East Anglian Film Archive Online

November 26, 2011 at 1:52 pm | Posted in Learning Stuff | Leave a comment
Tags: East Anglian Film Archive, Old Shuck, Ted Ellis, Witness in Brass

On Thursday I went up to Norwich for the launch of the East Anglian Film Archive’s new website and digital archive. This contains 200 hours’ worth of films from the East of England region, from 1896 to the (almost) present, all available to watch online for free. It’s a fantastic achievement although sadly the launch comes at a time when the archive has had its staff and funding cut and has had to curb its operations for the foreseeable future.

Here’s a quick pick of 5 Famous Five friendly films to try (but please explore further as there are some incredible films looking at slum housing in Ipswich, the art of paper marbling, lavender growing and much more)

1. Witness in Brass (pictured above) Two boys (quite Julian and Dick-esque) rub church brasses under the guidance of a friendly Essex vicar.

2. Old Shuck A spooky tale of Mr Leslie Goodwin’s sighting of Old Shuck, the Black Ghost Dog of North Norfolk. On a par with stories of ‘spook trains’ and the numerous other tales told by some of the old salts that populate Enid Blyton’s books.

3. Ted Ellis Learn about nature with the legendary Norfolk naturalist Ted Ellis. A good companion to Blyton’s Round the Year series of nature books.

4. The Flood The adventures of four children who get stranded in a Fens farmhouse by a dramatic flood.

5. The New Gypsies (Caravans). An Anglia news report from 1961 on the rising popularity of caravan holidays. The Five were well ahead of the game here (see Five Go off in a Caravan)

Oh, and because I can’t quite resist throwing in one for George, here’s one more, a curious BBC Look East piece from 1977, Dog Psychiatrist. Obviously no other canines are quite as smart as Timmy.