British Universities Film & Video Council

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CHARMIAN WELSH

Series

Series Name
Mining Review 11th Year

Issue

Issue No.
6
Date Released
Feb 1958
Stories in this Issue:
  1. 1MOUNTAIN DRIFT
  2. 2MECHANISATION ENGINEER
  3. 3CWM CARN CONVEYOR
  4. 4CHARMIAN WELSH

Story

Story No. within this Issue
4 / 4
Summary
BFI synopsis: daughter of a colliery manager, and British Olympic diving champion, practices at Dawdon Colliery.
NCB Commentary - Dawdon Colliery, near Seaham Harbour, has its own swimming pool, seen before in Mining Review.
It’s one of the only three pools in the British Isles with a 10-metre board.
Warming up with a pike dive on a bitter winter’s day is Charmian Welsh, British Olympic diving ace.
At Dawdon she can practise all the year round.
At nearby Thornley Colliery, Charmian’s father has been managed since 1947.
At home with her sister Hilary, Charmian catches up on one of her other hobbies, miniature rifle shooting, for which she has her County Badge.
Her father encourages her in her hobby and grandpa takes an interest too. He used to manage Thornley during the 30’s.
20 years of age, Charmian Welsh studies at Langham Tower Training College in Sunderland. She’s in her final year, training to be an infants’ teacher.
Despite her studies, she’s had time to capture every national championship title for diving since 1952 and all the area championships as well.
At the indoor baths at Durham, watch her go through her paces.
At the Melbourne Olympics the Russian coach said that she was the only woman he’d seen who could use the springboard to the same advantage as a man.
Always training to put even more into her technique, for Chamian Welsh it’s "roll on the next Olympics, in Rome, 1960".
Researcher Comments
Commentary recorded 6th January 1957.
Keywords
Swimming; Mining; Water sports
Locations
England; County Durham; Dawdon Colliery
Written sources
British Film Institute Databases   Used for synopsis
The National Archives COAL 32   /12 Scripts for Mining Review, 1956-1960
Credits:
Production Co.
Documentary Technicians Alliance
Sponsor
National Coal Board

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