1 00:00:01,500 --> 00:00:06,760 23 minutes past seven, Wales has a new national poet, Ifor ap Glyn. 2 00:00:06,760 --> 00:00:08,520 And guess where he grew up - 3 00:00:08,520 --> 00:00:11,240 London. But he writes in Welsh and with a name like that, 4 00:00:11,240 --> 00:00:12,640 what else could he be but Welsh? 5 00:00:12,640 --> 00:00:14,200 What does it mean, though, being... 6 00:00:14,200 --> 00:00:19,360 In March 2016, I was appointed as the new National Poet of Wales. 7 00:00:19,360 --> 00:00:22,800 We have a long tradition of honouring our bards in this country, 8 00:00:22,800 --> 00:00:24,880 and each year at the National Eisteddfod, 9 00:00:24,880 --> 00:00:28,000 the winning poets are acclaimed with due pomp and ceremony. 10 00:00:30,720 --> 00:00:34,280 This year marks the centenary of the poet who was perhaps Wales' 11 00:00:34,280 --> 00:00:37,240 best-known national winner - Hedd Wyn. 12 00:00:38,320 --> 00:00:40,600 It's a uniquely Welsh tale - 13 00:00:40,600 --> 00:00:44,760 a talented young man with little formal education succeeds in winning 14 00:00:44,760 --> 00:00:47,080 one of the major prizes at the National Eisteddfod, 15 00:00:47,080 --> 00:00:49,960 but then tragically is killed in the Great War 16 00:00:49,960 --> 00:00:51,840 before he can claim his award. 17 00:00:53,320 --> 00:00:58,600 It's a story that symbolises the sacrifice and terrible waste of war. 18 00:00:58,600 --> 00:01:01,600 And no wonder it became the subject of an Oscar-nominated film. 19 00:01:03,760 --> 00:01:06,120 Although Hedd Wyn wrote in Welsh, 20 00:01:06,120 --> 00:01:09,000 his tragic story transcends language, 21 00:01:09,000 --> 00:01:12,520 and in 2014, after their qualifying match against Belgium, 22 00:01:12,520 --> 00:01:14,400 the Welsh national football squad 23 00:01:14,400 --> 00:01:16,200 paid their respects at his graveside. 24 00:01:18,280 --> 00:01:21,880 But what exactly is it about the Hedd Wyn story that continues 25 00:01:21,880 --> 00:01:22,800 to fascinate us today? 26 00:01:47,080 --> 00:01:48,440 In this programme, 27 00:01:48,440 --> 00:01:51,920 we'll retrace Hedd Wyn's footsteps in Wales, England, 28 00:01:51,920 --> 00:01:53,440 France and Belgium, 29 00:01:53,440 --> 00:01:57,840 but the central location in his story is his home here at Yr Ysgwrn 30 00:01:57,840 --> 00:02:00,120 near Trawsfynydd in North Wales. 31 00:02:01,520 --> 00:02:04,520 This was the place that inspired him as a poet 32 00:02:04,520 --> 00:02:07,560 and visitors have been coming here ever since his death 33 00:02:07,560 --> 00:02:10,160 to try and get closer to the man behind the myth. 34 00:02:15,480 --> 00:02:17,400 To mark the centenary of his death, 35 00:02:17,400 --> 00:02:21,880 nearly £3 million has been spent over the last two years to create 36 00:02:21,880 --> 00:02:26,280 a new visitor centre and exhibition spaces in the old outbuildings. 37 00:02:28,920 --> 00:02:32,560 The aim is to reinterpret Hedd Wyn for future generations. 38 00:02:34,800 --> 00:02:37,080 But the house is a veritable time capsule 39 00:02:37,080 --> 00:02:39,960 that's hardly changed since 1917 40 00:02:39,960 --> 00:02:43,520 and ever since then, this is where Hedd Wyn's family have been showing 41 00:02:43,520 --> 00:02:45,600 visitors the six chairs that he won. 42 00:02:47,160 --> 00:02:50,400 This is Hedd Wyn's nephew, Gerald Williams. 43 00:03:22,040 --> 00:03:23,360 But who was Hedd Wyn? 44 00:03:24,480 --> 00:03:27,440 This is his statue, here in the middle of Trawsfynydd, 45 00:03:27,440 --> 00:03:30,280 and it's worth remembering that statues of working class men 46 00:03:30,280 --> 00:03:32,680 like Hedd Wyn are few and far between here in Wales. 47 00:03:34,360 --> 00:03:37,680 When this statue was unveiled in 1923, 48 00:03:37,680 --> 00:03:41,320 Hedd Wyn had become a hero to the ordinary people of Wales. 49 00:03:41,320 --> 00:03:44,480 And indeed, it was their pennies and shillings that paid for it, 50 00:03:44,480 --> 00:03:47,480 with contributions flooding in from all over the country, 51 00:03:47,480 --> 00:03:50,200 and even from Welsh exiles in England and America. 52 00:03:51,520 --> 00:03:54,240 In a war that saw destruction and loss of life 53 00:03:54,240 --> 00:03:56,320 on an unprecedented scale, 54 00:03:56,320 --> 00:04:00,880 Hedd Wyn came to represent a whole generation of lost Welsh talent. 55 00:04:00,880 --> 00:04:04,920 He's portrayed here not as a soldier with his rifle or even 56 00:04:04,920 --> 00:04:08,360 as a poet with his pen, but as an ordinary working man. 57 00:04:08,360 --> 00:04:09,600 As a shepherd. 58 00:04:15,960 --> 00:04:19,480 Ellis Evans, or Hedd Wyn as he later became known, 59 00:04:19,480 --> 00:04:23,280 was born in 1887, the son of a farmer. 60 00:04:23,280 --> 00:04:27,200 He was the eldest of 11 children but was more interested in his poetry 61 00:04:27,200 --> 00:04:28,360 than in running a farm. 62 00:04:29,800 --> 00:04:31,720 According to a newspaper interview 63 00:04:31,720 --> 00:04:33,880 with his mother shortly after his death... 64 00:04:33,880 --> 00:04:35,320 He was no shepherd. 65 00:04:35,320 --> 00:04:38,200 I would tell him, "What if you get married, my boy?" 66 00:04:38,200 --> 00:04:40,120 "Your poor wife will starve." 67 00:04:41,800 --> 00:04:44,520 Perhaps his mother was being a little harsh. 68 00:04:44,520 --> 00:04:48,120 After his death, the press were keen to project the image of Hedd Wyn 69 00:04:48,120 --> 00:04:51,400 as an otherworldly romantic dreamer. 70 00:04:51,400 --> 00:04:54,680 But his parents were undoubtedly supportive of their son 71 00:04:54,680 --> 00:04:57,120 and his poetic gifts. 72 00:04:57,120 --> 00:05:00,120 He would pen his compositions at night, 73 00:05:00,120 --> 00:05:03,560 between half past ten in the evening and three in the morning. 74 00:05:03,560 --> 00:05:06,760 The next day, we'd let him get up as he pleased. 75 00:05:08,840 --> 00:05:12,480 Hedd Wyn's father introduced him to poetry when he was 11 76 00:05:12,480 --> 00:05:15,640 and soon he was competing at his local chapel in Trawsfynydd. 77 00:05:17,560 --> 00:05:21,520 The chapel has since been demolished but it was in a meeting on this site 78 00:05:21,520 --> 00:05:25,200 that Hedd Wyn apparently won his first-ever prize as a poet, 79 00:05:25,200 --> 00:05:26,880 aged only 12 years old. 80 00:05:34,320 --> 00:05:37,280 In 1901, when he was 14 years old, 81 00:05:37,280 --> 00:05:40,640 Hedd Wyn left school to help on the family farm. 82 00:05:40,640 --> 00:05:43,800 But his talents as a poet would frequently be in demand, 83 00:05:43,800 --> 00:05:46,720 composing poems for weddings, funerals, 84 00:05:46,720 --> 00:05:50,160 indeed any kind of special occasion, as is still the tradition today. 85 00:05:52,640 --> 00:05:55,520 He was a poet rooted in his community 86 00:05:55,520 --> 00:05:58,120 and a valued commentator on its various events. 87 00:06:00,000 --> 00:06:02,920 Hedd Wyn excelled at writing poetry in cynghanedd, 88 00:06:02,920 --> 00:06:04,720 in traditional Welsh meter. 89 00:06:04,720 --> 00:06:07,120 It's an intricate and demanding form 90 00:06:07,120 --> 00:06:09,160 in which every line must be written 91 00:06:09,160 --> 00:06:13,280 according to set rules of alliteration and internal rhyme. 92 00:06:13,280 --> 00:06:15,320 Now, there are three kinds of cynghanedd. 93 00:06:15,320 --> 00:06:17,680 The first one involves internal rhyme. 94 00:06:17,680 --> 00:06:19,360 For instance... 95 00:06:21,720 --> 00:06:26,840 The "ard" in "bard" rhymes with the "ard" in "Cardiff". 96 00:06:26,840 --> 00:06:30,040 The second kind of cynghanedd involves alliteration. 