 before going on to start as a teacher 55 00:03:00,803 --> 00:03:04,021 And who came in to the place where I was working 56 00:03:04,021 --> 00:03:06,542 The Borough Arms here in Cardiff 57 00:03:06,542 --> 00:03:08,055 but a crew from the BBC 58 00:03:08,055 --> 00:03:09,987 and to cut a long story short 59 00:03:09,987 --> 00:03:14,324 they asked me to go over to the studio in two months time 60 00:03:14,324 --> 00:03:16,520 in order for me, or so I thought 61 00:03:16,521 --> 00:03:19,114 to have the chance to talk about my work 62 00:03:19,118 --> 00:03:21,598 but when I arrived, what they wanted was 63 00:03:21,598 --> 00:03:26,272 for me to form part of the "Heddiw" (Today) team 64 00:03:26,272 --> 00:03:28,890 a daily news roundup 65 00:03:28,890 --> 00:03:31,876 and I was to go out of the studio 66 00:03:31,876 --> 00:03:36,930 and bring a part of Wales far away from the studio 67 00:03:36,934 --> 00:03:40,464 into the studio and onto the programme 68 00:03:40,464 --> 00:03:45,077 I received a job offer for three months 69 00:03:45,077 --> 00:03:48,521 and since then I've been working with the BBC for fifty years 70 00:03:48,521 --> 00:03:51,215 in fact, this year I'm celebrating 71 00:03:51,215 --> 00:03:53,451 fifty years as a presenter 72 00:03:53,451 --> 00:03:55,401 through the medium of Welsh, no less 73 00:03:55,401 --> 00:03:57,569 I've been very lucky 74 00:03:57,569 --> 00:03:59,096 in the sense that, effectively 75 00:03:59,096 --> 00:04:02,936 I've been paid all these years 76 00:04:02,936 --> 00:04:04,796 to speak my own language 77 00:04:04,796 --> 00:04:08,071 or rather, to listen to other people speaking Welsh 78 00:04:08,071 --> 00:04:09,478 So what have I done? 79 00:04:09,478 --> 00:04:12,654 during this time, I've been around the world 80 00:04:12,664 --> 00:04:15,593 I've been to Florida in the USA 81 00:04:15,593 --> 00:04:18,775 I've also been to Patagonia in South America 82 00:04:18,775 --> 00:04:21,828 I've been as far as Sarawak and Borneo 83 00:04:21,828 --> 00:04:23,827 I've travelled around Europe 84 00:04:23,827 --> 00:04:27,710 filming programmes for children 85 00:04:27,710 --> 00:04:29,123 back in the 70s 86 00:04:29,123 --> 00:04:33,324 then in the 80s I made a programme called "Ar dy Feic" (On Your Bike) 87 00:04:33,324 --> 00:04:36,060 and I went as far as Beijing in China 88 00:04:36,060 --> 00:04:39,052 and it was an experience and a half which I remember well 89 00:04:39,052 --> 00:04:42,201 So I count myself very fortunate 90 00:04:42,201 --> 00:04:46,651 to not only have been able to do what comes naturally to me 91 00:04:46,651 --> 00:04:50,434 that is, to speak nineteen to the dozen 92 00:04:50,437 --> 00:04:53,157 but I've had such interesting work 93 00:04:53,157 --> 00:04:55,179 and such a variety of work too 94 00:04:55,179 --> 00:04:58,150 and I would later go down another route 95 00:04:58,150 --> 00:05:00,384 and I started to write books 96 00:05:00,384 --> 00:05:02,882 I've written a book about Hywel Griffith 97 00:05:02,882 --> 00:05:04,635 a very famous actor 98 00:05:04,635 --> 00:05:09,152 in a film I'm sure you all know, 'Ben Hur', with Charlton Heston 99 00:05:09,152 --> 00:05:14,610 well in that film Huw Griffith won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor 100 00:05:14,610 --> 00:05:17,636 well, I could obviously go on for hours 101 00:05:17,636 --> 00:05:19,717 talking about what I've done 102 00:05:19,717 --> 00:05:22,920 but that's a little snippet of my story 103 00:05:22,920 --> 00:05:25,388 it's been a pleasure chatting to you 104 00:05:25,388 --> 00:05:27,196 what's more, in my own language 105 00:05:27,196 --> 00:05:30,115 there are currently about half a million of us here in Wales 106 00:05:30,115 --> 00:05:32,076 who speak the Welsh language 107 00:05:32,076 --> 00:05:34,038 and even though its numbers are dwindling 108 00:05:34,038 --> 00:05:36,909 there are significant campaigns 109 00:05:36,909 --> 00:05:38,329 to keep it alive 110 00:05:38,329 --> 00:05:41,208 So thank you very much for listening 111 00:05:41,208 --> 00:05:42,725 thank you for listening 112 00:05:42,725 --> 00:05:43,515 Goodbye!