{"id":31820,"date":"2019-02-05T15:44:08","date_gmt":"2019-02-05T15:44:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jomec.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/?p=31820"},"modified":"2019-02-05T15:44:08","modified_gmt":"2019-02-05T15:44:08","slug":"my-grandfather-the-spy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/2019\/02\/05\/my-grandfather-the-spy\/","title":{"rendered":"&quot;My grandfather the spy&quot;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><figure id=\"attachment_31821\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-31821\" style=\"width: 960px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-large wp-image-31821\" src=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2019\/02\/20190201_122210229_iOS-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"960\" height=\"720\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2019\/02\/20190201_122210229_iOS-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2019\/02\/20190201_122210229_iOS-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2019\/02\/20190201_122210229_iOS-770x578.jpg 770w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2019\/02\/20190201_122210229_iOS-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2019\/02\/20190201_122210229_iOS-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2019\/02\/20190201_122210229_iOS-500x375.jpg 500w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2019\/02\/20190201_122210229_iOS-293x220.jpg 293w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2019\/02\/20190201_122210229_iOS-1400x1050.jpg 1400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 960px) 100vw, 960px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-31821\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-31821\" src=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2019\/02\/20190201_122210229_iOS-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"960\" height=\"720\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2019\/02\/20190201_122210229_iOS-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2019\/02\/20190201_122210229_iOS-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2019\/02\/20190201_122210229_iOS-770x578.jpg 770w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2019\/02\/20190201_122210229_iOS-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2019\/02\/20190201_122210229_iOS-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2019\/02\/20190201_122210229_iOS-500x375.jpg 500w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2019\/02\/20190201_122210229_iOS-293x220.jpg 293w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2019\/02\/20190201_122210229_iOS-1400x1050.jpg 1400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 960px) 100vw, 960px\" \/><\/noscript> Dave Evans discovered his grandfather was probably a spy during the Cold War<\/figcaption><\/figure><br \/>\nDAVE Evans\u00a0always knew his grandfather was an extraordinary man, but what he has\u00a0discovered exceeded anything he could have imagined.\u00a0<span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><br \/>\nFamily life in a Welsh\u00a0mining village\u00a0was nothing out of the ordinary for Dave growing up \u2013 until his grandfather disappeared to Bulgaria in 1979.\u00a0<span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335551550&quot;:1,&quot;335551620&quot;:1,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><br \/>\nDave, 54, has\u00a0spent the last five years\u00a0delving into his\u00a0family\u00a0history, which led him to produce a film provisionally titled\u00a0<i>My Grandfather The Spy.\u00a0<\/i><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><br \/>\nI asked how he came to\u00a0realise\u00a0this about his grandfather. \u201cThat\u2019s what we explored in the film. I don\u2019t know if we\u2019ve reached the answer in the end,\u201d he said.\u00a0<span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><br \/>\nDave, who grew up in Tonyrefail, speaks about his\u00a0grandfather fondly. \u201cHe was very warm with me and very correct. He had a sly sense of\u00a0humour\u00a0and was very understated. He was very smart, very elegant &#8230; he was very aspirational.\u00a0<span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><br \/>\n\u201cThis idea that they [his grandparents] were travelling a lot, they spoke languages, this idea that there was another world out there was very important to me when I was growing up in a very small village.\u00a0<span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><br \/>\n\u201cI don\u2019t think other children growing up at the same time in the same place had that sort of role model,\u201d he said.\u00a0<span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><br \/>\nHe remembers his grandfather\u2019s career as a shopkeeper and security consultant working with various firearms.\u00a0<span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><br \/>\n\u201cThe whole thing with the firearms,\u00a0I\u00a0suppose\u00a0it was impossibly glamorous to me, international travel, the clothes they wore \u2013 all that kind of thing had a\u00a0really deep\u00a0and profound influence on me.\u00a0<span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><br \/>\n\u201cI\u2019ve\u00a0grown up, spoken languages, travelled at the first opportunity, followed in their footsteps,\u201d he added.\u00a0\u00a0<span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><br \/>\nA bit of background \u2013 shortly after the death of Dave\u2019s maternal grandmother in 1976, his grandfather Eric went to Bulgaria and continued going back and forth over the next few years.\u00a0<span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><br \/>\nChristmas 1979 was the last Dave \u2013 a teenager at the time \u2013 ever saw of Eric. \u201cThat\u2019s where this strange story starts,\u201d said Dave.\u00a0<span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><br \/>\n\u201cFor many years we didn\u2019t discuss it. It was a totally taboo subject.\u00a0<span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><br \/>\n\u201cI was very curious about what had gone on because I was even aware at the time that it wasn\u2019t a very regular thing for people to go back and forth to Bulgaria.<span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><br \/>\n\u201cAppreciate the context of the Cold War \u2013 there was this impermeable \u2013 or what we thought was impermeable \u2013 frontier, the Iron Curtain,\u201d he said.