London’s Screen Archives enables Londoners see their past come alive on film. Managed by Film London, we are a unique network of historic film collections that cares for, collects and screens heritage film across the city. Together we preserve London’s rich film heritage from feature films to home movies, public information films, newsreels, and records of the capital’s many different industries.
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British Deaf Association Summer School, Harlech (1954)
Touching colour film shows members of the British Deaf Association having fun at their summer get-together in a beautiful corner of Wales.
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Overview
From the opening sweeping colour shot of a beautiful Harlech castle to the final scene – a windswept farewell from the battlements – this is a touching record of the British Deaf Association’s (then called the British Deaf And Dumb Association) trip to Wales in 1958. It shows the group engaged in a variety of activities, often while signing to each other or the camera. The association was formed in 1890 to support the deaf community and use of British Sign Language.
The 40 or so association members are aged from what appears to be pre-teen right up to some in their 60s. Silent and filmed mainly in colour, the film, which is essentially a home movie, shows the group attending mass and lectures, playing rounders on the beach, assuming unusual positions for acrobatics, taking part in party games with balloons tucked between their knees and on visits to nearby sites such as Snowdon and Caernarfon Castle. Throughout, there is a keen sense of camaraderie among the members. British Deaf Association
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