My favourites were Pogles Wood, Ivor the Engine and The Clangers.
Ivor the Engine was particularly important for me because he taught me about my quarter Welshness. My paternal granddad came from Port Talbot in South Wales. (Ivor the Engine was set in 'the top left hand corner of Wales.') We holidayed in Wales several times in this period of my youth. When it came to rugby, it was the quarter Welsh bit that mattered. My brother and Dad followed Welsh rugby union very closely and it was going through a golden age. Considered to be one of the greatest rugby teams of all time, the names Gareth Edwards and JPR Williams still bring back memories of take out beer and my brother and Dad roaring at the television.My favourite character in Ivor the Engine was Idris the Dragon. I think there was some confusion going on in my head. As small children with good eyesight, my sister and I had been carefully trained to spot the Red Dragon and Double Dragon beer signs on the pubs as we drove through Wales on our holidays.
It didn’t, as it happens, have much of an impact on my eventual cultural identity… apart from still enjoying a male voice choir and a pair of fine male thighs!
