9th-10th December – Ladywood History Group 10th Anniversary Exhibition & Full Circle Archive Film Screening of old Ladywood

On Friday 9th December 2011, one of the Media Archive for Central England’s Birmingham based Full Circle Groups – TNT News and Ladywood History Group – invite you to attend an exhibition of photographs and memorabilia of old Ladywood at The Church of St John and St Peter, Ladywood, from 11:00am – 7:30pm and Saturday 10th December from 10:00am – 1:00pm.

On Saturday, 10th December, people are invited to attend a screening of films from the @MACEarchive ATV collection relating to Ladywood, as it was when featured in the news in the 1950s and 1960s. And don’t miss the cutting of the cake by the Lord Mayor of Birmingham at 10:30am to celebrate this special occasion!

Come along and see if you recognise anyone on the films!

Or of you have any old cine films or homemovies relating to Ladywood, Birmingham or the wider Midlands area that deserve preserving in a film archive and would like to know how they can be digitised free of charge as part of MACE’s Heritage Lottery Funded Full Circle Film Search Project, then please speak to MACE’s Full Circle Curator – Lucie Kerley, who will be in attendance at Saturday’s event.

You can also contact Lucie Kerley via email on: lkerley@lincoln.ac.uk

Full Circle Project’s hunt for hidden home-movies takes over the Midlands!

MACE's Full Circle Project Technician - Andrew Jenkins sets up the Flash Transfer equipment to copy 16mm film.

Map of the Midlands showing which areas we currently have groups participating in the Full Circle Project.

In just 149 days… the 5 months that MACE’s (The Media Archive for Central England)  Heritage Lottery Funded Full Circle Project has been running, Senior Curator – Kay Ogilvie and I have covered a HUGE expanse of the Midlands region. With the help of local history and community groups spread throughout the East and West Midlands we have received a fantastic response to the project.

MACE Director James Patterson uses the Steenbeck to view one of the reels of 16mm film found during the Full Circle Project.

 

MACE Viewing Room - Steenbeck.

 The way that people from all areas of the Midlands have stepped in to help uncover the hidden screen heritage relating to their own communities has been phenomenal.

MACE's Cataloguer, Researcher and Programmer Phil Leach compiles footage for screening events which groups can hold to help promote their film search

In just the short space of time that the project has been running, with the help of these local groups we have uncovered 33 collections of film, with more collections popping their heads up each week.

Just this morning we received another collection of film found by The Brixworth History Society in Northamptonshire through the MACE office door.

A mixture of Super 8 & Std 8mm home-movie cinefilms

Instructions found in one of the film boxes for setting up the projector for family film showings.

The collection belongs to Mr. Rod King of Brixworth and comprises of 4 large 400ft reels of Std 8mm and Super 8mm cinefilm. I look forward to speaking to Mr King and finding out more about his films and how he feels about having them copied into a digital format that he and his family will be able to enjoy. Watch this space for more information on the Rod King Collection.

 

 

Moving image material found during the Full Circle Project's search is brought into the archive and then assessed for both cultural and historical relevance to the Midlands region. Here you can see a shot from a piece of 8mm film found by the Belbroughton History Society during their search - the film, which belongs to the Hadley's, is a 1950's farming scene.

 

Due to the brilliant response of groups wishing to participate in Full Circle’s search we have now almost reached our 60 group target, but are still looking for groups and are also interested in working with schools - particularly in the areas on the map that haven’t yet been covered – don’t worry if you still wish to join or have some film you wish to get copied, we are compiling a reserve list for groups to join in stage two.

Our hope is that more and more communities will be reunited with films and home-movies found in their area. Local screenings of footage found during the group’s search will take place throughout the project.

For more information please contact: Lucie Kerley – Full Circle Project Curator on 0116 252 5931 or 07919 896 505 or email: lk99@le.ac.uk

MACE's Head of Access and Learning: Richard Shenton - We hope to connect material found throughout the Full Circle Project with Schools in the Midlands area.

 

The Media Archive for Central England is the public sector moving image archive for the East and West Midlands. This means our focus is on moving images held on film, video, DVD or any other carrier that relate in some way to the Midlands.

Our primary roles are to provide:

1. A place where these materials can be preserved
2. Opportunities for the communities of the Midlands and beyond to experience and enjoy them
3. An information hub for all things relating to moving images in the Midlands

MACE is a non-profit making company limited by guarantee (no. 3172021) and an independent registered charity (no. 1100890). As such we are governed by a board of directors who are also trustees of the charity.

As a public sector archive MACE receives public money primarily through EM Media and Screen WM although we do have additional income streams.

