Daventry’s history of radio transmission caught on film…….

Rod Viveash with radio transmitting valve from the 1930s and portable radio from the 1920s

At the Full Circle film screening on Saturday I was sitting near Rod Viveash who caught on film the final day of the closure of the BBC radio transmitter plant at Borough Hill, Daventry.

Mr Viveash, now a museum volunteer, had a career at the BBC spanning some 32 years. He started out as a transmitter engineer and ended it as a senior maintenance engineer.

He has always had a special interest in old transmitters and their history and said that when he realised how much of the heritage of Borough Hill was in Daventry Town Council Museum he was keen to see it on display.

Mr Viveash said: “It’s been 20 years since the station closed down, and it will also be 80 years in December since the station was launched.”

For more information on events and exhibitions visit Daventry Town Council Museum http://www.friends-of-daventry-museum.org.uk/

“Past Lives” a Present Success at LPAC Lincoln……

Review of Past Lives – LPAC  Lincoln Performing Arts Centre Thursday 8^th March

“…each luminous frame opened a successive drawer in an archive of memories…..” Richard Fung

Dave Sturt’s homage to home movies ‘Past Lives’, based on a collection of home movies from the MACE film archive and set to a live music score, has a starring cast of very ordinary people. These are the movie makers themselves who have visually captured and preserved our collective past.

Visual artist Anthony Hatton has captured the dreamy quality of the images, sometimes saturated with colour, sometimes spotted with age and cracked emulsion – but always vibrant and nostalgic, to evoke a time when holidays were taken in Britain by the seaside, tea was drunk from cups and saucers and little boys wore short trousers and knitted tops.

The performance takes us on a journey from 1930s to the 1970s covering aspects of rural life  from village carnivals and fancy dress pageants in Derbyshire and Lincolnshire to rare scenes of hop picker’s lives in Herefordshire to  beautifully idyllic childhood scenes from the much prized Bradley film collection.

Musicians Dave Sturt (fretless bass)  Theo Travis (flute, sax), Deirdre Benscik (cello) and Clare Bhabra (violin) elevated the film to a thought-provoking poetical level with their beautiful sounds.

Past Lives is touring across the Midlands see www.cipher.f9.co.uk   Kay Ogilvie  kogilvie@lincoln.ac.uk

Photography © Lucie Kerley

Vintage Film screening event brings in the locals at Ilkeston, Derbyshire……..

Susan Smith, Director of Wash Arts outside the new arts premises at Bath Street, Ilkeston - waiting for the crowds!

MACE and Wash Arts  joined forces to bring vintage cinema to the streets of Ilkeston as part of the launch celebrations for the opening of the  new Wash Arts premises on 154 Bath Street. We trawled the MACE film archive www.macearchive.org and searched for films relating to the Ilkeston area and came up with some real gems. One of the films screened was about the local firm A. Booth & Sons, manufacturers of nylon stockings – and we were so pleased when one of their ex-employees turned up to view the film…

Mavis Smith ex employee of A. Booth & Sons holding the company brochure

This event not only helped launch the new Wash Arts premises, but also the Full Circle film search project in their area. Some of the people who came to view these vintage films also had films of their own tucked away in their attics and we look forward to meeting up with them to view and assess their collections.

Mavis Smith aged 16 years - working at A. Booth & Sons in the 1950s

It was fascinating to talk to Mavis about her time at Booths where she worked as a ‘pairer’ – matching the left and right legs of nylon stockings. She started at Booths when she was 15 years old and spent approximately 17 years working there. Film is a window into history and as such is a valuable historical resource. Any film lost or thrown away is a piece of history lost – and this is why we are carrying out a film search in the area to try and find and preserve any films that may be hidden away.

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A section inside the publicity brochure of A. Booth & Sons

Mavis brought along this publicity brochure to the film screening (it was fascinating to look through) she was going along to Erewash Museum nearby to lend it to them for exhibiting. Mavis said she enjoyed her time there and was voted ‘Personality Girl’ at one point in her career.

Some of the audience for the screening of vintage films at Ilkeston

Information about Wash Arts can be found at www.washarts.co.uk and about the Full Circle Film search project at www.macearchive.org  If you have any films you would like to preserve for future generations to enjoy please contact senior curator of Full Circle Kay Ogilvie on kay.ogilvie@tiscali.co.uk

Full house at The Ritz, Belper, Derbyshire over the weekend Discovery Days Festival screening Full Circle archive films….