\u00a0<span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><br \/>\nDave was always curious about what really happened with his grandfather. \u201cHe basically cut contact and none of the phone calls and letters my family sent were answered.\u00a0<span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><br \/>\n\u201cIts\u00a0not like when a four-year-old goes missing and it\u2019s a massive event. But when an adult disappears it\u2019s a choice they have made. It&#8217;s a slow burn thing, you let things go a week, then another week. A letter doesn\u2019t get a reply, a phone call doesn\u2019t get answered.<span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><br \/>\n\u201cMy parents never really pursued it\u00a0more\u00a0but I never really understood why they didn\u2019t make more effort,\u201d he said.\u00a0<span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><br \/>\nFast forward to 2013, when Dave\u00a0was\u00a0in Bosnia working on another project.\u00a0<span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><br \/>\n\u201cAnd then a few years ago I started doing a lot of work in Eastern Europe and I thought \u2018What if there is a chance that he is still alive? What if he is living in Bulgaria now? Is there a way of finding out what happened, where he was and what he was actually doing?\u2019\u00a0<span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><br \/>\n\u201cIt was this odd thing that I kept getting closer and closer to the locus story. My personal and professional life was taking me into the heart of the story until I couldn\u2019t avoid it anymore,\u201d he said.\u00a0<span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><br \/>\n<i>My Grandfather The Spy\u00a0<\/i>documents Dave\u2019s five years of trying to trace his grandfather\u2019s time in Bulgaria and complete the puzzle.\u00a0<span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><br \/>\nThe process was one of trial and error.<br \/>\n\u201cIn the period between 1975 and 1985 he had a very interesting life connected with Bulgaria. There&#8217;s no documentation to back it up,\u201d said Dave.<span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><br \/>\nThe final cut includes Dave\u2019s home movie archives, reconstructions and documentary.\u00a0<span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><br \/>\n\u201cIn some ways it\u2019s a hybrid documentary. You\u2019ve got elements of reconstruction. Me as a nine-year-old, me as a teenager and me as I am now.\u00a0<span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><br \/>\n\u201cI think there\u2019s always something really poignant about seeing home movie footage of someone as a child and then cutting to them at 50,\u00a060 or 70.<span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><br \/>\n\u201cI think there is a\u00a0big\u00a0Cold War, weirdness, espionage genre element to it but really it\u2019s a family story and it\u2019s about relationships within the family,\u201d he said.\u00a0<span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><br \/>\nDave hopes that by releasing\u00a0<i>My Grandfather The Spy,\u00a0<\/i>more information will\u00a0materialise.\u00a0<span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><br \/>\n\u201cI\u2019m sure that by getting it out there on to screens and getting it into the cinema we\u2019ll find out more because people will come out of the woodwork.\u00a0<span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><br \/>\n\u201cMy hope in some ways with it is that\u00a0actually getting\u00a0the film out\u00a0there\u00a0will in itself open up other avenues of research,\u201d he said.\u00a0<span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><br \/>\n<i>My Grandfather The Spy\u00a0<\/i>is a unique story of espionage and mystery in an era of political turbulence, but beyond that, the story is rooted in the life of an ordinary family from South Wales.\u00a0<span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><br \/>\nDave pondered: \u201cI didn\u2019t do it because I wanted to make a film, I did it because I wanted\u00a0unpick\u00a0this story. And in retrospect it feels crazy that I haven\u2019t done it before.\u201d\u00a0<span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li data-leveltext=\"\uf0b7\" data-font=\"Symbol\" data-listid=\"1\" data-aria-posinset=\"1\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><strong>The film is due to premiere later this year with\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.filmhubwales.org\/films\/my-grandfather-the-spy\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Film Hub Wales<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>DAVE Evans\u00a0always knew his grandfather was an extraordinary man, but what he has\u00a0discovered exceeded anything he could have imagined.\u00a0\u00a0 Family life in a Welsh\u00a0mining village\u00a0was nothing out of the ordinary for Dave growing up \u2013 until his grandfather disappeared to Bulgaria in 1979.\u00a0\u00a0 Dave, 54, has\u00a0spent the last five years\u00a0delving into his\u00a0family\u00a0history, which led him to produce a film provisionally titled\u00a0My Grandfather The Spy.\u00a0\u00a0 I asked how he came to\u00a0realise\u00a0this about his grandfather. \u201cThat\u2019s what we explored in the film. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":142,"featured_media":31821,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17,14,3],"tags":[],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-31820","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-home-lead","category-longer-reads","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>&quot;My grandfather the spy&quot; - The Cardiffian<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/2019\/02\/05\/my-grandfather-the-spy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"&quot;My grandfather the spy&quot; - The Cardiffian\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"DAVE Evans\u00a0always knew his grandfather was an extraordinary man, but what he has\u00a0discovered exceeded anything he could have imagined.\u00a0\u00a0 Family life in a Welsh\u00a0mining village\u00a0was nothing out of the ordinary for Dave growing up \u2013 until his grandfather disappeared to Bulgaria in 1979.\u00a0\u00a0 Dave, 54, has\u00a0spent the last five years\u00a0delving into his\u00a0family\u00a0history, which led him to produce a film provisionally titled\u00a0My Grandfather The Spy.\u00a0\u00a0 I asked how he came to\u00a0realise\u00a0this about his grandfather. \u201cThat\u2019s what we explored in the film. 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