The world of Tanyfoel didn’t begin as a story. It began with two animals who shaped my days: Kefi, the joyful black cockerpoo, she walked by my side for 13 years, and Rosie, who walked by my side for 21 years, the one‑eyed golden‑eyed cat with more attitude than sense. They were the first threads of this world, long before I knew I was weaving one. Kefi and Rosie grew up together and played on the mountain.
From them came The Keeper — my story‑self, the one who listens to the land, remembers its quiet truths, and walks the paths between dusk and dawn.
Then the rest of the Motley Crew stepped out of the hedgerows: Ned the fox, Agnes the hen, Barry the otter, Pete the squirrel, Gruffy the badger, and Dotty in her eternal cardigan. They weren’t invented. They simply arrived, the way characters do when they’ve been waiting for you.
And finally came Wolf — the last piece, the steady presence who made the world whole.
Tanyfoel grew from there: a place of hills, rivers, rituals, old stones, and quiet magic. A world where stories, songs, and seasons intertwine. A world I build freely, using AI vocals and music however I choose, as tools to give voice to the valley’s tales.
This is the story world behind the songs — a living archive of characters, memories, and myth.
Where the Stories Are Set
The stories of Tanyfoel grow from the place I live: a small cottage on the edge of an old silver‑and‑lead mine. It’s a landscape shaped by centuries of work, weather, and quiet endurance — hills that still hold the marks of the miners, paths worn by generations, and a valley that remembers more than it tells.
The old chimney beside the valley is a preserved structure — one of the last standing witnesses of the mine’s long history. It anchors the stories in something real, even as the world of Tanyfoel grows into its own mythology.
The world I write is fictional, but it’s built on the bones of a real place. The stones, the heather, the river bends, the winter light, the silence of the hills — all of that is real. The Keeper, Wolf, the Motley Crew, the rituals, the myths, the voices of the land — those are the stories I weave from it.
Tanyfoel is not a map you can follow. It’s a feeling, a memory, a way the land speaks when you’re quiet enough to listen. The stories take their shape from the valley, but they belong to their own world — a world where the ordinary and the mythic walk side by side.
Why Tanyfoel Exists
Tanyfoel exists because stories help hold the things we don’t want to lose — the animals we loved, the places that shaped us, and the quiet truths of the land. This world is my way of keeping them alive.
Tanyfoel is:
- gentle myth
- rooted in real landscape
- character‑driven
- quiet, atmospheric, Welsh‑shadowed
Tanyfoel isn’t:
- high fantasy
- dragons and wizards
- a literal map
- a tourist guide
The Garden Path
The Garden Path is where the stories begin — the place where Wolf first appears, where the Keeper walks at dusk, and where the world of Tanyfoel opens its gate.
Meet The Motely Crew
Ned – the fox — sly, sarcastic, secretly soft
Rosie — one golden eye, queen of side‑eye
Kefi — joy in dog form
Barry – the otter — mischief with a conscience
Pete – the squirrel — nervy but brave
Agnes – the hen — matriarch, worrier, heart
Gruffy – the badger — grumpy, loyal, wise
Dotty – the cleaner — cardigan‑coded, tipsy, beloved
The First Songs of Tanyfoel
The stories of Tanyfoel began after Rosie died. Something in the valley shifted, and the words that had been quiet for years finally started to flow. Rosie’s voice came first — sharp, golden‑eyed, truthful — and her epilogue became the doorway into this world.
Kefi’s song followed soon after. Her final walk through the valley carried the heart of everything that would become Tanyfoel: love, loss, memory, and the land holding you gently as you let go.
These two songs were the beginning. They gave the world its first breath, its first voice, its first truth.
Rosie’s Epilogue
Kefi’s Final Walk
From these two songs, the rest of Tanyfoel began to grow