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
Parsonage Farm I – cats, dogs, children and tea-time
Life at Parsonage farm includes courageous cats, cute kittens, sweet Shetland collies, appealing puppies and kids in the kitchen.
From the collection of:
Overview
Parsonage Farm at Publow, near Pensford, Bristol was purchased by Arnold W Pym, chief accountant at Imperial Tobacco, Bristol, and his wife Jenny (nee Zaaijer), a botanist. There they created a garden of note and brought up four children who helped to care for the cats, kittens, dogs and puppies which found homes there and have been skillfully and lovingly caught on camera by Arnold, a keen photographer/film-maker, as they engage in the essentials – feeding and playing.
Arnold William Pym was born 1902 in South Shields, Durham, moving as a boy with his family to Edinburgh. Jenny Zaaijer was born in 1910 in Zaandvoort in the Netherlands. Here Jenny is seen preparing and having tea in the farmhouse kitchen with Michael (b.1936), Frances (b.1938), John (b.1944) and Andrew (b.1946). The family would regularly visit Whitesands Bay, St Davids, Pembrokeshire, and Frances (as Frances Roughley) has lived in Pembrokeshire from 1986, one of her daughters living in Ceredigion.
Related
Watch for free
Mingo & Jerry, Thea and Jerry Mingo & Jerry, Thea and Jerry
Home movie 1931 1 mins Silent Location: Llandegfan
Mingo, Jerry and Thea: names of the dogs or people seen? Either way, they will be connected, for sure, with Isla Johnston of Bryn Mêl, Glyngarth, Anglesey, who shot the footage.
Watch for free
Hot Dogs Hot Dogs
Documentary 1970 10 mins Location: Bingley
The quirks of a whippet race, with novices in winklepickers learning from the old hands, all fully elucidated in broad West Yorkshire dialect.
Watch for free
Firewatch Dog Firewatch Dog
Government sponsored film 1943 1 mins
An English Bull Terrier warns wartime cinema goers to put their cigarettes out with more care.
Watch for free
Pwtan the Kitten Pwtan the Kitten
Home movie 1960 2 mins Silent Location: Pwllheli
Gardener’s nightmare: a kitten at large in a flower bed!
Watch for free
Farming Scenes at Little London Farming Scenes at Little London
Amateur film 1935 12 mins Silent Location: Little London
Little disturbs the peace in Little London - despite some foxhunting, polo and the Second World War!
Watch for free
Ginger Tom Ginger Tom
Amateur film 1950 1 mins Silent Location: Winspit
Oh to be Ginger Tom the cat and while away the hours!
Watch for free
Getting it Back: The Story of Cymande - Q&A Getting it Back: The Story of Cymande - Q&A
Inside Film 2024 22 mins
The director of a documentary about British funk pioneers Cymande joins the band at BFI Southbank to talk about the film.
Watch for free
The West Case The West Case
Action and Adventure 1923 28 mins Silent Location: Tilbury
Plotting world domination, Devil Doctor Fu-Manchu steals plans for a new aero-torpedo in this earliest surviving thrill-a-minute serial instalment.
Watch for free
Enter the Scala!!! Enter the Scala!!!
Inside Film 2024 16 mins
Filmmakers Jane Giles and Ali Catterall discuss their documentary Scala!!!, revisiting the legendary and inspirational cinema venue and some of the most notorious films that screened there.
Watch for free
Smith Smith
Charity appeal 1939 10 mins
Long thought lost, this Powell-directed promotional short for a veteran’s charity was only rediscovered in 2003.
Watch for free
An Airman's Letter to His Mother An Airman's Letter to His Mother
Documentary 1941 6 mins
A poignant, stirring letter from a recently deceased pilot to his mother is read by John Gielgud.
Watch for free
The NHS75 Celebration The NHS75 Celebration
Short documentary 2023 3 mins
Former Bristol Poet Laureate, Miles Chambers reads a poem specially commissioned for the 75th anniversary of the NHS.