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For Edwardian Britons, a Bradshaw's
was an indispensable guide

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to a railway network at its peak.

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I'm using an early 20th-century
edition to navigate a vibrant

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and optimistic Britain

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at the height of its power
and influence in the world.

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But a nation wrestling
with political,

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social and industrial unrest
at home.

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Dressed in the colours
of the Welsh flag,

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I begin in south Wales

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on a journey that will also take in
southwest England.

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At the time of this Bradshaw's,
110 years ago,

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the Victorian age was over
and King Edward VII reigned.

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Railways, coal and the
British Empire were at their zenith,

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but this was not a tranquil age -

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big changes were under way
in technology, society and politics.

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Starting in Carmarthenshire,

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this journey will take me east
through industrial south Wales,

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passing through its major cities -
Swansea and Cardiff -

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before crossing the border
into England.

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I'll explore Edwardian Bristol,

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then set a south-westerly course
to take in rural Somerset

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and the Devon coast, en route
to my final stop in Cornwall.

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This first leg
gets into gear at Whitland

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and continues on to Llanelli.

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I'll travel to Gowerton
and finish at Swansea,

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the birthplace of one of the
20th century's best-loved poets.

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On this journey,
I burn rubber in the hot seat...

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Well, this is exciting!
What speed are we doing? About 70.

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Follow in the footsteps
of the great Welsh bard...

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So, I suppose Dylan Thomas
came here, did he?

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I don't think there's a pub
in Swansea that he didn't go to!

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And uncover a spiritual renaissance.

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"I stir up a few friends
who turn back to Jesus,

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"but he will need
thousands of friends in Wales."

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At the beginning
of the 20th century,

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Britain had 20,000 miles
of railways.

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In south Wales, they threaded up
the valleys and linked the villages.

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Locomotives had exceeded 100mph,

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but Edwardians who craved speed
looked to a different technology.

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The motor car demanded
individual skill

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and offered the freedom
of the open road.

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I'm alighting at Whitland,

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a small Carmarthenshire town
with a tradition of dairy farming.

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But I'm bound for the coast
to join the gathering crowds

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at the site of what was Britain's
very first

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international motor rally.

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It took place on the stretch
of beach at Pendine Sands in 1909,

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pioneering the development
of modern motorsport,

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and today it's still a magnet
for petrolheads

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and those who feel
the need for speed.

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I did 98mph last year.
Why do you do it?

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Once you've raced,
there isn't anything else.

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I'm currently the fastest woman
in the world.

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You're the fastest woman
in the world? I am, yes. Yeah.

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What was your record?

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Um, the actual official record
was 264.1mph

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over a standing mile.

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You went at 264.1mph
on a motorbike? Yes.

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And you're here to tell the tale?
Yes.

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Well, I want to get the ton at
least on it today. 100mph?

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Yeah. And why do you wear thimbles
to do that?

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Ah, because it's very important
to give the thumbs up to

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the right people at the right time.

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You know, "Yes, we're good,"
or, "No, we're not."

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That's what that's all about.
What are they, then?

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They're actually off my battery.

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It's the covers,
it's so I don't lose them.

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The royal family had become
accustomed to travelling

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the country by rail, but King Edward
VII became the nation's first

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motoring monarch when he purchased
a Daimler automobile in 1900.

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The Pendine Museum Of Speed
overlooks the famous

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seven-mile stretch of sand.

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Chris. Hi. Bore da.

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Motor historian Chris Delaney
can tell me

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about the groundbreakers
of world land speed records.

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Chris, today there's the roar
of engines all around us.

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How did Pendine Sands become
associated with motor racing?

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At the turn of the 20th century,
you can't race on the roads.

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20mph speed limit,

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dangerous roads designed for horses,
not designed for the motor car,

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but this, out here, is a large area
of flat, hard sand.

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It's a great natural racecourse.

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The glory days, when the Sands
put land speed record attempts

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on the world stage,
came about because of the rivalry

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between an English racing journalist
and a Welsh engineer.

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And so, 1924, Malcolm Campbell
comes along in the first Blue Bird

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and takes the land speed record,
here, on Pendine.

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And then John Godfrey Parry-Thomas,
born in Wrexham, in north Wales,

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comes and does it as well in 1926.

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What sort of speeds?

