North Wales 1942, filmed by Fred Pedley

[@anthonybarrell6223]

im 69 and have camped on anglesey since I was 10. my son (45) also still camps there with his family. Love the film and recognised lots of places from my early holidays on anglesey. thank you for sharing.

[@fredpedley8737]

Glad it’s brought back fond memories for you Anthony

[@Stratoszero]

What in incredible film, a lovely snapshot of a brief family reprieve from the drudgery of wartime, and colour footage of PBYs in the water in wartime UK no less. A copy of this needs to be made for the archives. Fred was obviously a clever and perceptive man, and he obviously appreciated beauty as well as engineering, like his footage of flowers and the cheeky sign off near the end! My grandfather was of the same era, he could build anything from steam locomotives, to my uncles wartime wooden toy cars, to the first TV set in the street, made so everyone could watch the Coronation. He was also a decent artist, a rare combination, I wish I still had the pencil drawing of a Porsche he drew me from memory. Pre war folk were a different breed, I miss them.

[@stevemason5348]

Beautiful film, most people would have done away with the sound of the projector and played some music, I am so pleased you did,nt, takes me back to when I was a youngster watching family holiday films with a white sheet hanging on the wall, Fantastic, Cheers

[@fredpedley8737]

Ha, thanks Steve - it's family law that all Fred's films must have the projector sound playing for exactly the reason you mentioned. I'm glad it added to your experience - some people have complained, but they are more than welcome to turn the sound off!

[@lydiadeolloz1991]

how cool!

[@richardchambers7964]

Brilliant

[@donwright3427]

I have lots of cine film of Cymru in the 50s but the last time my dad got out the projector the next day he had a stroke. Memories must have been strong

[@fredpedley8737]

Sorry to hear that Don, hope your Dad's okay

[@diogenesegarden5152]

Aber Falls at 1:55 I think. I used to walk along the pathway between Menai Bridge and Bangor everyday, on my way to the forestry building at Bangor Uni back in the 90’s. I was once crossing the Menai Bridge at about 1 AM from my bar job at Ysbyty Gwynedd, when an RAF SAR Wessex 5 went under the bridge right underneath me. Must have been doing it for a dare. I was thinking “I’m toast if those blades hit the bridge!”

[@fredpedley8737]

Oh wow, what an experience that must have been!

[@paulowen3934]

Great video...thanks for sharing

[@fredpedley8737]

glad you enjoyed it

[@CEng-ge6sw]

There was a petrol ration for private motoring until sometime in 1942. After that it was only for business use and still rationed.

[@fredpedley8737]

Thanks for commenting and adding to the debate about petrol rations - I think from the flowers in bloom they are there in late spring, so depending when this ruling came in... but as you said petrol was available for business use and Fred would visit Saunders Roe engineering works for business - and bring the family with him!

[@CEng-ge6sw]

The car is a Railton, an expensive car built in the 1930s. Note the rivets along the bonnet.

[@fredpedley8737]

Yes, he had a Railton which features in some of the other films.

[@SirRobinDeSway]

Brilliant. I also have some colour film footage from north wales in the late 1930s. My question this footage is that it most certainly would have e been shot on a wind up camera at 16 frames per second but the here it is being projected at 24 fps, making everything seem a little too fast and jerky. Try playing this at a slower speed….

[@Peter-cz8hx]

all the telegraph's poles with hundreds of wires on them. Better then than now for sure.😢

[@harbourwoodlandvisitor2445]

what make and model of car was that in the film?

[@ianwarrington8398]

Not 100% sure but it may have been a Railton. I know that he had one at one time.

[@fredpedley8737]

@ianwarrington8398 I think you are right. In the notes for Dovedale and Ilam 1942 it mentions the Railton and the MSM trailer - which can be clearly seen at the end of the film kzbin.info/www/bejne/h5qrZZiKbNCZl9E

[@Neale-c4l]

You wouldn’t think there was a war going on

[@fredpedley8737]

Thanks for your comment, life went on for those at home.

[@peterreid9769]

A camping trip during WWII?

[@fredpedley8737]

Yep - if you read the other comments there is a discussion about the reasons for this

[@ernieeade]

I cannot believe that this was filmed in 1942 slap in the middle of WW2 . No1 Where did he get the petrol from for his car as private cars were not allowed on the roads . 2 Majority of people were not allowed holidays nor travel unless their journey was absolutely necessary , this was not necessary . 3 The beaches would not be accessible to the general public and also have defence systems installed .4 taking movie photography of military vehicles could be construed as being helpful to the enemy . I could go on as there are so many things wrong with this being stated as 1942 .

