Welcome to the ICYMI newsletter, where each weekend we share a selection of reads published by our journalists during the past seven days.
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This week...
Sitting amongst the DIY team flags and footie paraphernalia at Newport’s The Bar Amber pub they look like any other bunch of old mates, meeting for a drink and a chat.
But, for the members of the Newport Veterans Hub, these precious two hours each Friday is a time to chat, socialise and try to rebuild their lives.
Veterans with countless years of military service between them - each with a history of panic attacks, breakdowns and PTSD - it’s a chance to feel a little more at home; to laugh and be among their own. Ryan O’Neil spoke to them.
Also this week, Amanda Powell spoke to the woman who helped put Soham murderer Ian Huntley behind bars, while Kathryn Williams went inside the Rhondda food distribution unit helping Valleys flood victims.
Seven stories to catch up on
Haunted by the past
“I have panic attacks, flashbacks, nightmares - these things will go with me for the rest of my life” - we hear the heartbreaking stories of Newport’s war veterans helping each other to rebuild their lives.
A deluge of kindness
After the ravages of Storm Dennis and the images of terrible floods, the residents of Rhondda Cynon Taff are still striving to get their lives back on track. Kathryn Williams spent time with the unit of volunteers trying to bring hope and help to their doors. Read here
A world-renowned forensics expert
Her evidence was crucial to putting Soham murderer Ian Huntley behind bars and other notorious cases she’s been involved in include the Milly Dowler and Sarah Payne murders. Here Amanda Powell talks to Welsh forensics expert Professor Pat Wiltshire. Read here
Alone on the land
Left to run her family farm in Conwy after her father suffered a stroke in 2018, 20-year-old shepherdess Ffion Hooson has been crushed to breaking point. And now, as Laura Clements found out, she’s become a spokesperson for the pressures and sense of isolation facing many remote farmers. Read here
Stuck out at sea
It should have been a joyous 65th birthday celebration for Anne Lewis from Aberdare, but, instead, she and her husband Howard have been stuck on board the coronavirus-hit cruise ship that remains stuck off the coast of the United States. Tom Deacon talked to them down a Transatlantic phone line to find out about their experience. Read here
Back to school
The humble dinner lady has been a fixture in the lives of everyone growing up, but these days it’s far removed from the image of Turkey Twizzlers as it’s possible to get. Sian Burkitt spoke to the kitchen staff at Alway Primary School in Newport and relived her school days. Read here
Bridging the gender gap
In light of International Women's Day 2020, our political editor Ruth Mosalski looked at the reality of being a woman in Wales right now - along with how much female equality has moved on over the years.
In case you missed them...
A selection of stories from our past emails.
The flooding victims still living out of a carrier bag
“When they carried me out on the stretcher I was covered in cold water - it was bloody freezing,” says 89-year-old Peter Morgan.
“I’m not going back there to live.” Read here
The unsung heroes
“There was a two-year-old here this morning and it broke her little heart - she has nothing,” says volunteer Cheryl Jarman.
Treforest Community Centre has received thousands of donations from prams and food, to furniture and children’s toys - so much stuff that it’s overflowing from the spare room, writes Katie-Ann Gupwell. Read here
Watching your business float away
Many business owners rushed to their premises on Sunday after frantic phone calls, but it was already too late. They could only watch as years of hard work literally washed away. Laura Clements speaks to those affected. Read here
Why was the flooding so bad?
Reporter Laura Clements, a former flood risk consultant engineer, explains how the natural characteristics of South Wales exacerbated the flooding (Read here), and in a second report, she investigates how long the recovery could take.
Living in isolation
Mid-morning, a car drives past, leading one local resident to joke that reporter Rob Harries has visited during rush hour.
The deathly quiet is otherwise only interrupted by the chirping of a bird and the trickling of a stream.
This is life in Gwernogle, Carmarthenshire. Read more
A refugee family settles in Wales
“Every day, I cook, I clean, I pick up the kids from school, I look after my husband,” says Raasha.
“Sometimes I think about my life and I start crying. But then I look in the mirror and ask myself: ‘Why are you crying?’ All my children are here with me.” Read here
From a Hollywood film to sleeping by the side of a road
Ben Symons just spent another night sleeping in a tent next to others who have nowhere else to go.