97 00:06:30,040 --> 00:06:33,120 The consonants in the first part of a line must be repeated 98 00:06:33,120 --> 00:06:36,000 in the same order in the second part of the line. 99 00:06:36,000 --> 00:06:37,520 So, as an example... 100 00:06:41,640 --> 00:06:45,280 The T-R-T-V in "to write verse" 101 00:06:45,280 --> 00:06:48,520 are repeated in the second part of the line - 102 00:06:48,520 --> 00:06:49,640 "eat root veg." 103 00:06:49,640 --> 00:06:51,640 T-R-T-V. 104 00:06:51,640 --> 00:06:54,480 The third kind of cynghanedd is a combi-cynghanedd 105 00:06:54,480 --> 00:06:58,480 that involves both alliteration and internal rhyme. 106 00:06:58,480 --> 00:07:00,040 As an example... 107 00:07:03,360 --> 00:07:05,280 "Line" rhymes with "mine", 108 00:07:05,280 --> 00:07:10,240 and then the "M" in "mine" alliterates with the "M" in moaned. 109 00:07:10,240 --> 00:07:12,880 So, that's cynghanedd. 110 00:07:12,880 --> 00:07:16,400 Quite easy to explain, but not so easy to write. 111 00:07:18,600 --> 00:07:22,720 Hedd Wyn also excelled at writing simple lyrical poems, 112 00:07:22,720 --> 00:07:24,760 inspired by the beauty of his surroundings. 113 00:07:45,680 --> 00:07:46,960 But unfortunately, 114 00:07:46,960 --> 00:07:49,640 there was little money to be made in farming the land 115 00:07:49,640 --> 00:07:53,280 and even less in writing about it, and in 1908, 116 00:07:53,280 --> 00:07:58,120 Hedd Wyn joined the exodus to the booming coalfields of South Wales. 117 00:07:58,120 --> 00:08:00,320 He found work here in Abercynon. 118 00:08:04,240 --> 00:08:07,800 He lived in this house, on Glancynon Terrace 119 00:08:07,800 --> 00:08:11,040 lodging in all probability with Mr and Mrs Robert Morris. 120 00:08:11,040 --> 00:08:13,440 Mr Morris, like Hedd Wyn, hailed from Meirionnydd. 121 00:08:15,920 --> 00:08:19,760 He was one of the 2,500 men who worked at this pit. 122 00:08:21,280 --> 00:08:23,200 It was quite a change for the young man 123 00:08:23,200 --> 00:08:25,680 from the heart of rural Meirionnydd, 124 00:08:25,680 --> 00:08:29,280 but he would recall afterwards that the spirit of community, 125 00:08:29,280 --> 00:08:33,480 the willingness to share, was just the same in Abercynon as at home. 126 00:08:33,480 --> 00:08:36,600 He would repeat one of the miners' favourite phrases, 127 00:08:36,600 --> 00:08:39,680 tra bo chwech 'da fi, bydd tair 'da ti, bachan - 128 00:08:39,680 --> 00:08:42,520 while I've got sixpence, there's thruppence here for you. 129 00:08:44,760 --> 00:08:47,840 Whilst the proverbial generosity of the miner may well have appealed 130 00:08:47,840 --> 00:08:50,760 to Hedd Wyn, working underground certainly didn't. 131 00:08:51,880 --> 00:08:54,600 After just a few weeks here in Abercynon, 132 00:08:54,600 --> 00:08:57,440 he wrote this note to his friend Jane Williams, 133 00:08:57,440 --> 00:09:00,640 who was in the same Sunday school class as him, home in Trawsfynydd. 134 00:09:17,240 --> 00:09:18,720 And he kept to his word. 135 00:09:18,720 --> 00:09:20,760 He only stayed for three months 136 00:09:20,760 --> 00:09:23,360 before returning home to Trawsfynydd. 137 00:09:23,360 --> 00:09:26,840 Only one short poem has survived from his time here in Abercynon 138 00:09:26,840 --> 00:09:28,720 and its last two lines go like this... 139 00:09:29,840 --> 00:09:32,360 Yn y South fy nghorffyn sydd 140 00:09:32,360 --> 00:09:35,560 A f'enaid yn Nhrawsfynydd. 141 00:09:35,560 --> 00:09:38,960 My body may in south Wales live 142 00:09:38,960 --> 00:09:41,600 My soul is in Trawsfynydd. 143 00:09:49,760 --> 00:09:53,320 Gerald Williams was the last of Hedd Wyn's family to actually live 144 00:09:53,320 --> 00:09:55,440 in the old farmhouse at Yr Ysgwrn. 145 00:09:55,440 --> 00:10:00,080 But as he is in his 80s and has no children, in 2012, 146 00:10:00,080 --> 00:10:01,880 he had to make a difficult decision. 147 00:10:23,000 --> 00:10:26,880 The Snowdonia National Park are the new owners of Yr Ysgwrn, 148 00:10:26,880 --> 00:10:29,280 with Gerald now living in a nearby bungalow. 149 00:10:30,600 --> 00:10:32,000 In 2014, 150 00:10:32,000 --> 00:10:35,320 the Park made a successful bid to the National Lottery for funds 151 00:10:35,320 --> 00:10:38,400 to restore the farmhouse and to develop the outbuildings. 152 00:10:39,960 --> 00:10:42,800 This was the day the work began in earnest. 153 00:10:42,800 --> 00:10:45,960 First, the entire contents of the house had to be catalogued. 154 00:10:48,200 --> 00:10:51,240 Naomi Jones and Jess Enston are part of the team 155 00:10:51,240 --> 00:10:54,720 who look after Yr Ysgwrn on behalf of Snowdonia National Park. 156 00:11:01,160 --> 00:11:03,240 Hugh Haley from St Clears 157 00:11:03,240 --> 00:11:06,600 is one of Britain's leading furniture conservators. 158 00:11:06,600 --> 00:11:10,200 The job this week is to remove the chattels from the house, 159 00:11:10,200 --> 00:11:11,400 and the furniture, 160 00:11:11,400 --> 00:11:14,400 so that the conservation work can be done to the house itself. 161 00:11:19,480 --> 00:11:21,160 There you go, try that. 162 00:11:22,840 --> 00:11:25,520 We will be back up here next week. 163 00:11:25,520 --> 00:11:27,040 How are you bearing up, Gerald? 164 00:11:28,680 --> 00:11:30,560 Yes. Good question. 165 00:11:45,680 --> 00:11:49,040 The bed won't go down the stairs. We'll have to dismantle it. 166 00:11:56,720 --> 00:12:00,600 The six chairs that Hedd Wyn won in different eisteddfodau 167 00:12:00,600 --> 00:12:02,600 are handled with particular care. 168 00:12:05,680 --> 00:12:07,680 What do you think of that? Good idea? 169 00:12:07,680 --> 00:12:11,200 Wow, Gerald. 'Dach chi'n cael specialist treatment! 170 00:12:11,200 --> 00:12:13,280 SHE LAUGHS 171 00:12:15,920 --> 00:12:17,240 Thank you very much. 172 00:12:23,920 --> 00:12:25,760 According to the specialists, 173 00:12:25,760 --> 00:12:30,840 95% of the contents of the house date back to Hedd Wyn's time. 174 00:12:30,840 --> 00:12:33,000 Including, of course, the chairs that he won. 175 00:12:35,920 --> 00:12:39,000 Hedd Wyn would compete regularly at eisteddfodau. 176 00:12:39,000 --> 00:12:43,200 Apart from anything else, the prize money gave him a source of income. 177 00:12:43,200 --> 00:12:46,480 His parents couldn't afford to pay him a wage for working at home 178 00:12:46,480 --> 00:12:49,000 on the farm - just pocket money, occasionally. 179 00:12:52,000 --> 00:12:54,160 With the money that he won at eisteddfodau, 180 00:12:54,160 --> 00:12:57,480 he would treat his friends to a celebratory pint. 181 00:12:57,480 --> 00:12:59,760 On one such occasion, having won three shillings 182 00:12:59,760 --> 00:13:03,920 at the Llan Ffestiniog Eisteddfod for a verse in praise of Y Moelwyn, 183 00:13:03,920 --> 00:13:07,800 a local mountain, he took his mates to the pub to celebrate. 184 00:13:07,800 --> 00:13:11,760 After they drank the prize money, which was worth about 12 pints, 185 00:13:11,760 --> 00:13:15,520 Hedd Wyn exclaimed, "This is quite something. 186 00:13:15,520 --> 00:13:18,520 "We have drunk a whole mountain in a quarter of an hour." 187 00:13:24,080 --> 00:13:28,000 But if Hedd Wyn enjoyed the company of his contemporaries in the pub, 188 00:13:28,000 --> 00:13:31,360 he also enjoyed the intellectual stimulation of his peers. 189 00:13:33,120 --> 00:13:36,560 Although he'd left school at 14, he was still keen to learn. 190 00:13:37,720 --> 00:13:40,520 He read the works of Shelley, and would spend time 191 00:13:40,520 --> 00:13:43,720 with the local journalists and ministers of religion - 192 00:13:43,720 --> 00:13:45,400 Silyn Roberts, for instance, 193 00:13:45,400 --> 00:13:47,680 introduced him to the principles of socialism. 