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He pushed it over 170mph,
which was an incredible speed

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for the time, and then Campbell
came back and took it back again.

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And it was in April, 1927,
that Parry-Thomas came back here

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in an attempt to retake his record
from Malcolm Campbell.

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Sadly, the car skidded, turned over.

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Unfortunately,
he was killed in the process.

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So this is the very car
in which Parry-Thomas died?

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Obviously, substantially restored,
but, yes, this is it.

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Despite the obvious dangers
of speed competitions,

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the hard sands at Pendine

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continue to attract thrill-seekers
chasing records.

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Welcome to 2017 Pendine record
attempts. Are we all happy?

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ALL: Yeah.
MAN: Very.

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This event was established by former
motorcycle racer Trevor Duckworth...

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Thanks, gentlemen.
ALL: Thank you.

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..with the aim
of providing competitors

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with organised conditions

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in which to race safely.

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So, today is straight lining?

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Yeah, today's record attempt
on the famous Pendine Beach...

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We've got classes for all types
of machines and the fast stuff

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will be nudging 200mph at
the end of the measured distances.

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I might take a spin on the sand
myself in a three-wheeler.

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Any particular tips for me?

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Yeah, I hold a lot of world records
on three-wheelers,

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believe it or not, and the thing
to do is just set off nice

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and gently, and then just build
the speed up through the gears.

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Short shift
and just let it get into top

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and that will give you
the best speed you can have.

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Maybe 130, if you're brave.

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I was thinking more like 50.

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TREVOR LAUGHS

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My carriage is a modern
interpretation of the three-wheeler

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first designed by the Morgan
Motor Company in 1910.

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Trevor will be my instructor
from the passenger seat.

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Well, this is an amazing experience
for me, Trevor. It will be, yeah.

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I don't think I've ever done
anything quite like this.

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Yeah, let's go, let's do it.

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KLAXON BLARES

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Brake.

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Whoa! Change...change gear.

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Keep going.

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Right, a bit more, a bit more.

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You can feel the back end move,
but it's all right. Just keep going.

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Higher gear, that's it, keep going.

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That's it, nice and steady.

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Nice and steady. Nice and steady.

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Top gear. Fifth gear? Yep, right.

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That's it. Just keep going, a bit
more. Getting faster and faster...

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A bit more. I've got the accelerator
down. Absolutely fantastic.

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We're reaching the finish point...
A bit more.

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Well, this is exciting.

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What speed are we doing?
I think we're about 70.

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And off! Just let it slow down.

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Right, nice and steady,
we're starting to brake.

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Well, Trevor, that was amazing. All
right? Well done. Thank you so much.

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Fantastic fun.

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"Stands the church clock
at ten to three?

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"And is there honey still for tea?"

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The poet Rupert Brooke makes us look
at the period

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before the First World War
through rose-coloured spectacles.

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In fact, the Government
was terrified of industrial strife

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and of possible rebellion in Ireland

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and the two came together
threateningly in 1911,

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when railwaymen at Llanelli
went on strike,

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potentially closing
the rail corridor for troops

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who would be needed to suppress
any revolt in the Emerald Isle.

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From the late 19th century,
Llanelli was known as Tinopolis,

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thanks to its flourishing
tin plate industry.

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I'll retrace the fateful events
of the 1911 railway strike

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with historian Russell Grigg.

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Hello, Russell. Hello, Michael.

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Very good to see you.
Nice to see you, too.

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So, why was there trouble here
at Llanelli in 1911?

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Well, essentially, because of the
topography of the railway station.

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So, you have a bottleneck
between two level crossings,

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the eastern and western crossings.

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So, essentially, it was a good place
for the strikers to actually

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undertake their protest.

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What was the strike about?

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There were major concerns about
the pay and working conditions.

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I mean, typically,
a railway worker then

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would earn around 20 shillings a
week, £1 a week, whereas the

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average salary then was probably
nearer around 30 shillings a week,

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but also it's quite a dangerous
occupation, or dangerous employment.

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In the ten years prior
to the 1907 period,

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around 5,000 railwaymen
were actually killed.

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In the years before the Great War,
disgruntled British workers

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from dockers to miners
were turning to industrial action.

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In 1911, railwaymen joined the fray

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with their first-ever
national strike.

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Here, in Llanelli,
workers blockaded the line.

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How did the strike progress?

