Today marks an exciting landmark in BBC Wales’ journey to relocate its operations to Central Square in the city centre of Cardiff. Almost two and a half years after building work began, the new broadcast centre is being handed over to the BBC from the developers, Rightacres, and the long process of fitting it out ready for production, broadcasting, and for staff to move in, begins.

Since the beginning, our focus has been on building a home for BBC Wales that in addition to working well for those who inhabit it, provides benefits to our audience and the area as a whole. The current centre in Broadcasting House in Llandaff has been a happy home for BBC Wales for more than fifty years, but the need to invest in new technology and upgrade our broadcasting infrastructure meant it was time to move on. 

Central Square will give BBC Wales the flexible modern base it needs to accommodate the demands of 21st century broadcasting. It will be one of the most advanced broadcast centres in the UK including state of the art technology that will not have been implemented to such a scale elsewhere. The Live IP core we are installing, means that the infrastructure will be in place to allow us to adapt more easily as technology advances, helping future-proof our broadcast facilities for years to come. This means our staff will have the facilities to build upon the brilliant work that has been done in BBC Wales for many years, and through the building and use of new technology, we’ll be able to engage with our audiences in a way we haven’t been able to before.

It will also be one of the BBC’s most efficient buildings to date. Like the BBC’s other production centre in Cardiff, the drama studios in Roath Lock, it is being built to meet the highest BREEAM environmental standards. It will be extremely energy efficient, and because it’s around half the size of the current Llandaff sites it’ll be less expensive to operate on a like-for-like basis.

Central Square will be one of the BBC’s most open and transparent buildings. The layout of the building and the way in which facilities have been built incorporating glass mean there are views right across the building.

And this openness extends beyond the BBC. Set on a public plaza, the ground floor of Central Square will be open to the public. Accessed from the outside there will be shops and cafes whilst the publicly accessible atrium will have windows into production areas and screens  highlighting activities within the building. It will also be home to some of  the BBC’s creative partners. Welsh language broadcaster S4C will have a presence there, whilst independent production companies will also have access to the building.

New figures released today show that BBC Wales’ decision to move to Central Square is not just important to BBC Wales but to the sector and area as a whole. An economic impact report shows that Central Square is on track to add £1.1 billion to the  area and create 1,900 jobs over the next decade.

But this is just one milestone and whilst it’s great to have reached it, there’s still a long way to go. Now that the BBC has taken ownership of the building, the interior and technical fit out can begin – that’s a long eighteen months or so of rigging, lighting, fitting out studios and production facilities, as well as setting out the interiors. There’s a great deal of work left to do, involving many people across the organisation, but today we’re an important step closer to marking the next chapter in Wales’ broadcast history.

BBC Cymru yn derbyn allweddi ei chartref newydd

Mae heddiw yn nodi carreg filltir gyffrous yn nhaith BBC Cymru i symud ei hadnoddau i’r Sgwâr Canolog yng nghanol Caerdydd. Bron i ddwy flynedd a hanner ar ôl i’r gwaith adeiladu ddechrau, mae’r ganolfan ddarlledu newydd yn cael ei throsglwyddo i’r BBC o’r datblygwyr, Rightacres, a’r broses o osod y tu fewn i’r adeilad yn dechrau - yn barod ar gyfer ein staff ac yn barod i ddarlledu.

Ers y dechrau, ry’n ni wedi canolbwyntio ar adeiladu cartref i BBC Cymru lle gall ein cynulleidfaoedd a’r ardal gyfan elwa ohono yn ogystal â’r rheini fydd yn gweithio yno. Mae’r ganolfan bresennol – Y Ganolfan Ddarlledu yn Llandaf – wedi bod yn gartref hapus i BBC Cymru ers dros hanner can mlynedd, ond roedd yr angen i fuddsoddi mewn technoleg newydd a diweddaru ein systemau darlledu yn golygu ei bod hi’n amser symud ymlaen.