His situation is a far cry from the days he spent rubbing shoulders with Hollywood actors, though he says the memory is helping him cope. Read here
The boy on a bike who was ambushed and murdered
For two months, the family of Cardiff teenager Fahad Nur have relived the final moments of his life.
Court reporter Liz Day tells the full story of what happened and the details of his killers’ trial that we’ve been unable to report until now. Read here
Living next to Wales’s biggest road construction project
In the small village of Maesygwartha the only public infrastructure of its kind is a phone box.
It was an idyllic place to live, but now residents claim the equivalent of a dual carriageway’s worth of traffic races down its narrow track to avoid the mammoth Heads of the Valleys roadworks running parallel. It can take 45 minutes just to get out of their homes.
The £336 million scheme is now two years over its original deadline and £54m over budget. Anna Lewis reports.
The homes still empty after a landslide seven years ago
Out of the pouring rain came a sound like an earthquake as tonnes of soil and debris slid down the hillside above, broke through a wall and crashed into their houses — no one standing in their garden at the time would have survived.
Seven years later, Anna Lewis meets families still living without a proper home, who are desperate to move back. Read here
The gran who wanders the streets at night
"I was lonely, on my own, staring at four walls and I was losing the art of conversation," said Rosemary. "I also noticed I couldn't get up the stairs so I started walking to build my strength up. I used to walk into town, walk around, and then come home.
"It was while I was doing that I noticed every now and again I would meet a young lady who was crying or wanted to talk to me because I was an older person. I felt useful, if you know what I mean.” Read more
A sanctuary for apes hidden in the valleys
It all came about by accident when Penscynor Wildlife Park closed in the 1990s.
"They were looking for homes for all of the animals," Jan Garen tells Joshua Knapman. "We didn't pay much attention to it until we read in the paper – I think it was the Western Mail – that they were going to shoot the chimps because no-one would take them.” Read here
Behind the scenes at The Clink
Just beyond the walls of HMP Prison Cardiff is The Clink restaurant which relies entirely on the offenders who run it.
"I've always been in carpentry, steelwork. It's a bit different," laughs Kevin, one of the chefs.
He's now eligible for his upcoming parole and, if approved, will reach the end of his five years and three months sentence for GBH.
"My mum is surprised by how well I've done,” he tells Anna Lewis. Read here
A city’s homeless gather in a car park for help
In a car park behind Newport’s market and bus station, homeless people gather near the dozens of tents.
The flyover provides natural shelter from the weather, with many people choosing to set up temporary camp away from shoppers and passers-by.
Marcus Hughes and photographer Richard Swingler spent time with a group of volunteers who were handing out hot food, drinks, clothing and tents.
The heartbreaking picture a dad wants you to see
"The call handler told us they were dealing with a heavy influx of calls and that they'd be with her as soon as possible,” says Gareth Gilby.
"When there was still no sign an hour later we called again - this time we were told they were doing their best but that they didn't know when they would get to her. Read here
The private members club behind a secret door
Hundreds walk past the big blue door on Cardiff’s Wharton Street every day, perhaps without noticing it's even there.
It's home to one of Cardiff's oldest institutions and probably one of the least known in the city. Thomas Deacons steps inside.
The new mum with just months to live
Last Christmas Day Beth Durkin was watching over her tiny baby daughter in intensive care, willing her to recover from open heart surgery.
This year, the 33-year-old will be surrounded by family, including baby Olivia, but facing the prospect that it could be her last.
Thousands of pounds have been raised for the family since this story by Laura Clements was published on Sunday. One contributor wrote: “I donated because I want you to live”. Read and donate here
Waking up on the freezing streets of Cardiff
Her face is drawn and there is no sparkle in her dark eyes as she peers from under her hood. She looks older than her 42 years.
"I've been ill for so long now, from sitting out in the cold," says Levi. But far worse than the cold is the wet. Read her story
A man tried to rape me as I walked my dog
Before she knew what was happening, Janet Youde was grabbed from behind and pulled down into a patch of nettles.
Screaming, she was pinned down by her attacker who tried to force his hand across her mouth to stop her making noise.
“I honestly believed I had screamed my last scream at that point,” she tells court reporter Liz Day. Read Janet's story
The picture that finally sobered me up
Staring at the image of a man with two black eyes, a bloated face and blood-matted hair, Gene Davies now barely recognises himself.