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Eventually, troops were sent here
to obviously try to open the two

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level crossings. What happened next?

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Major Brownlow Stuart
went up on the bank

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to try and talk to the protesters.

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One report says that
he got his watch out and he said,

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"Look, you have one minute.

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"The Riot Act will be read,
one minute to disperse."

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The dispersal didn't occur,
five shots were fired

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and we know that some killed
two young men,

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one aged 19 and one aged 21.

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What was the reaction of Llanelli
to these deaths?

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Well, clearly,
that was a major trauma

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and there was a great deal of anger.

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News travelled very quickly.

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Of course,
the railway workers themselves,

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there were only around 500 of those,

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so they were supplemented by
the tin plate workers.

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So that gathering numbers
started to look at where

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they could vent their anger
and their frustration.

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So, what happens next
is the attention shifts

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from the railway station itself
towards the goods shed.

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After the deaths,

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what had started as a peaceful
strike turned to violence.

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Tracks were torn up,
trains and shops ransacked,

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and a freight wagon containing
explosives was set alight,

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resulting in four more fatalities.

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This was a riot that turned really
into looting, was it?

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00:12:44,840 --> 00:12:47,360
Exactly, and I think there is
a distinction to be drawn,

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or certainly the records try
to distinguish between those

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who were rioting and those who were
looting, and the punishments

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00:12:54,000 --> 00:12:58,120
meted out at the end following the
inquest reflected the difference.

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A painful history for Llanelli.
Absolutely so.

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The goods shed still stands
in Llanelli,

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one of the few surviving examples
in Wales.

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Robert Lloyd heads up a project
committed to restoring it.

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Robert, can anything be done
with these fine buildings?

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Yes, lots can be done to it.

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I mean, it looks derelict now,
obviously,

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but this is an iconic building
in Llanelli.

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It's a Grade II listed building,
built in 1875.

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So, the Goods Shed Trust have been
working since 2011, really,

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to restore it and to get ideas
for rejuvenating the place

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and we intend telling the bigger
picture of how Llanelli went

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from a little village
to this huge industrial complex,

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the Tinopolis of Llanelli.

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Tinopolis' unofficial anthem
is Sosban Fach, or Little Saucepan,

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said to have been sung
by the strikers in 1911

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00:13:52,880 --> 00:13:55,880
and today
by the Llanelli Male Choir.

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# Sosban fach yn berwi ar y tan

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# Sosban fawr yn berwi ar y llawr

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00:14:04,000 --> 00:14:17,840
# A'r gath wedi sgrapo Joni bach. #

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00:14:17,840 --> 00:14:20,280
My goodness, gentlemen,
that was stirring!

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Gentlemen who sing that really
mean business, don't they?
MEN LAUGH

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00:14:23,120 --> 00:14:24,480
Thank you.

238
00:14:24,480 --> 00:14:27,760
How do you feel, having sung like
that today, how do you feel? Proud.

239
00:14:27,760 --> 00:14:28,800
Proud?

240
00:14:30,040 --> 00:14:34,760
When Wales wins at the rugby, yes?
Yeah! Is that...?

241
00:14:34,760 --> 00:14:36,760
I mean, it does happen, does it?
Yes, yeah.

242
00:14:36,760 --> 00:14:39,560
MEN: Ooh!
LAUGHTER

243
00:14:41,920 --> 00:14:45,240
When Wales wins at the rugby,
what do you like to sing then?

244
00:14:45,240 --> 00:14:46,760
Amen. Amen!

245
00:14:46,760 --> 00:14:49,720
Could I have a moment of Amen?
ALL: Yes!

246
00:14:49,720 --> 00:14:51,960
# Amen

247
00:14:51,960 --> 00:14:56,320
# Amen, amen, amen

248
00:14:56,320 --> 00:15:00,280
# Amen, amen

249
00:15:00,280 --> 00:15:04,040
# Amen, amen, amen. #

250
00:15:12,680 --> 00:15:15,760
A new day,
and I'm resuming my travels,

251
00:15:15,760 --> 00:15:18,400
heading east
in the direction of Swansea.

252
00:15:28,120 --> 00:15:29,840
A satirical song goes,

253
00:15:29,840 --> 00:15:33,200
"Have you ever been to Wales
where they brew the finest ales?

254
00:15:33,200 --> 00:15:37,880
"And you want to drink on Sunday
but you have to wait till Monday."