MACE is a small organisation with eight members of staff.

MACE is part of a network of public sector moving image archives, which, between them collect, preserve and making accessible the national film collections of the UK.

MACE's Business & Commercial Development Manager: Emma Morley

Archives in the network adhere to a recognised set of principles and standards and are defined as:

Repositories for the custody and preservation of and access to the history of our times as recorded on film, videotape and other moving image formats. Such archives contain works made by amateur and professional producers for cinema, television and other purposes. These archives encompass the history and culture of moving image media and respect the integrity of the works above any commercial or short term exploitation. These institutions operate on a “not for profit” basis.

The complete network comprise the core membership of the UK Film Archive Forum, whose web site contains further information about the wider sector. You may also wish to find out more about the UK public film archives by visiting Moving History, which was created as an introduction to the sector.

Please contact us at MACE - 0116 252 5066 or email: macearchive@le.ac.uk

Belbroughton History Society promote Full Circle film search at Scarecrow Weekend.

Belbroughton Scarecrow Syn-crow-nized Swimming Team

 

Children check out the Wayne Mooney Scarecrow

On Saturday 25th and Sunday 26th September, Belbroughton celebrated it’s much loved, annual event – The Scarecrow weekend! Each year the residents of Belbroughton take part in creating a unique, and often humourous Scarecrow.

The festivities draw crowds of people from all over the UK to the quaint, little countryside village. On entering the village you are greeted by a smattering of straw faces dotted in the most inconspiciously, inventive of places.

Visitors flock from all over to Belbroughton Scarecrow Weekend

The visiting Scarecrows are often given a name and offer some fantastic photo opportunities as you take a tour of the village.

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There are lots of things to see and do as the Scarecrow Weekend takes over the whole village.

Holy Trinity Church

This year saw the arrival of a delicious Farmers Market – selling everything from Hog Roast to Jersey Vanilla Icecream with cindertoffee pieces and cupcakes

Delicious Cupcakes!

 

a  Craft Fayre – where local craftmakers could sell their creations,

Craft Fayre

Artist - Graham Wilson

Knitter - Joyce Chetland

Craft Worker - Pat Davies

Wood cutter

a Fun Fayre for children of all ages,

and local Charity fundraising events such as an Open Day with tombola raffle at the Belbroughton Animal Sanctuary.

Visitors at Belbroughton Animal Sanctuary Open Day on Scarecrow Weekend

In the Holy Trinity Church, there were opportunities to try out  Bell ringing and watch wool spinners and other local artisans practice their skills.

Bell-ringing at Holy Trinity Church

Artists from around the area displayed their paintings in various locations throughout the village.

Landscape Artist - Ken Wood

Artist – John Instance

Belbroughton History Society had a stand in the church where members, Sarah & James Bradley,  held an exhibition of their groups large photographic collection. 

Sarah & James Bradley, members of Belbroughton History Society

 It was also an opportunity to  showcase  their recent publications on Belbroughton.

Members of the public Full Circle Screening of Archive film

In order to promote the Belbroughton History Society’s Full Circle film search, also on display was a selection of archive film and information about how members of the community could deposit any of their own homemovies or film that related to the local area.

John Instance tells Full Circle's Belbroughton History Society about his film collection

Artist, John Instance, spoke to Full Circle’s Belbroughton History Society about his 8mm film collection which dates back around 45 years and contains footage of a mounted Police march through Cannon Hill Park. John, was born in Selly Park, Birmingham and worked in the Jewellery Quarter, and then in electronics. He set up business in Bewdley in 1982, an Art gallery called The Old Bank Craft Studio which remained there for 23 years until some unfortunate flooding caused it to close down. John continues to work as an Artist and paints from his home studio, holding exhibitions of his work.

John Harvey, a visitor to Belbroughton’s Scarecrow Weekend, spoke of his own cinefilm collection which contains footage of Bearwood and Warley Woods from around 1986. It was a successful weekend, with a number of people coming forward to discuss personal collections that held footage relating the Belbroughton and the larger West Midlands area.

If you have any film or homemovies relating to Belbroughton or the surrounding area please contact Sarah Bradley, Chair of The Belbroughton History Society by email: belbhistory@btinternet.com 

Belbroughton History Society are the participating Full Circle group for that area. They will be acting as a collection point for footage found in the community.

For more information about The Full Circle Project or on how you can deposit footage relating to the wider Midlands area or to find out details of your nearest participating group, please contact: Full Circle Curator: Lucie Kerley by email: lk99@le.ac.uk or call 0116 252 5931

Photographs courtesy of Lucie Kerley