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        Donkeys on the lawn - Maesmawr Hall, Welshpool

        Not dog days but donkey days: the Trant’s neddies play willingly with the children, pulling a toboggan and giving rides.

        Home movie 1954 2 mins Silent

        From the collection of:

        Logo for National Screen and Sound Archive of Wales

        Overview

        Family life at Maesmawr Hall, a farm near Welshpool. A willing donkey joins in play with the Trant children [David, Clare and Rosemary], pulling a toboggan across the sunny, summer lawn and giving rides. Parents Ion and Janet are on hand to help but young Rosemary, aged approximately 3, sits fearlessly on the donkey’s back. The hall, draped in creeper and dating from the 17th century, makes an attractive backdrop.

        Ion Trant was born and brought up on Dovea Farm in Tipperary, Ireland. He went on to study agriculture in Canada and then moved to Wales to work at the Welsh Plant Breeding Station in Aberystwyth where he met Janet Owen (of Maesmawr Hall), both of them working on developing improved grasses for upland farms with George Stapledon. The Trants farmed Maesmawr and the adjoining Cefn Du farm, near Welshpool, and Esgairdraenllwyn at Llaithddu, Llandrindod, where Janet bred cattle - Welsh Blacks crossed with Herefords. Ion created/filmed the BBC's "Country Close-Up" series for children (1956-62), often using footage of his own 3 for the programmes. He subsequently obtained work as a freelance cameraman.