Bydd y Sgwâr Canolog yn rhoi sylfaen fodern a hyblyg er mwyn i BBC Cymru allu diwallu gofynion darlledu yr 21ain ganrif. Bydd yn un o'r canolfannau darlledu mwyaf datblygedig yn y DU, gan gynnwys technoleg o'r radd flaenaf fydd heb gael ei gweithredu yn unman arall ar y raddfa hon. Mae’r IP Live ry’n ni’n ei osod yn golygu y bydd y seilwaith yn ei le er mwyn i ni allu addasu’n haws wrth i’r dechnoleg ddatblygu, a’n helpu i sicrhau bod ein cyfleusterau darlledu yn addas ar gyfer y dyfodol. Mae hynny’n golygu y bydd gan ein staff y cyfleusterau i adeiladu ar y gwaith gwych sydd eisoes wedi’i wneud yn BBC Cymru dros y blynyddoedd, a thrwy’r adeilad a’r defnydd o dechnoleg newydd, byddwn yn gallu ymgysylltu â'n cynulleidfaoedd mewn ffordd gwbl wahanol.

Bydd hefyd yn un o adeiladau mwyaf effeithlon y BBC hyd yma. Fel canolfan gynhyrchu arall y BBC yng Nghaerdydd, stiwdios drama Porth y Rhath, mae'n cael ei adeiladu i fodloni safonau amgylcheddol uchaf BREEAM. Bydd yn hynod o effeithlon o ran ynni, ac oherwydd ei fod tua hanner maint safleoedd presennol Llandaf, bydd yn llai costus i’w weithredu o gymharu.

Y Sgwâr Canolog fydd un o’r adeiladau mwyaf agored a thryloyw yn y BBC. Mae diwyg yr adeilad a’r ffordd y mae’r cyfleusterau wedi’u hadeiladu drwy gynnwys gwydr, yn golygu y gallwch weld ar draws yr adeilad cyfan.

Ac mae'r natur agored yma yn ymestyn y tu hwnt i'r BBC. Wedi’i leoli ar plaza cyhoeddus, bydd llawr gwaelod y Sgwâr Canolog ar agor i'r cyhoedd. Gyda mynediad o’r tu allan, bydd siopau a chaffis, tra bydd yr atriwm, sy’n agored i’r cyhoedd, yn cynnwys ffenestri yn yr ardaloedd cynhyrchu, yn ogystal â sgriniau fydd yn hyrwyddo’r gweithgareddau o fewn yr adeilad. Bydd hefyd yn gartref i rai o bartneriaid creadigol y BBC. Bydd gan S4C ofod yn yr adeilad a bydd gan gwmnïau cynhyrchu annibynnol fynediad i'r ganolfan hefyd.

Mae ffigurau newydd a ddatgelwyd heddiw yn dangos bod penderfyniad BBC Cymru i symud i’r Sgwâr Canolog nid yn unig yn bwysig i BBC Cymru ond i'r sector a'r ardal yn gyffredinol. Mae adroddiad effaith economaidd yn dangos bod y Sgwâr Canolog ar y trywydd iawn i ychwanegu
£1.1 biliwn at yr ardal a chreu 1,900 o swyddi dros y degawd nesaf.

Ond un garreg filltir yn unig yw hon, ac er ei fod yn wych cyrraedd y garreg filltir honno, mae llawer iawn o waith eto i’w wneud. Nawr bod y BBC wedi cymryd perchnogaeth o'r adeilad, gall y gwaith o osod y tu fewn a’r agweddau technegol ddechrau -  gwaith fydd yn cymryd tua deunaw mis o rigio, goleuo, gosod stiwdios a chyfleusterau cynhyrchu, yn ogystal â’r dylunio mewnol. Mae llawer iawn o waith ar ôl i'w wneud, fydd yn cynnwys llawer o bobl ar draws y sefydliad, ond heddiw ry’n ni gam pwysig yn agosach at nodi’r bennod nesaf yn hanes darlledu Cymru.

Alun Jones is Programme Director, BBC Wales.