Local people queued up on Saturday and Sunday to see the archive films......

What a fantastic weekend of films, walks, tours and lectures we had this weekend in Belper, Derbyshire. The Discovery Days Festival is still running until 30th October so there is still time to catch even more events! For more information visit www.derwentvalleymills.org. At The Ritz queues were forming to see the newly discovered films found through the Full Circle project of Belper and surrounding area.

At this lovely independent cinema you can buy home-made cakes!

The films we were screening at the Ritz were a mixture of home-movies and professional footage. Some of the home-movie material had been deposited with the Full Circle project by Stephen Walters and showed scenes in and around Belper during the 1960s.

BBC producer Teresa Mikula (East Midlands Today) talks to Stephen Walters about his film collection which was left to him by his uncle Norman Mellors

Teresa Mikula produces the BBC programme ‘Preserving the Past‘. She has been supporting the Full Circle project  and helping to bring the found footage to a wider audience. She interviewed Stephen about his uncle’s film collection and we will be seeing more of the footage and the interview in the Autumn series. Stephen said about the film screening:

I wouldn’t have missed it for the world! It was lovely to see the films up on the big screen and I’m looking forward to having a copy of my uncle’s film collection to view on DVD

Teresa Mikula, BBC producer of “Preserving the Past” interviews Stephen Walters

The other home-movie footage The Wright/Radcliffe Collection, found through Full Circle featured scenes in and around Ashbourne & Kniveton in the 1930s – this is really rare footage and is quite a big collection – over 90 reels – which is still in the process of being assessed. Our thanks go to Peter Frost who deposited this collection with MACE.

Kay Ogilvie, senior curator for Full Circle introduces the films......

The collection of films shown also included a lovely 1955 British Transport travel guide to Derbyshire, ATV footage of the controversial closure of East Mill Belper in 1986 and a small independent film made in the 1980s about climbing friends ascent of High Tor in Matlock Bath which had the audience on the edge of their seats!

Full Circle Home-Movies get big screen treatment at The Ritz, Belper this weekend to celebrate Discovery Days Film Season: Saturday 8.30pm, Sunday 5.30pm

Kniveton Jubilee (Derbyshire) - Peter Frost Collection

Come along and celebrate Discovery Days Film Season this weekend at the Ritz Cinema, King Street, Belper. Ring 01773 822224 for seat prices and to book. We are pleased to help bring rare film footage found through MACE’s Full Circle project to one of the finest independent cinemas in the UK.

Fisherman Pub Belper - Norman Mellors Collection

We will be screening footage from the Peter Frost Collection and the Norman Mellors Collection.

The late Norman Mellor of Belper, used to go to the old Ritz in Belper regularly where his father worked as the projectionist. This led to Norman becoming very interested in filmmaking, he bought himself a cine camera in the early 1950s and filmed many local events in and around Belper, Derbyshire. His nephew Stephen Walters has been clearing out his late uncle’s house and found Norman’s film collection.

Belper flood - Norman Mellors Collection

Stephen said: “Uncle Norman worked at LB Plastics based at Heage and Norman took his camera on holiday with him and also filmed many Belper Town football matches as  he loved football and went to most of their matches.”

The Norman Mellors film collection of home-movies

MACE’s Full Circle project works with over 60 local history societies to search for film hidden in the community. Once footage is found we help to preserve the original film and make copies onto DVD for the owners and the community to view. If you have any reels hidden away in cupboards or attics contact senior curator Kay on kay.ogilvie@tiscali.co.uk

Belper History Society planning the year's events and meetings

Aston on Trent and Arnold join forces for an evening of history on film…………

When John Holloway of Aston on Trent History Society was looking for a speaker for their July meeting, I immediately thought of Bob Massey from Arnold. Why? because Bob is a real film enthusiast and has built up a large collection of film about Arnold. Bob talked about the importance of archive film as a valuable historical record. He showed clips of film and photographs from his vast collection of Arnold and how it has changed dramatically over the years – it is almost unrecognisable from 50 years ago with only a very few old buildings left standing after the savage demolitions of the 60s.A good crowd turned up for the evening of history on film. Aston has a well attended series of meetings throughout the year. John Holloway  has helped with organising the film search for the Full Circle project and together with his local history members has found quite a lot of films of old pantos which took place in Aston. These have been copied onto DVD for screening in the new Heritage Centre which opened officially in May. The original films  have now been deposited with the MACE archive for safe keeping and preservation.John Holloway and Gillian Borer get ready to welcome members to the History on Film event on Tuesday 26th July. John said

