VIEWERS will get a taste of the beautiful summer we’ve just had in the first programme of a brand-new series of Cefn Gwlad, as Dai Jones, Llanilar, leaves the green fields of the countryside for the big blue sea as he meets up with an old friend.

Affable New Quay fisherman Winston Evans, 78, who’s been fishing mackerel in Cardigan Bay for decades, will keep Dai company in Cefn Gwlad to be broadcast on S4C on Tuesday October 23 (8pm) - but it’s not the first time they’ve met. It was back in 1986 when Dai last joined Winston on his boat while filming a programme together.

“Winston is a man who was born with a line in his hand and salt in his blood, and he’s been fishing this coast for 60 years or more,” said Dai, who’s more comfortable with a dog lead rather than a lobster in his hand.

“And although it’s been over 30 years since I went to meet him in New Quay, he hasn’t changed a bit!”

During the series, Dai is also joined by a team of young presenters as Meleri Williams, Ioan Doyle, Mari Lovgreen and Rhys Lewis bring the characters and the beautiful locations of Wales alive to the viewers at home.

Also in the first programme, Mari marvels at the colourful creations of a Pembrokeshire farmer, Rhys Henllan celebrates Bala Motor Club’s 70th anniversary and viewers will learn the history behind Uncle Buck’s organic farm in Bethesda.

As Dai looks back fondly on his time with Winston, the reason for the longevity of Cefn Gwlad, which has been on television for 35 years, becomes clear to him. It is the way it portrays and keeps a record of the countryside characters who are slowly disappearing.

As Dai explains: “I enjoyed every moment with Winston on the boat and the mackerel were delicious.

“I was out there catching them with him, and I never thought I'd get a chance to eat New Quay mackerel while looking out at the sea in New Quay. That’s real, isn’t it?

"But when we lose him and people like that, who will be left? Fishing, like many other things, is a traditional craft.”