The collection

• Places
• Subjects
• Productions
• Film-makers
• Related collections

Selected films

Contact and access

East Anglian Film Archive - The Collection

The East Anglian Film Archive collection comprises over forty thousand films and over ten thousand video tapes. The film and video collection includes mainly non-fiction material such as advertising films, corporate videos, community projects, documentaries, family and personal films, home videos, local newsreels, publicity films, educational material, travelogues, and films by civic bodies and other regional organisations. The archive's television collection make up the largest series in the archive in terms of volume of material and includes regional broadcasting by Anglia Television and BBC East from 1959 to the present day.

Places

The East Anglian Film Archive collection extends across the counties of Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Norfolk and Suffolk and the areas of the unitary authorities of Luton, Peterborough, Southend-on-Sea and Thurrock. There are significant collections of material on the major cities and towns of the region - Bedford, Cambridge, Ipswich, Luton and Norwich - as well as the smaller towns including Braintree, Bury St Edmunds, Chelmsford, Colchester, Harlow, Hertford, King's Lynn, Stevenage, Thetford, Welwyn Garden City and Wisbech as well as villages and smaller communities around the region. The rural areas of the East of England region feature particularly strongly in the collection through recordings of agricultural work and the associated industries, as well as film of the wildlife, leisure pursuits and landscape including the Fens and the Norfolk Broads. The archive holds collections illustrating the main seaside holiday destinations in the region such as Clacton, Cromer, Great Yarmouth, Hunstanton, Lowestoft, Sheringham, Southend-on-Sea and Southwold recorded through amateur holiday films, local newsreels, tourist promotional films and television items. The collection also reflects maritime life off the coast of the region through films of shipping and the fishing, oil and gas industry, and the work of ports including Felixstowe and Harwich.

Subjects and periods

The East Anglian Film Archive holds moving images from the region dating from 1896 to the present day and is continually adding to its collection. The archive holds material covering important dates in the region's history including strong collections of local newsreel film from the first few decades of the twentieth century and material from around the region during the First and Second World Wars. Subjects that are particularly well represented in the collection include images of workers, communities, agriculture and fishing, industries, transport, the effects of the weather, popular culture, holidays, personal history and family life. Where the film has a sound track, this provides an important additional resource for the researcher. Apart from its information content and the evidence of the attitudes presented, the sound track provides a record of speech patterns, accent and dialect, and sometimes music, actual sound or added sound effects.

Early film and cinema - The earliest film image in the archive dates from 1896 and it records fishing trawlers leaving Yarmouth - by the turn of the century drifters had replaced trawlers. The original nitrate has been copied and preserved by the bfi National Film and Television Archive. Other early films in the collection include Norwich streets in 1902, Bury St Edmunds Great Historical Pageant 1907, a visit by King Edward VII to Norwich in 1909, the Fleet at Southend 1909, 'A Dream of Toyland' animated by Arthur Melbourne Cooper, military manoeuvres 1912 and Edwardian scenes of boating on the Norfolk Broads.

War-time - The archive holds some notable films of the region dating from the First World War era including general images of the region during the war as well as war-time subjects such as local and national news film of women replacing men in agricultural work, King George V inspecting his troops at Cambridge, female fire brigade members jumping from second storey windows, the surrender of German U boats at the end of the war, the 1919 Norwich funeral of Nurse Edith Cavell who was shot in Belgium early in the War, and the unveiling of war memorials. The archive also holds a BBC documentary on the zeppelin attacks over the East Coast during the war.

Second World War footage in the collection includes official public information films, local and national news stories and personal film records (some in colour) of subjects including defence preparations, the Home Guard, practice at setting up a field hospital, military speedboats on the Norfolk Broads, 'Salute The Soldier' and 'War Weapons Week' events and the bomb damaged towns. The Archive holds several films shot by American servicemen while stationed in the region who recorded life on the airbases, the planes returning from bombing missions, and their leisure time in the surrounding area. Much of this film is in colour since the American visitors were not subject to the same restrictions on filming and camera stock.

