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

Spring is Sprung in Powys
The spring is sprung, bees are buzzing and lambs, piglets, calves – and perhaps a lamblet? - have arrived in the Trants' Powys fields.
From the collection of:

Overview
Pretty primroses, delicate daffodils, a big, busy bumble bee and the sowing of oats all herald the advent of Spring at Maesmawr Hall/Cefn Du farms, Welshpool. There are sheep and lambs in the fields but one lamb has found a new home with a sow and her piglets! At Esgairdraenllwyn, a farm at Llaithddu, Llandrindod, the horned Welsh Black cattle have calves with white faces (Hereford x) and one gets a serious licking from its mother, a striking record of a cow-calf bond.
Ion Trant, brought up on Dovea Farm in Tipperary, Ireland, felt a gulf was emerging between town and country and welcomed school visits to the farms he ran with his wife, Janet Owen (Maesmawr Hall, Cefn Du, Esgairdraenllwyn). He also devised, filmed, edited and scripted the "Country Close-Up" series for children (BBC - 1956-62), often featuring his own three. As a result of this series, he was offered work as a freelance cameraman on the BBC's weekly farming programme and he also ventured further afield, travelling as cameraman with sports commentator Max Robertson to the West Indies and with George Cansdale, field naturalist and ex-Superintendent of London Zoo, to Palestine and Israel.
Related

Nature walk - Maesmawr School Nature walk - Maesmawr School
School programme and Educational film 1959 2 mins Silent Location: Maesmawr Hall
Learning outdoors: children find rosehips and oak apples in the winter sunshine.

Summer Oats for Winter Feed Summer Oats for Winter Feed
School programme and Educational film 1959 8 mins Silent Location: Maesmawr Hall
Oats are mown, threshed and rolled in summer so that calves at Maesmawr Hall farm, Welshpool, can be fed well in winter and pile on the pounds.

Three Boys in a Boat Three Boys in a Boat
School programme and Educational film 1956 5 mins Silent Location: Maesmawr Hall
Three hardworking boys burn weeds, cut and transport reeds for an island hut on the lake at Maemawr Hall, Welshpool, and fry eggs outdoors.

Balers: Welger and Jones Balers: Welger and Jones
School programme and Educational film 1960 3 mins Silent Location: Maesmawr Hall
Horses for courses and different balers for different bales. At Maesmawr Hall, a Welger produces very loose bales, a Jones very compact ones.

Farrier at Castle Caereinion and Front Field Ride Farrier at Castle Caereinion and Front Field Ride
School programme and Educational film 1956 7 mins Silent Location: Maesmawr Hall
Walter Price welcomes Ion Trant of Maesmawr Hall and his mare 'Nutmeg' (Iceland x Thoroughbred) to his smithy at Castle Caereinion, Powys.

Pigs, Ponies and Cowboys & Indians in Powys Pigs, Ponies and Cowboys & Indians in Powys
School programme and Educational film 1956 16 mins Silent Location: Maesmawr Hall
There’s work to be done on the farm – e.g. drilling, rolling fleeces, baling hay – but also play to be enjoyed by piglets and children.

Alexandre Desplat (Masterclass) Alexandre Desplat (Masterclass)
Inside Film 2011 33 mins
Over 30 years and 150 projects, the composer shares, with humour and passion, the intricacies of making film music.

Ian Neil (Masterclass) Ian Neil (Masterclass)
Inside Film 2012 74 mins
Neil selected soundtracks for 127 Hours, Shame, Kick Ass, Control and many more. He discusses the job and its complexities, referencing his own work.

Screenwriters' Lecture: Peter Straughan Screenwriters' Lecture: Peter Straughan
Inside Film 2012 mins
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy's adapter reveals his quest for "the poem of the book" and the importance of simplicity: 'Drain the pond to find the fish'.

Gabriel Yared on composing for film Gabriel Yared on composing for film
Inside Film 2013 11 mins
Composer of The Lives of Others, The English Patient and Betty Blue on intimacy and experimentation.

Lois Burwell on movie makeup Lois Burwell on movie makeup
Inside Film 2013 17 mins
Lincoln, Braveheart and Magnolia make-up artist Lois Burwell explains how she created some of her most iconic looks, as part of a BAFTA Masterclass.

Barry Ackroyd (Masterclass) Barry Ackroyd (Masterclass)
2013 61 mins
British cinematographer of The Hurt Locker, Captain Phillips, Hillsborough and Riff Raff reviews the art of the moving image.