Fownhope Local’s Rewind and enjoy an afternoon of Herefordshire Archive Films

Amanda Huntley of The Huntley Film Archives addresses the audience at Fownhope Memorial Village Hall

 

On Wednesday, 9th March the Fownhope Local History Group, one of the Full Circle Project’s participating groups took part in hosting one of the screenings for Rewind Festival 2011. The event which took place at Fownhope Memorial Village Hall featured a screening of “rare archive film featuring Herefordshire and Shropshire from 1900 onwards.”

The venue was packed to the rafters with around 115 in attendance who came from all over Herefordshire with some also travelling as far as Wales to reminisce of times gone by, watching footage of local events caught on film some 60 and some 70 or more years ago. The screening featured some fabulous material from  Huntley’s Commercial Film Archive Collection with some footage estimated to date back to the early 1900s.

“REWIND, the community film archive project from Flicks in the Sticks in collaboration with Huntley Film Archives is delighted to present this extraordinary programme, the result of a year long research, at venues in Herefordshire and Shropshire in February and March. Volunteers have been trained as film archivists and have catalogued footage from the Huntley Film Archives which brings the past, including some of the sights and sounds of the two counties, to life.”

Highlights of the screening included :

Hereford May Fair in 1910
Tommies march out of the City in 1914
Kington Carnival in the 1920s
Cider making in the 1930s
The old cattle market in the 1940s
Leominster Three Counties Fair in the 1950s.

Following the Rewind Screening which was really brought to life when accompanied by Amanda Huntley’s animated commentry, the audience was treated to home-made cakes and refreshments before settling down for the second half.

The screening of archive material was particularly poignant for one member of the audience who had no recollection that he had even been caught on film as a young lad working the land with fellow Herefordshire farmers over 60 years ago and was able to watch this footage for the first time.

The Fownhope Local History Group Chairman, David Clark, used the occasion as a platform for showing what film collections had been found as part of their group’s involvement with the MACE archive’s,  Heritage Lottery Funded, Full Circle Project. The group have been looking for archive footage relating to Fownhope and the local area for the past 8 months and have been hugely successful in unearthing around 7 collections with more popping their heads up all the time. The event was a chance to show the people of Fownhope and the wider area, the results of the footage that had been digitised with the help of MACE & HLF funding.

It was a fantastic opportunity for myself, Lucie Kerley Curator for Community & Acquisition at MACE and my colleague Catherine English Full Circle’s Cataloguer, to meet the depositors of the film collections in person for the first time and to hear how much joy they and their families had gotten from the collections being digitised. Smiles all round!

Full Circle Depositor Joanne Probert was delighted with the result of her digitised cine collection that has now been seen by many of her relatives living in AustraliaPeter Davies holds his DVD copy of the cinefilm collection that was digitised with the help of the Heritage Lottery Funding received by MACE's Full Circle Project, Peter has also deposited more reels of 8mm film to be digitised and archived at MACEPeter Davies holds his DVD copy of the cinefilm collection that was digitised with the help of the Heritage Lottery Funding received by MACE's Full Circle Project, Peter has also deposited more reels of 8mm film to be digitised and archived at MACE

Midlands We Need Your Home Movies!Screening of Herefordshire based ATV archive footage at Fownhope Memorial Hall

Peter Davies holds his DVD copy of the cinefilm collection that was digitised with the help of the Heritage Lottery Funding received by MACE’s Full Circle Project, Peter has also deposited more reels of 8mm film to be digitised and archived at MACE

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

The group will continue to look for more moving image materials in their area that are in need of digitising to ensure that this valuable window into their local history is one that is not lost but can long be enjoyed by both our generation and those yet to come.

Tipton Harriers Centenary Celebration embraces nostalgic archive film screening at Reunion Event

On Sunday 10th October 2010 Tipton Harriers past and present were reunited once more to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Tipton Harriers Athletics Club by getting together to reminisce about the many achievements that they had won over the years.

Tipton Harriers Centenary Archivists Chris Holloway and Keith Atkins, who helped organised the reunion event, which took place in the Snug, arranged for an exhibition of memorabilia to adorn the walls and also for a screening of the Tipton Harriers films that had recently been found in the Harriers Full Circle Film Search.

