Filming Dracula in the 1960s and the JayRich group, Annesley

David Amos, Project officer for the HLF funded Annesley Old Church project and a Full Circle supporter, has sent us this post:

We had a fantastic day on Monday (10th December 2012) when a small group of us met at the Acacia Centre in Annesley Woodhouse to view the archive footage of the spoof Dracula films done by the Jayrich Group in the early 1960’s.  In attendance were Mrs and Eddie Newby (Dracula in the film, 86 years young!), Fred Hutchinson (member of the Kirkby Cine Club in the 1960’s), Trevor Lee (Local Film and Media Historian), Mick Pattison (Local film and media enthusiast) and David Amos (Project Officer for the Annesley Old Church Project). 

Eddie Newby was interviewed about the making of the two spoof Dracula films and then the footage from the two films was shown and filmed, with the group discussing various aspects of the making the films over 50 years ago.  Trevor Lee supplied research details of the Jayrich group and Fred Hutchinson brought a collection of vintage movie camera’s.

 

MACE’s Full Circle project made digital copies of the cine films and now preserve the original at the MACE film archive. Plans are in the initial stages for using the footage from the original films in a new production as part of the Annesley Old Church Project (2011-2014).  The Annesley project is funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and some of the original footage was filmed at Annesley Old Church when it was more intact than the present ruined remains. To find out about the Annesley Church project have a look at his link: http://www.ournottinghamshire.org.uk/page_id__406_path__0p31p33p167p.aspx

 

Meet Mavis – a textile worker from Ilkeston’s A. Booth and Sons……

If you have enjoyed watching the latest MACE online film screening of ‘Clothing the Nation’ about the East Midlands Textile Industry here is a chance to view some more images and to find out about one particular textile worker from Ilkeston. Mavis (shown below) worked at A. Booth & Sons, Ilkeston, manufacturers of nylon stockings 60 years ago.

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

Mavis 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.

Mavis showed me this publicity brochure (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. You can see clips from a film about the A.Booth and Sons Ltd factory in Ilkeston by searching our online catalogue.

Kay

Kniveton villagers in Derbyshire re-live childhood memories at Kniveton film screening….

A good crowd of Kniveton villagers turned out to watch the home movies of the Derbyshire film making duo Mr Wright and Mr Ratcliffe.

Some of the old farming families are still resident in the village and were able to help identify faces on screen

The films, dating back to the 1930s, show scenes of village life, farming activities and farming practice before mechanisation.What is so special about this collection is the fact that Mr Wright and Mr Ratcliffe, both resident in the village, filmed villagers and farmers carrying out their normal activities. It is a fascinating record of a  typical Derbyshire village  just before the war.

The lady on the left recognised her mother on the film

The local school will be screening some of the material at a special school screening on Thursday 25th October and will be using the footage found to help enrich their curriculum.

People recognised themselves on screen as children

This screening united the residents of Kniveton Village with their screen heritage and is part of the Full Circle Heritage Lottery funded project to bring alive history and the value of film as a historical record.

MACE’s Emma Morley chats to BBC Radio Derby’s Andy Potter about ‘Derbyshire on Film’

I popped along to BBC Radio Derby on Monday to have a chat to Andy Potter about MACE’s DVD compilation, Derbyshire on Film – The Peak District. Our regular blog readers will know we released the DVD a few weeks ago and it’s available to purchase on our webshop for £14.99 + VAT.

It’s always a pleasure to chat to Andy about archive film. I was Producer’s Assistant on the TV series Peak Practice in the last nineties/early noughties and Andy was a regular background artiste on the show so we have similar memories of the production, and it’s great to look back at when a popular TV drama was filmed in the county. He also has a love of film and TV which sparks my imagination. We’re also both passionate about the county (and for me all the East and West Midlands as I have family in both both regions). So I really enjoyed chatting to Andy about the DVD which is proving to be very popular.

You can hear Andy and have chatting for the next five days on the BBC iplayer here – http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00y55n9 - 1 hour 15 mins into the programme.

Derbyshire on Film is available to purchase at:

(click links to be redirected)

MACE’s Webshop

Amazon

Play.com

Ebay

And in person at The Shop in The Yard, Cromford Mills, Scarthin Books, Cromford, Buxton Museum & Art Gallery and Castleton & Bakewell Visitors Centres.