It's a selfie which shocked the 47-year-old from Cwmaman into becoming sober after decades of struggling with alcoholism - which had cost him jobs, relationships and his marriage, he tells Nathan Bevan. Read here
The story of my son, Dai Crofts
"Although the last thing you want is to see your son or daughter be sectioned, I just had at that time a bit of hope he would get the right treatment and his insight would improve." Read here
My father killed my mother
"We heard a row in the front garden. There was no real shouting or screaming, but there was an argument going on. Then he stabbed her." Read here
Life underwater
Parts of Wales could be underwater within 80 years.
Will Hayward looks at new maps that show the scale of the issue facing coastal Wales as sea levels rise. Read here
My life was destroyed after I fell off a chair
"I've just missed both of my children's birthday parties for the first time because I can't be in that environment. It's devastating as my kids are everything to me." Read more
Teaching the children expelled from school
“It’s really tough, a really hard job. There are days when you are kicked, punched, spat at and bitten. I don’t know what makes staff come back, we have a passion that we are teaching the underdogs.” Read here
A police force protects an abusive PC
A police misconduct hearing found that PC Clarke Joslyn remained "highly thought of" in Gwent Police despite his "appalling" behaviour.
Two female officers, tell social affairs correspondent Will Hayward of the “endemic corruption” and "laddish culture" that allowed him to remain in a position of power. Read more
When your daughter hears for the first time
Nel cried at the initial shock of hearing her parents’ voices, then turned to give her mother the biggest hug.
“She had such a puzzled expression on her face for the rest of the day, trying to make sense of this new sensation,” her mother Elen tells Ruth Mosalski.
“The fact she can hear our voices still amazes us every day.” Read here
Why I want to be a surrogate again
Surrogacy is an addiction, Jenna Newell tells Megan Griffiths.
"My husband always knew from when we met that I wanted to be a surrogate, but he never thought it would happen. When we found out my cousin wanted a baby, but was struggling, he said I just had to do it.” Read more
The most capped footballer in Wales
“I went over to watch one of the girls’ teams play the other day on the field and one of the girls just broke down in tears, just from seeing me. I didn’t even say anything to her.“
Her mum was like, ‘Why are you crying?’ She said, ‘I can’t believe it, Jess Fishlock’.
“When I’m home, I forget that.”
Katie Sands interviews our most capped footballer on a visit back to Wales. Read here
No longer one of Wales’s fattest men
When Stuart Prosser needed urgent treatment in hospital, it took 12 paramedics to put him into an ambulance.
He was barely able to walk the short distance from his armchair to the toilet. Read here
Wonky ceilings, loose wires and no heating
Since March last year, Phillip Craven has been renting a one-bedroom flat in Briton Ferry from Derrick Morgan - the landlord who lost his licence.
It has no heating or boiler and just last week he claims the living room was condemned. Estel Farell-Roig around has a tour. Read here
The hidden chapel
The unremarkable buildings on Henllan Industrial Estate are used for storage and office units now, but the site has a regimented, almost military layout to it if you look more closely.
Dig a little deeper still and you find that Henllan holds secrets that changed this small village forever, writes John Cooper.
The power of education
“I was 13 and it was all very strange. It was a different universe,” says Julius of arriving in Wales.
“At first, I was shocked at the amount of food here - and that you could eat as much as you wanted. At home I could spend a day without eating and here I saw kids throwing food away.” Read more
The teenager who’ll spend summer in bed
Lola, 13, is confined to her bed, constantly exhausted and crippled by widespread pain due to a condition which continues to puzzle many doctors.
"It's been a never-ending fight, all the while Lola has not been given the support she needs. People simply do not understand her condition," her mum Victoria Lewis tells Mark Smith. Read here
Living in Gavin & Stacey's house
Even before the crew had arrived in Barry to begin filming, a crowd had already gathered on “Gavin & Stacey Street", otherwise known as Trinity Street.
It's where Gwen, Doris and Uncle Bryn lived, but in real life it's home to 65-year-old Glenda Kenyon. Read here
Crack cocaine has taken over my life
“It helps me block things out,” says Rhiannon, “When I take it, I feel content for a moment. My mouth feels numb and I feel relieved.”