 
The films showed members of the Harriers taking part in cross-country relays and events across the country during the 1960s and 70s.
Tipton Harrier and filmmaker, Tony Phillips, spoke to Lucie Kerley – Curator for Community & Acquisition at MACE (The Media Archive for Central England) about how it felt to watch his footage over 40 years on now that it had been digitised by the MACE archive’s Heritage Lottery Funded Full Circle Project. Also interviewed was Tipton Harrier’s Long Distance Runner, Ron Bentley, who was asked how it felt to watch the interview of himself at his factory in 1974 with ATV presenter Peter Green.
Watch the 1974 interview here: macearchive.org/​Media.html?Title=20607

What are your favourite  Tipton Harrier memories? Do you recognise any of the faces from the film?

To find out more about the Tipton Harrier archive film footage  held at MACE visit our website www.macearchive.org to start your search.

If you have any home-movies relating to the Midlands area please get in touch with us here at MACE to find out about your nearest participating Full Circle Group who are looking for films in your area.

Lucie Kerley – Full Circle Project Curator: Community & Acquisition – 0116 252 5931 or email lk99@le.ac.uk

To purchase a copy of The Black Country 1969 DVD click here.

Interviewed by: Lucie Kerley @luciekerley
Filmed & edited by jmgcreative – jmgcreative.co.uk @jmgcreative
Archive footage supplied by: ATV and MACE (The Media Archive for Central England) macearchive.org @MACEarchive
Music by: Boat to Row – myspace.com/​boattorow

Camera: Canon 550D DSLR
Lens: 50mm f1.8, 10mm-24mm
Glidetrack

Edited using Final Cut Pro and graded using Color

Full Circle Project welcomes Amblecote History Society and their ‘Can Do’ Attitude!

Amblecote History Society

After an invitation from Helen Cook, Programme Secretary, of Amblecote History Society, whom I first had the pleasure of meeting at the Dudley Archives and Local History Service a few months back,  where I gave a presentation to local history societies about MACE’s new HLF funded Full Circle Project. Helen got in touch and asked me to come and visit the society and spread the Full Circle gospel.

[Amblecote lies immediately north of the historic town of Stourbridge.  From the 17th century, there have been glassworks in Amblecote, including Thomas Webb and Dennis Hall, and together with the adjoining village of Wordsley, formed the main centre of the Stourbridge glass industry, now known as “The Glass Quarter”. The glass tradition was brought by Hugenot immigrants to the area. Glass is still produced to this day in albeit much reduced numbers following the deindustrialisation of the area in the 1980s and 1990s which saw the closure of many of the larger companies.] extract from wikipedia.

Amblecote History Society www.amblecote.org   holds its meetings at the Amblecote Holy Trinity Church & Hall and has around 90 members. They also put on well attended talks and events throughout the year and also arrange coach trips and days out.

Fancy a trip to Bletchley Park? Contact the Amblecote History Society.

Helen was excited by the idea of getting the rest of their group members involved and wanted to share her enthusiasm for doing their very own film search in and around the Amblecote area. They have recently appealed for film in their local Stourbridge Newspaper and have had some interesting results!

Stourbridge News

I gave a short presentation to members of the history society and members of the public, which included a short screening of local ATV footage that is held at MACE Archive. The film showed clips of recognisable local industry, and life in the Black Country as it was some 40 years or so ago.

The Black Country 1969 DVD on sale at Amblecote History Society meeting £14.99

Chairman Pat Martin, who you will know as last years Mayor of Dudley, implored audience members to “Get it all out!”, asking them to make the effort to get their collections out of their lofts before it was too late. In order for us to be able to preserve these important pieces of social history, before they are lost forever.

Amblecote appeal for film

Members of the public and Amblecote History Society get settled ready for a MACE archive film screening

After watching the archive films, Pat stated “It seemed like a totally different world, but we were all around.”  The screening provoked nostalgia and many fond memories amongst audience members who had either worked at the places featured or who remembered local celebrities such as Jumping Joe (Josie) Derby and the Queens visit. Health and Safety regulations have definitely changed somewhat over the past 40 years thats for sure!

Chair Pat Martin.