255
00:15:37,880 --> 00:15:42,320
And Sunday observance is still
an important influence in Wales.

256
00:15:42,320 --> 00:15:45,400
At the beginning of
the 20th century, Nonconformists -

257
00:15:45,400 --> 00:15:47,680
Methodists, Baptists and the like -

258
00:15:47,680 --> 00:15:51,680
easily outnumbered Anglicans
of the established church.

259
00:15:51,680 --> 00:15:56,800
And according to newspapers of the
day, a Welsh revival was under way,

260
00:15:56,800 --> 00:16:02,840
featuring a preacher called
Evan Roberts making 40,000 converts.

261
00:16:02,840 --> 00:16:05,520
I must relive that revival.

262
00:16:09,160 --> 00:16:13,760
Gowerton Station
opened as Gower Road in 1854.

263
00:16:15,000 --> 00:16:16,680
The village that it serves

264
00:16:16,680 --> 00:16:19,720
is known as the gateway
to the Gower Peninsula.

265
00:16:20,960 --> 00:16:23,400
I'm bound for the nearby town
of Loughor -

266
00:16:23,400 --> 00:16:26,560
the birthplace of the leader
of the religious revival

267
00:16:26,560 --> 00:16:29,040
that gripped Edwardian Wales.

268
00:16:32,320 --> 00:16:34,760
Hello, Bill. Hello, Michael.
Very nice to meet you.

269
00:16:34,760 --> 00:16:37,560
I've arranged to meet historian
Bill Jones.

270
00:16:39,560 --> 00:16:43,280
Bill, I've been looking
at a newspaper from December 1904 -

271
00:16:43,280 --> 00:16:45,720
"The revival wave spreading.

272
00:16:45,720 --> 00:16:47,320
"Scenes of enthusiasm.

273
00:16:47,320 --> 00:16:49,800
"Great change in the habits
of the people."

274
00:16:49,800 --> 00:16:51,440
It was quite a thing,
this Welsh revival.

275
00:16:51,440 --> 00:16:54,200
Oh, this is a remarkable episode
in many respects

276
00:16:54,200 --> 00:16:58,320
and we're here almost at the peak
of the revival at the end of 1904,

277
00:16:58,320 --> 00:17:02,600
although it lasted, in many areas,
right through until 1905 as well.

278
00:17:02,600 --> 00:17:07,440
By this time the movement had spread
from this chapel, here, in Loughor,

279
00:17:07,440 --> 00:17:09,720
out towards other parts of Wales

280
00:17:09,720 --> 00:17:14,760
and in many ways the revival is
helped by the railways, of course.

281
00:17:14,760 --> 00:17:16,960
Who was Evan Roberts?

282
00:17:16,960 --> 00:17:20,120
Evan Roberts was born in 1878.
He was the son of a collier,

283
00:17:20,120 --> 00:17:22,720
he also had worked
underground himself,

284
00:17:22,720 --> 00:17:26,160
but had then decided he wanted
to become a minister of religion

285
00:17:26,160 --> 00:17:29,760
and, in order to do that, had become
a student at the grammar school

286
00:17:29,760 --> 00:17:31,000
at Newcastle Emlyn.

287
00:17:32,960 --> 00:17:35,640
Just a few weeks into his studies,

288
00:17:35,640 --> 00:17:40,360
26-year-old Roberts experienced
a profound religious awakening

289
00:17:40,360 --> 00:17:43,240
after attending a meeting
led by Methodist evangelists.

290
00:17:44,720 --> 00:17:48,080
He returned to his hometown
of Loughor to spread the word

291
00:17:48,080 --> 00:17:51,720
and his passionate preaching
was well received from the start.

292
00:17:54,200 --> 00:17:58,680
Roberts soon began touring Wales,
addressing huge crowds.

293
00:17:58,680 --> 00:18:00,960
For the next year,
he was constantly on the road.

294
00:18:04,520 --> 00:18:06,000
What happened to Evan Roberts?

295
00:18:06,000 --> 00:18:08,800
This, of course,
was an intense moment in his life

296
00:18:08,800 --> 00:18:10,640
and physically
and mentally demanding,

297
00:18:10,640 --> 00:18:13,280
and he has what most people
would acknowledge would be

298
00:18:13,280 --> 00:18:16,480
some sort of a breakdown and then
he retires from public life.

