Insufficiently Welsh

Griff Rhys Jones is searching for that Welsh part of himself that he has felt ever since being forced to sing in the choir in church and pack down for the school first XV, all in suburban Essex. Join Griff on his journey through Snowdonia, Anglesey, the Gower, mid Wales, Brecon, Pembrokeshire, north Wales and Monmouthshire. Packed with all manners of weird, wonderful and enlightening facts, you’ll learn as much about Wales as you do Griff.

"Well, er, the clue is in the name...” The man was gazing steadily at Griffith Rhys Jones, son of Elwyn and Gwynneth, scion of Megan and Ieuan and Evan, spawn of Betwys-y-Coed, Penmachno and the Rhondda, dark of hair, thick-thighed and round-faced. Griffith Rhys Jones. I was born in Cardiff. My mother was from Ferndale in the Rhondda, my father was from Penylan. Every single one of my relatives... were Welsh. I think I am Welsh.

But am I insufficiently Welsh? It’s time to find out.

That is what this book is all about. I am going out on the road to search for my Celtic roots and explore the "land of my aunties”. Language, the landscape, rugby, dogs, legends, botany, wildlife, furniture and a few more bits on the side: I looked into them all and here are the results.

Published to coincide with A Great Welsh Adventure with Griff Rhys Jones on ITV (beginning at 8pm, Monday 6th January). With help from a hidden hand, Griff is set a number of quests in eight distinct regions that not only test his knowledge of his homeland but his body too, as he climbs, abseils, rides and canoes his way through some truly breathtaking scenery.

Auteur

Griff Rhys Jones was born in 1953 in Cardiff and brought up in west Sussex and Essex. He has previously written Janet lives with Mel and Griff, To the Baltic with Bob, Mountains, Semi-Detached, Rivers and a quantity of television programmes. He has worked for many years as a television performer, presenter and producer, and done a lot of things on the stage too.