641-660

641  STAMFORD SCHOOL SPORTS
Stamford  c1960
0.5 min  Colour  16mm  Silent
A brief item showing three athletes of various ages receiving their trophies.  The headmaster, Mr Basil Deed, also appears.

642  BOXING DAY MEET
Stamford  c1958
1.75 min  Colour  16mm  Silent
Large crowds turn out to watch as the Burghley Hunt meet outside the Central Cinema and ride off towards open country.

643  DEEPING AGRICULTURAL SHOW
Market Deeping  c1957
1 min  Colour  16mm  Silent
A prize bull and other livestock are paraded, and children on horseback ride in procession round the ring, followed by horses and hounds from the Hunt.

644  TRAFFIC CONGESTION
Stamford  1961
1.25 min  Colour  16mm  Silent
Scenes filmed in the town clearly indicate the plight of motorists and delivery drivers obliged to grapple with traffic congestion in the narrow streets.

645  VISIT BY QUEEN ELIZABETH II
Stamford  1961
2 min  Colour  16mm  Silent
A brief visit by the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh to mark Stamford’s quincentenary as a borough.  The royal limousine is seen passing through flag-bedecked streets and arriving at Burghley House.

646  OUT & ABOUT AT THE WEEKEND
Various  1957
4 min  Colour  16mm  Silent
Motorcycle racing at Wansford, the Peterborough Regatta, and an Air Show on Battle of Britain Sunday at North Luffenham.

Note:  The complete film, some 10 minutes in length, includes items from the Norfolk Broads and coast.

647  LANGTOFT SAILING CLUB
Langtoft  1959-63
14.25 min  Colour  16mm  Silent
Miscellaneous footage of dinghy sailing and racing on the flooded gravel pits at Langtoft; two boys launch a home made rowing boat; club members build a new clubhouse to replace the caravan which had previously served refreshments; Lord Burghley presents trophies after a regatta; and members snowball and walk on the frozen lake during the winter of 1963.

648  THE PAC-A-PUNT
Langtoft  1961
5.5 min  B/W  16mm  Silent
Filmed to promote this ingenious folding boat which could be carried flat on the roof of a car and assembled in minutes to enable fishermen (for example) to take to the waters.  Designed by the late Frederick Clegg, an engineer who lived near Stamford, and built at his Letchworth factory, it consisted of plywood panels with rubberised canvas hinges at the corners.  We see it assembled, launched on the lake and rowed, after which a small outboard motor is fitted, followed by an enormous one which sends the fragile craft hurtling across the lake at a speed which must have been exhilarating or terrifying according to temperament.  Sad to relate, the boat was as costly to build as a ‘proper’ dinghy, and did not prove commercially viable.

649  PRESENTING THE POTATO
Various  1959
8.5 min  Colour  16mm  Sound
With the rapid spread of supermarkets, housewives were less and less willing to buy their potatoes loose and muddy, straight out of hessian sacks.  Instead, they wanted them washed and pre-packed in plastic bags.  The folding boat’s designer Frederick Clegg (see above) successfully devised and built some of the earliest plant for cleaning and bagging potatoes for sale in supermarkets.  This film, though of limited pictorial quality, shows the whole cleaning and packing set-up at work in the days when it was still a startling novelty.

650  FOOD PACKAGING MACHINERY
Various  1957
5.75 min  B/W  16mm  Sound
Salads, fruit and poultry, being pre-packed for sale in supermarkets, using newly designed plant of the same general kind as was used for potatoes.

651  COAL VENDING MACHINE
Letchworth, etc  1961
2.75 min  B/W  16mm  Sound
As ill-fated as the folding boat (see Acc No 648) was Frederick Clegg’s ingenious coin-in-the-slot machine for selling small quantities of coal.  Intended to benefit flat-dwellers and others for whom the traditional one ton delivery was impractical, the machine is shown being used and heartily endorsed by Lord Robens, Chairman of the National Coal Board; but sadly it failed to catch on – though the retailing of coal in relatively small bags did indeed become quite widespread.

652  TULIP PARADES & SPRINGFIELDS
Spalding  1966/7
25 min  Colour  Std 8mm  Silent
The 1966 parade passing the V.I.P. stand in Churchgate.  Scenes at Springfields in 1966 (its inaugural year) and 1967.  1967 Parade floats on display in the Halley Stewart Field.

653  WEDDING AT PARISH CHURCH
Spalding  1978
13.75 min  Colour  Std 8mm  Silent
A traditional white wedding with all the trimmings, attended by numerous family members and guests.  The Reception at Springfields is also featured.  An item likely to be of great social interest in years to come.

654  EAST COAST FLOODS
Mablethorpe  1953
2 min  B/W  16mm  Silent
Dramatic footage of flood damage filmed two days after the disastrous floods that occurred on the night of 31st January 1953.  Usefully supplements the footage in Acc Nos 137 and 294.

655  FORDSON TRACTOR HARROWING
North Somercotes  c1956
2 min  B/W  16mm  Silent
Only a small patch of ground is being harrowed.  Good footage of the tractor for Fordson enthusiasts.

656  FINNINGLEY AIR DISPLAY
Finningley  1966
11 min  Colour Std 8mm  Silent
Fly-past by contemporary and vintage aircraft. Filmed from amongst the crowds, but with most of the planes seen to good advantage.

657  STAMFORD SCHOOL SWIMMING SPORTS &  O.T.C.
Stamford  c 1946
1.75 min  B/W  16mm  Silent
Boys (some in swimming costumes with cross-over shoulder straps) compete at the Town pool, and a small squad of cadets parade in O.T.C. style caps and, rather suprisingly, shorts.

658  SKATING ON THE RIVER WITHAM
Boston  1963
3.75 min  Colour  Std 8mm  Silent
Informal scenes as family and friends (mainly adults) show off their skill – or lack of it – on the frozen river.

659  INSPECTION OF BUOYS AND BEACONS
Boston  c1967
3 min  Colour  Std 8mm  Silent
Historically, the Mayor of Boston had a duty to carry out an annual inspection of these vital aids to navigation amongst the shifting sandbanks of The Wash.  But by this time (as in 1948, see Acc No 113) the event had become a purely social occasion, the most important feature on board being a very well stocked bar.

660  BOSTON TRADES FAIR
Boston  1967
6.25 min  Colour  Std 8mm  Silent
The fourth in a triennial series held in Central Park as a show case for local industry and the town’s principal retailers.  The marquees are crammed with everything from fancy light fittings to the latest must-haves such as dishwashers, food mixers, and rotissomats. A mobile installation by Rowland Emmet adds the finishing touch.