194 00:13:48,960 --> 00:13:52,440 One such friend was John Morris, a local teacher at the time. 195 00:14:33,680 --> 00:14:35,840 Perhaps Hedd Wyn was a little careless 196 00:14:35,840 --> 00:14:40,000 with his work once it was completed, but as that story indicates, 197 00:14:40,000 --> 00:14:43,920 the standard of his poetry was improving all the time. 198 00:14:43,920 --> 00:14:47,760 He won his first bardic chair in 1907, and the other poets 199 00:14:47,760 --> 00:14:50,440 in the area began to take notice of this young talent. 200 00:14:51,720 --> 00:14:54,440 Although we have been referring to him as Hedd Wyn, 201 00:14:54,440 --> 00:14:57,680 he was actually 23 years old before he acquired that name. 202 00:15:02,400 --> 00:15:04,800 The poets of the Ffestiniog area would come together 203 00:15:04,800 --> 00:15:08,160 every now and then in order to induct new members into their midst 204 00:15:08,160 --> 00:15:10,320 and to give them bardic names, 205 00:15:10,320 --> 00:15:12,720 by which they would henceforth be known. 206 00:15:12,720 --> 00:15:15,800 Now, this is a practice that continues to this day. 207 00:15:15,800 --> 00:15:19,840 My bardic name, although I don't use it very often, is Tafwysfardd - 208 00:15:19,840 --> 00:15:21,640 The Poet of the Thames. 209 00:15:21,640 --> 00:15:25,680 And it was on this spot in August 1910, 210 00:15:25,680 --> 00:15:28,400 on the outskirts of Llan Ffestiniog, 211 00:15:28,400 --> 00:15:30,800 that Ellis Evans from Trawsfynydd 212 00:15:30,800 --> 00:15:34,200 had the bardic name Hedd Wyn conferred upon him. 213 00:15:34,200 --> 00:15:38,240 Hedd means peace or tranquillity, Wyn means white, or sacred. 214 00:15:39,400 --> 00:15:43,640 And from that day on, to all but his closest family and friends, 215 00:15:43,640 --> 00:15:47,240 he would be known as Hedd Wyn. 216 00:15:47,240 --> 00:15:49,120 THUNDER RUMBLES 217 00:15:56,880 --> 00:16:00,240 Storm clouds were gathering over Europe, however, 218 00:16:00,240 --> 00:16:03,080 and in Trawsfynydd, they were more aware than most 219 00:16:03,080 --> 00:16:04,720 of the military build-up. 220 00:16:06,720 --> 00:16:08,560 Even though Hedd Wyn lived here 221 00:16:08,560 --> 00:16:10,640 in the heart of the Meirionnydd countryside, 222 00:16:10,640 --> 00:16:12,920 the sound of heavy artillery firing 223 00:16:12,920 --> 00:16:15,280 would not have been entirely unfamiliar to him. 224 00:16:18,400 --> 00:16:21,240 Since the early 1900s, soldiers had been coming 225 00:16:21,240 --> 00:16:24,000 to the Trawsfynydd area on military exercises. 226 00:16:26,080 --> 00:16:30,800 By 1914, the War Office had over 8,000 acres under its control 227 00:16:30,800 --> 00:16:33,840 and a permanent camp had been established at nearby Rhiw Goch. 228 00:16:35,360 --> 00:16:38,000 Trawsfynydd train station was expanded to handle 229 00:16:38,000 --> 00:16:40,480 the increasing numbers of men and guns 230 00:16:40,480 --> 00:16:42,880 who were sent here for artillery training. 231 00:16:47,520 --> 00:16:51,000 In July 1914, according to the Congregationalist minister 232 00:16:51,000 --> 00:16:54,760 J Dyfnallt Owen, the firing around this small chapel 233 00:16:54,760 --> 00:16:57,160 here at Pen y Stryd had been so intense 234 00:16:57,160 --> 00:17:00,200 that the walls had cracked and the windows had shattered. 235 00:17:00,200 --> 00:17:02,040 But more interesting for us, perhaps, 236 00:17:02,040 --> 00:17:05,400 is the fact that he also recorded what Hedd Wyn thought about this. 237 00:17:06,560 --> 00:17:09,480 When Hedd Wyn was told about the consequences 238 00:17:09,480 --> 00:17:13,360 of the incessant firing, his eyes lit up in anger. 239 00:17:13,360 --> 00:17:16,120 And nobody spoke out more vehemently than he did 240 00:17:16,120 --> 00:17:19,680 against this loathsome profanity that was corrupting the area. 241 00:17:22,720 --> 00:17:24,600 So when war broke out soon afterwards, 242 00:17:24,600 --> 00:17:28,160 it's perhaps not surprising that Hedd Wyn was not amongst those 243 00:17:28,160 --> 00:17:30,040 who felt compelled to join up - 244 00:17:30,040 --> 00:17:32,280 though, of course, many of his contemporaries did. 245 00:17:32,280 --> 00:17:36,200 And it was that that moved Hedd Wyn during the months that followed 246 00:17:36,200 --> 00:17:38,560 to write a number of poems in response to the war. 247 00:17:39,920 --> 00:17:43,000 These poems weren't so much in support of the war 248 00:17:43,000 --> 00:17:45,040 as to let his friends in the Forces 249 00:17:45,040 --> 00:17:46,960 know how much they were missed at home. 250 00:18:01,600 --> 00:18:03,240 As the casualties mounted, 251 00:18:03,240 --> 00:18:07,040 he was called upon increasingly to write memorial poems 252 00:18:07,040 --> 00:18:09,480 for the local men who had been killed. 253 00:18:09,480 --> 00:18:12,040 This is one of the best-known examples, 254 00:18:12,040 --> 00:18:15,040 and has been used to commemorate several soldiers, 255 00:18:15,040 --> 00:18:17,800 including, ultimately, Hedd Wyn himself. 256 00:18:37,720 --> 00:18:41,080 However, Hedd Wyn did not write exclusively about the war 257 00:18:41,080 --> 00:18:43,840 and its impact on the local community. 258 00:18:43,840 --> 00:18:49,280 By 1915, he had won five bardic chairs in local eisteddfodau 259 00:18:49,280 --> 00:18:52,480 and now he had his sights on the ultimate prize - 260 00:18:52,480 --> 00:18:55,560 the chair of the National Eisteddfod. 261 00:18:55,560 --> 00:18:59,680 He sent in a poem to the National Eisteddfod at Bangor in 1915. 262 00:18:59,680 --> 00:19:02,680 Unfortunately, it wasn't very well received. 263 00:19:02,680 --> 00:19:06,320 In 1916, the National Eisteddfod visited Aberystwyth, 264 00:19:06,320 --> 00:19:08,840 and this time, Hedd Wyn came second with his poem. 265 00:19:08,840 --> 00:19:12,440 In fact, one of the judges wanted to give the chair to him. 266 00:19:12,440 --> 00:19:13,760 The following year, 267 00:19:13,760 --> 00:19:17,080 the National Eisteddfod was set to visit Birkenhead 268 00:19:17,080 --> 00:19:19,960 and the Welsh expatriate community there. 269 00:19:19,960 --> 00:19:22,120 Could Hedd Wyn go one better this time? 270 00:19:23,360 --> 00:19:24,480 He began to write. 271 00:19:25,880 --> 00:19:30,320 The competition required him to write a 500-line poem in cynghanedd 272 00:19:30,320 --> 00:19:33,000 on the subject of Yr Arwr - the hero. 273 00:19:34,600 --> 00:19:37,000 However, before he could finish his poem, 274 00:19:37,000 --> 00:19:39,760 he had been conscripted into the Army. 275 00:19:39,760 --> 00:19:42,640 Military conscription had been introduced for all men 276 00:19:42,640 --> 00:19:46,360 aged between 18 and 41 at the beginning of 1916. 277 00:19:47,560 --> 00:19:51,120 It was possible to be exempted if you were employed in work that was 278 00:19:51,120 --> 00:19:54,480 of national importance, and helping his ageing father 279 00:19:54,480 --> 00:19:58,160 run the family farm certainly fell into that category. 280 00:19:58,160 --> 00:20:01,520 And besides, as his girlfriend of the time, Ginny Owen, 281 00:20:01,520 --> 00:20:04,560 recalled years later, Hedd Wyn was no soldier. 282 00:20:22,080 --> 00:20:25,880 But exemptions were only granted for a few months at a time. 283 00:20:25,880 --> 00:20:29,200 Then you had to reappear before the military tribunal 284 00:20:29,200 --> 00:20:32,560 and make your case all over again. 285 00:20:32,560 --> 00:20:34,640 According to Hedd Wyn's sister, Enid, 286 00:20:34,640 --> 00:20:37,640 it was the process of constantly appealing for exemption 287 00:20:37,640 --> 00:20:39,480 that ground him down in the end 288 00:20:39,480 --> 00:20:42,320 and he chose not to oppose his conscription any further. 