I was once told by a brilliant, experienced broadcaster that no matter how many people might be listening I should imagine I was talking to just one person. Over the years that advice has really helped to guide me when I sit down in front of a microphone.
BUT, there’s always that little question at the back of your mind…’I wonder how many people are actually tuned in to the show?’
Getting ready to record BBC Radio 4 Sunday Service at the Calon Lan Centre
This week I was asked to host the BBC Radio 4 Sunday Service which we recorded at the old Mynyddbach Chapel now known as the Calon Lan Centre. There were a number of moving parts to the service. I was the host; we had a guest preacher and the whole of the musical programme was to be performed by the Morriston Orpheus.
In the past I’ve presented any number of shows for Network Radio but usually they are documentary type shows that take weeks of recording, months of editing and when they are broadcast you have forgotten all about them. One show involved days of recording down at Llangennith Beach as I learnt how to surf. The idea was I needed some personal experience of riding the waves if I was going to truly understand the British Surf Championships. My guide was the Times surfing correspondent who also taught French at Cambridge University. I think I missed it being broadcast.
The Lorraine Motel Memphis
Another series I presented was about the history of American Black Gospel Music. Together with the producer we spent 2 weeks travelling up through the Mississippi Delta to Philadelphia, and then onto New York State. Along the way we met some of the finest exponents and most knowledgeable historians of Gospel Music.
That trip actually changed my life and started an annual pilgrimage to Memphis and Tupelo that went on for about 5 consecutive years. It was probably 6 months later that the series was broadcast.
As these types of programmes are a ‘one off ‘series it was hard to actually know how many people had tuned in.
The BBC Radio 4 Sunday Worship is a very different beast. The Daily Service was first broadcast as an experiment in 1928. Its been a regular feature in the schedules ever since. The Sunday Worship show is also broadcast across a lot of the BBC local stations and across the globe via BBC World Service.
The normal technical way to measure all of these listeners is through Radio Joint Audience Research or RAJAR for short. It is the official body in charge of measuring radio audiences in the United Kingdom. That works fine for the UK but with the addition of the Rest of the world through the World Service they have to make an educated guess. In total, probably around 1.6 million listeners.
Maybe I shouldn’t have asked that question of the producer just before starting the recording but having got that information in my head, trying to get to back to ‘you’re only talking to one person’ really was a bit of a struggle.
The Programme features a performance of Gwahoddiad by Cerys Matthews
The theme of the programme was ‘The Invitation of Heaven’ or in Welsh ‘Gwahoddiad’. I was told that after the Morriston Orpheus featured in a special service from the Hay Festival the powers that be immediately requested a show which featured the Orpheus throughout. This is particularly appropriate as the choir is celebrating its 90th Anniversary.
The Calon Lan Centre formerly Mynyddbach Chapel
The venue chose itself. Mynyddbach Chapel was built in 1762 but there had been people gathering to worship together at a nearby farmhouse since 1640. In 2011 the chapel faced demolition but thanks to the work and persistence of a number of passionate locals the chapel was saved and renamed The Calon Lan Centre. The idea was to use the chapel as an …
‘Arts and Culture centre to serve the local community as well as maintaining its religious and spiritual significance.’
The Orpheus have now adopted the Calon Lan Centre as their home and regularly welcome visitors from all around the world to their weekly rehearsals.
Warm Wind performed by Mal Pope & The Morriston Orpheus
It is always a joy to work with the choir. Over the years I’ve hosted some of their concerts and they have sung on some of my recordings. One of the highlights for me was interviewing Dudley who has been a chorister for 64 years. During his time with the choir he has performed at some of the most prestigious venues in the world including the Sydney Opera House (4 times) Carnegie Hall and Buckingham Palace.
The choir had been asked to entertain the crowds in Trafalgar Square on the day of the wedding of Charles and Diana. That led to them all heading back to the House of Commons where they sang for the Speaker. All took turns to wear the speaker’s wig and later they were accused by former Chancellor of the Exchequer, Denis Healey, of having interrupted Parliamentary business when they had a bit of a singsong not far from the chamber!!!
My own family connection with the Calon Lan Centre stretches back over 150 years. You might have heard of the 1904 Welsh Revival but that was by no means the first Revival felt in this land. Less than 50 years earlier there had been an extraordinary spiritual awakening in what became known as the Welsh Revival of 1859.
With life on the land getting harder and harder in rural Wales, lots of agricultural workers were attracted to this part of Swansea because of the work provided by the Copper and Coal industries.
That was the story of my family, touched by Revival but needing to move to find work. Having left West Wales, Mynyddbach Chapel gave them a warm welcome and a sense of home.
One other story I told was about Mynydd Newydd Colliery. Following an explosion underground in the mid 1800’s that claimed the lives of 5 young miners, the surviving workers decided to come together to hold prayer meetings before starting their daily shift. That led to them building their own chapel underground in what was known as the Five Feet Seam.
The Bible was kept in a box near the engine room and one miner was given the responsibility of making sure the Bible was kept safely away from the dust and dirt when not in use. One of those entrusted with that responsibility was a young committed miner named George Griffiths, my grandfather.
George Griffiths – Miner and keeper of the Bible.
As a young boy I remember him telling me of the honour he felt to have been given that job.
Of course we had to talk about the hymn Calon Lan. It was written by Daniel James who is now buried in the adjoining cemetery.
Calon Lan says in English
I don’t ask for a luxurious life
the world’s gold or its fine pearls,
I ask for a happy heart,
an honest heart, a pure heart
The hymn has gone on to became almost a second national anthem for Wales. Daniel James was often to be found just down the road from the chapel, sat at the bar of the King’s Head willing to write a poem for anyone who would buy him a pint. At the time not everyone thought Daniel to be a saint but maybe that’s why he was able to write such words that still resonate with us today.
I hope you enjoy the service. It’s amazing to think our story and our hymns will be heard all over the world on Sunday.