To purchase securely over the phone call MACE on 01522 837750

Emma

MACE supports D.H.Lawrence Festival mining heritage talk and bus tour this Sunday 16th September…

Dr David Amos in front of the Headstocks at Annesley Colliery, the pit he worked at for 24 years. This photo was taken on the last day of production on January 30th 2000

Ex coalminer and now academic, Dr David Amos (BA/PGCE-FE/PhD), gave a fascinating talk on the mining heritage of Nottinghamshire on Wednesday at the D.H.Lawrence Heritage Centre, Eastwood, as part of the D.H.Lawrence Festival. David has been helping the Full Circle project to search for film in the area and has found some fascinating mining footage that he was able to incorporate into his mining heritage talk. We at MACE have transferred the original 8mm cine films onto DVD and are storing the originals in our purpose built archive for future generations to enjoy and study.

The last shift for the miners -  The photo dates from 1985 and is taken at Pye Hill No.1 Colliery at Underwood, Notts just prior to its closure in  August 1985

The talk accompanies the Mining Heritage Bus Tour on Sunday – the tour will visit some of the coalmining heritage sites, including Brinsley Headstocks, Underwood, Annesley, Newstead and Digby. It will introduce you to some of the high profile and sometimes controversial characters linked with the former pit sites including Arthur Lawrence (father of D.H.Lawrence), Colin Clarke, Harold Larwood, and George Spencer. To book a place contact David on 01623 457537 or d.amos@ashfield-dc.gov.uk the Festival continues for another week contact the D.H.Lawrence Heritage Centre for more details at Durban House Heritage Centre  Mansfield Road, Eastwood, Nottingham NG16 3DZ 01773 717 353 www.dhlawrenceheritage.org/

 

Film screening of 1930s footage, Ashbourne Friday 7th September, St Oswald’s Church Hall 2.30pm

Scene from the archive film show – Kniveton farming

Come along for a real treat and a trip down memory lane. We will be screening this long lost footage of scenes in and around the village of Kniveton and Ashbourne in Derbyshire.

Stacking the hay – Kniveton 1930s

These films are from the Wright/Ratcliffe collection and date from the 1930s. Shot by Wilfred Ratcliffe, the chauffeur to Mr Wright, they cover the summers of 1935 – 1939 and are a fascinating insight into village life.

This screening is being shown as part of the U3A calendar of events. Please come along and show your support  – all welcome.

Fascinating old footage found of 1930s Kniveton in Derbyshire, film screening this Sunday 2nd September, 2.30pm Kniveton Village Hall

Do you know this person?

This Sunday at Kniveton Village Hall we will be bringing alive old memories of Kniveton in Derbyshire and hoping to identify some of the characters featured in the film. This film collection was found by Peter Frost and was shot by his grandfather Wilfred Ratcliffe in the 1930s. Wilfred was the chauffeur to the Wright family of Kniveton.

We hope to identify some of the people featured in the film…..

This is a fascinating collection of 8mm cine film shot in and around Kniveton and shows scenes of old farming practices and machinery. Shot just before the war the summer was perfect for using scythes to cut hay, making haystacks and threshing. There are scenes shot in the hay meadows of workers drinking tea after a hard day’s work, the village post mistress, the village fete and Kniveton Jubilee shot in 1939. Other footage includes lively scenes of Ashbourne Shrovetide Football match and Stanley Matthews throwing the ball in the 1970s.

Everyone is welcome to come along and enjoy this trip down memory lane and also help us identify some of the characters in the film. The screening will be at Kniveton Village Hall, Nr Ashbourne, Derbyshire, DE6 1JJ. The hall is next to Kniveton School.

“Good morning campers!”…….1960s film of Butlins at night found…..

Night scene – Butlins, Skegness c.1960s

Here’s the latest news on film collections being deposited with the MACE Full Circle project: We’ve just had a call from Shaun Holden whose late father John Holden filmed scenes from their holidays at Butlins, Ingoldmells at Skegness in the 1960s. This was the camp that started it all – Billy Butlin got the idea of holiday villages when he lived in Toronto and brought the concept back to England in 1936.