289 00:21:07,200 --> 00:21:10,360 Although the family were allowed to keep one son of military age 290 00:21:10,360 --> 00:21:13,640 at home to help run the farm, Hedd Wyn knew full well 291 00:21:13,640 --> 00:21:16,960 the authorities would never allow two of them to stay at home. 292 00:21:16,960 --> 00:21:20,400 So, as his younger brother Bob was about to turn 18, 293 00:21:20,400 --> 00:21:23,360 Hedd Wyn came to a heroically unselfish decision. 294 00:21:24,440 --> 00:21:27,720 Despite his own socialist and pacifist leanings, 295 00:21:27,720 --> 00:21:31,600 Hedd Wyn joined up so that his younger brother might be spared 296 00:21:31,600 --> 00:21:33,040 to work on the farm. 297 00:21:34,240 --> 00:21:37,280 After he passed his medical at the barracks in Wrexham, 298 00:21:37,280 --> 00:21:39,080 at the beginning of 1917, 299 00:21:39,080 --> 00:21:43,320 Hedd Wyn was sent to join the Royal Welch Fusiliers in a training camp 300 00:21:43,320 --> 00:21:45,480 at Litherland on the outskirts of Liverpool. 301 00:21:49,200 --> 00:21:51,280 If I'd been standing here 100 years ago, 302 00:21:51,280 --> 00:21:53,400 I'd have been right in the middle of the Army camp 303 00:21:53,400 --> 00:21:56,040 where Hedd Wyn was sent for his military training. 304 00:21:56,040 --> 00:21:58,640 You can still see the church behind me over there. 305 00:21:58,640 --> 00:22:01,720 However, it was a bleak enough place in Hedd Wyn's time. 306 00:22:01,720 --> 00:22:04,480 Just behind the church over there was a munitions factory 307 00:22:04,480 --> 00:22:06,160 and the smoke from its stacks 308 00:22:06,160 --> 00:22:08,640 stung the soldiers' eyes terribly, apparently. 309 00:22:08,640 --> 00:22:11,680 However, it appears that Hedd Wyn, at first, at least, 310 00:22:11,680 --> 00:22:13,840 settled quite well into his new life as a soldier. 311 00:22:15,080 --> 00:22:17,440 He wrote this verse about the camp at Litherland. 312 00:22:36,720 --> 00:22:38,200 And every now and then, 313 00:22:38,200 --> 00:22:41,320 the soldiers would be let out of the camp to go into town. 314 00:22:43,080 --> 00:22:46,920 This is York Hall in Bootle where the Liverpool Welsh community 315 00:22:46,920 --> 00:22:48,760 would host fortnightly gatherings 316 00:22:48,760 --> 00:22:51,800 for the Welsh soldiers from the nearby camp. 317 00:22:51,800 --> 00:22:55,680 This hall could seat approximately 200 people and in one concert 318 00:22:55,680 --> 00:22:57,880 that was reported in the local paper, 319 00:22:57,880 --> 00:23:00,160 there were over 20 different items, 320 00:23:00,160 --> 00:23:03,400 mostly musical but with some comic recitations 321 00:23:03,400 --> 00:23:05,640 that had the soldiers in stitches. 322 00:23:05,640 --> 00:23:09,040 And at the end of that meeting in March 1917, 323 00:23:09,040 --> 00:23:11,880 it was Hedd Wyn who was asked to give a vote of thanks 324 00:23:11,880 --> 00:23:13,760 on behalf of his fellow soldiers, 325 00:23:13,760 --> 00:23:16,480 which shows how well-regarded he was by his comrades. 326 00:23:17,600 --> 00:23:20,480 The soldiers showed their heartfelt gratitude 327 00:23:20,480 --> 00:23:22,560 with a deafening hip-hip-hooray 328 00:23:22,560 --> 00:23:26,520 and then sang Cwm Rhondda with great emotion before leaving 329 00:23:26,520 --> 00:23:28,800 that world of blessing and privilege 330 00:23:28,800 --> 00:23:32,960 to return to the cold and inflexible world of duty. 331 00:23:38,480 --> 00:23:41,920 Although Hedd Wyn enjoyed the social evenings at York Hall, 332 00:23:41,920 --> 00:23:45,840 how was his long poem for the National Eisteddfod coming along? 333 00:23:45,840 --> 00:23:48,720 The given title was Yr Arwr - the hero, 334 00:23:48,720 --> 00:23:52,280 and he'd written nearly half of it before leaving home. 335 00:23:52,280 --> 00:23:56,120 But the constant routine in camp didn't suit him creatively, 336 00:23:56,120 --> 00:23:58,160 as he recorded in a letter to a friend. 337 00:24:07,560 --> 00:24:08,800 To his great surprise, 338 00:24:08,800 --> 00:24:13,240 Hedd Wyn did get a chance to finish his poem in the spring of 1917, 339 00:24:13,240 --> 00:24:16,320 thanks to the intervention of one of his friends at Litherland, 340 00:24:16,320 --> 00:24:18,880 Jack Buckland Thomas from Seven Sisters, 341 00:24:18,880 --> 00:24:20,920 who was on the camp's administrative staff. 342 00:24:22,520 --> 00:24:26,240 Battalion orders asked for a list of experienced farm workers 343 00:24:26,240 --> 00:24:29,360 in order to get more land in Wales under the plough. 344 00:24:29,360 --> 00:24:32,280 As everyone knows, Hedd Wyn was a shepherd, 345 00:24:32,280 --> 00:24:35,680 but I don't think I upset anyone when I put him top of the list 346 00:24:35,680 --> 00:24:37,400 of ploughman from D company. 347 00:24:39,360 --> 00:24:43,480 By 1917, so many men had been conscripted into the Armed Forces 348 00:24:43,480 --> 00:24:46,160 that at certain points in the agricultural calendar 349 00:24:46,160 --> 00:24:48,520 there was a severe manpower shortage - 350 00:24:48,520 --> 00:24:51,680 for instance, at harvest time or spring ploughing. 351 00:24:51,680 --> 00:24:54,720 The answer to this was to release men from the Army 352 00:24:54,720 --> 00:24:56,880 on a temporary basis to help out. 353 00:24:56,880 --> 00:25:00,280 But Jack Buckland Thomas had not only managed to get Hedd Wyn's name 354 00:25:00,280 --> 00:25:02,480 onto the list of men who were to be released, 355 00:25:02,480 --> 00:25:06,160 he'd also spotted that Yr Ysgwrn was one of the farms that was 356 00:25:06,160 --> 00:25:09,920 supposed to receive help, so Hedd Wyn effectively was sent home. 357 00:25:11,760 --> 00:25:14,280 This was the chance of which he'd been dreaming, 358 00:25:14,280 --> 00:25:15,800 to finish his Eisteddfod poem. 359 00:25:16,800 --> 00:25:19,240 According to his father, Evan Evans, 360 00:25:19,240 --> 00:25:22,720 Hedd Wyn managed to write 250 lines during the six weeks 361 00:25:22,720 --> 00:25:24,800 he was at home to help with the ploughing - 362 00:25:24,800 --> 00:25:26,480 around half the completed poem. 363 00:25:27,600 --> 00:25:29,360 By the time he returned to Litherland, 364 00:25:29,360 --> 00:25:32,760 he only needed to polish and tidy what he'd already written. 365 00:25:32,760 --> 00:25:35,040 Most of the hard work had already been done. 366 00:25:43,280 --> 00:25:46,680 He left Trawsfynydd on May 11th 1917. 367 00:25:47,960 --> 00:25:51,160 That was the last time his family would ever see him alive again. 368 00:25:52,840 --> 00:25:55,160 His sister Enid was ten at the time 369 00:25:55,160 --> 00:25:57,560 and three quarters of a century later, 370 00:25:57,560 --> 00:25:59,200 still remembered that day well. 371 00:26:47,040 --> 00:26:49,680 By the beginning of June 1917, 372 00:26:49,680 --> 00:26:53,120 Hedd Wyn and his battalion had crossed over to France 373 00:26:53,120 --> 00:26:56,240 and he was at the fifth infantry base depot in Rouen. 374 00:27:31,760 --> 00:27:33,120 As we see from that letter, 375 00:27:33,120 --> 00:27:36,040 Hedd Wyn simply just couldn't stop himself from searching out 376 00:27:36,040 --> 00:27:38,840 the poetic potential of his new surroundings. 377 00:27:38,840 --> 00:27:42,320 His battalion had been sent here to Flechin to be trained up for 378 00:27:42,320 --> 00:27:45,960 the coming assault and it was while he was in camp here that he finally 379 00:27:45,960 --> 00:27:49,520 succeeded in completing his poem for the Eisteddfod, 380 00:27:49,520 --> 00:27:52,920 and he posted it off to Birkenhead from here 381 00:27:52,920 --> 00:27:55,280 on July 13th 1917. 382 00:28:24,040 --> 00:28:27,320 I've returned to Hedd Wyn's former home in Trawsfynydd. 383 00:28:29,360 --> 00:28:32,560 The site is being transformed by a 15-month programme 384 00:28:32,560 --> 00:28:36,000 of major building works, and the most radical transformation 385 00:28:36,000 --> 00:28:38,520 is taking place in one of the old outhouses. 