National Screen and Sound Archive of Wales preserves and celebrates the sound and moving image heritage of Wales, making it accessible to a wide range of users for enjoyment and learning. Its film collection reflects every aspect of the nation’s social, cultural and working life across the 20th century, giving a fascinating insight into Welsh filmmaking, both amateur and professional.
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1934 Spirits from the Vasty Deep
A new baby holidays with London-based lawyer Goronwy Moelwyn Hughes, his wife and sons, and Lloyd Georges David and Megan discuss a new deal.
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Overview
Owen Glendower claims, in Shakespeare's Henry IV – part 1, that he can summon "spirits from the vasty deep" and here Aberystwyth university students are seen emerging from the va[r]s[i]ty deep of the Old College basement, engaged in a drama. Filmed by the Moelwyn Hughes family, this title also features holidaying with a new baby ('seine' fishing at Aberporth and trip to Sussex grandparents) and Lloyd Georges David and Megan hosting outdoor 'New Deal' meetings.
Goronwy [Ronw] Moelwyn Hughes, Labour MP for Carmarthen from 1941, is seen here addressing fellow actors from the plinth of a statue. He married Louise [Lulu] Greer, daughter of barrister Frederick Arthur Greer (eldest of the 14 children of a Manxman) who was living at the time in Sussex. The Lloyd Georges (David, wife Margaret and daughter Megan) are seen here at one of a series of conferences they hosted at ‘Brynawelon’ and ‘Bron-y-de’ during September and October 1934 to discuss Liberal Party politics and Lloyd George’s New Deal (a programme of economic reform which he launched, without much success, in January 1935). Ronw started his political life as a Liberal but switched to Labour in the early 1930s.
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