• Read the related press release 'Building work completed at BBC Cymru Wales’ new broadcast centre in Cardiff' on the BBC Media Centre website

Factual Entertainment 

Wil, Aeron a'r Inca/Wil, Aeron and The Inca - S4C

Comedy 

Still Game - BBC Scotland

Factual Series

Scotland’s Game - BBC Scotland

Kieran Hegarty Award for Innovation

Voices 16 - BBC Northern Ireland

Drama series

Line of Duty - BBC

Radio Documentary

Aberfan - BBC Radio Cymru

Radio Magazine Show

Rhaglen Aled Hughes/Aled Hughes Programme - BBC Radio Cymru

Radio Music Programme (Live)

Blas Ceoil - BBC Radio Ulster

Radio Sports

Spòrs na Seachdain/Weekly Sport - BBC Radio nan Gaidheal

Radio Station of the Year

BBC Radio Cymru

Single Documentary

Dunblane – Our Story - BBC One

Sports Documentary

Crash and Burn - BBC NI and RTE

Spirit of the Festival & History

Eoin Mac Néill: Fear Dearmadta 1916/Eoin MacNeill: The Forgotten Man of 1916 - BBC Two NI and TG4

For the full list of winners visit the Celtic Media Festival website.

Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs celebrated its 75th anniversary by casting away a global star. Who then, is the David Beckham of Welsh language hymn singing? If you know the answer, let us know and we’ll be straight on the phone because at Radio Cymru, we have some celebrating to do this week. Caniadaeth y Cysegr, a hymn singing series first broadcast on the Home Service 75 years ago, is still going strong.

Look back at the Radio Times for February 15 - 21 1942 and you’ll find the Black-Out times noted prominently, alongside programmes such as Marching Songs of Britain and Sincerely Yours Vera Lynn. There too was Newyddion – a news bulletin in Welsh at 5pm, followed by the first ever edition of Caniadaeth y Cysegr, described rather bluntly as ‘Hymn Singing in Welsh’. Back then it did what it says on the tin and to this day and it’s proved to be a big hit across the UK, ‘in Welsh’ or not. Caniadaeth remains a ‘must listen’ programme on Sundays for those who enjoy and respect the tradition of Welsh language four part hymn singing and can surely claim to have played a part in keeping that tradition alive.

As a child, I remember standing next to my parents in chapel just about every Sunday struggling to keep the soprano line going, while listening to Mam and Dad singing alto and tenor. Mam used to sing, well, confidently and there was more than one Sunday my brother and I set off for the vestry with red faces, muttering that ‘everyone had turned round to look at our family!’

It was years later, when I joined a quite different kind of congregation supporting Wales at the Arms Park, that I realised singing ‘SATB’ wasn’t the norm everywhere. English fans just didn’t do it. It was then that it dawned on me that this was an inherent part of my Welsh heritage and that loud maternal altos aside (a mantle I suspect my daughter would say I’ve now adopted) it was a tradition to be appreciated.

And it is still appreciated. Chapel doors are closing, the number of Cymanfa Ganu festivals are waning and the tradition of four part choral hymn signing is weakening, there’s no doubt about that - but Caniadaeth y Cysegr remains a Radio Cymru favourite, not just a Radio Cymru stalwart. It was the success of Caniadaeth that led, nearly twenty years later, to the creation of a Welsh language hymn singing television series by BBC Wales in January 1961, Dechrau Canu Dechrau Canmol. In the same year, the format was adopted in English by the BBC in London, which in my hymn book makes Caniadaeth the ‘grandmother’ of Songs of Praise.

So we’ll celebrate. There’ll be no David Beckham. I doubt whether there’ll be much talked-about news lines or tattoos either but there will be pride that Caniadaeth y Cysegr continues to bring out the best in communities throughout Wales and more than anything, continues to inspire.

• Caniadaeth y Cysegr is broadcast on Radio Cymru, Sunday afternoons at 4.30pm, online and on BBC iPlayer Radio

It’s something we’ve never tried before – the first of its kind – and keen eyes and ears around the world will be waiting in anticipation to interact with the great detective himself. Tonight’s #SherlockLive promises to be an adrenalin-pumping rollercoaster ride for more than just the fans enjoying it!