299
00:18:17,560 --> 00:18:18,760
Extraordinary.

300
00:18:20,400 --> 00:18:24,240
Wales had been swept by periodic
waves of religious fervour

301
00:18:24,240 --> 00:18:28,680
since the 18th century, but the 1904
revival was the biggest yet.

302
00:18:30,440 --> 00:18:34,680
Lively meetings characterised
by spontaneous outbursts of emotion

303
00:18:34,680 --> 00:18:39,880
and rousing singing converted
an estimated 100,000 souls.

304
00:18:41,120 --> 00:18:44,520
Alun Ebenezer's uncle,
a tin plate worker from Llanelli,

305
00:18:44,520 --> 00:18:46,560
played a part in the story.

306
00:18:46,560 --> 00:18:48,440
Now, tell me about your uncle.

307
00:18:48,440 --> 00:18:51,480
My uncle was the main singer
with Evan Roberts

308
00:18:51,480 --> 00:18:53,800
and some of the other revivalists.

309
00:18:53,800 --> 00:18:55,720
His name was Sam Jenkins.

310
00:18:55,720 --> 00:18:59,160
Can you remember
what your uncle would sing?

311
00:18:59,160 --> 00:19:02,880
Yes, there was one song
in particular which my uncle had

312
00:19:02,880 --> 00:19:09,240
translated into Welsh and it was,
um, For Saving A Sinner Like Me.

313
00:19:09,240 --> 00:19:12,160
He asked for the word "sinner"
to be changed to "rebel",

314
00:19:12,160 --> 00:19:15,440
so it was changed to
For Saving A Rebel Like Me,

315
00:19:15,440 --> 00:19:19,080
and that became quite a well-known
hymn during the revival.

316
00:19:20,200 --> 00:19:22,040
In Evan Roberts' day,

317
00:19:22,040 --> 00:19:25,200
Anglicanism was Wales'
established religion,

318
00:19:25,200 --> 00:19:29,160
but in 1920, Nonconformists won
a long-desired victory

319
00:19:29,160 --> 00:19:33,960
when the Church of England
lost its official status in Wales.

320
00:19:33,960 --> 00:19:37,560
By then, however,
Nonconformism was in decline.

321
00:19:37,560 --> 00:19:40,840
The revival led by Roberts
had been its high-water mark.

322
00:19:40,840 --> 00:19:43,880
"Hear, my brethren,
he gave of himself.

323
00:19:43,880 --> 00:19:47,120
"Hear, my friends,
Jesus comes out of the grave.

324
00:19:47,120 --> 00:19:49,920
"Men must keep their promise,
God will come to them.

325
00:19:49,920 --> 00:19:52,440
"Give him your all, all lands.

326
00:19:52,440 --> 00:19:55,720
"I stir up a few friends
who turn back to Jesus,

327
00:19:55,720 --> 00:19:59,520
"but he will need
thousands of friends in Wales."

328
00:19:59,520 --> 00:20:02,160
Bill, the revival at the time
did have quite an effect

329
00:20:02,160 --> 00:20:03,800
on Welsh society, didn't it?

330
00:20:03,800 --> 00:20:06,840
There was a significant change
in sort of people's habits,

331
00:20:06,840 --> 00:20:10,480
if you like. There was a decline
in drunkenness, that's evident.

332
00:20:10,480 --> 00:20:13,840
There was also... Undermined
popular culture at the time,

333
00:20:13,840 --> 00:20:16,760
particularly sports
that had become very well-known.

334
00:20:16,760 --> 00:20:18,000
Rugby clubs closed,

335
00:20:18,000 --> 00:20:21,040
but it's undoubtedly
one of the most remarkable events

336
00:20:21,040 --> 00:20:24,320
in the history of modern Wales and
one of international significance.

337
00:20:32,920 --> 00:20:36,280
From this small town, I'll travel
one stop

338
00:20:36,280 --> 00:20:38,720
to Wales' second-largest city.

339
00:20:43,880 --> 00:20:46,840
"I was born
in a large Welsh industrial town

340
00:20:46,840 --> 00:20:48,880
"at the beginning
of the Great War -

341
00:20:48,880 --> 00:20:53,440
"an ugly, lovely town -
or so it was, and is, to me -

342
00:20:53,440 --> 00:20:57,200
"crawling, sprawling, slummed,
unplanned, jerry-villa'd,

343
00:20:57,200 --> 00:21:02,880
"and smug-suburbed by the side of
a long and splendid-curving shore."

