‘What a godforsaken place’: 1960s documentary resurfaces showing Englishman’s attitude towards Wales

Ella Groves

A BBC documentary from the 1960s has reemerged online depicting an English man’s attitudes to Wales in the mid-twentieth century.

Produced by Aled Vaughan for BBC Wales in 1968, the documentary followed Londoner, Alfred Rimmer, who visited the village of Caio in Carmarthenshire

Described as always having been “a bit suspicious” of Wales and the Welsh, Alfred was convinced by a friend to set out on a week-long holiday in Wales.

After hearing of the plans, the BBC approached Alfred and asked if he minded being followed by a film camera for some of the time.

In response Alfred said they were welcome to come so long as they paid “for a couple of pints and help with the hotel bill.”

The documentary begins with the film crew meeting Alfred off the bus that dropped him a few miles outside of the village.

The voiceover notes that at the time this was the closest point to the village served by public transport – a fact that Londoner Alfred struggled to believe.

Before even reaching the village, Alfred describes it as a “godforsaken place”, questioning whether it is “even the place for a holiday.”

Surrounded by green countryside Alfred declares that “the place is dead.”

“Religion”

On his exploration of the village Alfred comes across a Welsh chapel which he describes as “grim, really grim”.

He continues: “This is a place where, I believe, that the devil is very close to the people of this village.”

Chapels, such as the one shown in the documentary, are common in Wales due to the rise of Nonconformism – Protestant groups not aligned with the Church of England – in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Often described as a central feature of Welsh culture and history, chapels served as a point of religious difference from England as well as a hub for the Welsh language with many offering services in Welsh.

Conversely however, as Alfred approaches a more traditional church and the sound of the Welsh congregation singing a hymn plays over the footage, he says: “This is great stuff. The Welsh can certainly sing and I know this hymn, I could almost join in with them.

“There must be at least 40 or 50 people in that church. It does sound good.”

The documentary then, to Alfred’s shock, reveals just about a dozen people exiting the church following the service.

‘Language’

Perhaps the most controversial point of the documentary is, however, Alfred’s comments on the Welsh language.

He visits a local pub, which he notes with shock is closed on a Sunday, where the village residents are conversing largely in Welsh, and, in a voiceover, describes the Welsh language as “barbarous”.

He says: “It’s a barbarous language. It is. To me there’s no reason why they should speak Welsh because… the English are supposed to be like Germans but who are the Welsh? I don’t know. You’d think it was in the… the other side of the channel.”

Invited to sit with some of the locals Alfred presents his thoughts on the irrelevance of the Welsh language and is, unsurprisingly, met with little support.

He says:  “This language of yours, you know, it’s, from an Englishman, it’s a funny, it’s a barbarous language, you know, you get two Welshmen speaking together and they go on and on and on, you know, and for an Englishman to come from England to Wales and not understand the people, it seems so ridiculous, you know, in this day and age.”

In response one of the locals tells Alfred: “Oh no I don’t think it’s ridiculous at all because you only speak your own language and we speak our own language.”

Alfred continues his dismissal of the Welsh language as the documentary shows footage of children in school learning in Welsh.

He says: “I didn’t know everybody spoke the language, I thought it was just little groups, the nationalists maybe. But babes speak it.

“It’s a heathen language all the same but I don’t suppose the headmaster will agree with me.”

‘Women’

Alfred also has opinions to share on the women of Caio, noting that the mini skirt did not appear to have yet made it to the village.

He said: “The women… they’re big women. Not the petite… bird of my walk of life. They’re statuesque, more the Amazon type – but they’re nice!”

“Serenity”

For much of the documentary Alfred appears dismissive of the language, culture, and general way of life of the people of Caio, even describing the village as a “backwater”.

Yet as the film draws to a close having met many of the residents of the village including the vicar, a historian, a forester, and Mrs Jones, a local elderly lady, Alfred appears to have changed some of his opinions regarding the quiet Welsh village.

He closes the documentary by saying: “I’m sorry to be leaving this village I think. There’s a serenity about it, there’s no rat race. People just take their time and get there just the same. Time just goes on.

“I came here with preconceived ideas about the dour hard-bitten Welsh but how wrong can one be. They’ve really taken me in and made me really welcome over pints of beer, cups of tea.

“I’m gonna miss this lot. I can understand why people want to come back here and why they don’t want to go away.”

You can watch the documentary in full on the BBC Archive YouTube channel.