Coracle Trailer

Project starting very soon to look into the folklore of Coracle fishing on the River Towy Carmarthen 

Llinos M Watkins

Here's an extra video we made for a friend. Llinos and her son Daniel will be the subject of one of our fifty-two but for now have a listen to her trailer.

Four of Fifty-two

This week we introduce you to Trudi Petersen who is running an independent shop, Found and Seek in the county town of Carmarthen.

I first met Trudi in a Cross Hands Working Men’s Club at a Spoken Word Open Mic. As a performance poet she is a very able artist with a great stage presence and a cultured use of language. She made me smile and she made me laugh. I’ll let her tell you her story in her own inimitable way.

Last Friday Mother Bear travelled to Trawsfynydd. What a day! A 5.30 a.m. start meant we were up in Yr Ysgwrn in time for breakfast. The last productions of The Empty Chair were extremely powerful and the one-man multimedia show of Hedd Wynn’s life was performed by the national poet of Wales, Ifor Ap Glyn.

The croeso at the bwythyn was warm and welcoming. The bara brith and panedd o de very much appreciated. It wasn’t for the first time in my life that I was sorry for the lack of a fluent Welsh tongue in my repertoire. I urge you if you visit Wales you must go to the home of the poet. http://www.yrysgwrn.com/home .

We’re off this week to meet up with Anna of isea surfwear. An independent bespoke print and design business being run out of a barn in Llanteg, Amroth and if we can fit it in Columbus Campers in Swansea run by the illustrious Jimmy Page. Although not the Led Zeppelin guitarist, James does play a guitar beautifully. Coincidentally, I bought tickets for a Robert Plant show in the Lyric Theatre, Carmarthen in April. It’s not the usual show they put on in the Lyric. We’ll have to try and get an interview and ask him about Led Zep’s impromptu performance at the Silverdales Caravan Club in Pendine in the 80’s!

Well, we beat the Irish and the nation partied. They are an outstanding group of athletes dedicated to their professional sport. For me it is very gratifying to see local players coming through the system and to have coached them at a younger age, Kenneth Owens and Jonathan Davies dedicated their lives to rugby from a young age and they deserve all they get. Llongyfarchiadau.

Perhaps it’s wrong to say it at this time of celebration and optimism but Welsh Rugby isn’t in a good place. I haven’t got statistics at my fingertips but from what I observe amateur grass roots rugby is dying fast. Second team rugby, social rugby is nearly dead and Youth rugby not far behind it. We live in a different world of professional sport and the emphasis of sport for all in rugby has now switched to providing the National team with the highest quality but it is at the detriment of social rugby. Sad to say but rugby isn’t what it used to be. Rugby clubs are fighting for their survival. Could be a video on the subject?

Three of Fifty-Two

Into our third week already. We had a few hiccups last week and had to delay release but hopefully we’re back to the Friday release day from this week on. Monday was a big editing morning. There’s a need to be on top of it if we are going to get things out on time.

This week we introduce you to Iannis Ireland, self-publishing, self-financing author of the recently released, The Educator. Brought up on Bond Avenue , Penyfan overlooking The Morfa in Llanelli and educated at Bigyn Primary School and Coedcae Comp. Now living in Devon with his family, Iannis is a head teacher of a Primary School. He returns to Llanelli regularly to visit mum and dad and also to perform in The Spoken Word at Y Ffwrnes Theatre.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/category/Community/Spoken-Word-Saturday-471245999697311/

In his first novel Iannis uses his experience as a teacher to delve into the lives of the people around him:
The Educator - A Matt Greaves Investigation 

Control And Dominance? Can He Survive? Self-Control Is Not An Option? Grisly murders! Targets carefully chosen! 
Enter Year 3 teacher Matt Greaves, divorced, slightly jaded, thirty-something. Greaves will see his life changed forever in a battle where there can only ever be one winner, and where the lives of many others hang in the balance. Greaves will be the only one who can teach his opponent the hardest of lessons.
Mother Bear is hard at work this week, hoping to visit Yr Ysgwrn, Trawsfynydd later in the week for the final show of The Empty Chair – a multimedia poetry show, revisiting the life of the Great War poet, Hedd Wyn and exploring the nature of loss and identity. A video for the future with Americymru.

https://www.literaturewales.org/lw-news/literature-wales-presents-y-gadair-wag-the-empty-chair/

Oh yes and if you’re in Tenby for the Grand Slam weekend you will find Iannis educating friends on how to play obscure self-penned drinking games in The Lifeboat, singing karaoke in The Three Mariners and throwing some shapes in assorted nightclubs and bars all across the town!

