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.
This film is part of Free
Canal Holiday
An outbreak of foam of ice-berg-like proportions interrupts the smooth passage of the Trants’ holiday vessel on the Staffs-Worcs Canal.
From the collection of:
Overview
When the Trant family – plus Welsh collie - set off from Maesmawr Hall, Welshpool, for a holiday on the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal, they probably weren’t expecting to be beset by foam of ice-berg-like proportions at one of the locks but they would not have been too surprised to meet the horse-drawn barge. Ion Trant, being a farmer/ecologist as well as a film-maker, notes an early elevator baler in use in a passing field and bird burrows in canal-side mud.
Ion Trant of Dovea Farm in Tipperary, Ireland, studied agriculture in Canada and then joined the staff of the Welsh Plant Breeding Station in Aberystwyth where he met his future wife, Janet Owen of Maesmawr Hall, Welshpool. The Trants farmed at Maesmawr Hall, the adjoining farm Cefn Du, and Esgairdraenllwyn at Llaithddu, Llandrindod, where Janet bred Welsh Black cattle crossed with Herefords. Conscious of a gulf emerging between town and country, Ion welcomed school visits to his farms and also created/filmed the "Country Close-Up" series for children (BBC TV - 1956-62), the programmes often featuring his own three. He was subsequently offered work as a freelance cameraman.