The John Holden Collection Shaun Holden said his father drove very slowly along the full length of the camp and filmed Butlins at night when it was all lit up. Above and below are some old postcards to give you an idea of what the films may contain (as we haven’t viewed them yet) this postcard is from: http://www.bygonebutlins.com/postcards/skegness/  The Holdens were from Derbyshire and John also filmed all the local beauty spots there including Dovedale, Bakewell, Matlock and Ladybower Reservoir.  John also filmed holidays on the south coast and in Ireland. The Holden collection comprises of 13 reels of Super 8 cinefilm.

This collection is currently at The Boathouse in Mablethorpe stored by our Full Circle group there.  The Boathouse is an old lifeboat station now in use by the community to find out what goes on there have a look at their website: http://www.mablethorpeboatshed.org/ I will be going to Mablethorpe to collect these films to bring them back to the film archive at Lincoln University. The films will be assessed for quality and then carefully stored at the MACE archive in Lincoln in climatically controlled conditions, this will ensure their preservation for the future. Copies of the midlands footage will be made available for the Holden family and the community to share. To find out more about the Full Circle project contact Kay Ogilvie on kogilvie@lincoln.ac.uk or visit http://www.macearchive.org

Rare film footage of 1930s Ilkeston Carnival found………

Paul Booth of Ilkeston, Derbyshire, deposits his father’s cine film collection with MACE film archive as part of the Full Circle project

The Arthur Cyril Booth Collection

Like many of the early filmmakers, Paul Booth’s father – Arthur Cyril Booth (d.1980) took up filmmaking after getting interested in photography. Arthur was the organist for the parish and also played the organ at the La Scala cinema in Ilkeston (still going strong!). Paul said: “My father  was into gadgets of the times –  like for example cine cameras. He filmed on mostly 9.5mm. He was a practical man who in WW1 built aeroplanes – which were made out of fabric then. After the war he became an upholsterer in Ilkeston. He owned a Brough Superior motorbike and used to go biking down to the French Riviera”.

The wedding of amateur filmmaker Arthur Cyril Booth and Cecilia Booth c.1930s

Arthur filmed the Carnivals in Ilkeston in 1936 and 1937 and we’re really looking forward to seeing this footage. He also filmed a pilgrimage to Dale Abbey, Derbyshire and the May Procession, a Lourdes Trip made by members of the Our Lady and St Thomas RC church in Ilkeston. Other footage includes some seaside scenes at Mablethorpe, Wolverhampton Illuminations and his parents wedding. Arthur’s films will be carefully stored at the MACE film archive in temperature controlled conditions so that these original films will be preserved for posterity. As part of the Full Circle project, copies of these films will be made onto DVD for Paul and his family ad the local community to share in this heritage and enjoy past events. If you have any films you wish to preserve please contact Kay Ogilvie, senior curator Full Circle on kogilvie@lincoln.ac.uk

‘Past Lives’ – Don’t miss this live performance and Full circle archive film this Friday 25th May at Holymoorside, Derbyshire

Dave Sturt, Theo Travis, Clare Bhabra and Deirdre Benscik playing a live film soundtrack to images of the Sarah Bradley film collection

A not-to-be-missed performance is coming to Holymoorside this Friday as part of the Holymoorside and Walton Arts Festival – as well as a workshop to take part in.  

Contact festival office for details and tickets on 01246 567118 or 861997. Renowned musicians Dave Sturt (fretless bass/sound design), Theo Travis (flute, sax), Deirdre Benscik (cello) and Clare Bhabra (violin) play an evocative soundtrack to this fascinating collection of film from the 1930s onwards. Dave and Theo collaborated with visual artist Anthony Hatton to produce this thought provoking and engaging performance.

The films were collected as part of the MACE/Full Circle film search project funded by the Heritage Lottery. For tour dates see http://www.cipher.f9.co.uk/ MACE would like to thank all those who deposited their films as part of this project and contributed to the rich screen heritage of the midlands.

See this link for more information about the performance and workshop and for details of the Festival.

http://www.holymoorsidearts.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=92:past-lives&catid=6&Itemid=14

Dave Sturt and Theo Travis

Guest musicians Deirdre Benscik and Clare Bhabra are from the renowned  Sinfonia ViVA.

deirdre Benscik and Clare Bhabra