19 July 2022

S4C has presented a memorial cup today, in memory of the popular broadcaster and farmer Dai Jones Llanilar. The cup will be presented to the winners of the Team of Five competition in the Beef Cattle Division which was Dai's favourite competition at The Royal Welsh Show.

At a special reception in the S4C building on the Showground on Tuesday 19 July, Geraint Evans, S4C's Director of Strategy and Publishing, said:

"It is entirely appropriate today that we show our gratitude for Dai's contribution to broadcasting, and to rural life by presenting this memorial Cup to the Show. 'The best show in the world', in Dai's words. He loved presenting from the field, and his natural warmth and wit made everyone feel completely at home in their company. That was the secret to the success of the Cefn Gwlad series, which has been on S4C since the beginning, forty years ago, with Dai as the master at the helm. It appealed to the young and the old, the people of the country and the town, and was an embodiment of the best of the countryside. From the farm close to the 'steddfod' stage, from the Races to the 'piste', and from Sion and Sian to the Show. The broadcasting world and the countryside are certainly much poorer without him."

During the reception the Royal Welsh Agricultural Society also announced their intention to create a permanent tribute to Dai Jones.

John T Davies said:

"'It is our intention to create a life size memorial of Dai at the corner of the Cattle ring near the Welsh Blacks building. This location was Dai's pulpit throughout the four days of the Show. It will be a statue and memorial fit for the King of Rural Welsh Life'. The society today launches a Gofund site to allow individuals who may wish to contribute towards the cost of the life size statue in tribute to the memory and contribution of Dai Jones Llanilar, one of Wales is greatest broadcasters and countrymen. "

ENDS