Drink and be merry! - Cymru Am Byth!!!

Two of Fifty-Two

I’ve been editing our video on the town mayor of Carmarthen. When you know the person pretty well it’s hard to keep to set questions in an interview! I threw my questions away in the end and let him talk. Reacting to what he was discussing made everything far more natural. Hopefully we’re learning all the time!

I got to mention this link. Last Thursday on BBC 2 Wales there was an It’s My Shout short film, The Wall and The Mirror. I love the detail in the documentary. Clare Potter has directed it with a passion and care for the community of Cefn Forest. Do a search on BBC iplayer and you’ll find it.

Please take fifteen minutes out of your day and enjoy. We’re learning all the time!

ISLAND FARM, GERMAN POW CAMP OPEN WEEKEND

Seimon and myself are off on a big adventure on Sunday morning. We’re taking our camera, tripod and zoom recorder to Bridgend. The last time we ventured east we got lost up Blaenavon looking for Trehafod. We had to stop on the way back to Ponty, in a Tredegar petrol station. We needed Jelly Babies, our sugar levels were low. We were out of our comfort zone for sure.

We’ve got some friends who curate Hut 9, Island Farm in Bridgend, willing to share the secrets of this World War Two German Prisoner of War camp.

In the afternoon we return to Pete King’s Sycamore Studios - Swansea's longest running professional studio. Pete will be a subject of a forthcoming video. The Welsh Cakes have a rehearsal, the first in three weeks. We think we’ll be ready to perform by September with an opening gig planned for Pontardawe Arts Centre. You’ll have heard one of the lead singers, Lorraine King singing in the last video, No 5 Cwmdonkin Drive. The music on Penrhiwbeili is by Welsh folk singer Tommy Jenkins.

One of Fifty-Two

Mother Bear started out as a Community Theatre Project. It is based in the township of Laugharne. The aim of the project is to research local historical figures and play out scenes usually by characters listening to stories in a public house in an improvised situation.

One of the most informed pieces is about a Napoleonic soldier who retires after the Wars to run a pub in Laugharne. Research was done and his diaries found. They become the basis of the treatment that has been performed in cafes, churches, chip shops, town halls and pubs across South Wales. 

Another part of the project is to put together videos of community interest, whether they are cultural, historical or have a community interest. We have basic equipment but found that we could produce reasonable quality videos that were of interest.

Seimon and myself have been friends for many years. He now hopes to relocate his WW2 museum and artifacts to Kidwelly very soon and is working hard towards that end. For twenty years I helped run an outdoor pursuit centre in Pendine. Six years ago I built a WW1 trench system as an educational tool for children of all ages.

We have a network across South Wales of like-minded friends and now and again you will see that our videos have a slant to the two major conflicts of the 20th century.

I contacted Gaabriel at Americymru over ten years ago when I was organizing a charity cycle trip from California to Florida. I wanted to link up with different Welsh communities as we went. Americymru supported the trip by putting it out there that we were looking for help. The straight route across the States became a zig-zag as we endeavored to meet all of Gaabriel’s contacts. Over £80,000 raised for Noah’s Ark Hospital in Cardiff. 

So it all goes quiet for ten years until Seimon announces that he’s got a great contact in Oregon. 

‘Let’s do a few videos for them!’

‘How many is a few, butt?’ I say.

‘One a week for a year!’ he says.

Today we launch our video series with author Alun Gibbard, at Number Five, Cwmdonkin Drive, Swansea, the birthplace of Dylan Thomas.

No 5 Cwmdonkin Drive, Alun Gibbard For Saint David's Day, and Mother Bear Productions' inaugural video with us, Alun Gibbard, author of Cardiff Before Cardiff (Y Llofa) and many other titles, introduces us all to Number 5 Cwmdonkin Drive, Swansea, the birthplace of Welsh poet Dylan Thomas.  

We hope you all enjoy it as much as we did. Want to visit Swansea for yourself? VisitWales.com can help you plan a trip to Wales.  

You can find out about visiting No. 5 Cwmdonkin Drive at www.dylanthomasbirthplace.com schedule a guided tour, have a meal or tea, and even book a stay...