386 00:28:39,760 --> 00:28:43,160 This is where I met Jess Enston from the Snowdonia National Park 387 00:28:43,160 --> 00:28:46,080 in order to get a better idea of how the building 388 00:28:46,080 --> 00:28:47,720 will eventually be used. 389 00:28:47,720 --> 00:28:51,240 So, this will be one of the first places that people will see 390 00:28:51,240 --> 00:28:53,320 when they visit the site. Yes, they will, 391 00:28:53,320 --> 00:28:55,840 they'll come across from the car park over there 392 00:28:55,840 --> 00:28:59,120 and then they'll come into a reception area. 393 00:28:59,120 --> 00:29:01,800 Which will be... Will be just through there. 394 00:29:01,800 --> 00:29:04,960 And then once they've seen us and had a sense of what we're all about, 395 00:29:04,960 --> 00:29:07,600 because, obviously, some people won't know the story 396 00:29:07,600 --> 00:29:10,360 or the background, they'll come through here then 397 00:29:10,360 --> 00:29:13,120 and this'll be an education community space, 398 00:29:13,120 --> 00:29:16,520 so this is where we're going to be able to do more workshops with 399 00:29:16,520 --> 00:29:19,280 schoolchildren and communities. Right. 400 00:29:19,280 --> 00:29:21,080 And what will be nice about this building 401 00:29:21,080 --> 00:29:23,800 is there'll be glass walls so that you'll be able to sit 402 00:29:23,800 --> 00:29:26,640 in the landscape and get a sense of the landscape around you 403 00:29:26,640 --> 00:29:28,320 and what inspired Hedd Wyn. 404 00:29:28,320 --> 00:29:31,520 Because this was a barn for keeping hay, yeah, originally? 405 00:29:31,520 --> 00:29:33,600 It was, for keeping hay and stock. 406 00:29:33,600 --> 00:29:36,360 It will still feel like an agricultural building. 407 00:29:36,360 --> 00:29:38,000 It won't look much different. 408 00:29:38,000 --> 00:29:40,560 But then they'll go through to the space there, 409 00:29:40,560 --> 00:29:42,440 which will have a rather different feel. 410 00:29:42,440 --> 00:29:44,560 That will definitely have a different feel. 411 00:29:44,560 --> 00:29:48,440 From the outside, at the moment, it looks like a bit of a monstrosity, 412 00:29:48,440 --> 00:29:52,000 but what we're going to be doing is we're going to push the earth 413 00:29:52,000 --> 00:29:54,720 back to where it was, so it will be covered. 414 00:29:54,720 --> 00:29:56,840 So it's freestanding at the moment but it will sort of 415 00:29:56,840 --> 00:29:58,560 disappear back into the mountain. 416 00:29:58,560 --> 00:30:01,320 It will, and then a grass roof will be put on the top of it, 417 00:30:01,320 --> 00:30:03,840 so it will be hidden inside the landscape. 418 00:30:03,840 --> 00:30:05,880 And what else will be in this particular space? 419 00:30:05,880 --> 00:30:07,320 So, it will be quite quirky. 420 00:30:07,320 --> 00:30:10,880 When you come round, what you'll see is sort of a bench, 421 00:30:10,880 --> 00:30:15,720 it'll look like a bench, but within the bench you'll see artefacts, 422 00:30:15,720 --> 00:30:18,920 catalogued artefacts. So you'll have letters from Hedd Wyn, 423 00:30:18,920 --> 00:30:21,440 you'll have some family photographs, you'll have his medals. 424 00:30:21,440 --> 00:30:22,600 On the end of the bench, 425 00:30:22,600 --> 00:30:24,960 you'll be able to hear a recording from Simon Jones, 426 00:30:24,960 --> 00:30:27,360 who was in the war... One of his fellow soldiers. 427 00:30:27,360 --> 00:30:29,000 ..in Passchendaele with Hedd Wyn. 428 00:30:30,680 --> 00:30:32,680 Let's walk through the wall while we can. 429 00:30:36,560 --> 00:30:39,080 Simon Jones came from Llanuwchllyn 430 00:30:39,080 --> 00:30:42,440 and he joined the army on the same day as Hedd Wyn. 431 00:30:42,440 --> 00:30:45,040 The two of them had trained together at Litherland 432 00:30:45,040 --> 00:30:48,520 but nothing there could have prepared them for the sheer squalor 433 00:30:48,520 --> 00:30:49,880 of life in the trenches. 434 00:31:40,400 --> 00:31:43,160 On the 23rd July, Hedd Wyn's battalion was sent 435 00:31:43,160 --> 00:31:46,640 into the front line for the first time near Ypres. 436 00:31:46,640 --> 00:31:50,680 The British trenches at this time ran parallel to this canal. 437 00:31:50,680 --> 00:31:53,760 It's a pretty enough site today, but back in 1917, 438 00:31:53,760 --> 00:31:57,000 it would have been choked with rubble and with soldiers' refuse 439 00:31:57,000 --> 00:32:00,000 and crawling with the rats who gorged themselves 440 00:32:00,000 --> 00:32:01,440 on the flesh of the dead. 441 00:32:07,360 --> 00:32:12,040 At 6pm, the battalion paraded in fighting kit to march to 442 00:32:12,040 --> 00:32:15,080 where the assembly trenches for the offensive were to be dug. 443 00:32:15,080 --> 00:32:18,120 Gas shells were sent over by the enemy during the night. 444 00:32:20,560 --> 00:32:23,000 And that, according to the battalion war diary, 445 00:32:23,000 --> 00:32:26,440 was how Hedd Wyn and his comrades spent their first night 446 00:32:26,440 --> 00:32:31,200 in the trenches - digging more trenches prior to the big attack. 447 00:32:31,200 --> 00:32:33,960 The idea was to create spaces where men could congregate 448 00:32:33,960 --> 00:32:36,640 before going over the top. 449 00:32:36,640 --> 00:32:40,320 This trench dates back to 1917 and was discovered recently 450 00:32:40,320 --> 00:32:44,520 whilst clearing land to extend the surrounding industrial estate. 451 00:32:53,080 --> 00:32:56,600 None of Hedd Wyn's letters have survived from this time, 452 00:32:56,600 --> 00:33:00,400 but after a week spent in and out of the front line near Ypres, 453 00:33:00,400 --> 00:33:02,760 the Royal Welsh Fusiliers were ready to take part 454 00:33:02,760 --> 00:33:04,720 in the big push against the Germans. 455 00:33:11,760 --> 00:33:17,000 Zero was timed for 3:50am, July 31 1917. 456 00:33:17,000 --> 00:33:18,880 Once having got clear of Canal Bank, 457 00:33:18,880 --> 00:33:21,920 it was fairly easy-going for the battalion as far as Pilckem. 458 00:33:26,440 --> 00:33:29,480 When Hedd Wyn's battalion moved forward that morning, 459 00:33:29,480 --> 00:33:33,440 the weather was fine, but it soon deteriorated and heavy rain made it 460 00:33:33,440 --> 00:33:36,280 difficult to move the guns forward to support the advance. 461 00:33:37,520 --> 00:33:41,320 The casualties began to mount up in the face of German resistance 462 00:33:41,320 --> 00:33:44,360 and some time that morning, Hedd Wyn was hit. 463 00:34:17,600 --> 00:34:20,640 Thousands of troops were lost that day as they crossed the ground 464 00:34:20,640 --> 00:34:22,520 from Ypres over there to here. 465 00:34:23,680 --> 00:34:27,200 It would appear that Hedd Wyn did receive some medical treatment 466 00:34:27,200 --> 00:34:30,320 for his wounds but it was too late. 467 00:34:30,320 --> 00:34:32,760 He died a few hours later, 468 00:34:32,760 --> 00:34:37,240 in all probability in the ruins of a building that stood on this site. 469 00:34:40,640 --> 00:34:44,520 This trilingual plaque was unveiled here at Langemark 470 00:34:44,520 --> 00:34:47,320 to mark the 75th anniversary of Hedd Wyn's death. 471 00:34:53,880 --> 00:34:58,240 His little sister Enid had vivid memories of how that sad news 472 00:34:58,240 --> 00:35:01,960 first reached Yr Ysgwrn back in the summer of 1917. 473 00:35:38,880 --> 00:35:42,440 When he was killed, Hedd Wyn was just 30 years old. 474 00:35:46,120 --> 00:35:47,560 As the sad news spread, 475 00:35:47,560 --> 00:35:51,760 these letters of condolence began to flood into Yr Ysgwrn. 476 00:35:51,760 --> 00:35:52,800 Here are some examples. 477 00:35:54,040 --> 00:35:57,960 "I was truly sorry to hear about your gifted boy. 478 00:35:57,960 --> 00:36:01,120 "Such a flood of grief has never been seen in this area before." 