Gavin and Stacey star Steffan Rhodri swapped coaches for trailers when he filmed a Welsh icon for a new television series.

Steffan, 43, paid a visit to Ifor Williams Trailers who are one of the stars of a documentary series about Welsh exports which will be screened on S4C next year.

The Swansea-born actor, best known as the loveable Dave Coaches in the TV cult classic, is the presenter of O Gymru Fach (which means From Wales).

Very soon Steffan will also be reaching a global audience as a star of the new Harry Potter blockbuster.

Next month, he will be taking time off to attend the premiere of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in which he plays Ministry of Magic employee Reginald Cattermole.

The premiere at the Odeon Cinema in London’s Leicester Square on November 11 will also be attended by the film’s other stars, Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint and Michael Gambon.

In the run-up to the big night he was exploring the magic of a range of Welsh exports from food to skincare products and finding out why they have become popular across the world.

Ifor Williams Trailers has a network of 100 distributors world-wide and their products are sold as far afield as Australia and New Zealand.

In this episode of O Gymru Fach, produced by the Cardiff-based television company, Boomerang, Steffan follows the story of a Box Van that is used by a company called Snow Design to house an artificial snow-making machine in Norway.

The equipment is fixed in the trailer and all the customer needs to do to create an artificial winter wonderland is to hook it up to a supply of water and electricity.

It enables ski resorts to get their season underway earlier and fake snow is firmer and longer lasting than the real thing.

Steffan was given a guided tour of the production line where the Box Van is made by Team Leader Gareth Williams.

Coincidentally, Gareth is the brother of the critically-acclaimed chef, Bryn Williams, who they hope to feature in another programme in the series which puts the spotlight on the nearby Rhug Estate.

Bryn uses the organic meat produced at Rhug to tantalise the tastebuds of customers at his restaurant, Odette’s, in London’s fashionable Primrose Hill.

According to Gareth, he thoroughly enjoyed the experience of showing Steffan how things were done at Ifor Williams Trailers.

He said: "We took Steffan down the line and showed him what we do at all stages down the line where we make the Box Vans.

"We went through the assembly build and showed him what was happening from beginning to end.

"It’s a skilled operation and we have very high quality standards. Steffan had a go at sealing the inside of one of the trailers and he did a decent job, fair play. But he’ll need a bit of training before we could give him a job!"

It was an eye-opener for Steffan whose only connection with the company before the visit was driving behind their trailers in different parts of the country and feeling a sense of pride that they came from Wales, as with all the products featured in the series.

He said: "We’ve had the most unbelievable welcome and it’s been very interesting for me as has the whole series.It’s been fascinating for me to see how the trailers are created.

"Being a presenter is a new experience but it’s one that I’m really enjoying so far. I don’t have to interfere much because the people tell the stories about how these products are created.

"All I have to do is ask the odd question and have a go at different things like /sealing the trailers, usually without much success. I’d need to get a lot more practice in before getting a job here."

Assistant Producer Bethan Evans said each programme in the series would showcase three different products or companies.

She added:"The series will discover the amazing amount of skills and entrepreneurship that is alive in Wales through exploring the diversity of products we export from such a small country."

During a break in the filming, Steffan revealed that he nearly turned down the role of Dave Coaches in Gavin and Stacey – on the advice of his agent.

He explained: "I’m an old friend of Ruth Jones, one of the writers and Ruth phoned me one day and offered me a small part in the first chapter, that’s all. It was three scenes.

"My agent didn’t want me to take the part as he thought it was too small. However, I insisted as Ruth was a friend and because the part sounded interesting.

"I’m glad because it changed things completely for me as far as my career was concerned. Suddenly it was a massive cult success and really my life has not been as simple since then.

"These days I get recognised in Tesco around the corner and so on but that’s quite a pleasurable experience because people are so fond of the programme. They’re usually very kind.

"I think they did the right thing by stopping it before people got a bellyful of it. As a result, it will always be a national treasure in the mind of the public.

"I believe that there is room by now, maybe next year or in a few years, to do some kind of special because the context will always allow the two families to meet up at Christmas time."

In the meantime, though, Steffan is preparing for another new experience – his first ever pantomime.

He will be playing Captain Hook in Peter Pan at the Pavilion Theatre in Rhyl, from December 10 to January 8.

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News » Dave Coaches films trailer for new television series