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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Grangetown pram push and Llandaff lych gate
Sparrows share a bath, starlings a joint, and the people of Grangetown a laugh as men in drag push prams for fun.
From the collection of:
Overview
The Plymouth, a Brains pub in Grangetown, Cardiff, is the gathering point for an event (c.1966) featuring men in drag pushing overgrown 'babies' in prams, one holding a placard: 'Ban the Pill'. Sparrows have their own summer fun using a bird bath; in winter, when it snows (c.1962), starlings feast on a Sunday joint. In the 1950s, huntspeople meet outside a mansion for the stirrup cup before the off, and a visit to Llandaff Cathedral starts at the lych gate. NB: Colour and B&W.
Chris Jenkins, who shot this footage, was a keen amateur artist and astronomer and a stalwart of the Cardiff Amateur Ciné Society. He owned and ran a hair salon – 'Vanda's', named after one of his daughters - in Charles Street (later Dumphries Place), in the city, his son Ken joining him in the business although a mechanic at heart. The Plymouth pub was demolished in 2008 for redevelopment. Re the 'Ban the Pill' placard seen: The contraceptive pill for women was released in 1960 and became available on the NHS in Britain in 1961 but, until 1967, it was only prescribed for married women.
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