A new series of documentaries which touch the heart, O’r Galon, (From the Heart) starts this week with a portrait of a larger than life, inspirational character.
Frank Letch is a retired teacher who’s a gifted linguist and a father of five children. He’s a talented artist and is mayor of the small town of Crediton in Devon. He was also born without arms - but he hasn’t allowed his disability to rule his life.
In the documentary, Frank Letch, we’ll follow 65-year-old Frank, who was brought up in the East End of London, on a journey back to the town of Bala where he was a French teacher for nearly 20 years. He left there in the mid 1990s after the death of his first wife, Helen. He lived in Scotland for a while before settling in Devon.
Frank is a unique person, who inspired the late Gwyn Erfyl to produce an award-winning documentary about him back in 1978. The new programme contains snippets of that 1970s documentary.
Frank enjoyed meeting up with old friends and former pupils. "Bala’s High Street has changed a lot, but the people haven’t," he says with a smile.
Although he left Bala at a sad time in his life following Helen’s untimely death at the age of 41, Frank is not a bitter man.
"You have to think about today and tomorrow, not yesterday. You can’t do anything about yesterday," he says.
Now that his children have flown the nest, Frank says that he can relax and be himself in the company of his Russian wife, Natalia whom he married in 2008.
"I believe in paradise," he says. "Having lost Helen, I lost paradise, but I feel I’ve found it once again. I feel happy every morning and look forward to the day ahead."
© 2012 S4C
O Gymru / Made in Wales