Estel Farell-Roig tells the story of one of a growing number of people in Wales addicted to crack cocaine. Read here
Inside the Wales rugby machine
The boss himself is unnervingly quiet during sessions – watching, prowling.
Rarely can Warren Gatland be heard screaming and shouting, though he will take players to one side for words in their ears. Read here
My husband’s death sentence
"I try and remember all the good times we had together but I cannot get out of my mind how he died and how much he suffered,” says Karisa Jones.
Geraint Jones was one of 5,000 people in the UK given blood from contaminated donors. He died at the age of 50. An inquiry is now examining why. Read here
Nasa’s unknown Welsh hero
Engaged in the space race, Nasa needed the brightest minds to build the first mission control.
They called on engineer Tecwyn Roberts. Read here
The fastest boy in Europe
"You don't really have time to think. If you have time to think, you're not running quick enough," says Jeremiah Azu.
The 18-year-old from Cardiff ran 100m in 10.27 seconds earlier this year - just a third of a second slower than Usain Bolt ran at the same age. And we all know what happened to him, writes Katie Sands. Read here
The school where 29 languages are spoken
“We are from Pakistan and my English is not good,” admits mum of four Azra Baba.
“When I came I didn’t know anyone and had no family here but the school has been very good and I’ve made friends. Most of my friends are from Pakistan, Yemen, and Bangladesh.” Read here
I discovered my husband was a sex predator
It was only during his sentencing at Cardiff Crown Court that Sarah learnt the full extent of her husband’s violent actions.
Joshua Jolly was jailed for 16 years for terrifying attacks on three women.
"I feel guilty for not knowing, for not stopping him somehow,” Sarah tells Laura Clements.
Now she must navigate the storm of telling their four-year-old son where his Daddy has gone. Read more
The dream home that a man is prepared to go to jail for
It's a battle which has seen more than 10 years of heartbreak and cost Eddie McIntosh his family and his livelihood.
That's because ever since setting up his eco retreat in rural Powys, he has had to fight to make his dream of living off his land a reality.
In total, his long-running planning dispute has cost the local authority £62,000 in legal fees, writes Anna Lewis.
It will also eventually see the farmer go to jail if he continues refusing to pay the fine he was issued. Read here
My body will be frozen when I die
Mike Carter from Cardiff doesn't care if he has a funeral when he dies.
Because, for a few hundred thousand dollars, he'll be stored at a US facility with the aim of coming back in dozens or maybe hundreds of years.
He takes Anna Lewis into the world of cryonics. Read here
Wales’ gypsy horse king
He's the man who gets blamed for the hundreds of horses left to roam scrubland and streets around south Wales. Laura Clements went looking for Tom Price. Read here
A day with Mr Stop Brexit
He has been gatecrashing TV news reports, haranguing high-ranking politicians and photobombing press calls since September 2017.
Steve Bray, a rare coin dealer from Port Talbot, isn’t about to stop now finds Nathan Bevan. Read more
The mystery of the house with screaming in the basement
Alan and Christine Tait have hundreds of hours of recordings containing different sounds, all of which they claim are coming from underneath their home in Ammanford.
The police have been called but the sound of screaming from underneath the basement has not been identified.
The couple have since fled their home in fear. They sent reporter Rob Harries a key and a warning that he enters at his own risk. Read more
The ultimate betrayal
The current inquiry into undercover policing, which has been running since 2015, records 2000 as the year Jim Boyling’s undercover career ended. For Rosa, her nightmare was just beginning. Read here
The day 350 children were left fatherless
The day began like any other. The miners went to work, while above ground Richard Street was crowded with shoppers.
But at 3.50pm two big explosions were heard. Within hours, 2,000 people were huddled at the pit head.
290 men and boys had been killed. Katie-Ann Gupwell looks back at one of the worst disasters in mining history. Read here
I said he would kill someone and they didn’t listen. Then he did
Two weeks after he was released from prison, Matthew Williams murdered Cerys Yemm in a brutal attack at the hostel where he was staying.
Now, more than four and a half years after the two deaths, Williams’ father Chris Williams and the killer’s ex-partner Emma Thomas have released drawings and letters produced by him during the period leading up to his release that raise serious concerns about the decision to give him back his liberty. Martin Shipton reports
Schizophrenia, my brother and me
I was 10 at the time, so there are plenty of details I don’t remember or couldn’t have fully understood, writes Marcus Hughes.
