The Other Wales – A Hidden World Beneath the Waves

In this episode of our Voices of the Land series, we explore the inhabitants and their personalities which shape the watery world around us.

We often talk about Wales through what we can see.

The mountains.

The coastline.

The castles.

The villages and the people who call this remarkable place home.

But today… we’re going somewhere else.

Just beneath the surface of the sea surrounding our coastline is another Wales.

A world most of us never see.

A world of creatures that hide, hunt, breed and survive in ways that can seem stranger than anything we might imagine.

Today we’re heading to Anglesey Sea Zoo to meet Frankie Hobro who has made it her mission not simply to show us this remarkable underwater world… but to understand it, protect it and, in some cases, help bring species back from the brink.

We’ll meet lobsters and seahorses, discover creatures with personalities of their own and explore why the health of the sea around this little island matters far more than many of us realise.

And, somewhere along the way, we’re told there may even be a parrot with something to say!

So, take a deep breath…

We’re going beneath the surface.

Welcome to The Other Wales.

This is the next episode in our Voices of the Land series, and one thing that’s quietly emerging is this:

Every place leaves its mark. Every life leaves its voice. And every generation leaves a footprint.

Some leave those footprints in the landscape… others in the decisions they make, the people they influence, and the stories they eventually choose to tell.

Today’s guest, John Uttley, spent decades at the heart of some of the biggest decisions shaping Britain — decisions that affected the country, its industries and millions of people, often without them ever knowing the man behind them.

From Lancashire to Oxford, from science to the boardrooms of national industry, from power and politics to faith, writing and reflection…

This is quite a journey.

Today it’s exciting that we have with us Keith Brymer-Jones and Marj Hogarth – the potters millions will know from the TV series ‘The Great Pottery Throw down” - Before the television came the clay; before the clay came the person; and now that person is helping give a forgotten place a new life; and across Wales there are buildings that quietly hold the fingerprints of generations.

In Pwllheli, one such place is Capel Salem — a building with a long memory and now a very different future

This episode speaks directly within our Voices of the Land series which features the People, Purposes and Places of North Wales which have reached, and influenced, so many generations.

Some landscapes are beautiful.

Others are built on sacrifice.

Some places whisper their history. Others make you work to hear it.

Beyond the mountains of North Wales lies a world carved not by machines, but by hands… by families… by generations whose lives were measured in slate, sweat and silence.

Today we’re not simply talking about quarries.

We’re stepping inside them.

Through the eyes of a quarryman you’ll hear what it felt like to earn a living where the mountain decided the rules… where communities were forged as surely as the rock itself… and where an industry that shaped a nation still leaves its mark on the landscape and on the people who call it home.

This is more than the story of slate.

It’s the story of belonging.

Long after the last hammer falls… the mountains still remember.

Not a Sailor, Not a Reporter… Until He Was.

What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

Preparing to cross oceans with some of the most remarkable amateur sailors in the world and joining me is the Abersoch Dunkers own Ocean sailor - Andy Teague.

Let's untie the ropes and see where this takes us.

When a Building Becomes a Community — and why does this place matter so much to people?

Welcome back to DunkersPodcast, and today we continue our Voices of the Land series — exploring the people, places and stories that make this part of Wales so special.

Our journey takes us to the shores of Llanbedrog, to a building that has never simply been a building. It has a personality, a memory, and a life of its own.

Today I’m joined by Mr Gwyn Jones, Director of Plas Glyn-y-Wyddw, a remarkable place that has stood proudly since 1857 — a place shaped by heritage, creativity and a deep connection to the Llyn Peninsula.

Over its lifetime, this extraordinary house has attracted people of influence, inspired generations, and become a showcase for some of the very best Welsh crafts, skills and imagination.

But what makes a place like this truly special is not just the architecture. It’s the feeling you get when you walk through the door.

The elegance of its country house origins sits alongside the natural inspiration of the ocean, the landscape and the sands that surround it. It feels like a building that has listened to the land around it — and continues to tell that story.

Many of our listeners will already know this place. For generations it has been part of Llyn life — a destination, a meeting place, and a home for creativity.

So today we ask a simple question:

When does a building become more than bricks and stone? When does it become part of a community’s identity?

Today our DunkersPodcast comes from above the Clouds; up a mountain, on a railway and somewhere that, along the way, feels strangely freeing.

Welcome to our second 'Voices' Podcast reaching the People, Power and Places who make North Wales and Llyn Peninsular so special.

This railway timetable isn't yours anymore. You surrender to the 7.6km climb, the noise, the weather and the mountain.

Initially, the background is slightly noisy - so listen hard to catch the voices, but then, from its 3560ft (1085mtr) summit, our walk down the rack and pinion track takes in the awesome, unparallelled, spectacle afforded by 130 years of engineering excellence. Welcome aboard and tickets please!

“When you sit in the roundhouse, something shifts… time slows, voices soften, and suddenly you’re part of something much older than yourself.”

At Canolfan Felin Uchaf, myth, craft, and community come together — not as something to observe, but something to take part in.

Here, in a roundhouse built in the old ways, stories are told as they always have been — by voice, by firelight, and by memory

And at the heart of it all is Dafydd — our storyteller today whose rooted in the land, carrying the myths and histories of Llŷn Peninsula and North Wales into the present day.

A curated audio portrait of North Wales — told by its mostauthoritative voices.

North Wales is more than landscape.It is resilience, language, industry, myth and community.

This series creates a lasting audio archive of the peoplewho;

Protect its Mountains, Safeguard its seas, Preserve its history, Shape its future

These are evergreen stories with long-term cultural value

DunkersPodcast is honoured to be able to capture, share and bring you these stories directly from the 'Voices' themselves

Whether you're seeking resilience, calm, community or simply the joy of being immersed in nature, The Beauty of Cold offers a life-affirming path back to yourself in simple, achievable and lasting steps. At a time when we all need to escape the noise, this is the perfect cold water antidote and allows a path to return to being more human. Let's meet Gilly, the UK's 'Ice-lady'.