Home and family life - The archive holds a large number of substantial film collections made by independent and amateur film-makers recording their families, home life, outings, holidays and personal interests. These provide testimony to aspects of life not reflected in commercial and cinema films. The material spans almost a century, starting with the family films of professional cinema families, with small gauge film making represented from the 1920s to the 1970s, and home video cameras taking over from the 1980s. The range of these collections is too broad to summarise, but subjects frequently filmed include children, family celebrations, leisure time and places visited, as well as everyday life in the home, and occasionally the workplace. To document some of these collections, the archive has made audio recordings of reminiscences and views of the film-makers and others associated with the films where possible. In 2002 Anglia Television broadcast a ten-part series dedicated to the family films held in the East Anglian Film Archive entitled 'The Way We Were', now available on video, and a second series is in preparation.

Leisure - The archive holds a significant amount of material on leisure activities including the region's holiday resorts and attractions. The material includes stories from cine-magazines such as Eve's Film Review from Pathé which were popular in the 1920s and 30s and featured boating holidays on the Norfolk Broads. Television news items and programmes continue to feature leisure in the region and the impact of tourism on the local environment and infrastructure. There are informational and promotional films from a number of visitor centres around the region and the archive has the film collections of holiday companies Hoseasons and Blakes who used film to advertise their boating holidays on the Broads and rivers, and made instructional films for people new to the rules of the waterways. Promotional films were made by the town and borough councils of Clacton, Cromer, Great Yarmouth and Southend-on-Sea, and also by the holiday camps and tourist attractions. National and local celebrations of coronations, the Festival of Britain, royal visits and local calendar traditions were filmed for the newsreels. These are also recorded in the amateur films made by visitors, along with parades, festivals, pageants and sports.

Rural life - Much of the archive's collection illustrates the agricultural heritage of the region. Examples include four films made for schools in the early 1930s showing each season's work on a typical farm; an independent film maker's record of a farm worker's day in 1937, sheep dipping and shearing, documentary and educational films on broadcast sowing, ploughing, harvesting and working with horses. There is a large collection of films about the research development, growing, harvesting and processing of sugar beet. Second World War films from the Ministry of Agriculture focus on increasing efficiency and making the most of the land. An amateur film of 1943 records the effort to prepare rough fenland for food production and the removal of buried bog oaks which prevented use of farm machinery. Other films deal with crop spraying, land drainage - particularly in The Fens, fertilisers, the products of agricultural machinery companies, and more recently countryside issues such as foot and mouth disease, coypu, fox hunting and the changes in village life.

Transport - The East Anglian Film Archive holds many films demonstrating the history of transport construction and services in the region. There are films covering the region's railways, buses and trams, cars, lorries, horse and carts, farm vehicles and bicycles. Examples include scenes of the roads and traffic in the 1920s, the manufacturing of trolley buses and coaches, the development and subsequent reduction of the railway network in the region, film of the working day and social activities of Norwich bus drivers and conductors in the 1940s, street planning works in 1950s Cambridge and Norwich, and amateur enthusiasts' films of local railway branch lines in the 1950s and 60s.

Coastal and waterways - The East of England region has a strong history of fishing and related industry and maritime interests. Herring fishing off the east coast from Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft has been captured on film since the turn of the twentieth century until its demise in the 1950s. The archive holds a great variety of films on fishing subjects including newsreels, professional documentaries, educational films, amateur films, company promotional films and television items. These films show the influx of Scottish fishing fleets in East Anglia, the fishing boats, including trawlers and steam drifters, the men who worked on them, the mending of nets, the 'fisher girls' who gutted the fish, and the surrounding industries such as the canning factory at Great Yarmouth, basket making, rope making, boat building and the supply of ice.

Other material on the coastal areas and waterways of East Anglia include local news film of paddle steamers at Clacton and Southwold in the 1930s, amateur film of the coastal floods in Essex, Suffolk and Norfolk in 1953, documentary film of coastal erosion, the work of lifeboats, safety at sea and shipwrecks, construction of a sea fort, 1960s and 70s debate about North Sea gas terminals in Norfolk, as well as amateur and promotional films of seaside holidays, beach huts and pleasure boating and film on the naval history of the region.

