A STORY of the building of the of two of the Elan Valley reservoirs involving the the late First Minister Rhodri Morgan’s great uncle, will be shown on S4C this evening (Thursday, March 29).

The fascinating story of Morgan Watkin, a key worker in the building of the Elan and Claerwen reservoirs, follows Rhodri Morgan’s journey, in the months before his death last year, to the Swiss city of Zürich to retrace the steps of his remarkable relative who had also worked as a spy for the British Empire.

Morgan Watkin was born and bred in Pen-rhewllas farm, Mynydd Gelliwastad, Clydach. He left school and began work, aged 11, as a door-boy in a colliery. In 1893 he was apprenticed for a builder in Pontardawe and went on to work as a builder in Swansea and the Swansea valley, and in Birmingham as well as on the Elan reservoirs.

But Rhodri’s quest sought to discover whether Morgan Watkin had actually met Lenin during his exile in Zürich before he became the revolutionary Soviet leader, and did he obtain key information from the Communist about the German enemy via his Russian network of spies?

S4C cameras followed the charismatic late Labour politician during his time there and the fascinating documentary ‘Rhodri Morgan: Ysbïwr yn y Teulu (Rhodri Morgan: A Spy in the Family)’ is as much a tribute to the former Cardiff West MP and AM as it is a fascinating portrayal of his multi-talented great uncle.

It was being shown on Thursday night at 9.30pm with English subtitles, and is available on demand on s4c.cymru, BBC iPlayer and other platforms.