Amblecote History Society are appealing for members of the public who may live in their local area or who may have used to live in the area, who have footage or films, home-movies, that they have made of local events – to come forward and preserve these gems so that they can be watched again, enjoyed and celebrated by the local and wider midlands communities.

There was a wonderful moment when a gentleman came up to me at the end of the screening and explained that he had infact visited MACE’s website www.macearchive.org  before and was astonished when he came across a Stourbridge clip that he didnt even know existed,  that showed his late father. He went on to explain that when he met his wife, she never got the chance to meet his father – as he had sadly passed away – however, he was able to show her this clip and this rare piece of film that had managed to capture an image of his father that will forever be preserved in history.

It is occasions like this that make working in a film archive so worthwhile. To think that the material that comes into MACE may hold fascinating insights into the social pasttimes of many people from all over the midlands, and many treasured memories too, is a fantastic motivation to keep looking for more.

If you have any film that features Amblecote or the surrounding area, or film that relates to the Midlands in general, please contact: Helen Cook – Programme Secretary for Amblecote History Society on 01384 395034  or email: helenjoy.cook@btinternet.com

Stirchley Locals Enjoy MACE Archive Film Taster at Christmas Screening!

It’s A Wonderful Life

Popcorn anyone?

Before Christmas I was  kindly invited along by the wonderful Stirchley Happenings Community Group, who also run the Stirchley Community Market, to come and talk about the Media Archive for Central England’s (MACE) Full Circle Film Search Project.

Stirchley Happenings Community Group

Film fans were greeted with smiles and the chance to purchase popcorn and cakes as refreshments for their film. The screening took place upstairs at Stirchley Community Church and enticed an audience of over 100 people, which was a fantastic turnout considering the treacherous weather conditions and icy streets outside.

Travelling Bug House Audience

Stirchley Community ChurchAs a way of letting members of the local community know about the search for film and home-movies in their area Stirchley Happenings and MACE were able to work together and arrange a short screening of local archive footage to feature as a short before the main festive screeening of Frank Capra's film - 'It's A Wonderful Life'.

MACE archive film screening

 

We Need Your Home-movies!!

Stirchley Happenings Members Chris and Roxie take money for tickets.

Stirchley Happenings are acting as a collection point for film and home-movies found in the local area.

 

By showing a selection of clips from the MACE archive which related to the surrounding areas was a great way of showing the Stirchley

Great feedback for Stirchley Happenings in response to the 3rd Travelling Bug House Screening. community what exists in the MACE archive at present and why it is important that we continue to add to it. A real afternoon treat!

Good Old Film!

 

If you have any cinefilm, or home-movies that you or your family have made and are interested in having digitised as part of the Heritage Lottery Full Circle Project please get in touch with your local group representative Chris Swann – 07966660771 or email: chrisstirchleyhappenings@gmail.com

For more information about MACE, or for advice on how to care for your films. Please check out our website: www.macearchive.org or call the MACE team on 0116 252 5066

Full Circle Curator Lucie Kerley talks to BHBN’s radio presenter Brian Henderson about searching for Midlands Home-movies!

BHBN Radio volunteer staff, Ian, Robert and Brian in the studio.

Yesterday, I was delighted to be invited onto the BHBN  Hospital ‘Words & Music’ radio show http://www.bhbn.net/HISTORY%202.htm – which is based at Birmingham City Hospital.

I was first approached by Robert Bartlett, who is the producer on the Wednesday show from 6pm – 7pm. Presenter Brian Henderson interviewed me about my current job working for MACE as a curator for the Full Circle Project.

The Full Circle Project works alongside Midlands Community Groups to search for hidden films in the community.

He asked some very interesting questions about why it is important to preserve these cinefilms and also how the money from the Heritage Lottery Grant gets spent. Brian also mentioned that his father also shot some cinefilm footage of their family life in Birmingham and also family holidays.

The BHBN network was founded in 1952  by Hon. Alderman Mrs Freda Cocks OBE as the Birmingham Hospital Commentaries Association (BHCA). It became the BHBA in 1955 and BHBN in 1972. It adopted the name of Birmingham’s  BHBN in 1992, and adopted it’s current broadcast name of BHBN HOSPITAL RADIO in 2006

Nationally, hospital radio first started life in York in 1926.