344
00:21:02,880 --> 00:21:08,400
I'm on my way to Swansea in search
of the poet who penned those words,

345
00:21:08,400 --> 00:21:12,800
who, in an alcohol-fuelled life,
wrote like an angel.

346
00:21:15,080 --> 00:21:16,520
Excuse me? Yes.

347
00:21:16,520 --> 00:21:18,640
Does Dylan Thomas
mean anything to you?

348
00:21:18,640 --> 00:21:24,160
Um, I know he's a famous Welsh
writer. Um, are you Welsh yourself?

349
00:21:24,160 --> 00:21:29,320
Um, I've got Welsh heritage, but I
was born and live in London. Ah-hah.

350
00:21:29,320 --> 00:21:30,880
And would you know...

351
00:21:30,880 --> 00:21:33,960
..would you know any of the works
that Dylan Thomas was famous for?

352
00:21:33,960 --> 00:21:36,320
Uh, Under Milk Wood
is really the only one I know.

353
00:21:36,320 --> 00:21:38,800
It's the most famous, I think. Yes.

354
00:21:38,800 --> 00:21:41,480
I was just reading a tiny bit there,
I don't know whether you heard it?

355
00:21:41,480 --> 00:21:44,680
Yes. The way he plays with the
words... The words, yeah. Wonderful.

356
00:21:44,680 --> 00:21:46,760
It was absolutely beautiful, yeah.

357
00:21:46,760 --> 00:21:50,000
Well, I'm going in search
of Dylan Thomas. Enjoy your search.

358
00:21:50,000 --> 00:21:51,560
Thank you very much.

359
00:21:56,120 --> 00:21:59,400
Abertawe, as the city is called
in the native tongue,

360
00:21:59,400 --> 00:22:03,640
was a hub of south Wales'
industrial revolution.

361
00:22:03,640 --> 00:22:07,960
And as soon as I step off the train,
my Thomas quest is rewarded.

362
00:22:11,160 --> 00:22:14,640
The poet was born and raised
in Swansea's western suburbs

363
00:22:14,640 --> 00:22:19,480
and as a boy he played in the
beautifully planted Cwmdonkin Park.

364
00:22:22,480 --> 00:22:26,000
Fondly described by Thomas
as a world within the world

365
00:22:26,000 --> 00:22:30,080
of the sea town, the park lies
a short walk from his boyhood home.

366
00:22:31,840 --> 00:22:35,080
The house where Dylan Thomas
lived as a child.

367
00:22:35,080 --> 00:22:36,960
It's unexpected, it's comfortable,

368
00:22:36,960 --> 00:22:39,560
it's prim, it's proper,
it's suburban.

369
00:22:39,560 --> 00:22:42,800
Geoff Haden manages the house...
Hello, Michael.

370
00:22:42,800 --> 00:22:45,280
And welcome to
the Dylan Thomas Birthplace.

371
00:22:45,280 --> 00:22:47,680
Great to see you, Geoff,
thank you very much. Come on in.

372
00:22:47,680 --> 00:22:49,920
..and conducts guided tours.

373
00:22:51,400 --> 00:22:54,600
It has a very authentic period feel.

374
00:22:54,600 --> 00:22:57,960
Well, I'm glad you like it, it took
a long time to get it to this stage.

375
00:22:57,960 --> 00:23:00,920
There was very little to go on,
but we were really lucky, we found

376
00:23:00,920 --> 00:23:04,600
the maid, Emily, who had worked here
for five years when she was 15

377
00:23:04,600 --> 00:23:07,600
and Dylan was 16,
and so she was able to tell us

378
00:23:07,600 --> 00:23:10,600
all about the house, the colours,
the furnishings

379
00:23:10,600 --> 00:23:12,280
and the layout of the house.

380
00:23:12,280 --> 00:23:13,520
A maid?

381
00:23:13,520 --> 00:23:15,680
So we're talking about
quite a middle-class family.

382
00:23:15,680 --> 00:23:18,960
Dylan himself described this house
as his parents'

383
00:23:18,960 --> 00:23:20,920
professional Glamorgan villa.