At 8pm, fans of BBC One’s famously eccentric detective will get the chance to solve a live and exclusive 30-minute Sherlock case on BBC One Twitter and bbc.co.uk/sherlock. In a BBC drama first, Sherlock writers Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss will be tweeting live as Sherlock Holmes, interacting directly with the audience as they help to solve the case. Audiences will pit their wits against the world’s finest sleuth as they use their powers of deduction to take part in their very own moment of BBC Pure Drama.

At BBC Wales’ digital drama team, we’re used to creating interactive experiences for drama fans, but this takes things to a whole new level. We’ve never before had the co-creators putting their brilliant brains together live in front of the whole world.  These masters of character creation will join writer Joe Lidster, who’s dreamed up tonight’s plot, fully aware this could take off in any direction. Exciting? Yes. Terrifying? Absolutely – in a good way.

It’s an idea we’ve had for some time – I’ve just been waiting for the right opportunity to try it out. What could be better than bringing together sheer genius and testing Sherlock against the rest of the world? Sherlock Holmes’ unique style of deduction offers a fascinating format to play with, and social media means anything’s possible.

Sian Davies, who has spent the past month producing this, spent hours working with Joe and the Senior Producer Alice Rothwell to work out the painstaking structure of the script. Christmas was put on hold for us, as we worked non-stop to make sure we went live before episode three goes out on Sunday. What exactly could we achieve in approximately 30 minutes? What would give us enough depth for everyone to be stretched, while keeping it entertaining? Don’t forget, Sherlock Holmes is notorious for being easily bored.

When I approached Steven and Mark with the idea, with Hartswood Films’ Series Producer Sue Vertue, they swiftly saw the chance to have some real fun with this. For them, it’s also a chance for Sherlock Holmes to show his true character as he responds to the tweets that interest him. We don’t know what people will ask and we have no idea yet how he’ll respond.

We do know the demand for more Sherlock is sky high. We also know people want to test themselves and compete with him – but he’s the world’s most brilliant mind, so can they come anywhere near? We’ll find out tonight.

• #SherlockLive is a exclusive Sherlock case specially written for @BBCOne. It will be available to follow as a live blog on bbc.co.uk/sherlock from 8pm on Tuesday 10 January.
• It is written by Joe Lidster and produced in conjunction with Hartswood Films. It is made by BBC Wales.

Tonight at 9pm, young actor James King stars in the first episode of a new series of BBC One drama Ordinary Lies; but he started in the Valley - Pobol y Cwm (People of the Valley) to be precise – the Welsh soap made by BBC Wales for S4C.

Pobol y Cwm is the longest-running television soap opera produced by the BBC, and has been on screen for nine years longer than EastEnders.

James is just one of a select number of famous names who’ve walked the streets of the fictional village of Cwmderi, home to Pobol y Cwm. After four decades on the small screen it’s no surprise that the series has nurtured a whole host of up-and-coming actors with some becoming international names.

Any Games of Thrones fan will recognise Iwan Rheon as the twisted Ramsay Bolton. Rheon credits his stint playing Macs White in Pobol y Cwm - which he says challenged him as a young actor - with helping him achieve roles like Simon Bellamy in the E4 series Misfits before going on to star in the global HBO hit.

Ioan Gruffudd, who attended the same Welsh-medium school in Cardiff as Rheon, is also a household name. Ioan started his career as a schoolboy playing Gareth Wyn Harries in the soap before moving on to appear in Hornblower, Titanic and the Fantastic Four films.

There’s also Alexandra Roach, who went from playing wayward teenager Elin Owen in the series to starring as a young Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady, to Meryl Streep's mature Thatcher. She also played Becky in Channel 4 thriller Utopia.

Ordinary Lies series two starts tonight (Tuesday 18 October) on BBC One.

​​​​Producer and director Steve Humphries talks about 'Surviving Aberfan' described in one newspaper as “one of the most heart-breaking pieces of television you are ever likely to watch.” It’s part of a series of commemorative programmes by BBC Wales, marking 50 years since the Aberfan disaster, which touched people around the world.

​This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Aberfan disaster.

The people of this Welsh mining village, where life for more than a century revolved around the Merthyr Vale colliery, have rarely spoken at length about what happened to them on 21 October 1966, and for good reason.