[@fredpedley8737]

Hi Ernie, Thanks for your comment. I can assure you this was indeed filmed in 1942, based on the age of the child in the film who was born in January 1942 (and actually celebrated his 82nd birthday the day we put out this film - happy birthday Uncle John!), anecdotal evidence from the family and the fact they had been watching this previously private family film since the date it was filmed, and indeed the footage of the military boats and planes. Fred (my grandfather) was permitted to travel and given a petrol allowance as he owned an engineering firm that supplied parts for Saunders Roe, a factory on the outskirts of Beaumaris that was refitting Catalina "flying boats" and gunships, so the trip would have been under the auspices of a necessary business trip. Granted, he probably shouldn't have then decided to take his entire family on a camping trip! And I agree, should not have been filming the boats and aircraft (surreptitiously, from a distance, hence the quality is not always great). However, he did and in lieu of a time machine to go and tell him off I think we can just be grateful of this record of life in wartime Britain and footage, albeit grainy and blurry of these very interesting aircraft. We have many more wartime films of Fred's, both at home in the Manchester area and out and about visiting the factories around Britain that he supplied, again with the family in tow, if you would like to test your beliefs further. I hope you enjoy them.

[@ernieeade]

Thanks for your prompt reply and explanation , It did cross my mind that he may have had access to some fuel due to other reasons or he may have been on business or council needs . It is very good considering the type of camera equipment at the time including the film . It just irked me a little as three of my uncles died during ww1&2 plus my son is a serving member of the armoured forces. I was born in 43 so like yourself have no recollection of those years . Of course many people born during and post WW2 have no idea of the struggles endured in civilian life and hopefully they never do in this crazy world we live in . I will take you up on the offer to view other films from FP as they will not be the " official " films of the time and of course very rare . @@fredpedley8737

[@thepumpdoctor1]

@ernieeade Fred had a long career in the aviation industry. The company he founded is a thriving business today, still making high-specification aircraft parts and still managed by his family. During the Second World War, they made thousands of critical parts for e.g. Avro Lancasters, Ansons, and many others. Customers included Saunders Roe in Beaumaris, who had the contract from RAF coastal command to modify Consolidated PBY Catalina flying boats after they had been flown over from the factories in Canada and the USA. I understand that Fred's company was involved in making parts of the depth charge racks and "Leigh" light installations. This allowed the long-range Catalinas to attack Nazi U-Boats on the surface out in the mid-Atlantic "gap". The German type VII U Boats in "wolf packs" were badly mauling east-bound convoys in 1941. The "gap" was the area of the central Atlantic that allied aircraft from the US or Britain could not reach to spot and attack the U-boats. Specially adapted long-range aircraft like the PBY-5 "Catalina", modified by Saunders-Roe, flying from UK and Icelandic bases did their bit to close that gap. Catalinas were also extensively used in India and Sri Lanka against Japanese shipping as well for clandestine operations in Burma and the Far East. See this link for the full and fascinating story: www.usni.org/magazines/naval-history-magazine/2008/june/battle-had-be-won. Fred had a petrol ration so he could work with companies like Saunders Roe on the fast-track projects they had to counter enemy strategies. I wish I knew more about how this was done in those days! Many amazing feats things were accomplished so quickly. Having worked in engineering and manufacturing my entire career, I wish we had more folks like Fred with us today. Their achievements seem far beyond the things we can do today. E.g. how long does it take to develop weapons systems and new warships today? These folks in 1942 could work wonders. In this case, my guess is that Fred was working at Saunders Roe in 1942 on projects like those I mentioned above. He brought the family along to camp in the farmer's field while he worked at the factory in Fryar's Bay. You're right, I am sure he would agree that he was fortunate to be able to do that. We are also fortunate that, as he always did, he had his 16mm camera on him to capture these unique shots. Extend our appreciation to your son for his service. (Our son is an active duty officer in the US Navy)

[@clairenoon4070]

It's not correct that private vehicles weren't allowed on the road. You just saw far fewer of them because petrol was rationed. Even so, people would sometimes 'save up' petrol for when they wanted a bit of a holiday. I see in this case there was a different reason for why they had petrol. It's also incorrect that people weren't allowed to travel. Yes, there was a 'Is your journey really necessary?' campaign, but that was aimed more at train journeys, since trains were often needed for troop movements.

[@toolsey2]

⁠@@ernieeademy father and uncle’s fought in WW2 and both Grandfathers in WW1 and all lost relative and friends , you have irked me with your view of wartime Britain nearly everybody did their part and private vehicles were allowed and why couldn’t he take his family on business trips and leave them at the beach when he went to his meetings , no doubt you were snooping on your neighbours during lockdown ready to denounce them to the authorities. The films are fantastic and I grew up in fifties and sixties in Middleton and went to north Wales for holidays and watching these home movies breaks my heart to see how it has changed.

[@roywilding3039]

They said petrol rationing didnt affect everyone,not those with gas guzzling posh cars.