S4C viewers will learn about some of Wales's most interesting pubs with singer, entertainer and actor Dewi 'Pws' Morris, as the Straeon Tafarn (Pub Tales) series made a return on Friday 26 August S4C.
The series follows Pws around the country as he uncovers the history of six Welsh pubs. He will also play a gig with his folk band Radwm in front of a local audience in each watering hole.
In this second series, Pws will spend time at The Ship in Lower Fishguard; The Corner House in Llangynwyd, Maesteg; Pen-y-Gwryd Hotel in Snowdonia; the Pick and Shovel in Ammanford; The Red Lion in Dinas Mawddwy and The Red Lion in Llangadog. "I love gigging around Wales", says Dewi Pws. "The programme's main aim is to entertain, but so many people have told me they enjoyed and learned something new, and I've learnt a lot myself, too."
Dewi 'Pws' discovered a little slice of Hollywood right here in Wales as he visited his first pub, The Ship Inn in Fishguard. He heard epic tales of Hollywood stars such as Gregory Peck, who visited Fishguard in the 50s to film Moby Dick. Locals actually built the whale, which starred in the film. The Ship Inn quenched the thirsts of such Hollywood legends as Richard Burton, Ryan Davies and Peter O'Toole when Under Milk Wood was filmed in Lower Town, in 1972.
Perhaps you may be interested in the second episode; whether you love the thrill of a good mystery, spooked by tales of ghosts and unexplainable events or are more of a rom-com type and enjoy being swept away in a romantic fantasy, Straeon Tafarn's second episode in The Corner House, Llangynwyd, provides something for everyone.
The third episode, shown on Friday 9 September on S4C at 8.25pm, sees Dewi 'Pws' visit the Pen-y-Gwryd Hotel, Snowdonia. From Edmund Hilary to James Bond, Dewi will toast one of his heroes as he talks to Eric Jones, Welsh solo climber, about the successful 1953 British Expedition to Mount Everest. He will also visit the Cwm Dyli Hydro Electric Power Station, which is one of the UK's oldest plants. The pipelines which carry the water appear in the James Bond film 'The World is Not Enough' (1999), starring Pierce Brosnan.
In the Pick and Shovel, Ammanford, Dewi discovers that over the years Ammanford has been a hotbed of social activity, from the bus strike in 1935 to the miners' strike in the 80s. During the programme, shown on Friday 16 September at 8.25pm on S4C, Dewi hears from historian Dr Russel Davies, raised in Penygroes, Ammanford, how the Pick was created out of the conflict during the bus strike. Not only do our Welsh pubs attract the likes of Hollywood stars, but some of the world's most infamous inventors too, inventor Grindell 'Death Ray' Mathews who is believed to be one of the contributors to the creation of the modern day mobile phone.
In the fifth episode, we visit Y Llew Coch, and our very own bald bandit, Dewi, hears tales of the famous Welsh bandits of Dinas Mawddwy, Y Gwylliaid Cochion, also known as The Red Fairies of Mawddwy. However, this programme also tells a tragic tale; of the 7 siblings of Ty'n y Braich farm, 3 brothers were born blind and 2 died young. This is a tragic yet heartfelt story with a real sense of hope and strength in the face of adversity, as the brothers learned to deal with their blindness and become successful contributors to their community and broader society.
Llangadog has had a long history of political protest; the final episode in The Red Lion, will explore the Rebecca Riots in the 1800s to the Milk Quotas in the 1900s.
© 2012 S4C
O Gymru / Made in Wales