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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Malltraeth and Menai Bridge Horse Fair
Anglesey-based artist Charles Tunnicliffe records some of the island's wonders which include turkeys, Ty Newydd and horse mane plaiting!
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Overview
A cinematic 'sketchbook' featuring Anglesey's man-made and natural wonders filmed by artist Charles Tunnicliffe. There are shots of the neolithic burial chamber 'Ty Newydd', Llanfaelog and, at Malltraeth, the viaduct and church - 'Crist y Brenin'. Elsie Holroyd, Tunnicliffe's wife's sister-in-law, is out in the field using binoculars and a group of women sit on a wall and play up for the camera. Turkeys, and the plaiting of a mane at the horse fair are recorded too.
It was evident from a young age that Tunnicliffe (1901-79) had a gift for drawing. From a farm in Cheshire he won scholarships to the Macclesfield School of Art and the Royal College of Art, London. He worked as an etcher/engraver, a teacher and an illustrator for e.g. Ladybird books and Brooke Bond tea cards. He also illustrated books by e.g. Alison Uttley and Henry Williamson. He married Winifred Wonnacott (1902-69), a fellow RCA scholarship student from Holywood, Belfast, and they moved to 'Shorelands', a bungalow by the Cefni estuary, Malltraeth, in 1947. Their friends included naturalists T G 'Wack' Walker, Norman 'Nomad' Ellison, Ted Breeze Jones (also a photographer) and artist Kyffin Williams.
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