Reverend Mace: Birmingham and Rugby School 1940s and 1950s

Summary

A compilation of events held at Rugby School and around Birmingham in the 1940s and 1950s filmed by Reverend A.W.V. Mace. Including the winter of 1947.

Year:

1950

Duration:

0:15:49

Film type:

Black & White / Silent

Genre:

Amateur Film

Master format:

16mm

Description

The opening section is later than the subsequent sections and was filmed c1959. We see the inside of a lecture theatre as students enter followed by views in a large workshop (likely to be at the University of Birmingham). Night shots of buses and traffic in Birmingham follows. We then have a hockey match on the field at the university, badminton being played indoors and views in a busy common room. After a brief shot of a London underground train we continue with views of Birmingham Corporation trams (towards the end of the service, probably around 1953 including a tram on route 79 to Pype Hayes Park).

The next section is probably early post war and shows various views of steam locomotives including a train ascending an incline.

We continue with film taken at Rugby School beginning with football being played on a snow covered pitch during the winter of 1947. A group of boys are then seen clearing the pitch of snow before another match follows. A brief shot of a steam locomotive in snow (captioned 'Transport in Difficulties' is next). The next caption indicates it is now March (1948) and hockey can be played. We continue with a visit to Rugby School by Field Marshall Montgomery (in his role as the Chief of the Imperial General Staff - C.I.G.S.) to inspect the cadets on 5 June 1947. The school section ends with boys taking part in a steeple chase event running across a stream and over fences.

The reel ends with further shots of British steam locomotives at work at various railway locations. A shot of a dynamometer coach and former LMS locomotive 45253 suggests that this may be during the British Railways locomotive exchanges of 1948 shortly after nationalisation.


Credits

No credits specified