” Another spin-off from inviting Bob from Arnold is that I’m invited to his committee to outline our funded projects strategy as they’re keen to get some projects underway. We’ve just passed the £80,000 mark in grant funding over the past 7 years and we’ve had an enormous amount of development and community involvement in local history from it – so I’m delighted we can reciprocate with some advice and encouragement.” Aston on Trent local  history members view the new MACE postcard advertising the MACE online film catalogue www.macearchive.orgNo event can work properly without a nice cup of  tea!  Richard Coates displays the Full Circle poster…..and biscuits of course………Aston on Trent local history members getting ready to watch Bob Massey’s film and presentation about Arnold.Bob put together a very professional film and presentation about the changing face of Arnold in Nottingham. He interspersed ‘then’ and ‘now’ photos of Arnold to show the changes that had taken place over the years. Bob highlighted the need to collect this information on film as it makes a tremendous contribution to the historical record – film is like no other record in helping us to understand how life was lived in the 20th century.

Both Arnold and Aston have benefitted from the Full Circle project in that they have had original films transferred to DVD for the owners and the community to share. If you have any films that may be of interest to your local community please get in touch with Kay Ogilvie at MACE, Senior Curator Full Circle project – kay.ogilvie@tiscali.co.uk

Clarks of Retford – Dyeing, Dry Cleaning and Laundering Business deposit film with Full Circle…….

Bill Clark is the 6th generation of a long line of Clarks whose ancester, Hezekiah, established an early dyeing business in Retford in 1798. Dry cleaning and laundering developed necessitating a move to what became Hallcroft Works in Retford.Bill has searched his attic and found  reels of film relating to the Clark dyeing and dry cleaning business – he is depositing these with Full Circle at MACE. We will be making copies of these reels of 16mm film onto DVD and making them available for viewing.Just one of over 100 laundry and dry cleaning shops that were part of the Clark industry. The Clarks were responsible for developing the early stages of dyeing non natural fabrics like Rayon.

Bill still has his father’s Bell and Howell 16mm film projector in full working order!The business all started when Hezekiah Clark came from Derby in the 1780s to work at the Revolution Mill as a dyer. After that failed he set up on  his own as a dyer in Retford in 1798.Bill inherited this film collection from his Father. His Father made films of the dry cleaning and dyeing business,  holidays, family weddings from the 1930s to the 1970s, local scenes e.g. of St Saviour’s at Retford, the Easter Market at Retford and other footage that is not labelled. There are many reels of film that need assessing and cataloguing and Bill and Jennifer will be booking sessions to view some of their films at the MACE viewing room, when we move to new premises at the University of Lincoln.Retford Civic Society are in the process of commissioning a wall mural commemorating some  historical aspects of Retford and reference to the Clark Laundry will be featured. Another reference to the Clark industry is in the street name: “Dyers Court” in Retford. The photo below shows the well being  dug which supplied water for the Dye works at Grove Street, Retford.
These photos are taken from Bill’s manuscript: ‘Retford and District Historical and Archaeological Society Review 40th Anniversary Issue (1967 – 2007)’. Bill has a great story to tell and will be working on another manuscript soon.

Bill has kept his father’s 16mm Bolex cine camera which is still in working condition and  ran on clockwork.

Film is an important part of our heritage and we would love to hear from you if you have any reels of  film hidden away in cupboards, drawers, sheds or attics and are not sure what to do with them. Depositing them with a film archive is probably the best thing for the films as they will be stored in proper archival conditions and will be kept safely for future generations to enjoy. If you have any reels of film relating to the Midlands that you would like to share please contact Kay Ogilvie senior curator Full Circle Project on kay.ogilvie@tiscali.co.uk Telephone: 01629  823495.

Oh I do like to be beside the seaside!…..David Robinson of Sutton on Sea receives a Full Circle copy of his late brother’s film….

David Robinson is really pleased that he will be able to view his films at last! They have been sitting in his brother’s garage for years and it was only because of the advert in the local paper put in by Mablethorpe Visions group that he heard about the Full Circle project and the opportunity it gave him to get his original films copied onto DVD.

Can you identify any of these people? Some of the films in the Robinson collection have people on them who we don't know who they are!

Who is this girl? We think she was filmed in Mablethorpe in the 1930s........?

The Robinson films, being viewed and assessed at MACE film archive before copying to DVD

The images above are from this reel which had no label….

