Back lanes a trove of material for TV

ON reading the TV listing magazine in the Western Mail on Saturday I noticed that Jeremy Paxman is the latest ‘personality’ to present a television programme on rivers.

As charming as these programmes can be, I thought it would be suitable and complimentary if more prosaic locations were selected for inclusion in the broadcasters’ output. Therefore, I propose pitching a new series of programmes about local back lanes called Great Gwlis of Gwalia.

The premise is simple enough – a well-known personality from Wales will conduct a tour of the gwli they frequented as children.

Given the wealth of imagination that had to be conjured up to turn these detritus-bedecked areas into places of play and wonder, I think it would make for an excellent subject for exploration.

Personally, I can attest that as a child my local gwli was used as a rugby ground, a location for the defence of Rorkes Drift (inspired be endless re-showings of Zulu in the Abergorki Hall, Treorchy) and various after-dark activities in which mythical beasts such as The Lynx of the Lane and the Ghoul Of The Gwli lurked.

Of course, in later youth the back lanes became indispensable as heavy petting aids, especially during the winter months when the dead ferns on the hillsides were far too prickly for comfort.

I also feel these programmes would be an indispensable guide to modern youth whose sole preoccupation today seems to be in cyber-space where that touch of the gutter needed to form character is obviously missing.

Wish me luck. IA Price Cwmparc