479 00:36:03,560 --> 00:36:06,320 "Losing a lad as talented as Hedd Wyn 480 00:36:06,320 --> 00:36:09,200 "is a loss of national proportions." 481 00:36:09,200 --> 00:36:11,720 These are the recurring themes in these letters, 482 00:36:11,720 --> 00:36:14,280 the talent that had been lost and what might he have achieved 483 00:36:14,280 --> 00:36:15,720 had he but lived. 484 00:36:17,200 --> 00:36:21,440 But there was still one last chapter in the story of Hedd Wyn, 485 00:36:21,440 --> 00:36:24,000 the National Eisteddfod of 1917. 486 00:36:25,280 --> 00:36:28,160 That year, it was in Birkenhead, near Liverpool. 487 00:36:28,160 --> 00:36:31,440 This was a time when the Eisteddfod frequently crossed the border 488 00:36:31,440 --> 00:36:35,200 to visit the expatriate communities in London and on Merseyside. 489 00:36:39,000 --> 00:36:41,800 It was actually the sixth time the Eisteddfod had been held 490 00:36:41,800 --> 00:36:45,320 outside of Wales within less than 40 years and this stone was erected 491 00:36:45,320 --> 00:36:49,320 to mark that occasion. And in these fields in front of me here 492 00:36:49,320 --> 00:36:52,920 stood a temporary pavilion where the Eisteddfod's competitions were held. 493 00:37:03,520 --> 00:37:06,640 WD Williams was at the Eisteddfod that year 494 00:37:06,640 --> 00:37:08,760 and remembered the occasion well. 495 00:37:26,640 --> 00:37:28,760 After the Prime Minister, David Lloyd George, 496 00:37:28,760 --> 00:37:30,920 had given a speech from the Eisteddfod stage, 497 00:37:30,920 --> 00:37:32,880 it was time to move on to the chairing ceremony. 498 00:37:34,080 --> 00:37:36,800 The judges of the competition delivered their verdict 499 00:37:36,800 --> 00:37:38,880 and announced that there was a winning poem 500 00:37:38,880 --> 00:37:40,240 that was worthy of the chair. 501 00:37:41,520 --> 00:37:45,280 But what followed next was completely unexpected, 502 00:37:45,280 --> 00:37:48,800 as the Archdruid Dyfed stepped up at the side of the stage. 503 00:37:53,880 --> 00:37:56,320 Dyfed, coming gravely forward, 504 00:37:56,320 --> 00:37:59,920 announced that the victor had fallen in battle 505 00:37:59,920 --> 00:38:02,840 and lay in a silent grave in a foreign land. 506 00:38:03,960 --> 00:38:08,920 In view of what had happened, there could be no chairing ceremony. 507 00:38:08,920 --> 00:38:12,360 Instead of that, the chair would be draped in black. 508 00:38:37,880 --> 00:38:40,520 THUNDER RUMBLES 509 00:38:53,920 --> 00:38:57,200 There have been few times in Meirionnydd as stormy as the day 510 00:38:57,200 --> 00:39:01,840 that Hedd Wyn's empty chair was brought home to Trawsfynydd. 511 00:39:01,840 --> 00:39:05,480 Heavy rain fell all day until the rivers overflowed 512 00:39:05,480 --> 00:39:08,520 and the wheat fields were waterlogged, and yet, 513 00:39:08,520 --> 00:39:12,520 despite the storm, the assembly hall at Trawsfynydd was packed 514 00:39:12,520 --> 00:39:15,840 last Thursday night when the empty chair was unveiled. 515 00:39:18,640 --> 00:39:21,240 It's a custom that survives to this day for the people 516 00:39:21,240 --> 00:39:24,560 of a poet's home town to celebrate when he or she has won 517 00:39:24,560 --> 00:39:27,520 one of the major prizes of the National Eisteddfod. 518 00:39:27,520 --> 00:39:31,000 It's a chance for those who weren't present on the big day 519 00:39:31,000 --> 00:39:33,480 to congratulate the poet personally, 520 00:39:33,480 --> 00:39:36,200 it's a chance for them to see the big prize itself, 521 00:39:36,200 --> 00:39:37,640 in this case, the chair. 522 00:39:38,840 --> 00:39:41,640 And imagine how different the evening would have been 523 00:39:41,640 --> 00:39:45,280 when the people of Trawsfynydd gathered here in this hall 524 00:39:45,280 --> 00:39:48,040 in September 1917 to honour Hedd Wyn. 525 00:39:48,040 --> 00:39:51,080 If only the poet himself could have been present. 526 00:39:52,720 --> 00:39:56,080 But of course, the pride felt by the community of Trawsfynydd 527 00:39:56,080 --> 00:39:59,640 because of the success of Hedd Wyn was tempered 528 00:39:59,640 --> 00:40:03,880 by a huge sense of loss, knowing that the poet had been killed 529 00:40:03,880 --> 00:40:06,000 before he could claim his prize. 530 00:40:07,320 --> 00:40:11,600 And the chair itself was set up there, centre stage, 531 00:40:11,600 --> 00:40:14,160 a silent witness to the evening's proceedings. 532 00:40:19,560 --> 00:40:22,600 This chair has become a national icon 533 00:40:22,600 --> 00:40:25,000 and because it was awarded posthumously, 534 00:40:25,000 --> 00:40:28,360 it's become known as Gadair Ddu, the Black Chair. 535 00:40:30,320 --> 00:40:34,680 It was carved in the Birkenhead workshop of Eugene Vanfleteren, 536 00:40:34,680 --> 00:40:37,160 one of a quarter of a million Belgian refugees 537 00:40:37,160 --> 00:40:41,280 who had fled before the German invasion of their country in 1914. 538 00:40:42,840 --> 00:40:46,120 Vanfleteren was an expert woodcarver 539 00:40:46,120 --> 00:40:49,160 and the 1917 chair is his masterpiece. 540 00:40:52,080 --> 00:40:54,880 It's one of the ironies of the Hedd Wyn story, 541 00:40:54,880 --> 00:40:57,920 that his most famous chair was carved by a Belgian 542 00:40:57,920 --> 00:41:00,840 who came from a town not far from where he died. 543 00:41:17,280 --> 00:41:21,280 This is the military ceremony at Artillery Wood near Boezinge 544 00:41:21,280 --> 00:41:25,080 on the outskirts of Ypres where Hedd Wyn was buried. 545 00:41:26,600 --> 00:41:29,840 A cursory examination of the cemetery visitor book 546 00:41:29,840 --> 00:41:32,640 reveals a constant stream of Welsh visitors. 547 00:41:41,560 --> 00:41:45,040 In 2014, the Welsh football squad came here 548 00:41:45,040 --> 00:41:47,920 after their group qualifier against the Belgians. 549 00:41:49,120 --> 00:41:53,040 Gareth Bale had asked specifically to see Hedd Wyn's grave, 550 00:41:53,040 --> 00:41:55,200 having been told the story by his mother. 551 00:41:57,320 --> 00:41:59,760 This tradition of visiting Hedd Wyn's grave 552 00:41:59,760 --> 00:42:02,320 stretches back the best part of a century. 553 00:42:02,320 --> 00:42:05,200 One of the first Welsh visitors to this cemetery 554 00:42:05,200 --> 00:42:09,920 was Hedd Wyn's friend Silyn Roberts in 1923. 555 00:42:09,920 --> 00:42:12,920 He'd been instrumental in arranging the Welsh inscription 556 00:42:12,920 --> 00:42:15,120 on Hedd Wyn's gravestone. 557 00:42:15,120 --> 00:42:18,960 Only those who have won a chair or crown at a National Eisteddfod 558 00:42:18,960 --> 00:42:22,400 are entitled to be called Prifardd, or Chief Poet. 559 00:42:29,120 --> 00:42:32,600 In 1934, Hedd Wyn's own brother, Bob, 560 00:42:32,600 --> 00:42:35,520 came here as part of a group of Welsh visitors 561 00:42:35,520 --> 00:42:38,240 touring around the cemeteries of Ypres. 562 00:42:38,240 --> 00:42:41,000 They held a service here and sang hymns at his graveside. 563 00:42:50,760 --> 00:42:54,320 The thousands of Welsh soldiers who were killed in the Ypres area 564 00:42:54,320 --> 00:42:57,680 are commemorated at this new memorial near Langemark. 565 00:43:00,840 --> 00:43:03,920 And the local businesses make sure that the Welsh visitors 566 00:43:03,920 --> 00:43:05,280 know that they're welcome. 567 00:43:07,920 --> 00:43:10,920 But there's a particular interest in Hedd Wyn. 568 00:43:10,920 --> 00:43:14,360 A special walking route retraces his last steps, 569 00:43:14,360 --> 00:43:17,440 a selection of his work has just been translated into English, 570 00:43:17,440 --> 00:43:18,600 French and Flemish. 