David Robinson holding his new DVDs and a box of his old films. His original films are now stored safely at the MACE archive. David's late brother worked as a projectionist at the Alford cinema and collected quite a lot of old films - some of them unidentified.

John Gregory of Mablethorpe  Visions Group has been helping Full Circle with the search for films. When I  met John on Tuesday he had found some more interesting films handed in by a local lady who stored them in a biscuit tin……

Most of this collection isn't labelled so we will have to look through it reel by reel to see if it has any Midlands footage on it! There are 21 reels!

John is beginning the process of passing on films to the MACE film archive that the Mablethorpe Visions group has made. He is starting with the Mablethorpe film.  ” It’s a Knockout! 2009″.  Eventually clips of these films and others, will be uploaded to the online MACE  catalogue for everyone to share @macearchive

John Gregory of Visions Mablethorpe holding the "It's a Knockout! 2009" films

John says “When we’ve finished filming the latest community events we plan to put on some local film screenings showing some of the footage we’ve found through the Full Circle project”

To find out more about getting involved with Full Circle contact Kay on Kay.ogilvie@tiscali.co.uk telephone: 01629 823495 or look at the Full Circle pages on the MACE website

1920s Ripley films found in biscuit tins….listen to Kay Ogilvie Full Circle curator being interviewed by Radio Derby…

The Ripley films are inside the biscuit tins and all in various stages of decomposure

Yesterday morning I was invited to the Radio Derby studio to be interviewed by Phil Trow to talk about the 90 year old Ripley films found in biscuit tins – Phil presents the Radio Derby Breakfast show from 7am – 10am which is probably the station’s most popular show as it has a captive audience of people commuting to work or doing the school run in Derby. These films have been unearthed through the Full Circle project….

Dave King reporter for BBC Radio Derby has also written an online article about the lost Ripley films with links to the MACE website and Full Circle pages. He has also put the interview online with more photos.

Here’s the links:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-derbyshire-13714062
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-derbyshire-13714060
Happy viewing!

kay @macearchive

‘The Public’ – launches Full Circle at an archive screening event in West Bromwich….

The Public, the digital arts centre in West Bromwich was the launch for Full Circle on 2nd April

On a lovely sunny evening in West Bromwich, local history groups came together to  help The Public launch the Full Circle project. The Public is supporting MACE in the search for films via the Full Circle project. Eventually these films will be screened at The Public in a big celebration event of our screen heritage.

Whats on at The Public.....

The Public digital arts centre is already becoming part of community life, and once the shopping centre building works are complete it will become an integral part of the community. There was an Indian wedding going on when I was there – lots of lovely food smells…..

The two friendly staff at reception - On the night were short film screenings of archive footage from the Sandwell archives, Oldbury History Society collection, 1960s ITV news items. As well as a short film made by a local film-maker Billy Dosanhjh "Miracle in West Bromwich".

Films are part of our screen  heritage and The Public and MACE are working together to collect and preserve them for future generations to enjoy. Films and moving images have the capacity to reveal life over the last 100 years – like no other record.

Keith Hodgkins and members of the Tipton Civic Society came to support the launch and watch some archive footage of the local area

Audience members were from local history groups in the area who are helping to search for films and moving images

Members of Tipton Civic Society and Tipton Harriers Athletic Club

MACE has recently supplied the Tipton Harriers Athletic Club with copies of  some of their old films to help them celebrate their centenary anniversary earlier in the year.

Roxie and Chris of "Stirchley Happenings" an active local group in the area who also put on film screenings of archive footage supplied by MACE

Phil Leach, Curator at MACE put together some 1960s footage from the ITV news archive

This screening was a special event to celebrate and share rare and unique images of The Black Country. It was jointly hosted by us (MACE) and The Public. We are looking for groups to join us in the search for film to help unearth some  hidden treasures of our screen heritage.

JP our friendly audio-visual technician did a fantastic job on the night! Thank you

Keith Hodgkins brought along some films for the Full Circle project - these will be assessed and then relevant footage will be copied onto DVD for the local groups to enable them to share the films by giving a community screening

Graham Peet, Exhibitions Manager of The Public who not only gave an interesting talk on The Value of collecting Media, but also gave a tour of the Publics facilities. Graham can be contacted on: 0121 533 7161 www.thepublic.com. For more details of the Full Circle Project have a look at the Full Circle section of this website or contact Kay Ogilvie Senior Curator Full Circle kay.ogilvie@tiscali.co.uk