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Clips from BBC Cymru Wales 

Background

The first national broadcast archive in the UK

With support from the National Lottery Heritage Fund and the Welsh Government, and in partnership with major broadcasters in Wales, the National Library of Wales has brought together the archives of BBC Wales, ITV Wales and S4C to give access more than a century of television and radio.

The Wales Broadcast Archive contains over 400,000 broadcasts, including programmes from the early days of BBC broadcasting in Wales during the 1920s, the first commercial broadcast by TWW, the establishment of Harlech Television, the age of HTV Wales and ITV Cymru Wales, and the launch of S4C, the first Welsh language tv channel. 

The Wales Broadcast Archive can be accessed in Clip Corners throughout Wales and in the Library's Broadcast Archive Centre. Although you will not be able to watch or listen to the entire collection from home due to rights restrictions, over 6,000 clips have been made available to view from your home or school through the Clip Cymru website

Below we have compiled 236 clips from the BBC Cymru Wales Archive, ranging from the early 1960s to the 2010s in both Welsh and English. These clips are ordered into 12 themes for your ease of use and research

Possible questions to discuss

  • What in the video looks similar and different to today?
  • What's in the background of the video? Spot the details that tell you what life was like in the past
  • How do people dress in the video?  Would you wear that today?
  • What technology is in the video? Do we use something different today?
  • Listen to what people say. How are people talking, and about what? Would people talk like that today?
  • What kind of people would have originally watched this video?
  • What's the main purpose or message of the video?
  • What themes does the video touch on?
  • Do you agree or disagree with the message of the video? Explain why.

Activities and experiences

  • Browse the Clip Cymru website to see if there are clips near to your local area
  • Visit your local clip corner and access the entirety of the Wales Broadcast Archive
  • Make a video on the same topic as a clip from the archive below showing how things have changed today
  • Design an information panel outlining the key points of the video, and showing how things are today
  • Invite people in to talk about their memories relating the themes of one of the clips
  • Run an online research session to find more information about the events of the clip, compiling the information on a poster or big mind map

Key concepts

(derived from the statements of what matters)

Languages, Literacy and Communication
  • Listening with empathy and respect
  • Listening and understanding
  • Learning languages
  • Understanding viewpoints
  • Language diversity
Expressive Arts
  • Representing personal, social, and cultural identities
  • Conveying ideas
  • Exploring purpose and meaning
  • Conveying feelings and emotions
Humanities
  • Developing inquiry pathways
  • Understanding ideas and viewpoints
  • Human impact on the world
  • Understanding the past
  • Understanding human rights
  • Interpreting sources and information
  • Social and cultural importance
  • Cause and effect
  • Sustainable environments
  • Geographical features
  • Identity
  • Social similarity and difference
  • Contribution to society
  • Changes over time
  • Historical impact on communities
  • Governance systems
Science and Technology
  • Designing to meet user needs
  • Ecosystems and evolution
  • Exploring the three sciences
  • Design decisions
  • Forces
  • Communicating design ideas
  • Natural defences
  • Using energy
  • Communication systems
  • Evaluating evidence
  • Environmental impact
  • Creating products
Health and Well-being
  • Feelings and behaviour
  • Personal decision-making
  • Diet and nutrition
  • Feelings and mental health
  • Social decision-making
  • Social awareness
  • Reflection
  • Rights and responsibilities
  • Empathy
Caring for the collection

Our screen and sound collections include audio tapes, vinyl, CDs, video cassettes and rolls of movie film that are hundreds of metres long. It’s important to store these in a cool, dry atmosphere, otherwise they can become sticky and degrade. We store our most important magnetic tapes in a room called a Faraday Cage, which is lined with copper to protect the contents from the harmful effects of electro-magnetic fields. We also have a department that manage, conserve, and digitise the old media to preserve them for the future. All the BBC Cymru Wales clips below have gone through this process of conservation and digitisation.


Politics

Politics

Here is a selection of BBC Cymru Wales clips in the Wales Broadcast Archive on the theme of politics, and touch on subjects such as:

  • Elections
  • Campaigning
  • Rights
Sport

Sport

Here is a selection of BBC Cymru Wales clips in the Wales Broadcast Archive on the theme of sport, and touch on subjects such as:

  • Training
  • Competition
  • The variety of sports played in Wales
  • Mens' and Womens' teams
  • The social impact of sport
Travel

Travel

Here is a selection of BBC Cymru Wales clips in the Wales Broadcast Archive on the theme of transport, and touch on subjects such as:

  • Travel
  • Roads
  • Railways
  • The sea
  • Flight
STEM

STEM

Here is a selection of BBC Cymru Wales clips in the Wales Broadcast Archive on the theme of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Maths, and touch on subjects such as:

  • Money
  • Communication
  • Our impact on the Environment
  • The impact of extreme weather
Events

Events

Here is a selection of BBC Cymru Wales clips in the Wales Broadcast Archive on the theme of events that impacted modern Wales, and touch on subjects such as:

  • Tryweryn and other reservoirs
  • Milestones of the 20th century
  • The miners' strike
  • Devolution
  • Patagonia
Migration

Migration

Here is a selection of BBC Cymru Wales clips in the Wales Broadcast Archive on the theme of migration, and touch on subjects such as:

  • Refugees
  • Minority cultures
  • Multicultural communities
  • The Welsh around the world
History

History

Here is a selection of BBC Cymru Wales clips in the Wales Broadcast Archive that show life in the Wales of our past, and touch on subjects such as:

  • The 60s
  • The Victorian Age
  • Antiquity
  • Development and change
Industry

Industry

Here is a selection of BBC Cymru Wales clips in the Wales Broadcast Archive on the theme of industry, and touch on subjects such as:

  • Enterprise and business
  • Employment
  • Core industries
  • The decline of heavy industry
  • Industrial and post-industrial communities
Culture

Culture

Here is a selection of BBC Cymru Wales clips in the Wales Broadcast Archive on the theme of Culture, and touch on subjects such as:

  • Art
  • Music
  • The Welsh Language
  • Celtic languages
  • Eisteddfodau
  • Traditions
Food

Food

Here is a selection of BBC Cymru Wales clips in the Wales Broadcast Archive on the theme of Welsh food heritage, and touch on subjects such as:

  • Agriculture
  • Food production
  • Old Welsh food customs
  • Selling food
  • Multicultural food in Wales
Religion and belief

Religion and belief

Here is a selection of BBC Cymru Wales clips in the Wales Broadcast Archive on the theme of religion and belief, and touch on subjects such as:

  • Christianity
  • Islam
  • Buddhism
  • Hinduism
  • Sikhism
  • Beliefs and superstitions
Health and Welfare

Health and Welfare

Here is a selection of BBC Cymru Wales clips in the Wales Broadcast Archive on the theme of health and welfare, and touch on subjects such as:

  • The human body
  • Healthcare
  • Welfare