The Network was a pioneer in many aspects of its broadcasting. Time spent in hospital back in the early days was very different to today where day case surgery is common. In the 1950s and 1960s a two-week stay in hospital was the ‘norm’ and as such the stations volunteers could forge good relationships with patients. ” An extract from the BHBN website.

The BHBN Radio show broadcasts daily to City Hospital, Good Hope Hospital, Heartlands Hospital, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, The Women’s Hospital. www.bhbn.net tel: 0121 554 5522

Belbroughton History Society visit MACE archive to see the Full Circle Project’s cinefilm digitisation process.

 

Sarah and John from Belbroughton History Society visit the MACE archive

Merry Christmas Midlands from MACE’s Full Circle Project!

Over the past 6 months we have collected nearly 50 collections as part of the Full Circle Project’s search for Midlands home-movies! It has been a truly phenomenal response to an appeal for members of the midlands communities to search through their attics and dig out any old cinefilm or home -movies they may have stashed away.

As part of the project we are working alongside around 60 community groups from across the Midlands to search for these hidden gems. On Tuesday we had the pleasure of a visit from Sarah and John, members of Belbroughton History Society http://www.belbroughton.com/History.htm. They had expressed an interest in seeing what happens once the cine-film that has been found during their Full Circle Film search comes to the archive. It was a great day and we were able to explain the different procedures that the films must go through before they are copied and transferred into a digital format which the depositors and groups and members of the public can then enjoy watching for years to come.

When film initially comes to MACE it  has to be assessed – the film collection and it’s containers will be inspected for titles or any other give away information to see if  there is anything of particular social/historical relevance or value to the Midlands region.

Cinefilm collection

An accession number is then allocated  to each item in the collection –  e.g. 001/2010/020  – and this is then logged onto the MACE Accession log  along with the date the film came in, the date it was accessioned, the depositors name & address, quantity, gauge and whether a personal file has been set up and a deposit agreement signed.

We then create a receipt listing of all the film titles in the collection, including any related materials that people wish to deposit – such as projectors, viewers or splicers. This receipt is then printed and sent out to the depositor/donator who owns the collection and also to the participating Full Circle Group to keep for their own records.

The receipt is also placed in their depositor/donator/owner’s personal file which is held at MACE alongside a copy of their signed donation agreement and any other information about the titles in the collection.

Any films that are in the collection that are deemed appropriate and  need to be copied will then be prepared for copying: new white spacer is placed at the beginning and end of the reel and any torn perforations are repaired.  So for example, if there are a number of smaller 50ft reels in the collection these will be transferred onto one large 400ft reel to enable the transfer process to be faster and more efficient.

Once the films are prepared a new entry is created in the MACE catalogue for each title in the collection, so that they will appear searchable on the MACE website: www.macearchive.org, at this stage there is no video clip attached to the catalogue entry.

The film collection then has to be put onto a priority copying list which MACE’s Full Circle Technician Andrew Jenkins then works his way through. Using the Flash Scan and Flash Transfer equipment purchased with Heritage Lottery Fund grant, awarded to the project which will run until March 2013,  we are able to convert  a number of film gauges: Standard 8mm, Super 8mm, 9.5mm, and 16mm cinefilm. We also have the equipment to transfer other moving image formats such as: Beta SP, 1 inch tape, D2, Mini-DV & DV-cam.

MACE's Full Circle Technician Andrew Jenkins

The transfer process can take some time, as films are copied in real time and any adjustments to colour, saturation, white balance and exposure also have to be considered during this time. Once the original material has been transferred into a digital format, an archival copy LTO tape is made and also a viewing copy.

Andrew then trims the footage to make sure that the clips appear as they should do once they are on burnt to a DVD. The owner (depositor/donator) and the Full Circle Participating Group can then choose to have a DVD of the material which will be playable on the majority of DVD players or they can have an editable version – should they wish to compile their own screenings of the material found for public viewing.  Our cataloguer Catherine then looks through the material and keywords it as thoroughly as possibly to make sure that each title is accessible by members of the public. Eventually all material found during the Full Circle Project will be viewable online – on the www.macearchive.org website. Please visit our website if you require any more information about how to care for your cinefilm, or contact us here at MACE on 0116 252 5066 and we will be happy to help.

