A group of Welsh and Media students recently visited the Wales Broadcast Archive at the National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth. Supported by the Bangor Fund, made up of alumni donations and administered by the Development and Alumni Relations; the visit gave students the opportunity to explore one of Wales’ most important cultural resources and gain first-hand insight into how the nation’s broadcasting heritage is preserved.
The visit introduced students to the archive’s digital preservation work and the detailed processes involved in protecting decades of Welsh broadcasting history. During a behind‑the‑scenes tour led by the Library’s Education Officer, Dr Lloyd Roderick, the group visited the Library’s storage areas, where he explained the cataloguing, conservation and storage systems that safeguard Wales’s cultural treasures for future generations.
Students also viewed several notable items, including the original script and production documents for the film Un Nos Ola Leuad, an artefact of both literary and historical importance. They examined the influential Vietnam War photographs of Philip Jones Griffiths, including a map provided to him by the US Army. Griffiths was a renowned Welsh photojournalist, best known for his coverage of the Vietnam War.The students were also given an opportunity to see handwritten correspondent between Saunders Lewis, the famous Welsh politician, dramatist and literary critic and Eileen Beasley, who along with her husband Trefor conducted a campaign of civil disobedience in the 1950s against Llanelli council in demand for council rate bills in the Welsh language.
Carole Jones, Screen Academy Manager and organiser of the trip, said,
It was an incredibly interesting day, and I hope the experience will inspire students to return to the collection and make full use of the remarkable resources available to them. We’re also deeply grateful to the Bangor Fund and our alumni whose support makes opportunities like this possible for our students.
Persida Chung, Development Officer, said,
This visit marks our first Bangor Fund project completed in the 2025–26 academic year. Thanks to the continued support of our alumni, we’re able to support initiatives that provide an element of additionality to the student experience. Opportunities that take learning beyond the classroom, such as engaging directly with Wales’ broadcasting heritage, offer students a more meaningful understanding of their subject.
