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
Erecting a Flagpole at 'Bryn Mêl'
A remarkable demonstration of how best to negotiate a fence when carrying a flagpole across a field.
From the collection of:
Overview
A group of men carrying a flagpole across fields negotiate a fence with streamlined ease. It is to be erected at ‘Bryn Mкl’, Glyngarth, Anglesey, one-time home of Edmund Johnston (d.1934), owner of the Liverpool-based Johnston Line shipping company, his wife Helen (nee Kendall) and their only child, Isla, who filmed and photographed local events, including the rather unique activity seen here.
Flags were raised when the courts were in session in Beaumaris, as the judges would stay at the house, and also when the Church in Wales held a meeting at the house. By the 1950s - and after Edmund Johnston's death when the shipping company became the Johnston-Warren Lines company - the house had become too much of an undertaking for Isla alone and, when members of her extended family could not be persuaded to take it on, she offered it to the Church in Wales, an organisation with which she was much involved throughout her life. The church accepted the responsibility and used the large house and grounds as a summer retreat. It was agreed that Isla should continue to live in it until her death (in 1984, aged 86).
Related
Watch for free
Grounded on the Platters: HMS Conway Grounded on the Platters: HMS Conway
Home movie 1953 7 mins Silent Location: Anglesey/Ynysmôn
A sorry end to any ship: timings, tide and wind played their part in pushing HMS Conway onto the Platters rocks in the Menai Strait on 14/4/1953.
Watch for free
Dr Kate Dr Kate
Home movie 1969 19 mins Silent Location: Menai Bridge/Porthaethwy
Giving and Taking: writer Kate Roberts bestows her childhood home – Cae’r Gors - on the nation, and Caernarfonshire Council moves to close Bryncroes School despite opposition.
Watch for free
Pedair Priodas Pedair Priodas
Home movie 1950 24 mins Silent Location: Anglesey/Ynysmôn
Four Anglesey weddings well conveying the atmosphere of that special day, with shots of the couples before/after the ceremony, the guests (and their hats) and local spectators.
Watch for free
On the Isle of Anglesey On the Isle of Anglesey
Non-Fiction 1929 2 mins Silent Location: Anglesey/Ynysmôn
Intriguing scenes of a centuries-old hunting tradition at Beaumaris, Anglesey.
Watch for free
New Perspectives: La Haine New Perspectives: La Haine
Short documentary 2025 4 mins
Charlie Hammersley, a student from Northumbria University, explains how Mathieu Kassovitz's 1995 film holds up a mirror to society.
Watch for free
Dreamers Q&A Dreamers Q&A
Inside Film 2025 30 mins
The film-makers behind a haunting tale of love and community within a UK immigration detention centre visited the BFI Southbank to discuss their film.
Watch for free
Paul Thomas Anderson and Leonardo DiCaprio in Conversation Paul Thomas Anderson and Leonardo DiCaprio in Conversation
Inside Film 2025 50 mins
Paul Thomas Anderson and Leonardo DiCaprio in Conversation at BFI Southbank, discussing the making of One Battle After Another.
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.