Full Circle Project - A public screening of archive material from the MACE archive.

If you know of anyone who has a film collection that deserves preserving, please get in touch with Full Circle Curator: Lucie Kerley on 0116 252 5931 or email lk99@le.ac.uk.  If you are a local history or community group wishing to take part in the Full Circle Project and are interested in searching for old cinefilm in your area – please get in touch.

Photographs courtesy of Lucie Kerley.

British Castle Enthusiasts – We Need Your Help! Can you identify the location of this British Castle?

Whilst viewing a film collection recently found by the Belbroughton History Society – we  came across a trip to a castle which overlooks either a river or an estuary? The collection is one of many that has been plucked from obscurity during the 3 year Heritage Lottery Funded Project. Members of groups scattered across both Full Circle Community’s search for film & home-movies. The hunt for old films will continue until March 2013.

A first glance, the reel which is labelled Evesham, we thought might be Chepstow Castle, but we can’t be sure  doesn’t appear to be?

Have you visited this Castle?

 

If so please get in touch with Full Circle Curator: Lucie Kerley – email:lk99@le.ac.uk

Every little helps in terms of cataloguing this film as thoroughly as possible.

Thank you!

From 500ft Hereford Bulls to a Dr that travels by Horse & Cart. Herefordshire Historians on the Hunt for Hidden Home-movies!

Audience member Mark Robinson watches the Full Circle Screening of material from the MACE ATV collection.

On Monday, 15th November, I was kindly invited along by Senior Archivist Rhys Griffith to the Herefordshire History & Archives Forum to discuss the MACE (Media Archive for Central England) Full Circle Project.

Tea, biscuits and a Full Circle Film search.

  The Full Circle film search project is funded by the Heritage Lottery with the aim being to work with community groups in order to preserve the people of the Midlands home-movies and then copy them into a format that as many people will be able to enjoy watching once more.

MACE archive film screening to promote Full Circle.

 The project will run until March 2013 and is searching for Midlands related moving image materials captured by the people who are at the very heart of their community.          

 

Herefordshire Record Office workers pour over a local map.

The Herefordshire History and Archives forum was attended by representative from a number of groups, including:

• Jeff White – Cradley Heritage Group
• Pam Hatherly – Leintwardine History Society
• Anne Abbotts –  Wellington Heath Archive Group
• David Clark – Fownhope History Group
• Barbara Ferris – Dinedor Heritage Group
• Mal Mason – Eardisley History Group
• Dave Tristram – Herefordshire Council – Regeneration
• Anita Syers-Gibson – Independent Volunteer
• Barry Lawrence – Much Cowarne History Group
• Alex Hoyle – Bromyard and District Local History Society
• Mark Robinson – Webb-SHARE
• Sue Knox – Herefordshire Council – Museum Development
• Irene Orchard – Archive of Cider Pomology

Members of the Herefordshire History & Archive Forum.

 

Rhys Griffith - Senior Archivist at The Herefordshire Record Office

After catching up on the latest activities from each member, I gave a short presentation about the MACE archive Full Circle Project, and discussed why it was important that communities get involved in preserving their communities screen heritage.

As a way of promoting the Full Circle Project’s search for film, I put on a film, kindly compiled by MACE programmer Phil Leach,  showing clips taken from a selection of the ATV collection that is held at MACE.

The clips were  from taken from news stories that had made headlines over the past 40+ years. A glimpse of life in Herefordshire and some of the well-known characters that play a part in the making of Herefordshire history.

Smiles all round at memories of old Herefordshire.Dr Cyril Francis on his horse and cart doing the rounds, Hereford.

For more information on the Full Circle Project or to find out who your local participating group is please contact Lucie Kerley – Full Circle Project Curator at MACE. Tel: 0116 252 5931 0r Mob: 07919 896 505 email: lk99@le.ac.uk

To see more clips of Hereford or from other parts of the Midlands region check out www.macearchive.org and take a look at our online catalogue.

Photographs copyright Lucie Kerley.