On that morning, at the start of the school day, a massive tip slide careered down the mountainside, engulfing the village primary school and surrounding houses in hundreds of tonnes of rubble and coal waste. Twenty-eight adults and 116 children were killed.

Aberfan ranks high among the worst peacetime UK disasters of the 20th century - the loss of so many children in what should have been their safe haven shocked Wales, Britain and the world.

The impact was immediate, the public response overwhelming in messages of condolence and gifts in cash and kind.

Painful memories

As producer and director of the BBC documentary film Surviving Aberfan, I had to persuade people to talk on camera about what was, for many, the worst day of their life.

It took months to build a relationship of trust with the community to make this possible. Inevitably, talking about the disaster brings back acutely painful memories and many survivors still cannot speak about it publicly.

But some did eventually agree to tell their story. This is probably the last significant anniversary we have to capture the experience from the widest number of surviving witnesses.

Some believed it was vital that the full story of what happened to their community should never be forgotten.

Others wanted placed on record the largely unsung role of the emergency services and the men who risked their lives in rescue operations in the most challenging conditions and lived thereafter haunted by regret that they couldn’t have brought out more alive.

Former fireman Len Haggett had never spoken about what he did on that day - even to his wife. As a result of telling us his story, of a dramatic rescue he was involved in, we were able to reunite him with Phil Thomas, the boy whose life he saved.

Recounting the stories of survival, rescue, loss and bereavement was a uniquely emotional experience for the people of Aberfan – and for me.

As a programme-maker specialising in oral history documentaries for many years, I found these some of the most affecting interviews I have ever done. It seems to me that no-one ‘gets over’ a disaster of the suddenness, scale and severity of Aberfan. There are only different ways of surviving.

Steve Humphries is producer and director of the BBC documentary film Surviving Aberfan.

• Surviving Aberfan airs on BBC One Wales, Monday 17 October at 9pm, and on BBC Four, Thursday 20 October at 9pm
• Aberfan: The Fight for Justice,Tuesday 18 October, BBC One, 10.45pm
• Aberfan: The Green Hollow, Friday 21 October, BBC One Wales, 9pm; Sunday 23 October, BBC Four, 8pm
• Aberfan; A Concert to Remember, Saturday 22 October, BBC Two Wales, 9pm; Sunday 23 October, BBC Four, 9pm

Rhodri Talfan Davies, Director of BBC Wales said of the build earlier this year, “This £1bn economic boost underlines the difference BBC Wales can make. We’re leaving a large, inefficient site in Llandaff and moving to a smaller, more cost-effective space in Central Square because we need to work smarter and leaner. But the £1.1 billion benefit triggered by the move is a big boost for the economy and for the people who live here.”

Former MP Kim Howells is presenting Visions of World War One on BBC One Wales tonight (Monday 11 July), the programme considers how Welsh artists portrayed World War One, from the morale raising prints of 1914 to the poignant memorials that still stand in towns and villages across Wales. Here, in a blog originally posted on BBC Wales, Kim shares his experiences of making the programme.

With the BBC Wales film crew, I looked across a field at Mametz Wood on the battlefield of the Somme - a dark and sombre prospect in the February rain. Trees, tall and bare, grown from the seed of a forest obliterated by British artillery in July 1916, rise, now, from a tangle of bramble and hazel, rust-coloured in winter, like century-old barbed wire.

I walked up the gentle slope to the forest, over the claggy chalk soil, unable to imagine how young men, burdened with equipment and weapons could have made the same, short crossing of open ground under a deadly hail of German machine gun fire. There was nowhere to hide.

In the forest, hidden by the tangled thorns, is a floor pitted with the concave evidence of shell-holes. I wonder how any German soldier could have survived such a barrage. But they did and, when the British shells ceased landing, the German machine-gunners emerged from their bunkers and commenced their slaughter of the advancing Welsh and English infantry.

