Margaret Owen
St Clears, Carmarthenshire
At the time of filming, former home economics teacher Margaret Owen was Lady Mayor of St Clears. As well as her duties as a councillor, she plays an active role as Chair of Governors of Welsh medium primary school Ysgol Bancyfelin.
Widow Margaret's husband was a Welsh speaker and Helen, one of her four daughters, also speaks Welsh. She has a young granddaughter who is learning Welsh and Margaret would like to be able to speak Welsh with her.
As Margaret herself says, "I am Welsh, I've always lived in Wales and a have a Welsh accent. Everyone thinks I can speak Welsh, but I can't. Everyone in Wales should be able to speak their native language." Like many others in her situation, Margaret is no stranger to Welsh and has an understanding of the language but, until now, had lacked the confidence to use what she knows.
Margaret's challenge was to give a cookery demonstration, something she is used to doing both during her career as a teacher and after her retirement from the profession. However, this was her first time in Welsh and she took to the hob like a true professional, amazing the assembled audience with her repartee and pork and mushroom casserole!