It began slowly. He started behaving in unusual ways and talking openly about strange thoughts he was having.
I find it difficult to contemplate how young he was and how scared he must have been. Read here
The beautiful headstone for a little girl
It's been a year since little Amelia Brooke Harris died.
The four-year-old was killed by her mother Carly Ann Harris.
To mark the anniversary, the family gather for a memorial at Penrhys Cemetery, where a beautiful headstone in the shape of a fairytale castle now stands.
“It doesn’t get any easier,” Amelia’s grandmother Catherine Edgell tells Tyler Mears. Read here
The family who quit the rat race to sell eggs in Wales
Seven years ago after the London riots, the Watkinsons decided to drop everything and move from the capital to Wales to start afresh.
Now the family of four have found a way to adapt everything from their man-powered washing machine to their horse-poo powered cooking gas by using solely the land they live off.
Anna Lewis meets the family who live completely off-grid. Read here
Inside the last Wimpy in Wales
“It makes me sad to think some have never eaten a Wimpy or even heard of it,” says James Quantick, who has owned a branch in Porthcawl for 10 years.
“The truth is, maybe the world has moved on since those glory days, but that nostalgic element is part of the charm.” Read here
Why I’m indy curious
“Many centuries of colonisation – both physical and mental – have resulted in a nation where most people have become estranged from the natural desire to govern themselves,” writes chief reporter Martin Shipton.
“Winning rugby or football matches is great when it happens, but it’s no substitute for looking after one’s own affairs.” Read his opinion piece
The Welsh village abandoned to the sea
What will your village, town or city look like in half a century?
For one Welsh village the question is salient and immediate. And they have no idea what the answer is. There's a chance it won't exist at all.
Rob Harries and Laura Clements investigate the fate of Fairbourne, the beautiful village threatened by climate change and rising sea levels. Read more
One of the last Bracchi cafes closes
Station Cafe has quietly been a part of Treorchy life for the past 84 years.
There's the generation who remember the steamed pie and coffee of the 1950s, when the café served shift workers at the local pits.
They became the parents and grandparents of the kids who hung out for the sweets and jukebox after a matinée in the Park and Dare, or popped in for an ice lolly on the way to the comp.
Kathryn Williams visits for one last time. Read here
Fishing in the shadow of the Severn Bridge
“You can easily drown if you wander into the wrong spot. It’s treacherous,” says Martin Morgan.
The 58-year-old from Undy follows in his great-grandfather’s footsteps and has waded out onto the estuary for decades.
"There are areas where it does drop off into nothing and so you’d get washed away and drown, so it’s quite treacherous." Read here
How Welsh independence burst into the mainstream
On May 11, the first ever march for Welsh independence will be held in Cardiff.
While it remains a minority view, the fact that its momentum is growing is undeniable, writes Ruth Mosalski. Read here
A family devastated by suicide
“The beginning of this year I had seven children,” says Michelle French, “Now I have two missing and they took a piece of my heart with them.”
The family have lost two sons, Dai and James, within weeks of each other.
James died after discovering the body of his older brother.
As she organises a second funeral, Michelle speaks to reporter Anna Lewis in the hope she can prevent another family going through what she is. Read here
My husband abused our children and streamed it online
One day the police knocked on her door. It was a few weeks later that she learnt the whole truth.
Reporter Liz Perkins speaks to a devastated mum who thought she had a perfectly happy marriage, until she found out her husband had been abusing their children and posting it online.
And now from his prison cell, he has fought to stop his children from changing their surnames, prevented the sale of the family home where she struggles to pay the mortgage and has even stopped them from going on a family holiday. Read here
‘I met, married then had to bury the love of my life in a year’
Primrose Isterling started feeling unwell just three months after meeting and falling in love with the man of her dreams on a night out.
At first, doctors thought the 25-year-old's acute stomach pains were caused by her appendix. But further investigations revealed the worst: it was cancer, and it had spread.
Tim describes that moment as like watching a "bombshell explode".
But the first thing the young couple did was make list of all the things they wanted to do to make the most of the time they had left together. He shares their story with Cathy Owen. Read here
You Don’t Know Us
Being Muslim is just one part of their lives.