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

Royal Visits, Midland Red, & Local Industry remembered at Smethwick Heritage Centre Roadshow Film Screening

A variety of stalls dedicated to Smethwick Heritage

On Saturday, 6th November St Mary’s Church in Bearwood,  hosted the 2010 Smethwick Heritage Centre Roadshow.

In the Church Hall were several stalls of memorabilia and old photographs and documents that people could look through at their leisure. There was also a Tombola and a number of stalls dedicated to The much-loved Midland Red Buses.

It was a celebration of all things Smethwick, not only including The Midland Red Buses, but also Royal Visit’s to local factories and interviews with local residents about housing conditions in the area. The day also paid tribute to all the Smethwickians who fought for the country during both World War One and World War Two.

It drew in a huge crowd from in and around Smethwick and also some people who had long since moved from the area dropped by to see old friends and reminisce.  

I was kindly invited along to represent MACE’s (The Media Archive for Central England) Full Circle Project and discuss the importance of searching out films and home-movies made by Midlands communities and preserving the film in an archive.

There was also a screening of footage from the MACE archive collection that had been compiled especially by Curator Phil Leach, who is in charge of cataloguing, researching and programming screenings for members of the public. The screening consisted of footage taken from Midlands News and also ATV that is held at MACE. There was a great response from the audience to the clips shown throughout the hour long screenings that took place in both the morning and afternoon in St Mary’s Church which made a great venue for showing the old films.

I asked Chris Sutton, Development Worker for The Smethwick Heritage Centre http://www.smethwick-heritage.co.uk to tell us a little more about the work done by the members of The Heritage Centre and what they thought of the day.

“Smethwick Heritage Centre Trust was started by an independant group to capture the history of Smethwick. The home-base is a musuem which was the former lodge in Victoria Park, which houses the collection of artefacts on display. Smethwick was right at the heart of the industrial revolution and was home to many world famous companies such as GKN, Chance Brothers, Birmid and M&B. All these, and many more companies, are reflected in the museum alongside displays on the arts and crafts, local government, schools and both world  wars.

As well as the museum the Trust also gets out into the community, working with schools, sheltered accomodation and puts on four annual “roadshow” events which are attended each time by several hundred current and former Smethwickians. These latter events are always popular and the addition at the November 2010 roadshow of the MACE film was extremely well received. At least 120 people watched the film all the way through with others popping in and out. Response was highly favourable with requests for it to be shown again and for other clips.

 For us it was invaluable as a tool to get people talking about the past and bringing up long forgotten memories. There were one or two present who came forward to say they have films – which we had not been informed about before – and it prompted others to go and have a look in their cupboards and at the very least I would expect we get more photographs coming back in.

Because Smethwick had so many huge companies based there it does seem likely that there would have been plenty of archive films in their possession. It could well be worthwhile to start looking into the whereabouts of company archives. We are at the moment putting in a Lottery bid to set up an oral history archive pertaining to these companies and as part of that we will be organising a search along those lines.

Our sincere thanks are due to Lucie Kerley and all at MACE (especially Phil!!) for their help and support.”

The day proved a success with members of the public coming forward to discuss both personal cinefilm collections and also other collections that they were aware of that relate to the Smethwick Community. The MACE and Full Circle Team are looking forward to seeing more home-movies come to light as a result of public screenings of archive film like this.

If you have any home-movies relating to Smethwick or the wider Midlands area, please get in touch to hear more about how the Heritage Lottery Funded Full Circle Project can help you to preserve your films.

Contact:

Full Circle Curator: Lucie Kerley. Telephone: 0116 252 5931 or 07919 896 505 or email: lk99@le.ac.uk

Now available:

The Black Country 1969 DVD only  £14.99

Made by ATV in 1969, this documentary is a poignant and atmospheric profile of the people and character of the Black Country. The DVD is available to buy from a number of outlets including Amazon www.amazon.co.uk, The Black Country Bugle www.blackcountrybugle.co.uk , Broadfield House & Glass Museum, TeeT shirts in Cradley Heath www.teetshirts.com  and also from MACE www.macearchive.org  itself.

Emma Morley – Business & Commercial Development Manager at MACE – esm8@le.ac.uk or telephone 0116 252 5062