The Stone that Moved

Wales's first National Poet, Gwyneth Lewis was brought up with the myth of Taliesin, the sixth-century Welsh poet and shape-shifter. One wet summer holiday in Aberystwyth in the 1960s, her mother decided they should go in search of the Taliesin stone. A Celtic relative of the Blarney stone, it's said that if you sleep with your head on it, it'll either turn you into a poet or mad. Maybe even both. Gwyneth has a small black and white photo of her and her Mum standing around this undistinguished boulder imbued with remarkable powers and realises that it was an important quest for her. What else remains from that holiday? A memory of buying worthy but dull Welsh woollen capes, and falling asleep to the sound track of Shane, the best Western ever made.

Producer: Mark Smalley.