Muslim women in Wales share their experiences from joining a gym to lobbying for human rights.
The head teacher who cleans the school toilets
He cleans the toilets, has no deputy and has had to let 11 staff go.
Education editor Abbie Wightwick meets primary school headteacher of 21 years, Steve Rees, to talk about the reality of school funding cuts.
"I am doing several jobs and try to be creative - but cannot balance the books” he tells her. Read here
‘My sons left home to become terrorists’
Nasser and Aseel Muthana fled Cardiff and joined Islamic State.
For the first time their father Ahmed describes how his sons married and had children in Syria – but have now stopped calling home. Read Thomas Deacon's interview here
The first openly gay female AM on coming out
"In the future I want it to be that it's not 'a thing' - nobody has to 'come out' and people don't feel they have to hide their sexuality," says Hannah Blythyn.
The Labour AM, who recently got married, tells Ruth Mosalski she will keep talking about her sexuality until there’s equality. Read here
My daily struggle with three autistic sons
Some nights Laksuma Begum doesn't make it to bed until four or five o'clock in the morning.
She can spend all day on her feet picking up toys, food, curtain rails, pictures or even shelving units torn down by one of the three young sons who she loves and devotes every free moment of her life to caring for.
But even when the 32-year-old single mother manages to get all of them into bed and asleep, usually only by the early hours of the morning, there's still a lot to do.
In fact it’s 2am when she finds time to speak to reporter Marcus Hughes about the pressures of looking after her three sons, who are on the severe end of the autism spectrum. Read more
Wales’s worst environmental disaster
As the Sea Empress was guided through a sharp right turn into the mouth of the Cleddau Estuary, pilot John Pearn realised that the buoys lighting the way were on the wrong side.
The ship had overshot; there was no way it would make the turn. But you can’t just put the brakes on a 150,000-tonne supertanker.
There was a shuddering vibration and the sound of liquid being forced under pressure. In the darkness, the smell of oil reached the crew. Read Laura Clements' report here
The 92-year-old who lived in “the red house”
Imagine seeing your childhood home exactly as it was in a museum.
That’s what happened to Vera Thomas this week as she made a trip to the Kennixton Farmhouse at St Fagans museum, to visit the home where she lived until she was 13.
She told Marcus Hughes: "I can't say anything has altered at all.” Read more
The river fisherman looking for someone to learn his dying craft
Coracle fishermen share words which are used by nobody else and some of which are only used on specific rivers.
It is no ordinary job. The work only takes place in the summer months, mostly at night, and you won't be allowed to fish at weekends.
Reporter Sandra Hembery finds out more about the dying trade in need of fresh blood. Read more
Saving the world’s oldest record store
Spillers was established in 1894 in the capital’s Queen’s Arcade by Henry Spiller and musician Joe Gregory.
The arcade is now long gone, replaced by a modern shopping centre, and just a sole picture of the original shop exists.
David Owens joins up the dots of the shop’s long history with the current owner Ashli Todd. Read here
Why our most pro-Brexit town doesn't care about EU money
Blaenau Gwent is the Welsh constituency where the highest percentage of people voted to leave the EU.
This is despite the area receiving hundreds of millions of pounds in EU funding.
Anna Lewis discovers that in the eyes of those living in one of the most deprived areas in Wales, the reality is not quite that simple.
How one typo cost a businessman millions
Philip Davison-Sebry had a thriving engineering business with more than 250 employees and a full order book.
He was on holiday in the Maldives when he received a phone call that would see all that change.
Companies House made a typo after a similarly named business went into administration.
It was amended a few days later but that missing “S” would go on to rob him of seven years of his life and cost him millions.
He tells Will Hayward about his battle to take back control.
The homeless man with the cowboy hat
“It’s killing me. I am aching all the time,” says Terry Allen, who will turn 70 this year and is sleeping under the M4.
He has spent the last 30 years of his life homeless.
He tells Estel Farell-Roig how he’d love to find somewhere to live as life on the streets is getting harder. Read his story here
Then, make sure you also read what happened next .
Inside the search for Emiliano Sala
"Each search team always hopes to be the one that finds what we are looking for,” says John Fitzgerald, chief officer of the Channel Islands Air Search.
Three planes, five helicopters and two lifeboats spent 80 hours searching for the missing aircraft that was carrying footballer Emiliano Sala and pilot David Ibbotson to Cardiff.
