Britheg Brown, Last Of The Species In Wales is a short artist film performed by local participants. The film follows two groups of children and adults who set out in search of the rare High Brown Fritillary butterfly on Old Castle Down, Vale of Glamorgan; the last habitat of this endangered species in Wales. The annual butterfly count indicates that ‘one year there were only seven a year’. The groups merge to deliver an emotive song and clarion call, infused with the words of local volunteers, commoners and ecologists, who have worked for decades to conserve this rocky outcrop of common land to save the butterfly from extinction.

View the film here.

Produced during an artist residency at High Brown Fritillary project for Natur Am Byth, Wales’ green recovery programme, with original song Britheg Brown composed by Welsh composer Emma Daman Thomas, who plays harp and sings solo alongside local singers and conservation volunteers and children from St Brides Major Primary School.

Choral arrangement and musical direction by Jenny Moore, who created a shared learning experience for singers. The oral history recordings and editing process on which the lyrics are based are archived by People’s Collection Wales.

Britheg Brown, Last Of The Species In Wales is screened at a hyper-local event at St. Brides Major in 2026, and exhibited at Ty Pawb, Wrexham, in 2027.

Commissioned by Natural Resources Wales for Natur Am Byth as part of ten artist residencies at different wildlife sites, supported by Addo Creative.

FILM CREDITS

Written, directed and edited by Bettina Furnée. Music by Emma Daman Thomas. Arrangement by Jenny Moore. Adult choir led by Jenny Moore. Children’s choir led by Cathy Jenkins and Helen Morgan. Audio recording by Ty Cerdd. Cameras operated by Toby Huckett and Jackson Reardon-Smith. Sound edit and sound mix by Lottie Lou Poulet.

Adult Choir: Sue Ansell, Nick Clark, Tamsin Davies, Hannah Gatehouse, Andrea Rowe. Harp and solo: Emma Daman Thomas. Children’s choir: Year 3 St Brides Major CW Primary School. Speakers: Paul Dunn, Dot Williams.