Dai Jones

Dai Jones MBE (born 1943) is a Welsh farmer, television presenter, and radio broadcaster. Known as Dai Jones Llanilar, after the village near Aberystwyth where he farms Welsh Black cattle and sheep, he became the President of the Welsh Black Cattle Society in its centenary year 2004/2005.

Jones is best known today for presenting Cefn Gwlad, an S4C television series made by ITV Cymru Wales, which documents the lives of farming families. He has hosted this show since shortly after it began in 1982. He was already well known on TV as the presenter of the family quiz show Siôn a Siân when producer/director the late Geraint Rees asked him to take over the reins of Cefn Gwlad. He also hosts a weekly musical requests programme on BBC Radio Cymru.

Jones is an accomplished tenor and won the blue riband prize at the National Eisteddfod of Wales in 1970. He has also released recordings with the Welsh recording label Cambrian.

As a well-known figure in Wales, Jones is regularly lampooned in the Welsh satirical cartoon series Cnex.

He published his autobiography in 1997, entitled Fi Dai Sy' 'Ma.^[1]

Awards

Jones won a BAFTA Cymru in 2004 for his contributions to Welsh television broadcasting.

Later that year, Jones also won the Sir Bryner Jones Award for his contribution to rural affairs.

In the 1999 New Year Honours, he was awarded the MBE "for services to Entertainment in Wales".^[2]

References