Colwinston near Cowbridge, Llanfihangel y Creuddyn on the outskirts of Aberystwyth, and Herbrandston - just a stone's throw from the port of Milford Haven - are all archetypal picture-postcard rural Welsh villages.

Yet keen-eyed visitors may spot that something is missing from all three - none have the obligatory memorial to the fallen of World War One.

The reason is that they are Wales' only "thankful villages".

Of more than 1,000 Welsh parishes who sent men to the front, only these three saw all of their sons return home safely.

Indeed, Herbrandston is doubly thankful, as it alone in Wales lost no men in either world war....