571 00:43:19,840 --> 00:43:23,440 But without doubt, one factor in the continuing interest 572 00:43:23,440 --> 00:43:26,440 in Hedd Wyn was the film that brought his story 573 00:43:26,440 --> 00:43:28,400 to a new audience in the 1990s. 574 00:43:43,840 --> 00:43:47,320 The film is studied as part of the A-level Welsh course. 575 00:43:47,320 --> 00:43:51,000 It was shown internationally and was the first-ever Welsh language film 576 00:43:51,000 --> 00:43:53,840 to be nominated for an Oscar in 1993. 577 00:44:04,280 --> 00:44:07,600 If the film has raised Hedd Wyn's profile abroad, 578 00:44:07,600 --> 00:44:10,640 it has also renewed the interest in his home near Trawsfynydd. 579 00:44:11,880 --> 00:44:15,960 The work on the outbuildings is nearing completion and will no doubt 580 00:44:15,960 --> 00:44:20,120 result in ever increasing visitor numbers when Yr Ysgwrn reopens. 581 00:44:27,680 --> 00:44:30,840 But what's surprising is that visitors began turning up 582 00:44:30,840 --> 00:44:33,800 unannounced at Yr Ysgwrn almost from the very day 583 00:44:33,800 --> 00:44:35,480 that Hedd Wyn won his chair. 584 00:44:35,480 --> 00:44:38,520 One of the first recorded visits is by a couple of journalists from 585 00:44:38,520 --> 00:44:42,800 a Carnarvon newspaper who came here as early as September 1917. 586 00:44:44,480 --> 00:44:47,080 The article describes their breathy excitement 587 00:44:47,080 --> 00:44:49,280 as they approached the farm gate. 588 00:45:08,800 --> 00:45:10,760 The reporters seemed to be hoping 589 00:45:10,760 --> 00:45:13,080 for some kind of spiritual connection. 590 00:45:13,080 --> 00:45:14,800 They haven't even got to the house yet 591 00:45:14,800 --> 00:45:17,320 and there're already employing the kind of language 592 00:45:17,320 --> 00:45:20,360 that one would more usually associate with a pilgrimage. 593 00:45:20,360 --> 00:45:23,640 Their report was published in September 1917, 594 00:45:23,640 --> 00:45:25,680 just a few weeks after he died, 595 00:45:25,680 --> 00:45:28,280 and yet already the myth of Hedd Wyn, 596 00:45:28,280 --> 00:45:31,720 one might almost say the cult of Hedd Wyn, is taking shape. 597 00:45:34,280 --> 00:45:38,280 And that tradition of visiting Yr Ysgwrn has continued for 100 years. 598 00:45:40,680 --> 00:45:44,480 I wonder how many of the children in this footage from the 1970s 599 00:45:44,480 --> 00:45:47,360 have brought their own children, or grandchildren, even, 600 00:45:47,360 --> 00:45:49,280 back since then to visit the place. 601 00:45:50,760 --> 00:45:53,240 For children and adults alike, 602 00:45:53,240 --> 00:45:56,360 the key attractions at Yr Ysgwrn over the years 603 00:45:56,360 --> 00:45:58,520 have been Hedd Wyn's chairs. 604 00:45:58,520 --> 00:46:01,600 Awarding a poet a chair is a tradition that dates back 605 00:46:01,600 --> 00:46:03,800 to the Middle Ages, when the foremost poet 606 00:46:03,800 --> 00:46:06,120 would be given a chair at the King's table, 607 00:46:06,120 --> 00:46:09,000 such was the respect accorded to poetry in Wales. 608 00:46:11,000 --> 00:46:13,920 And of the six chairs that Hedd Wyn won, 609 00:46:13,920 --> 00:46:17,240 this chair from the 1917 National Eisteddfod 610 00:46:17,240 --> 00:46:18,840 is the most treasured of all. 611 00:46:20,520 --> 00:46:25,680 In 2013, it was scanned in 3D so a replica could be made, 612 00:46:25,680 --> 00:46:28,840 just in case anything happened to the original. 613 00:46:28,840 --> 00:46:31,840 A certain amount of wear and tear has occurred over the years. 614 00:46:58,680 --> 00:47:00,920 And the man who's been given the responsibility 615 00:47:00,920 --> 00:47:05,000 of restoring the chair to its former glory is Hugh Haley, 616 00:47:05,000 --> 00:47:07,320 one of Britain's leading furniture conservators. 617 00:47:09,440 --> 00:47:12,480 I visited him at his workshop in St Clears. 618 00:47:12,480 --> 00:47:14,200 Oh, and the chair. Here is the chair, yes. 619 00:47:14,200 --> 00:47:16,240 Gosh. So, how's it going? Are you on schedule? 620 00:47:16,240 --> 00:47:18,760 It's going well. Yes, yes, I think we are. 621 00:47:18,760 --> 00:47:21,360 If you'd asked me a month ago, I would have doubted it, 622 00:47:21,360 --> 00:47:23,440 but we seem to be getting there. 623 00:47:23,440 --> 00:47:25,720 Something I've been wanting to ask you, I mean, to me, 624 00:47:25,720 --> 00:47:30,160 as a layman, this is an amazing piece of furniture, but to you, 625 00:47:30,160 --> 00:47:32,920 as somebody who works with intricately-carved pieces 626 00:47:32,920 --> 00:47:36,600 of furniture every day of the year, just how good is this piece? 627 00:47:36,600 --> 00:47:38,240 Oh, it is extraordinary. 628 00:47:38,240 --> 00:47:39,840 There's no doubt. 629 00:47:39,840 --> 00:47:42,360 All eisteddfod chairs tend to be heavily carved 630 00:47:42,360 --> 00:47:47,640 and are all pretty impressive, but this one is definitely a cut above. 631 00:47:47,640 --> 00:47:50,440 The closer you look, the more you find. 632 00:47:50,440 --> 00:47:55,920 Really? And particularly, you'd have to come round to this side to see... 633 00:47:58,080 --> 00:48:02,240 ..the work just continues to get more and more extraordinary. 634 00:48:02,240 --> 00:48:04,720 This is clearly the work of Eugene Vanfleteren. 635 00:48:04,720 --> 00:48:06,720 So would it all have been his own work? 636 00:48:06,720 --> 00:48:08,360 No, I think... 637 00:48:08,360 --> 00:48:13,840 We know that the chair was ordered six months before the Eisteddfod, 638 00:48:13,840 --> 00:48:18,280 so he couldn't possibly have carved the whole thing in six months. 639 00:48:18,280 --> 00:48:20,560 And in actual fact, 640 00:48:20,560 --> 00:48:23,560 when you come to study it, you can see the different hands, 641 00:48:23,560 --> 00:48:25,440 almost like handwriting... Really? 642 00:48:25,440 --> 00:48:27,280 ..of the different people who worked on it. 643 00:48:27,280 --> 00:48:28,680 Can you give me an example? 644 00:48:28,680 --> 00:48:31,920 Well, an example would be that perhaps his best carver 645 00:48:31,920 --> 00:48:35,560 did the back. Around here you get the work of the master. 646 00:48:35,560 --> 00:48:37,480 This is certainly Eugene. 647 00:48:37,480 --> 00:48:43,080 And then in places here and here, there's the apprentice. 648 00:48:43,080 --> 00:48:46,120 Oh, yes, they're not quite as confidently executed, are they? 649 00:48:46,120 --> 00:48:50,640 Absolutely. So to appreciate the work of the master, so to speak, 650 00:48:50,640 --> 00:48:52,840 we will have to resort to the magnifier, if you could. 651 00:48:52,840 --> 00:48:59,000 In the corner here, what looks like a smudge is actually three horses. 652 00:48:59,000 --> 00:49:01,440 On something about the size of a 50p piece. 653 00:49:01,440 --> 00:49:03,480 It's like fine lace, isn't it? Yeah. 654 00:49:03,480 --> 00:49:08,080 Carvers all over the country have studied this and everyone is agreed 655 00:49:08,080 --> 00:49:10,120 it's bordering on impossible. 656 00:49:10,120 --> 00:49:13,640 Really? Absolutely. Oak is a very coarse timber. 657 00:49:13,640 --> 00:49:17,320 As you carve it, little pieces will just flake away 658 00:49:17,320 --> 00:49:19,640 and yet that hasn't happened. 659 00:49:19,640 --> 00:49:22,640 All the way round, it's absolutely perfect. 660 00:49:22,640 --> 00:49:26,320 But the main work we've been doing has been the dragons, of course, 661 00:49:26,320 --> 00:49:29,120 which I think the last time you saw this... 662 00:49:29,120 --> 00:49:32,080 Yes, it was missing. Well, the other one still is missing. 663 00:49:32,080 --> 00:49:34,680 Hugh then took me next door to see the other dragon 664 00:49:34,680 --> 00:49:36,720 that he was still working on. 665 00:49:36,720 --> 00:49:39,400 Oh. And this is the problem that we've had with the dragon. 