It was here that the artist and poet David Jones was wounded in the savage hand-to-hand fighting. Mametz Wood was the Welsh Division’s fiercest and most costly engagement of the Great War. Lloyd George commissioned the Maesteg-born artist, Christopher Williams, to paint a version of it – a huge, dramatic canvas of savagery and killing that was to hang in the drawing room of No.10 Downing Street, perhaps as a reminder to visiting generals, diplomats and politicians of the human consequences of failing to keep the peace in an age of industrial, total war. I doubt that any photograph could have fulfilled that function so vividly.

The paintings and drawings fulfil a different role, now. They give us an insight into the reality of life in the trenches a century ago – not just of the blood and guts, fighting and shelling but also of the long periods of sitting around, waiting and watching. David Jones and Carey Morris (an artist from Llandeilo) sketched their fellow soldiers in the dugouts boiling kettles, cleaning guns, preparing food or just sitting, smoking and chatting.

There is a small, dark painting by Morris of a ruined chateau on the front line, near Ypres in Belgium. It portrays the war continuing into the night. British soldiers are hidden in the darkness, their presence indicated only by the glow of their cigarettes, as the night sky over no-man’s land is lit by flares. Morris could only have painted it because he was there, as a soldier, seeing men seeking some solace from tobacco in the darkness. I know of no photograph that captures such a moment and such telling detail in the terrible years of battle around Ypres.

The tiny fragments of the wars that I saw first-hand in Iraq and Afghanistan and in countries torn by sectarian violence and civil war were enough to convince me that artists, writers and composers – as well as brave photographers, film-makers and journalists – can add greatly to our understanding of these events by communicating their own, special perception and interpretation of the conflicts into which they find themselves pitched. That is why it is so important to explore the work of these remarkable Welsh men and women during the Great War.

Visions of World War One, part of World War One from BBC Wales.

Watch Visions of World War One on Monday 11 July, 10.40pm BBC One Wales

Anyway, on the way to get the toothpaste (for sensitive teeth, I'm that sort of soul), came across this extraordinary signed picture of Gareth Bale. Don't get distracted by the space suit next to it - Tim Peake has had his day in the sun - or should that be stars - the point is, there was no price on the stunning Gareth Bale picture. So I went inside and asked the shop owner, "how much?" ''Not for sale,'' he said....''not until after the final!''

Not dull, this feller. He had correctly worked out the price would rocket (sorry!) if Wales reached those heady heights or even won the whole thing.

His smile was almost as broad as that of the launderette owner who paid a visit while myself and Iwan Roberts were waiting for our respective tumble dryers to finish. As I have noted previously, I suspect his retirement plans are well in hand…

Off to a press conference soon and then to Lyon tomorrow for Wednesday's showpiece. I've given up trying to predict what will happen. You can put nothing past this amazing Wales squad, the new heroes of France. If Wales win on Wednesday, it'll be easy to go with the cliche 'over the moon'.

Maybe that shop owner was really onto something… How much was that space suit?

Monday 4/7/16 - two days before the semi-final v Portugal

This place - yes, and the launderette in town - has basically been home (Chez moi - as they say in France) for the last month. Dinard has been a joy, the people have embraced the Wales squad and all who follow them. Frankly, one of the many major decisions Chris Coleman and his staff have got right in this tournament was being based here on the beautiful Brittany coast. This community and its people will always have a special place in the memory of those who have been here.

I move to Lyon today and - hopefully - on to Paris on Thursday. If Wales can actually continue this fairytale journey all the way to the Euro 2016 final, then the squad will return to Dinard on Thursday - to a no doubt even more rapturous reception than they have had so far (and that's saying something). I am sure more than just myself want to return one day soon.

But for now I say "Farewell Dinard" - you and your charming people have been a delight. You have played your part in an already wonderful Welsh story. Thank you. Bon Chance!

• Listen to Rob’s commentary on BBC Radio Wales, followed by the regular post-match phone-in, Call Rob Phillips.
• Read the first installment of Rob's Euro 2016 diaries on the About the BBC Blog and the second installment
• Read Jon Jacob's blog about how BBC Radio Five Live introduced him to the world of football

BBC Wales Football Correspondent Rob Phillips has been following the Welsh team at Euro 2016 and, when he gets a chance, he’s been writing updates for his followers and friends on Facebook. We've put together a second set of edited highlights from Rob’s week at the Wales base in Dinard, Brittany, and on the road following the team. Will there be a part three?

