Introduction:
The news of Foel Penolau
being classified as a mountain in the Hewitts list seemed to stir the
imagination of many in the news media, with its reclassification being reported
in national newspapers, both online and in traditional hard copy.
BBC Wales interviewed me
on their Good Morning Wales radio programme at 7.25am on the day of the announcement,
with Aled Williams also being interviewed by BBC Radio Cymru. A few days after the announcement I did radio
interviews with The Moncrieff Show on Newstalk National Radio in Ireland, with Howard
Bentham on BBC Radio Oxford and for the Paul Ross Show on TALKRADIO.
However, the day before
the announcement ITV Wales contacted me wanting to film close to Foel Penolau,
soon afterward S4C also contacted me wanting to film and edit this into an
interview with Aled that was scheduled for later in the day. A few minutes later and BBC Radio Wales also
wanted to meet and conduct an interview.
Via a number of phone
calls and emails a time of 2.00pm was arranged to meet on the outskirts of
Trawsfynydd with each broadcaster more than happy that interest had been shown
by others.
Filming Shoot:
The arrangements to meet
at the garage where the A470 meets the A4212 close to the outskirts of
Trawsfynydd had been hectic, as I juggled three broadcasters; ITV, BBC and S4C
with a number of emails and telephone calls resulting in all three being more
than happy to meet at 2.00pm and proceed in convoy to where Foel Penolau would
be in view.
The first to make
contact was Rob Shelley from ITV Wales who wanted to film and conduct
interviews at the base of Foel Penolau, but was adamant that he was not going
to venture toward the summit. I then
spoke to Dafydd from S4C as their news programme; Newyddion wanted to also film
from the base of Foel Penolau and edit this with an interview they later
conducted with Aled. During juggling ITV
Wales and S4C, Rob from BBC Radio Wales contacted me and as 2.00pm had been
arranged to meet the others he grabbed all necessary equipment and three cars
and an ITV van descended upon the newly classified Hewitt and Simm of Foel
Penolau.
 |
| (L-R) Rob - BBC Radio Wales, Rob and Gerallt - ITV Wales and Dafydd - S4C Newyddion |
I’m always amazed at the
pressure that outdoor broadcasters must work under, as they seem able to deal
with a variety of subject matter on a whim and to conduct interviews with
knowledge relating to the subject matter that they may not have come in contact
with until a short period of time before the interview.
I’m also grateful that
the people I’ve met from organisations such as ITV and BBC have the knack of
putting a person at immediate ease with jovial conversation interspersed with
interest relating to the subject matter at hand, which for today involved a
rather rocky mountain by the name of Foel Penolau.
As our convoy set off
toward the southern perimeter of Llyn Trawsfynydd mist clung to the valley
further south, and a high cloud base gave clarity to the adjacent hills, and
thankfully the star of the show was clear of murk and looked down on
proceedings from its rock strewn perch.
As ITV Wales had
arranged this meeting it was Rob and his cameraman; Gerallt, who started to
film first and I was asked to accompany Rob walking down the road toward the
small parking area next to an old disused mine with Foel Penolau in the
background, with Rob asking pertinent questions about the survey, its
classification and what exactly the qualifying element of drop is.
 |
| (L-R) Rob and Gerallt from ITV Wales |
During this Dafydd was
also filming with scenes of Foel Penolau in the background, followed by me
sitting on a rubbled mound of rock with the Trimble in hand accessing and pressing
various functions in the innards of the equipment on its screen. This footage was later edited in with an
interview S4C conducted with Aled after he had finished work.
 |
| (L-R) Rob from BBC Radio Wales and Dafydd from S4C Newyddion |
Lastly Rob from BBC
Radio Wales wanted to interview me as we walked down a near track with the
northern Rhinogydd as backdrop. Many
questions were asked and answered and the classification for mountain status
within the Hewitts was given and the fineries of drop also explained. Much of the interview did not reach a wider
audience as is the want of such things, but Rob was excellent with his manner
and knowledge of the subject matter.
As we walked back to the
cars Rob and Gerallt were preparing to leave and having thanked them I waved
them off, closely followed by Dafydd and then Rob from BBC Radio Wales. As I undid my boot laces and changed out of
my walking gear I looked at my watch and it was just after 3.00pm, all the
filming and interviews had only taken an hour from when we first met to when we
all left.
Postscript:
It was an extremely
enjoyable experience meeting Rob, Gerallt, Dafydd and Rob and I thank them for
their interest in mountain surveying and putting me at ease during the film
shoot.
The film from Rob and
Gerallt formed an entertaining piece on ITV Wales that was shown throughout the
following day, with an extended piece on their early evening news
programme. Whilst Newyddion also had an
extended piece on their 9.00pm news programme that included the interview with Aled,
and the BBC Radio Wales interview formed a part of a piece that was broadcast
on the 6.00pm news programme on BBC Radio 4.
Myrddyn Phillips (March 2019)
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