Eisteddfod winner scales his peak

Tudur Dylan Jones explored the opportunities life presents

A teacher from Carmarthen who has won the crown at the National Eisteddfod in Mold, Flintshire, for a series of poems says he enjoyed the challenge.

Tudur Dylan Jones, from Ysgol Gyfun y Strade in Llanelli, has won a different competition - the chair - twice, at Colwyn Bay in 1995 and Eryri in 2005.

Judges called his work on the theme of peaks (Copaon) short, fresh and modern.

Mr Jones said parts of his poems were metaphorical in that everybody had a mountain to climb.

"The poems are about achieving or not perhaps achieving those goals in life," he said.

'Totally different'

"It's a general idea about the way that life gives chances to people - some people take that chance and some people unfortunately can't."

Mr Jones said he had relished the challenge of a different discipline from the stricter format in which he had won the chair twice.

"I enjoyed myself writing in this new metre, and it was a totally different outlook and a totally different way of saying things."

This year's crown, designed by Llanelli jeweller Mari Thomas, was donated by the National Library of Wales and Museum Wales to celebrate the centenary of the two institutions.

On Monday, 18,608 people attending the eisteddfod, which was slightly lower than the 20,123 people who visited on the first Monday in Swansea last year.