Llanidloes 1965

Take a trip to Llanidloes and view this market town as it was in 1965. See the cars of the period, the railway station, the the timbered buildings and a petrol filling station.

Llanidloes sits in the heart of the ancient kingdom of Arwystli, on the edge of the Severn and is the settlement nearest this river's source. Here you can see the town as it was in 1965, with petrol station and cars indicating its modernity and its very oldest buildings – the Mount Inn, dating back to the 1300s, and the Old Market Hall from the 1600s – indicating its longevity.

This footage, possibly off-cuts, was shot by Bill Putnam, classics teacher at Newtown's secondary school, together with pupils who were members of the film club he ran there. He went on to lecture in archaeology, inaugurating the first degree in practical archaeology in the UK at the University of Bournemouth.