Thursday 23/6/16 - two days before Northern Ireland

Well what an eventful first trip on the French railways! Arrived in Rennes to wait for train to Paris and suddenly an official looking gentleman wearing a cap - without any great fuss - started to cordon off part of the platform with rolls of tape.

Didn’t think too much of it, because the cafe continued to serve as normal and a few yards away there was a pianist in full flow. Yes, a bloke on the piano, later joined by a woman who started to sing! I have to say, this is not something I have ever seen at Ebbw Vale Parkway, or even Cardiff Central… but what a good idea.

So my colleague Dafydd Pritchard and I sat nearby and enjoyed a musical accompaniment to his chicken salad and coffee and my ham and cheese baguette (but no crisps), a glorified French version of a custard tart and coffee (grande).

That was until the girl who had served us our food appeared from the cafe and calmly suggested we might want to move, since this was a proper security alert and she wasn’t going to hang around…

Meanwhile the pianist played on! 

Sunday 27/6/16 - the day after the Northern Ireland match

Back in Dinard after yet another memorable weekend watching this unbelievable Wales football team - backed by its joyous, slightly disbelieving fans.

I’ve said it previously, there really is a homely feel about the Brittany base Wales have chosen. After yet another tumultuous few days in the French capital, it's good to be back here (yet again) before heading for Lille later this week.

We had one special moment when outside our hotel in Paris on Saturday night, a rather tired and emotional Northern Ireland fan told our motley crew Wales had to go on and win the tournament, having beaten his side.

Then he was told he was talking to former Everton and Wales captain Kevin Ratcliffe. The gentleman bowed in adoration and suddenly a chorus of “Ratcliffe's on fire!!” (adapted from Northern Ireland’s ‘Will Grigg’ version) crackled through the Paris night time air!

Just another memorable moment on this adventure as Wales have made the quarter finals of the European Championships...  Just take a while to think about that… the last eight of Euro 2016!

Wednesday 29 June - two days before the Quarter Final v Belgium

Forgive me, this is a strange feeling. I may, stress ‘may’, have left Dinard for the final time on my personal journey through Euro 2016.

I am writing this on the way to Lille with my colleagues Dafydd Pritchard and Dyfrig Gwent. Lille is, of course, where Wales meet Belgium in the quarter final, on Friday night.

A defeat and for me it’s ‘home’ the following day… the stakes are that high!

The point is, I have become quite attached to Dinard, from my favourite ice cream, the local Facebook blogger who was videoing himself while he played goalkeeper in the press football match on the beach last night (just one point on this game, the organisers ensured the English media were evenly spread among both sides - just in case those on the losing side thought the exuberant celebrations at the end were aimed at them) and, yes, even the launderette, which I visited on Monday evening, only to be disturbed by a TV film crew. It’s just a lovely place with a warm ambience.

Gareth Bale was speaking to us again today. Once more he exuded confidence and summed up the spirit within the squad. Asked about motivation to play well every game he looked at the Wales badge on his shirt and said “the Dragon” was all he needed.

Asked whether the squad got bored between games, he said ‘no’ - they were all mates and, tellingly, added: “It's like being on holiday”.

Now, I should quickly point out, this has been no holiday (honest!) but I know exactly where he’s coming from. My spirits were sent soaring. I’ve got two big suitcases in the back of the car and a few other bags, too, just in case the Belgians have a cunning plan to send us packing. But ten minutes in the same room as Gareth Bale and I am suddenly a lot more confident.

As you know the Welsh fans have excelled on the singing front, particularly with the anthem. They have chorused their way around France - making a delightful, tuneful impression.

So in our car, with Lille still a long way off, we’re breaking into: “Don't take me home!”

