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 currently unavailable
Garden at Park Lodge
Abraham Sherman’s walled garden at Park Lodge, Queen’s Road, Thomastown, Merthyr Tydfil, with greenhouses, terraced lawns, trellised arches, a fishpond – and battery hens.
From the collection of:
Overview
Successful betting shops and a football pools company allowed brothers Harry and Abraham Sherman, the Cardiff-raised sons of a Jewish tailor from eastern Europe, to live in some style. Harry made his home in Cardiff and Abe in Merthyr, at Park Lodge, Queen’s Road, Thomastown, where there was a walled garden of 1.25 acres, with two greenhouses, terraced lawns, trellised arches, a fishpond – and a shed full of battery hens, then a comparatively new method of keeping poultry.
Park Lodge (7 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, behind a former synagogue, with views over the town below) was advertised for sale at Ј100,000 following the death of Annie, Abraham’s widow, in 1984. The estate agent’s blurb suggested it might be suitable for conversion to a nursing home or that the garden could be used for residential development, surely not what the proud gardeners Abraham and Annie – seen here in their beautiful garden in spring and summer, holding up home-grown produce to the camera - would have wished to see. The lodge does seem, however, to have remained a private house.
Related
Watch for free
Local Cinema Advertisements - Blaenau Ffestiniog and Merthyr Local Cinema Advertisements - Blaenau Ffestiniog and Merthyr
Advert 1942 7 mins Silent Location: Blaenau Ffestiniog
Who could deny these advertising claims: "Attractive hair is the ambition of every woman", and "Your family will enjoy Lincoln potatoes"?
Watch for free
Sunshine Girl Sunshine Girl
Advert 1959 12 mins Location: Merthyr Tydfil
What makes a South Wales Sunshine Girl? Well, the answer may vary depending on whether you ask a chauvinist or a feminist!
Watch for free
Tank 'Julian' in Merthyr Tank 'Julian' in Merthyr
Non-Fiction 1918 5 mins Silent Location: Merthyr Tydfil
Julian', a battle-scarred tank, is the toast of Merthyr in June 1918. Spot 3 women without hats in the crowd that greets the monster guest.
Watch for free
Owen Humberstone Prosser - Ebbw Vale Owen Humberstone Prosser - Ebbw Vale
Amateur film 1959 16 mins Silent Location: Crumlin
Owen Humberstone Prosser, an expert on railways and canals, captured the Crumlin Viaduct on film in 1959, before its demolition in 1967, a victim of the Beeching rail cuts.
Watch for free
Laura Mulvey in Conversation Laura Mulvey in Conversation
Inside Film 2025 76 mins
Laura Mulvey in conversation, following her BFI Fellowship Award.
Watch for free
George Clooney in Conversation George Clooney in Conversation
Inside Film 2025 74 mins
George Clooney visited BFI Southbank to look back on his life and career.
Watch for free
Chloé Zhao Screen Talk | BFI London Film Festival 2025 Chloé Zhao Screen Talk | BFI London Film Festival 2025
Inside Film 2025 65 mins
The Oscar®- winning director of Nomadland discusses her unique approach to filmmaking and the inspiration behind the adaptation of Hamnet.
Watch for free
Edgar Wright on The Running Man Edgar Wright on The Running Man
Inside Film 2025 28 mins
The director talks to Mark Kermode about putting Stephen King's dystopian life-or-death gameshow thriller through its paces.
Watch for free
Richard Linklater Screen Talk | BFI London Film Festival 2025 Richard Linklater Screen Talk | BFI London Film Festival 2025
Inside Film 2025 69 mins
Richard Linklater discusses his remarkable and wide-ranging body of work, including Blue Moon and Nouvelle Vague.
Watch for free
Daniel Day-Lewis Screen Talk | BFI London Film Festival 2025 Daniel Day-Lewis Screen Talk | BFI London Film Festival 2025
Inside Film 2025 73 mins
Daniel Day-Lewis, the ultimate actor’s actor discusses his career in conversation with Mark Kermode.