Health, welfare and education - A variety of health and welfare issues are seen through film in the collection. The work of Papworth Hospital and Village Settlement, a Cambridgeshire community for people with tuberculosis is recorded through promotional films from 1918-1924 and 1935, and the work of the Mundesley Sanatorium, also treating tuberculosis was filmed around 1947. The archive holds a number of films on public services in the region from various dates, including a 1950s film on taking a child into care, as well as public information films on countryside behaviour, riding a bike and being a responsible citizen. The work of the children's charity Barnardos in the 1940s and 1950s can also be seen in the archive, including film of Barnardos children evacuated from London to the region during the Second World War. Other examples include film of a Norfolk holiday camp for people with physical disabilities, 'poor children's' outings in the 1920s and 1930s, film of the work of churches and hospitals in the region as well as many films illustrating the schools and other educational and social welfare work. The archive holds two former educational film libraries, from Essex and Norfolk County Councils, which contain films from many countries on a vast range of subjects which were purchased and loaned for screening in the classroom, spanning the period from the 1950s to the 1980s when video took over.

Recent and current acquisitions - The archive has commissioned and made a number of films over recent years that capture elements of contemporary or disappearing heritage in the East of England region. The archive has recorded, for example, the conservation work being done on the Norfolk Broads, celluloid production at Brantham in Essex, factory workers during the last few months before closure of the Nestlé chocolate factory in Norwich, the construction of the Norfolk southern bypass in 1997, as well as changing crafts and industries in the region. Anglia Television also offers a grant and the possibility of screening for first-time film-makers and along with other community initiatives, this has helped to generate new material for the archive.

Production Types

Amateur film - The Archive holds hundreds of collections of amateur film. Collections which have received detailed listing or documentation include Barrett Jenkins of Southwold 1920s - 1930s, Ben Culey of Thetford 1930s - 1940s, Charles Scott of Norwich 1930s - 1970s, the Blaxland family 1930s - 1950s, Joyce Allingham (sister of writer Margery Allingham) 1940s - 1960s. Some collections are quite simply 'home movies', but as well as family and personal records, amateur collections can include dramas, comedies, animation and films influenced by a range of professional film genres including newsreels, documentaries and instructional films.

An extension of the amateur category might be better described as independent film making in that it includes the work of amateur film makers with professional skills, prolific output and highly original ideas. Some have worked alone, some have worked with others in small film units or cine clubs. Their films were generally made for a small audience but were intended to be seen outside the home, and some were entered in competitions or exhibited to other independent film makers. The Archive holds the entire output of the Clacton and Colchester Cine Clubs.

Corporate material - Company films and corporate videos made for publicity, staff training, instruction and business in the archive include the collections of Norwich Union, Ransomes, Fisons, Baker Perkins, Bird's Eye, Colman's, boat building firm Brooke Marine, engineering firm Lawrence Scott & Electromotors of Norwich, and many other companies in the East of England region. Subjects include film of production lines and design studios, advertising of company products and job opportunities, health and safety awareness films and company histories. Examples include 'From the Orchard to the Home', a 1931 film almost an hour long showing the fields and harvesting of fruit and vegetables, and the jam making and canning processes, as well as recreational facilities for staff. In 1987, the archive made a new film of the Chivers factory comparing contemporary production to the 1930s footage. The advertising films for Colman's include early animation and spoofs of cinema films, including a set of films promoting the 'Mustard Club', a scheme developed to advertise their mustard products in the 1920s and 30s.

Tourist promotional films - The archive also has a number of tourist publicity and promotional films in its collection. Many such films were made by tourist agencies, local councils and by British Transport Films, aiming to promote the area as a travel destination. Destinations promoted on film include Clacton-on-Sea, Cromer, Great Yarmouth, Felixstowe, Sheringham, Southend-on-Sea and the Norfolk Broads. The earliest such film in the archive dates from 1923 showing scenes and popular attractions of Great Yarmouth. Films made in the 1930s through the 1950s and to the 1970s often featured popular personalities of the time including Tommy Cooper, Jack Hobbs, Roy Hudd and Johnny Morris.