A difficult decision was eventually taken to end the search.
Anna Lewis speaks to the volunteers at the centre of an unfolding tragedy. Read here
Another multi-billion project lost to Wales
Everyone rejoices at the boost to the Welsh economy that the new project will bring, writes chief reporter Martin Shipton .
Politicians from different parties and different levels of government claim a slice of the credit.
Then things go silent before rumours start circulating that there are problems.
Eventually an announcement is made that the project can’t go ahead after all.
And with every multi-million pound project Wales is denied, the pattern of under-investment becomes harder to dispute. Read here
The huge plans to transform a town that never happened
There is no supermarket, cinema, café or restaurant. There are no new homes and no new hotel.
In fact, a giant concrete barrier means not a single motorist has been able to turn off the roundabout. The bus stop remains unused.
Jessica Walford looks into why work on Talbot Green's “town centre” is yet to materialise, five years after the redevelopment was given the green light. Read here
The Welsh village split over a giant metal tree
Thousands of years ago a forest once stood at Borth beach.
The heavy storms of 2014 revealed some of its ancient glory, and you can still stroll among its remains when the tide allows.
There are plans to create a 10-metre high metal sculpture, roughly the size of a two-storey house, to pay homage to it.
Rob Harries visits the village where there’s a divide between those against and those in favour of “Tree”. Read here
From rioting to record GCSE results
Four years ago Eastern High was a school in crisis. Handed the worst report Estyn inspectors had ever written, it was put in special measures.
“There was no safety for teachers or pupils then,” Jenny Montefusco, head of French, recalled. “You can liken it to a prison riot. There were kids running around the whole time in between lessons and during lessons.”
Today, under new leadership, the 870-pupil school is unrecognisable under new head Armando Di-Finizio, who tells Abbie Wightwick: “We are a normal comprehensive now. I can say that with confidence. Now we are striving for excellence.”
The WWII American fighter plane buried under a Welsh beach
In September 1942, an American fighter plane crash landed onto a Welsh beach.
It remains there today, buried around two metres below the sand.
Ruth Mosalski finds out more about The Maid of Harlech, described as one of the most significant WWII-related archaeological discoveries in recent history. Read here
The Welsh girl kidnapped as a baby
Safia was 18 months old when her father took her and her sisters to stay at a relative’s house in Cardiff for May bank holiday 1986.
Her mother Jackie was expecting them home after the weekend. But they never returned.
Their father took them 4,000 miles away to Yemen, where he was given full custody rights.
Safia, who was never taught English, grew up only knowing poverty, famine and fighting.
With the help of a translator, reporter Aamir Mohammed spoke to her through video calls to talk about life in a war zone - and her dream of returning to Wales with her four children. Read her story
Turning my life around with rugby
When reporter Katie-Ann Gupwell entered the training room of Sardis Road, Carrigan Gristock was sitting in a circle with her teammates.
Dressed in jogging bottoms and a t-shirt ready for a morning on the rugby pitch, you’d never guess this young woman had spent her teens spreading fear in her local community.
Just months after having her ankle tag removed, she’s starting to turn her life around in the School of Hard Knocks. Read her story
Overworked and undervalued: The life of a university lecturer
In the six years since Grace has worked as a researcher at Cardiff University she has seen contact time with students decrease, and universities being "run like companies".
"People just work insane amounts, seven days a week,” she tells reporter Tom Deacon. "People will just put up with it, until they truly can't anymore."
Lecturers and staff reveal an environment of “Big Brother”, brutal workloads and constant pressure. Read more here
Inside a Welsh red light district
Ruby is now in her early fifties. She watches her daughter go with punters but doesn’t say anything.
Her daughter is deep into a heroin and crack cocaine addiction. She will sell sex for £10 if she needs the money.
Read reporter Estel Farrell-Roig's special report into Pill's red light district. Read more
He wants the world to know how he suffered
For a survivor of sexual abuse to be willing to be identified is uncommon. For someone from an Asian background it is rare.
As a boy, Amer Hussain was sexually assaulted more than 100 times. Now at the age of 39, he wants to tell his story.
He told reporter Will Hayward how he has not only had to endure horrific abuse, but also deal with the reaction of his community when he brought his accusers to court. Read in full here
