Two preview quality newsreels which allow you to take a nostalgic trip back to the ‘old days’.
The first is from 1935 and shows life around Polperro harbour.
The second, from 1957, is all about an Australian airman who was stationed in the West Country and is touring in an old Austin A35, visiting his old haunts, which includes Polperro.
The second file would require ISDN, DSL, ADSL, CABLE, or SATELLITE BROADBAND Internet access. If you have Windows Media Player 9, the video will play as a streaming file.
September 1935 newsreel of Polperro Harbour (1.28 Mb .wmv file)
Pathe takes you on a tour of the Cornish fishing village of Polperro. Story featuring scenic views of a Cornish fishing village. Click picture to view.
 Various shots around this delightful fishing village. Lots of shots of people walking up and down the twisting and winding lanes and steps. An elderly fisherman sits by the harbour making wicker baskets for catching crabs or lobsters. Shots of seagulls flying around the harbour while fishermen gather on the quay.
The next Pathe offering is in colour from 1957, and considerably larger at 9.19 Mb .wmv file. It does run for over 9 minutes though. I would suggest that you do not download this file unless you have ISDN, DSL, ADSL, CABLE, SATELLITE or BROADBAND Internet access.
 1957 West Country (Click picture to view)
Various locations including Polperro, and a crafty shot of a car appearing from a part of the harbour that a car could not drive to. They must have reversed the car in, started the camera, and then drove the car over the bridge at the end of the harbour.
British Pathe are one of the oldest media companies in the world.
Their roots lie in 1890s Paris where their founder, Charles Pathe, pioneered the development of the moving image.
They were established in London in 1902, and by 1910 were producing their famous bi-weekly newsreel the Pathe Gazette. After the First World War they started producing various Cinemagazines as well. By 1930 they were producing the Gazette, the Pathetone Weekly, the Pathe Pictorial and Eve's Film Review, covering entertainment, culture and womens' issues.
By the time Pathe finally stopped producing the cinema newsreel in 1970 they had accumulated 3500 hours of filmed history amounting to over 90,000 individual items.
Over the last 30 years this material has been used extensively around the world in television programmes, home videos, advertisments, corporate productions and, most recently, in web publishing.
Through the generosity of the Lottery Funded New Opportunities Fund it was possible to build a web site library, and to encode the library for digital distribution. Whereas all professional usages still require a licence fee we are delighted to be able to offer free "preview" facilities on this site to residents of the British Isles.
British Pathe are owned by the Daily Mail and General Trust Group |
