Craig-cefn-parc: Men at Work and Birthday Girl

From the collection of

Archif Sgrin a Sain Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru / National Library of Wales Screen and Sound Archive
Established in 2001, the National Library of Wales Screen and Sound Archive holds an unrivalled collection of films, TV and radio broadcasts, video tapes and sound recordings relating to Wales and the Welsh, from 1898 to the present day. The collection spans multiples formats and genres, both professional and amateur.

Craig-cefn-parc: Men at Work and Birthday Girl


There ARE fairies at the bottom of the garden – and men doing the laundry! Joe Ivor Davies captures Craig-cefn-parc on film.

This wonderful compilation shot by Joe Ivor Davies (1906-92), a miner and opera-lover, opens with 3 men sitting on a wall in the village of Craig-cefn-parc, near Swansea - a ‘Last of the Summer Wine' type scene – and closes with young people doing likewise. In between, men are seen at work - laying telephone lines, brick-laying, painting a house, working on the roads and bringing home laundry on the bus. And there really ARE fairies to be seen at the bottom of one garden!

Joe Ivor Davies' house – which he lived in all his life - overlooked the village's attractive rural surroundings and a road along which neighbours and friends would regularly pass. Many were caught on Joe's cine camera – the only one in the village – as he would often film through an open window.


Tags