"The mighty hills unchanging stand
Tireless the winds across them blow
The shepherd's song across the land
Sounds with the dawn as long ago"
(John Ceiriog Hughes)

I'm not so fortunate as to have had a Welsh upbringing, where traditions were passed on from my family. I can only speak of the tradition that I re-discovered - much as a genealogist finds bits and pieces of the family history wandering through libraries, old newspaper clippings and graveyards, as my wife Ena Gwen loves to do.

And it's mainly her I have to thank for kindling my interest in where I've come from. It's she who has made the link between the "me" of today, and the "me" of my cultural history.

Both my grandparents and father are long dead. I didn't know my father, who was born in Tredegar, at all. He was a casualty of the second world war, and distance allowed me to see my grandparents only a couple of times. So though I may have wanted to learn about my heritage, an opportunity was not to be had.

My genealogist wife has convinced me of the importance of family and ancestors. I've been able to re-establish the link with Tredegar and Wales, and discover long-lost family. And I've started looking into the history of what is ostensibly my home town. Sad to discover, in my studies I found no soaring castle and vast tract of land waiting for me to claim them upon my return. But I did find a proud tradition of coal mining and steel making. I also found some magical bits as well.

One of those bits concerns Camelot. I think I know where it is. It took a bit of work, but I may have solved a question that has confounded the world for well over a thousand years.

My first clue that something was extraordinary about Tredegar was my discovery of the amazing number of famous people that came from there. It's not really that large, but the crop of talent is huge.

There's Neil Kinnock who led the Labour Party between 1983 and 1992. And there's Labour MP Michael Foot who became a famous statesman and newspaperman. And of course there is Aneurin (Nye) Bevan, acknowledged as one of the greatest parliamentarians and orators of his day, and a key architect of the NHS.

(By the way, before you start thinking that only left-leaning politicians come from Tredegar, the town also produced Ray Reardon, who won the world snooker championship six times. And importantly, the town is also home to Loyal Order of Moose Lodge Number 1.)

But let's get back to Nye Bevan.

I was fascinated to read about his history, and the impact he made on Wales, and Britain - and perhaps even the world. Last year the National Library of Wales ran an informal internet poll to name Wales' greatest hero. This event came down to neck in neck battle between Nye and Owain Glyndwr, a 15th century rebel leader (and formerly undisputed national hero).

The second clue of something momentous came from Bevan's biography. In the opening pages, we are told that his name came from an ancient (13th century) Welsh bard, "whose reputed writings contain probably the earliest explicit allusion to King Arthur." Wow! Here was a link of seven hundred years.

I drifted off into a cloud of fantasy. King Arthur! The knights of the round table. Sir Lancelot of the Lake (also known by the way as Lancelot the Loose). Merlin. Guinevere and Sir Galahad. And Excalibur.

Then, I remembered my Uncle Stan showing me the "Duke's Table" up in the hills north of Tredegar just past Top House. He told me it was old. I discovered later it is a recognized archaeological artefact. But nobody knows what it is or what it was used for. I think I do. I think it is the remnants of King Arthur's Camelot.

Now you may think that is a reach, but consider the social history, as well as the archaeological. Arthur was renowned for bringing together people from all over the place and bonding them into his famous Round Table. And what place, in your experience, has drawn more people from such a wide area than Tredegar, and forged them into a tight, caring community? People came from everywhere to work South Wales' coal and Tredegar iron. And could they sing!

And consider the locale. Tredegar is not far from Llangurig, Montgomeryshire, the exact centre and highest village of Wales. That has to be a critical piece of the Camelot puzzle.

In another direction I found Caerleon, just over the border by Abergavenny and Tintern Abbey. Many consider it the site of Camelot. But it is much too isolated to be Camelot I am sure you will agree.

To find Camelot, we need to discover a place at the centre, a place with an archeological record. A place where people come together, and express their joy of community. And we need to find a place that has proven itself to be special over the years. That place, in my humble opinion, is Tredegar. Now if I can just find where they buried the keys to my castle............

David G Jones - Ottawa, Ontario, Canada - 2005
(eight times winner of the E-steddfod)

Photo shows David receiving the Queen's Jubilee Medal from Royal Canadian Mounted Police Commissioner Zack Zaccardelli.