In Pictures: Philip Pullman's inspirational Wales
- Published
In the BBC Cymru Wales series Great Welsh Writers, celebrated author Philip Pullman describes how a childhood in north Wales inspired his formative years and, in turn, his writing. Pullman is perhaps best known for his award-winning series His Dark Materials. The Golden Compass, a film based on Northern Lights, the first novel in the trilogy, was released in 2007. It starred Daniel Craig, Nicole Kidman, Eva Green and Dakota Blue Richards as the heroine Lyra Belacqua.
Pullman was born in 1946 into a military family and travelled the world at an early age. However, a change in family circumstances meant a move to Ardudwy in the late 1950s, an area which lies between Tremadog Bay and the Rhinogydd mountains.
Following the death of Pullman's father Alfred in 1953, his mother remarried and the family moved to the Gwynedd village of Llanbedr, where his stepfather was posted in the RAF.
Pullman's time at Ysgol Ardudwy and the friends he made there have inspired characters in his works, such as Derek Dobney, whose firework-throwing antics inspired the literary character Thunderbolt Dobney, the chief mischief-maker in the New Cut Gang series.
The north Wales landscape was also a major source of inspiration. Pullman recounts the "stupendous view of Harlech beach" seen at 'Good God Corner' in Ardudwy: "It had the most extraordinarily beautiful appearance to me. Just to look at it and dream at the end of a summer day. I'll never forget that."
Pullman notes that the situation of the first house the family lived in, Beser, was "situated at the confluence of two rivers, the Artro and the Nantcol." The rivers, and a bridge that crossed them, provided inspiration for the backdrop of his novel The Broken Bridge.
He also says how he went to Barmouth to spend a book token he had received for his 15th birthday. He bought The Picture History of Painting, which sparked an urge to become an artist. Pullman later passed on this love of art to Ginny, the heroine in The Broken Bridge.
By 1963, Pullman was in the sixth form at Ysgol Ardudwy, had his heart set on becoming a writer and was already dreaming of faraway lands. He remembers listening to his jazz LPs, looking at the “little lights of Pwllheli and Criccieth twinkling” in the distance and imagining that they were San Francisco.
Pullman's school friend Merfyn Jones speaks about Pullman and north Wales: "We are in an extraordinary beautiful and dramatic landscape here. Sand dunes and ocean waves and big skies - and all of that is to be found in his writing."
Fellow author and Colwyn Bay-born comedian Terry Jones also features in the programme. He comments: "North Wales does form your outlook on the world; it's a beautiful place and I think that's why (Pullman) says it's a beautiful world."
Great Welsh Writers can be seen on BBC One Wales at 22:35 GMT on Monday 18 March, and on the BBC iPlayer for a week after transmission.