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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Glanhirin and Bodtalog Shearings – July 1962
Shearers and helpful neighbours have arrived by car and on horseback to shear and brand 2,500 sheep over 2 days in the Cwmdauddwr hills.
From the collection of:
Overview
Sheep are gathered in the yard at Glanhirin, Arthur Evans’ farm in the Cwmdauddwr hills. Eunice Evans greets the film-maker’s wife, who has walked from nearby Claerwen Farm, on the doorstep with tea towel in hand – she is preparing to keep 30-odd shearers and neighbours fed for the 2 days of the shearing. At the neighbouring farm, Bodtalog, the shorn sheep, still hobbled, are branded with the letters WP to indicate that they are the property of Will Pugh, a cousin of Arthur’s.
Trevor Evan James, a nephew of the farmer, Arthur Evans, is on hand with his camera to capture a community event that has changed considerably since the 1960s, owing to mechanisation and the use of contractors. Both farms were, at least when recorded here, owned by Birmingham Corporation, as they were within the watershed supplying the Elan Valley reservoirs that supply Birmingham with water. Will and Arthur’s mothers were members of the Raw family of Tyllwyd, a neighbouring farm in the Upper Ystwyth Valley.
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