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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Tiger Bay and The Rainbow Club - II
Cardiff's Shirley Bassey, seen here as a member of The Rainbow Club, established to promote the performing arts amongst Tiger Bay children, found the crock of gold!
From the collection of:
Overview
Donald Houston, Jimmy Lloyd, Bruce Forsyth, Danny Kaye, Cliff Jones, the Queen - they all came to Tiger Bay on different occasions and were recorded on film. Shirley Bassey, seen here as a young resident of the area, would have met most of them via her membership of The Rainbow Club, an organisation established in the Cardiff docks area, under the patronage of HMS Tiger and TWW [Television Wales & West], to promote children's participation in the performing arts.
Malcolm Capener, Roath-based proprietor of the Welsh Travel Company, Bute Street, Cardiff, was Chair and Secretary of "South Wales Films", a film-making club for amateurs. He shot footage of Tiger Bay (part of Butetown), recording both the activities of The Rainbow Club and the varied range of cultural festivities and events that took place there over a period of years. Tiger Bay was renowned as an ethnically diverse area of the docks, home to people whose origins spanned the globe and who had established a successful, integrated society.
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