Television - The collection includes BBC East and Anglia Television output, both companies broadcasting in the region from 1959 to the present day, supplemented by acquisition or off-air recording of other programmes relating to the region. BBC programmes include long standing news programmes such as BBC 'Look East' and 'Anglia News'.

Local topicals and Newsreels - The archive holds copies of a number of key national newsreel items from companies such as Pathé, Topical Budget and Gaumont illustrating life and events in the East of England region from the 1910s to the 1950s. Examples include the attendance of King George at the Royal Agricultural Society show in Norwich in 1911, film of the wedding of pioneer aviator Claude Grahame-White and Miss Dorothy Chadwell Taylor in 1912 as well as events and scenes such as airshows, fishermen mending their nets, beach scenes, royal visits, floods, official openings, film of a private zoo in Southwold, scenes on the Broads, the lavender harvest at Hunstanton, and the Birds Eye factory at Yarmouth showing “the latest method of quick freezing peas”. The archive also holds many local topical films. One of the earliest is 'Children's Matinee' 1914 showing the crowd of children waiting outside the Vaudeville Cinema in Colchester. Local newsreels or 'topicals' were often made by cinema owners of local events and scenes, usually including crowds and shown in local cinemas to draw in audiences to see themselves and their neighbourhood on screen. The heyday for local topical newsreels was in the 1920s and 30s and the archive holds many examples from the region.

Animation - Ipswich was the home to an animation studio that had hopes of rivalling the success of Disney in the 1930s. The studio produced a series of cartoons of 'Steve the Horse' based on a newspaper strip cartoon and the archive holds some examples. The archive also holds several animated advertisements from the 1920s through to the 1960s including Colman's adverts featuring animated mustard jars, vitamin tablets, 'Robinaid' drinks bottles, starched clothes, and flying petticoats. The archive has also recently acquired the collection of films created by amateur animator Douglas Butcher in the 1950s and 60s.

Key film-makers

In a collection reflecting the work of a great many non-professional film makers, or professionals working in film making genres outside the mainstream cinema and national television, the film credits inevitably list a great many unfamiliar names. Many await research and recognition for their film making work.

The archive has received collections direct from a number of significant film-makers who have worked in the region, and their families. These include Joyce Allingham whose collection contains personal records of village life as well as professional films, John Chear who made a number of wildlife films in the 1950s including 'A Suffolk Heath' and 'The Reed Marsh', Douglas Fisher, Malcolm Freegard, David Kenten, Richard Pike who made films promoting Southend-on-Sea, and Philip Wayre, the naturalist and film maker.

John Grierson directed 'Drifters' in 1929, the major documentary associated with the region, and many of the professional films in the collection including public information films, advertising, newsreel, educational, instructional and propaganda films and documentaries, are associated with film makers of national reputation.

The collection of Michael J. Ham includes his amateur fiction production and his professional work for the BBC as a young man being trained in television production. He made the beautifully shot fiction film 'Her Village Summer' in 1966 about a teenage girl in an Essex village. The archive also holds all of Michael Ham's film scripts and related documents.

The archive holds several Gaumont British Instructional films by Mary Field who recorded the farming year 1934/5 on a Suffolk farm and presented the material for classroom use. She went on to champion educational and children's film on a national level.

Denis Mitchell is best known for his 1970s work with Granada Television, including 'Morning in the Streets' and his World In Action portrait of Quentin Crisp. He made a small number of important documentary films while living in Norfolk including 'Never and Always' from 1977.

Other related collections

The East Anglian Film Archive holds a number of collections of related and supporting material besides its film and video material. This includes film equipment and artefacts such as Carus Bedford’s Bioscope projector which he used to tour films around Suffolk in the first decade of the twentieth century, and the cameras and projectors used by many film makers working on different film gauges at different times. The archive also holds documents, photographs and diaries relating to a few of the collections, and also some film scripts and interviews with film-makers.

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