Main content
Sorry, this episode is not currently available

Porthmadog

Eddie Butler uncovers tales of life in Welsh towns during WWI. In Porthmadog, he meets David Lloyd George's grandson and visits the Trawsfynydd home of poet Hedd Wyn.

Eddie Butler uncovers extraordinary tales of tragedy, triumph and everyday spirit in Welsh towns that were changed forever by World War One. In Porthmadog he learns of the sea captains marooned in German ports with their cargo of slate and discovers how the quarrying industry in nearby Blaenau Ffestiniog was nearly wiped out as Britain turned itself into a war machine. He reveals startling footage of the sinking of a Porthmadog ship by a German U-boat. And he meets the grandson of former premier David Lloyd George, the local boy made good, who became known as The Man Who Won the War. Eddie visits the Trawsfynydd home of Hedd Wyn, the Poet of the Black Chair, who is a symbol today for the suffering and loss of a generation of young men. But he also celebrates the unsung foot soldiers who fought and died at the Western Front or at Gallipoli on the Turkish coast. And he unearths a unique collection of photographs taken in Porthmadog in 1918 that depicts a society on the cusp of a transformation.

30 minutes

Last on

Sat 10 Nov 2018 16:30

More episodes

Next

You are at the last episode

See all episodes from Welsh Towns

Credits

Role Contributor
Presenter Eddie Butler
Producer Steve Freer
Director Steve Freer
Series Producer Marc Edwards

Broadcasts

Featured in...

iWonder: When did Wales last have its own army?

Was Owain GlyndΕµr's army the last to be mustered in the name of Wales?