384
00:23:20,920 --> 00:23:22,640
So that's quite sardonic.

385
00:23:22,640 --> 00:23:26,680
Did he write in this house? He wrote
two thirds of his published work.

386
00:23:26,680 --> 00:23:29,880
Um, he lived here for 23 years.

387
00:23:29,880 --> 00:23:34,240
The foundation for all his work
came from this house and this area.

388
00:23:34,240 --> 00:23:36,240
And might I see the place
where he wrote?

389
00:23:36,240 --> 00:23:38,400
Of course you can,
it's his little bedroom upstairs.

390
00:23:38,400 --> 00:23:42,320
This semidetached house
was built in 1914,

391
00:23:42,320 --> 00:23:45,000
the year of Dylan Thomas' birth.

392
00:23:45,000 --> 00:23:49,280
But by 2004,
it was in use as student digs.

393
00:23:49,280 --> 00:23:52,480
Geoff bought the house
and has carefully restored it.

394
00:23:53,800 --> 00:23:56,000
It is very surprisingly small.

395
00:23:56,000 --> 00:23:59,200
So much creativity came out
of such a tiny room.

396
00:23:59,200 --> 00:24:02,080
Well, Dylan described it
as a room that was so small,

397
00:24:02,080 --> 00:24:04,320
you had to go outside
to turn around.

398
00:24:04,320 --> 00:24:07,200
Big enough for a bed,
a desk, a chair.

399
00:24:07,200 --> 00:24:08,640
There was a good library here?

400
00:24:08,640 --> 00:24:10,760
A very good library
in his father's study

401
00:24:10,760 --> 00:24:12,880
and that's where Dylan was allowed

402
00:24:12,880 --> 00:24:15,280
to go and read
anything and everything

403
00:24:15,280 --> 00:24:18,680
from Tiger Tim's Annual
to Shakespeare and Dickens.

404
00:24:18,680 --> 00:24:20,120
Why do you think we still feel

405
00:24:20,120 --> 00:24:22,360
so much interest
in this son of Swansea?

406
00:24:22,360 --> 00:24:25,200
I think it's because
he's a bit of an enigma.

407
00:24:25,200 --> 00:24:28,280
He is, to some people,
a drunk and a womaniser.

408
00:24:28,280 --> 00:24:32,520
To others, he's a small, shy boy
who becomes a celebrity.

409
00:24:32,520 --> 00:24:34,480
He's like the first rock star,

410
00:24:34,480 --> 00:24:38,600
and like so many of those rock
stars, he was self-destructive.

411
00:24:38,600 --> 00:24:42,600
Thomas published his first book
when he was 20.

412
00:24:42,600 --> 00:24:46,360
Although he's known as a poet,
his vast body of work also

413
00:24:46,360 --> 00:24:51,040
includes film, radio and television
scripts, short stories and plays.

414
00:24:51,040 --> 00:24:53,600
Jeff. Sit down.

415
00:24:53,600 --> 00:24:55,280
Thank you so much.

416
00:24:55,280 --> 00:24:59,320
Jeff Towns is a lifelong
Dylan Thomas fan.

417
00:24:59,320 --> 00:25:02,160
Well, Jeff, thank you very much.
Cheers. Cheers.

418
00:25:02,160 --> 00:25:05,520
So, I suppose Dylan Thomas
came here, did he? I'm sure he did.

419
00:25:05,520 --> 00:25:08,520
I don't think there's a pub
in Swansea that he didn't go to!

420
00:25:08,520 --> 00:25:10,800
Does Swansea appear a lot
in his work?

421
00:25:10,800 --> 00:25:12,640
Particularly in his prose, really.

422
00:25:12,640 --> 00:25:15,160
And there's Return Journey,
a journey back to Swansea.

423
00:25:15,160 --> 00:25:19,240
A Child's Christmas In Wales is
Swansea. Holiday Memory is Swansea.

424
00:25:19,240 --> 00:25:22,120
And we can recognise specific places
in the work, can we?

425
00:25:22,120 --> 00:25:23,720
You can, if you know the geography,

426
00:25:23,720 --> 00:25:26,360
because he wrote a short story
called The Followers,

427
00:25:26,360 --> 00:25:31,600
his only ghost story, and right next
to us is Salubrious Passage,

428
00:25:31,600 --> 00:25:35,080
the Georgian passageway,
and this is the No Sign Wine Bar,

429
00:25:35,080 --> 00:25:38,520
but I think Dylan thought that those
were just too Dylan-esque for him.

