Myfanwy Howell

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Myfanwy Howell
Myfanwy Howell
Born1 September 1903
Llangefni, Anglesey
Died14 November 1988
Newport
NationalityWelsh
OccupationBroadcaster

Myfanwy Howell (1 September 1903 – 14 November 1988) was an early Welsh language radio and television broadcaster, host of Amser Te (Tea Time) in the 1950s.

Early life[edit]

Howell was from Llangefni, Anglesey.[1] She was related to poet Denise Levertov's mother, Beatrice Spooner-Jones Levertoff.[2][3] Scientist John Charnley remembered knowing Myfanwy Howell in Anglesey when he was a teenager evacuated to the island during World War II.[4]

Career[edit]

Broadcasting[edit]

In the early 1940s, during World War II, Howell was on radio with the BBC Home Service, contributing Welsh-language content on diet and for schoolchildren.[5][6][7]

In the 1950s Howell was a program assistant in early radio and television productions based in Bangor,[8][9] including Noson Lawen (A Merry Evening).[10] In 1952 and 1954 she gave the "shopping report" on the BBC radio program Woman's Hour.[11][12] In 1952, she gave a recipe for Aberffrauw cakes (a shortbread variety associated with Anglesey) on Welsh Diary on the BBC's General Overseas Service, when Welsh speakers abroad requested recipes on the program.[13] In 1954, she hosted a special Welsh-themed edition of the BBC television program Leisure and Pleasure.[14] She appeared in a 1958 trial weekly series, Awyr Iach (Open Air) with Ron Saunders.[15]

Howell became well-known as the presenter on the TWW programme Amser Te (Tea Time), the network's long-running[16] weekly Welsh-language afternoon program for women viewers, beginning in 1958.[15] The show featured recipes, interviews, competitions, musical guests,[17] live and filmed segments; "Howell's homely style of presenting endeared the audience to her."[18] The program's baking segments were popular enough to publish Tea Time Recipes, a cookbook of the recipes featured on the show in 1962,[19] and a sequel, Tea Time Round the World.[20]

Other activities[edit]

Howell was also a justice of the peace.[1] In 1949 she became the first chair of the Welsh Counties Committee of the Women's Institute.[21] In 1954 she participated in the opening ceremonies of the National Eisteddfod, on behalf of the Women's Institute.[22]

Personal life[edit]

Myfanwy Howell's husband was Illtyd Howell. They lived in Newport.[2] Some of their letters are in the Denise Levertov Papers at Stanford University.[23]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "Myfanwy Howell – Teledu yng ngwlad y gân ⁄ Television in the land of song ⁄ cyflwyniad Transdiffusion presentation". Teledu yng ngwlad y gân ⁄ Television in the land of song ⁄ cyflwyniad Transdiffusion presentation (in Welsh). 23 May 1960. Retrieved 7 March 2020.
  2. ^ a b Levertov, Denise (1981). Light Up the Cave. New Directions Publishing. p. 238. ISBN 978-0-8112-0813-0.
  3. ^ Hallisey, Joan F. (Winter 1982). "Denise Levertov's "Illustrious Ancestors": The Hassidic Influence". MELUS. 9 (4): 5–11. doi:10.2307/467606. JSTOR 467606.
  4. ^ Thomas Lean (2010). "National Life Stories: An Oral History of British Science: Sir John Charnley" The British Library. page 49.
  5. ^ "BBC Home Service Basic". BBC Genome. 18 July 1940. Retrieved 8 March 2020.
  6. ^ "Awr Y Plant". The Radio Times. No. 931. 1 August 1941. p. 14. ISSN 0033-8060. Retrieved 8 March 2020.
  7. ^ "BBC Home Service Basic". BBC Genome. 27 April 1942. Retrieved 8 March 2020.
  8. ^ "Atgofion BBC Bangor // BBC Bangor Memories". BBC Cymru Fyw (in Welsh). 27 March 2015. Retrieved 7 March 2020.
  9. ^ Dyddiau cynnar ym Mangor: ar achlysur dathlu Jiwbili Arian y B.B.C. yng Nghymru cyflwynir detholiad o rai o'r rhaglenni cyntaf a ddarlledwyd o Fangor (in Welsh). B.B.C. 1948.
  10. ^ Howell, Myfanwy. "A Merry Evening in Wales" BBC Yearbook 1949. pp. 40-42.
  11. ^ "Light Programme". BBC Genome. 9 October 1952. Retrieved 8 March 2020.
  12. ^ "Woman's Hour". The Radio Times. No. 1618. 12 November 1954. p. 37. ISSN 0033-8060. Retrieved 8 March 2020.
  13. ^ "To Welshmen in their Exile". The Evening Advocate. 4 August 1952. p. 2. Retrieved 7 March 2020 – via Trove.
  14. ^ "Invalid Handicraft". The Braidwood Dispatch and Mining Journal. 1 October 1954. p. 1. Retrieved 7 March 2020 – via Trove.
  15. ^ a b "TWW Television Wales and West". Dinosaur Discs. Retrieved 7 March 2020.
  16. ^ Crozier, Mary (12 October 1960). "Servants of Two Tongues". The Guardian. p. 7. Retrieved 8 March 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ^ "Hogiau Bryngwran". Discogs. Retrieved 8 March 2020.
  18. ^ Medhurst, Jamie (20 February 2015). A History of Independent Television in Wales. University of Wales Press. ISBN 978-1-78316-405-9.
  19. ^ Howell, Myfanwy (1962). Television Weekly presents Tea Time Recipes: As shown on TWW's Amser Te (2nd ed.). Hereford: Television Weekly. OL 23992643M.
  20. ^ "Tea Time Round The World by Myfanwy Howell". AbeBooks. Retrieved 8 March 2020.
  21. ^ "Powys Montgomery Panel". Casgliad y Werin Cymru (in Welsh). Retrieved 8 March 2020.
  22. ^ "Record Attendance at First Day of National Eisteddfod". The Guardian. 3 August 1954. p. 3. Retrieved 8 March 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  23. ^ "Guide to the Denise Levertov Papers". Online Archive of California. Retrieved 8 March 2020.
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