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Episode 1

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Following the people who live, work and play along the Wales/England border. A professional tree surgeon and poet works on a new composition for his open mic night in Hay-on-Wye.

Border Lives follows the people who live, work and play along the curiously ambiguous and occasionally divisive Wales/England border. Where borders are blurred, so too are national identities. Are they Welsh or are they English - and does it matter?

In this episode, we meet Jeff and his son-in-law Rich, who run a campsite and fishery on the border between Monmouth and Coleford. Jeff and Rich spend their days discussing the important things in life - and there is nothing worse than a marauding badger.

Matthew Plumb lives in his van in a forest near Abergavenny. By day, he is a professional tree surgeon, but his true passion is poetry. He spends his days up in the canopy of the trees pondering and rhyming, and is working on a new composition for his favourite open mic night in Hay-on-Wye.

Knighton is right on the border in rural mid-Wales. The bowls club there is an integral part of the community, bringing the town's older generation together throughout the week in a place that unites and cements lasting friendships. The club's 91-year-old founding member Linda Parker admits that she never married because bowling always came before men. The club's final game of the season is against neighbouring Presteigne, but with Wales's most capped bowler on their opposition's side, can Knighton prove their worth against their border rivals?

Married couple Jan and Glyn are keen walkers who also run a B&B overlooking the magnificent Chepstow Castle. They explore the Offa's Dyke path, a national trail stretching for 177 miles from Sedbury near the Severn Estuary to Prestatyn in north Wales, which marks the old border between what is now England and Wales.

30 minutes

Last on

Sun 1 Nov 2020 17:30

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Credits

Role Contributor
Director Leanne Rene
Series Producer Leanne Rene
Executive Producer Liz Lloyd Griffiths

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