430
00:25:38,520 --> 00:25:41,360
So, Salubrious Passage
becomes Paradise Alley

431
00:25:41,360 --> 00:25:44,040
and the No Sign Bar
becomes The Vaults.

432
00:25:44,040 --> 00:25:48,280
He refers to Swansea as,
"Ugly - lovely to me." Mm.

433
00:25:48,280 --> 00:25:49,840
Which was it for him, do you think?

434
00:25:49,840 --> 00:25:53,160
He was a little bit ashamed of his
bourgeois middle-class upbringing

435
00:25:53,160 --> 00:25:56,000
and he wanted to be more bohemian.

436
00:25:56,000 --> 00:25:59,680
So, at times he would say
he couldn't wait to get away
from Swansea,

437
00:25:59,680 --> 00:26:02,720
but once he went away,
he couldn't wait to get back.

438
00:26:02,720 --> 00:26:06,280
There's a wonderful Welsh word,
"hiraeth".

439
00:26:06,280 --> 00:26:10,240
It doesn't translate, but hiraeth
means a love of home,

440
00:26:10,240 --> 00:26:13,120
and wanting to be home,
and his letters are infused -

441
00:26:13,120 --> 00:26:16,320
"Swansea is still the best place.

442
00:26:16,320 --> 00:26:19,560
"I want to hear
our sweet town accent."

443
00:26:19,560 --> 00:26:21,600
He was passionate
about his hometown.

444
00:26:21,600 --> 00:26:24,440
But the thing about Dylan Thomas
was, he never grew up.

445
00:26:24,440 --> 00:26:28,520
You know, that poem, Fern Hill,
"As I was young and easy,"

446
00:26:28,520 --> 00:26:30,320
his problem was
that he never grew up.

447
00:26:30,320 --> 00:26:32,560
And then drink was a problem.

448
00:26:32,560 --> 00:26:36,840
I mean, being drunk was part
of his shtick, what a writer did,

449
00:26:36,840 --> 00:26:40,920
and I think, as his life progressed,
it took hold of him

450
00:26:40,920 --> 00:26:44,360
and by the time he was in America,
drinking double whiskies,

451
00:26:44,360 --> 00:26:48,800
big whiskies and getting plied with
drink, it just became too much.

452
00:26:54,880 --> 00:26:57,720
His was a short and turbulent life.

453
00:27:00,960 --> 00:27:05,200
Dylan Thomas died
when he was just 39 years old.

454
00:27:13,400 --> 00:27:17,360
Spread below me is what Dylan Thomas
called the sprawling,

455
00:27:17,360 --> 00:27:19,880
crawling town of Swansea.

456
00:27:19,880 --> 00:27:22,040
By the beginning
of the 20th century,

457
00:27:22,040 --> 00:27:25,400
the relentless march of technology
had urbanised

458
00:27:25,400 --> 00:27:30,000
and industrialised south Wales
with tumultuous results.

459
00:27:30,000 --> 00:27:34,480
One was the rail strike in Llanelli,
which resulted in several deaths.

460
00:27:34,480 --> 00:27:37,680
Another was
the Welsh religious revival,

461
00:27:37,680 --> 00:27:41,240
which urged the Welsh,
amongst the smoke and the grime

462
00:27:41,240 --> 00:27:46,720
and the pursuit of profit, to
rediscover God and to give up drink.

463
00:27:46,720 --> 00:27:51,120
The latter message at least
was lost on Dylan Thomas.

464
00:27:55,720 --> 00:27:59,080
Next time, I discover how money
is made in Wales...

465
00:28:00,600 --> 00:28:02,480
And when the guard opens
it will come out.

466
00:28:03,800 --> 00:28:05,320
HE LAUGHS

467
00:28:05,320 --> 00:28:08,200
..test my sea legs and my lungs...

468
00:28:08,200 --> 00:28:09,720
Oh, come down!

469
00:28:09,720 --> 00:28:12,040
GROANING: Oh, come down!

470
00:28:13,520 --> 00:28:17,760
..and get back on the track
over 1,300 feet above sea level.

471
00:28:17,760 --> 00:28:20,200
TRAIN WHISTLE HOOTS