666 00:49:39,400 --> 00:49:42,240 It looks as if you have to be very good at jigsaws to do this job. 667 00:49:42,240 --> 00:49:43,440 Absolutely. 668 00:49:43,440 --> 00:49:45,840 According to tradition, the wood for the chair 669 00:49:45,840 --> 00:49:49,680 came from ancient roofing timbers salvaged from Valle Crucis Abbey 670 00:49:49,680 --> 00:49:52,680 near Llangollen, one of the monasteries that was closed down 671 00:49:52,680 --> 00:49:55,520 and burned in the time of Henry VIII. 672 00:49:55,520 --> 00:49:58,520 Experts have tended to dismiss the story but Hugh 673 00:49:58,520 --> 00:50:02,480 has made some intriguing discoveries that suggest otherwise. 674 00:50:02,480 --> 00:50:04,080 Because on taking this piece apart - 675 00:50:04,080 --> 00:50:08,200 this had been glued up with a modern white PVA glue - 676 00:50:08,200 --> 00:50:11,040 and there within the body of the dragon... 677 00:50:11,040 --> 00:50:13,000 A scorch mark. ..there's a scorch mark. Gosh. 678 00:50:13,000 --> 00:50:14,640 And as well as scorch marks 679 00:50:14,640 --> 00:50:17,080 there's evidence of death-watch beetle, 680 00:50:17,080 --> 00:50:20,520 and death-watch beetle comes in damp roofing timbers. 681 00:50:20,520 --> 00:50:22,000 Ah, not in furniture? 682 00:50:22,000 --> 00:50:24,760 Not in furniture, which is too dry for them. 683 00:50:24,760 --> 00:50:30,480 So, if that's the case, the monastery was built in 1201, 684 00:50:30,480 --> 00:50:34,880 which makes this an 800-year-old piece of oak. 685 00:50:34,880 --> 00:50:39,400 Now, timber shrinks over time, as it seasons. 686 00:50:39,400 --> 00:50:44,000 That means that this timber has now become extraordinarily tightly... 687 00:50:44,000 --> 00:50:46,680 Ah, so the loose grain becomes tighter grain. 688 00:50:46,680 --> 00:50:48,440 And will take that level of detail. 689 00:50:48,440 --> 00:50:52,800 So this tree was an acorn in the year 700. Wow! 690 00:50:52,800 --> 00:50:54,600 THEY LAUGH 691 00:50:54,600 --> 00:50:57,920 That's incredible. Yeah. So, in mending it, this piece here, 692 00:50:57,920 --> 00:51:02,360 the wing tip there, you've carved that in as a new piece? 693 00:51:02,360 --> 00:51:05,400 Yes. This is the last bit of carving to be done. 694 00:51:05,400 --> 00:51:09,360 This piece was missing altogether, so I've grafted a bit on 695 00:51:09,360 --> 00:51:11,760 and that's what I'll be doing this afternoon now, 696 00:51:11,760 --> 00:51:13,760 is quietly chipping this into shape. 697 00:51:13,760 --> 00:51:16,240 OK, well, I know you're on a tight schedule, so, Hugh, 698 00:51:16,240 --> 00:51:18,680 thank you very much for your time. It's been a pleasure. 699 00:51:18,680 --> 00:51:21,920 The pleasure's all been mine. Thanks very much indeed. Bye-bye. 700 00:51:35,400 --> 00:51:38,360 A few weeks later, I returned to Yr Ysgwrn. 701 00:51:45,280 --> 00:51:48,120 Having worked for over a year on the chairs and all the other 702 00:51:48,120 --> 00:51:50,360 pieces of furniture from the house, 703 00:51:50,360 --> 00:51:53,000 today was the day that Hugh was bringing everything 704 00:51:53,000 --> 00:51:54,680 back home once again. 705 00:51:56,200 --> 00:51:59,560 The return of the Black Chair was a news item in itself 706 00:51:59,560 --> 00:52:02,000 and Gerald was called on to pose for pictures. 707 00:52:07,440 --> 00:52:09,880 The fitting out of the various exhibitions 708 00:52:09,880 --> 00:52:12,120 in the farm outbuildings is underway. 709 00:52:12,120 --> 00:52:15,120 As well as telling Hedd Wyn's story, 710 00:52:15,120 --> 00:52:18,600 these will also tell the agricultural history of Yr Ysgwrn 711 00:52:18,600 --> 00:52:22,360 and look at the wider impact of the Great War on life in Trawsfynydd. 712 00:52:28,920 --> 00:52:32,040 These are the 33 young men from the Trawsfynydd area 713 00:52:32,040 --> 00:52:34,440 who died in the Great War. 714 00:52:34,440 --> 00:52:37,960 Every community in Wales had to endure similar losses. 715 00:52:40,120 --> 00:52:43,640 In remembering Hedd Wyn, we honour the memory of his comrades too. 716 00:52:45,120 --> 00:52:49,320 It's very difficult to comprehend the loss of thousands of men 717 00:52:49,320 --> 00:52:52,880 in one day, but Hedd Wyn's story helps to personalise 718 00:52:52,880 --> 00:52:54,560 the wider tragedy for us. 719 00:52:56,600 --> 00:52:59,600 But is there a danger that his story comes between us 720 00:52:59,600 --> 00:53:02,360 and a true appreciation of his work? 721 00:53:02,360 --> 00:53:05,920 In this respect, Hedd Wyn is similar to another famous Welsh poet, 722 00:53:05,920 --> 00:53:07,560 Dylan Thomas. 723 00:53:07,560 --> 00:53:10,640 Although they are poles apart in terms of language and lifestyle, 724 00:53:10,640 --> 00:53:12,840 they both have this much in common - 725 00:53:12,840 --> 00:53:16,320 their colourful and ultimately tragic stories 726 00:53:16,320 --> 00:53:18,640 can overshadow their achievements as poets. 727 00:53:27,840 --> 00:53:31,360 So, how good was Hedd Wyn as a poet? 728 00:53:31,360 --> 00:53:34,480 His chair-winning poem, Yr Arwr, The Hero, 729 00:53:34,480 --> 00:53:36,520 certainly brought him his greatest success, 730 00:53:36,520 --> 00:53:39,400 but was perhaps not his greatest poem. 731 00:53:39,400 --> 00:53:42,840 Although impressive in terms of its technique and its ideas, 732 00:53:42,840 --> 00:53:45,160 its romantic approach to its subject matter 733 00:53:45,160 --> 00:53:47,960 would soon be considered outmoded. 734 00:53:47,960 --> 00:53:52,680 However, Hedd Wyn was also already embracing a sharper, 735 00:53:52,680 --> 00:53:55,840 more modernist style in some of his shorter poems 736 00:53:55,840 --> 00:53:58,480 and it's for this work that he is best remembered today. 737 00:55:09,400 --> 00:55:10,840 At the beginning of June, 738 00:55:10,840 --> 00:55:13,800 the first school trip was welcomed to the new-look Ysgwrn. 739 00:55:29,120 --> 00:55:32,400 A news crew is keen to get the young people's first impressions. 740 00:55:47,920 --> 00:55:51,200 When they'd left, I was keen to talk again to Gerald himself. 741 00:55:52,360 --> 00:55:54,400 An important part of the Hedd Wyn story 742 00:55:54,400 --> 00:55:57,200 has been his family's readiness to welcome visitors. 743 00:55:58,880 --> 00:56:02,640 Gerald was raised by his grandmother, Hedd Wyn's mother, 744 00:56:02,640 --> 00:56:05,000 and she instilled in him the importance 745 00:56:05,000 --> 00:56:07,160 of never turning anyone away, 746 00:56:07,160 --> 00:56:09,400 of always keeping an open house for visitors. 747 00:56:11,080 --> 00:56:14,160 How does he feel about the changes at Yr Ysgwrn, 748 00:56:14,160 --> 00:56:16,320 as it enters this new phase in its history? 749 00:57:19,080 --> 00:57:22,240 We remember Hedd Wyn not just as a poet 750 00:57:22,240 --> 00:57:25,240 but as a symbol of Welsh loss in World War I. 751 00:57:26,520 --> 00:57:30,240 He was killed by a shell and by a strange irony, 752 00:57:30,240 --> 00:57:32,520 in one of his last letters from the Front, 753 00:57:32,520 --> 00:57:35,680 he writes of how the creative impulse 754 00:57:35,680 --> 00:57:39,720 can triumph over destruction, even with shells. 755 00:58:23,640 --> 00:58:27,840 There's a combination of optimism and sadness in those words 756 00:58:27,840 --> 00:58:31,760 by Hedd Wyn and perhaps that's how we should remember him too - 757 00:58:31,760 --> 00:58:35,040 with sadness because of the untimely nature of his death 758 00:58:35,040 --> 00:58:38,040 and the deaths of millions of his contemporaries, 759 00:58:38,040 --> 00:58:42,280 but Hedd Wyn's legacy lives on in the form of his poems 760 00:58:42,280 --> 00:58:45,600 and his home here at Yr Ysgwrn, and that, surely, 761 00:58:45,600 --> 00:58:47,400 is a cause for optimism.