The film begins with cows in a field which has a covering of snow and a village church. A family group emerge from the church and walk across a field to their home. Individuals are seen sitting and chatting and a young boy plays with a plastic train set. Christmas dinner is next and we see a turkey being carved, a huge platter of sausages and roast potatoes, children trying to pull crackers and putting on paper hats, loading up plates with food and then eating. This is followed by post-dinner entertainment: teenagers act out scenes dressed as things related to Christmas (Christmas tree, north wind, caroller, Christmas pudding) and this is followed by a puppet show, including 'backstage' images and audience reactions.
No credits specified
Donald Griffiths (1919 - 2007)
The following extracts were taken from Don Griffiths’ obituary in The Guardian (14 December 2007) (Aftab Khan and Geoffrey Griffiths)
Donald Griffiths ... was a geophysicist who contributed to the post war revolution in earth sciences...
Donald began his career in geophysics when the subject was still only a minor component of earth science courses in British universities. In 1955 he started what became an internationally renowned MSc course at Birmingham University... His own work included an investigation of the deep structure and tectonic history of two complex contrasting geological regions, the Scotia Arc in the South Atlantic and the Rift Valley in Kenya...
Donald’s geophysical interests started after he graduated in 1949 with first-class honours. At the end of an assistant lectureship at Manchester, he was appointed to start geophysics in the geology department at Birmingham University in 1950... Donald was promoted to professor of geophysics at Birmingham in 1963, one of the first such appointments in a UK geology department. This was [an] opportunity to begin the department’s long interest in the deep structure of north Wales, combining gravity and magnetic surveys with seismic investigations both on- and offshore...
His contributions to research and education in geophysics were recognised by awards from the Geographical Society of London and the European Association of Geo scientists and Engineers.
Donald Griffiths made a number of amateur films that record elements of his family life and trips to the South Atlantic, East Africa and Wales. These films have been deposited with MACE.