Mark Steel's In Town

Mark performs in the Myfanwy Theatre in Merthyr Tydfil, South Wales, celebrating it's boxers, it's revolutionary past, Donny Osmond's Welsh roots and the local male voice choir.

This week, Mark performs in the Myfanwy Theatre in Merthyr Tydfil, South Wales: a town with a love of boxers and revolution.

Mark claims that town is better than Cardiff in terms of its taste, but complains it takes ages to get there on the train despite the fact it is only 25 miles away. Also, Merthyr created modern Wales. At the start of the 19th century, it was the fastest growing town in the world.

Mark also looks at the Welsh language, which was considered radical in the 19th century. He then talks to a Welsh-speaking teacher, who states that the difference modern Welsh and new Welsh is that new Welsh is spoken incorrectly. He then looks at Merthyr's pubs, of which there are many because at the time they were more comfortable than the houses.

He then talks about something he did not expect to find: Merthyr Tydfil is the home of the Welsh Morons, which resulted in Donny Osmond coming to visit the town and performing an open-air gig with a local male voice choir.

Mark then talks about the Merthyr Rising, which was the biggest insurrection in British history since the Civil War. Amongst the things that resulted from the rising included the use of the red flag as a revolutionary symbol and the creation of local trade unions. Mark then talks about the history of boxing in the town, which Johnny Owen, Howard Winstone and Eddie Thomas.