P’raps I should have recorded myself saying Es i allan efo ychydig o ffrindiau instead, and we could see how comprehensible it came out… I’m genuinely surprised that so many people seem to be listening to the same thing as me & hearing something different (but clearly, they can’t all be wrong!) - although having listened carefully to the clip when I uploaded it, I would have said it sounded to me like Aran was putting level (equal) stress on the first two syllables, but Catrin’s still sounds like the first syllable to me. I wonder if I’m being thrown by the length of the sound (syllabifying it as ych-y-dig) or the kind of white-noisy effect of the -ch-?
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Re: the northern “u” /“y” sound, this is the video that I was referring to. In reviewing it, I realised that I’d forgotten that it’s only in long “y” that there is a north-south difference. In the short “y” examples, the two speakers sound almost identical.
They also have a video about vowels in general, which also talks about the northern “u” / “y” issue.
They talk about exceptions, but not the exceptions where non-final “y” is not pronounced like “UH”. Perhaps it’s too much of a complication for a video of this nature.
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I have to admit @RichardBuck, that’s exactly how I hear it. Always sounds as though there is more stress on the ych. Same pattern of stresses as you would use to say the word ‘demonstrate’ or something.
I have never done the Northern course, only the Southern, so it can’t be Aran and Catrin’s doing! 
Iestyn and Cat must be doing it too (which probably means it’s my brain instead).
I’m going to have to abandon the front y to change this pattern - it is well and truly ingrained!