23 April 2007
Gerallt Pennant, a familiar face on Welsh television and a well-known voice on BBC Radio Cymru, will be joining the reporting team of the popular S4C week-night programme Wedi 7, covering stories in north Wales.
Gerallt succeeds Gwyn Llewelyn as the programme’s reporter in north Wales and he’s looking forward eagerly to starting his new role.
“Anything new is a challenge. My great interest is in people. It’s people who make a good story. I love looking for people with something to say and making what they say interesting for the viewers,” says Gerallt.
He already knows his patch well. He was born on a farm in Bryncir, halfway between Caernarfon and Porthmadog and went to Garndolbenmaen Primary School and Ysgol Dyffryn Nantlle at Penygroes. He ventured south west for his further education, studying Welsh and History at Trinity College, Carmarthen. He has lived in Porthmadog for the last ten years.
Gerallt presented Clwb Garddio (Gardening Club) on S4C for 11 years and his voice is familiar to Radio Cymru listeners as presenter of the Saturday morning show, Galwad Cynnar (Early Call) at 6.30am. Much of the show involves him in his favourite occupation of talking to listeners who phone in and reading their emails.
A keen walker, Gerallt was producer/director of the Iolo Williams ‘walk and talk’ series, Crwydro on S4C, and he still walks the mountains whose peaks can be seen from his front door. “I’ve climbed Moelwyn Bach and Moelwyn Mawr, Cnicht, Moel-y-Gest and Moel Hebog and to the top of Snowdon which can be seen from the top of Moel Hebog. The Rhinogydd range is the one challenge left locally but since it takes three hours’ walking just to reach them, I’ll leave that as a challenge for the future,” he laughs.
A member of the Welsh Mountaineering Club and Porthmadog Mountaineering Club, Gerallt is never without a camera in his pocket on his walks – photography being another of his interests and, of course, he’s a keen gardener. He’ll be contributing to the gardening items on the afternoon series on S4C Wedi 3.
Welcoming Gerallt to the team, Angharad Mair, editor of Wedi 7, said, “It’s a great pleasure to welcome Gerallt to the Wedi 7 and Wedi 3 teams. His enthusiasm and his fondness for the people of north Wales and their stories are obvious, and we look forward to see his items on screen. Finding the right person to replace Gwyn Llewelyn was not easy, but I’m perfectly sure that Gerallt will take hold of the reins brilliantly and that he will be a big asset to the reporting team.”
Wedi 7
Monday– Thursday, 7.00pm, S4C.
English subtitles available
s4c.co.uk/wedi7
Also on broadband – s4c.co.uk/watch
A Tinopolis production for S4C
