Rhondda Lives!
An engaging mix of archive 20th century film of the Rhondda Valley from as early as 1926 and the stories, memories and reminiscenses of people who live there.
Dead End Photos
"I'm back to square one now, back to a pile of dead-end photos." Nia wants to learn more about her family.
Miner's Wife
"It's not until they talk about it that you suddenly realise what conditions they did work in."
The Gas Lamp
"It was at this gas lamp that most of us congregated - first to play, and as we got older, just to meet and chatter."
The Miners' Struggle
"It was the one day in the year when they brought the horses to the surface." Les tells his story about the Ferndale Carnival of 1926.
Wandering
"We would be off first thing in the morning and back in the evening without a care." Catherine remembers walking everywhere with friends in her childhood.
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"Now I've got blue scars on my left leg." Jackie Davies, from Porth, finds that certain smells trigger memories of the Rhondda.
A Stitch In Time
"There were about five different kinds of welts and pipes and flaps and patch pockets." Patricia went from making toys and clothes to modelling them.
The Young, The Old and The Rhondda
"Once you've been there, you'll remember it for the rest of your life." Lawson has found a few sporting stories while researching his family history.
About Rhondda Lives!
When people see places they recognise on a screen, memories flood back, and stories demand to be told. Valleys Kids wondered what would happen if those reactions could be captured and made into new, screenable material. In the vaults of ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Wales and the National Screen and Sound Archive of Wales lies footage from the last 80 years or so. A partnership was formed, Valleys Kids secured funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund and researchers dug through the records to find material showing the Rhondda.
When some of the clips were screened at a public event in Penygraig, Rhondda. You could hear the "ooohs" and "aaahs" of delighted recognition as the clips rolled.
The Rhondda Lives! were made by people at a workshop at Valley Kids' Soar Centre in Penygraig in 2007 and 2008. A team from ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Cymru Wales facilitated the digital story making with its many parts; storytelling, audio recording and assembling the visuals.
If you are interested in the project, please contact Katrina Kirkwood, the Community Media Co-ordinator at Valleys Kids, 1 Cross Street, Penygraig, CF40 1LD, or 01443 420870 or katrina@valleyskids.org
Rhondda Lives! is a Valleys Kids Project, supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund, ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Wales and the National Screen and Sound Archive of Wales.