• Listen to Rob’s commentary on BBC Radio Wales, followed by the regular post-match phone-in, Call Rob Phillips.
• Read the first instalment of Rob's Euro 2016 diaries on the About the BBC Blog 
• Read Jon Jacob's blog about how BBC Radio Five Live introduced him to the world of football

Saturday 18/6/16

Just watched Wales players training and happy to report Joe Ledley was looking fine. As you can see, the training was also watched by the pupils of Cwmtawe Community School, Pontardawe. One of their pupils was responsible for the best comment of the morning: ''Ledley! Your beard is amazing!'' Could not argue with that. But more amazing is surely the standard of school trips these days. Go to France and watch Wales train - how good is that?? Beats Longleat by a street!

Monday 20/6/16 - the day of the Russia match in Toulouse

(1) Had a quick stroll in the bit of Toulouse I find myself - saw this feller. Chap in a pram making baby noises… makes a living I suppose!!! PS - also saw many Welsh fans looking happy, but slightly nervous, about the game later.

(2) Don't know about you, but I am nervous and there's still 90 minutes to kick off.

Tuesday 21/6/16 - the day after Russia match

Thanks to my dad being a football supporter, I have watched Wales both as a fan - and professionally - for a lifetime. Reporting it has been nearly 30 years. And I can honestly say I have never experienced a game like that… I'm not name dropping but John Hartson and Kevin Ratcliffe were so emotional either side of me in the commentary box, it was difficult not to get carried away. When you have 110 caps worth of football talent stood up clapping their successors, it makes an impression and adds to the memory.

And there are other winners, too - notably the launderette in Dinard which will again do a roaring trade when I get back to Brittany.

Weds 22/6/16 - 2 days after Russia match, 3 days until knockout game vs. ???

So here it is!! The most famous "Welsh" launderette in the world!

Tomorrow I am leaving Dinard as part of an advanced party heading off to Paris, where Wales play an historic knockout game on Saturday against… Well, that's the point. As my shirts and smalls rotate at 40 degrees in machine number 5 ‪#‎creasedbutclean‬ - we just don't know who Wales will be playing…‬‬

Bottom line is - the Wales players probably won't care who they play. And neither will the Welsh fans who have been walking ambassadors for our great country and will love to bring their melodic presence to the French capital. Anyway, by the end of today, we should know.

In other words… it'll all come out in the wash!!

Rob Phillips is Football Correspondent for BBC Wales.

We also featured helpful and sometimes inventive initiatives that can help people improve their vocabulary - such as welsh language walks around Barry with Ruth from Valeways to The Deck cafe in Cardiff Bay who play basic Welsh phrases in the loos of their café.

We quickly realised that learning Welsh isn’t just for those of us born here, as proved by surgeon Dr. Phillip Moore from Barbados who loves surprising the patients at Ysbyty Gwynedd with his Welsh skills. We also spoke to Lidia Lammardo who hails from Argentina, lives in Belfast and travels to Cardiff for Welsh classes.

The project also gave us a chance to explore how Welsh is developing alongside different industries including technology, leisure and emergency services.

For technology, we visited Canolfan Bedwyr in Bangor to check out their speech recognition software and even heard from Google Translate’s Chief Engineer, Macduff Hughes, about his love of the language and his efforts to represent Welsh online.

A huge part of Share Your Welsh was getting out and speaking to listeners across Wales. When I mapped everywhere we’d visited, it was great to see how many communities had been involved.

Whilst our main aim was to reach out to BBC Radio Wales listeners, the campaign also stimulated activity across other areas of the BBC including S4C’s Dal Ati, Pobol Y Cwm, Radio Cymru and more.

It also allowed us to talk directly with people who were getting involved through social media. We encouraged those connected with the campaign to get involved using #shareyourwelsh which trended a few times during the project.

Some of our posts got a lot of attention online, helping BBC Radio Wales to connect with even more people.

And even though Share Your Welsh was focused on the month of January, the content will remain a valuable online resource for learners in the future. So if you’ve a desire to brush up on your Welsh or learn from scratch: rhoi cynnig arni (give it a go).

Chelsea Dickenson, Content Producer, Audio Always producers of Share Your Welsh for BBC Wales

• Read also Share your Welsh in 2016 with Huw & Dot
• Find out more at the Share Your Welsh website