Ashlee Family Films: Telephone Tests, Bexley and Erith (1961)

Victorian wrestling, penny farthings, runaway steam engines and sinister fancy dress feature in this wonderful footage from a Bexley fair in the 1950s.

Comic short by amateur London film-maker featuring a young witch and her attempts to pass an examination in spellcraft.

Brief home movie showing a man starting to build a shed in the London-Kent suburbs in 1962.

A trio of home movies, featuring playtime in the garden, a Biggin Hill airshow and some horseplay on the sofa.

Two schoolchildren give the family car a very thorough wash after first feeding the rabbits.

Well-made short film showing an evening at a local gun club in suburban Bexley in the 1960s.

The Stationmaster at York guides us through a typical day, from dawn to dusk.

A new luxury express is put through its paces. This film looks over the shoulders of the select band of craftsmen, engineers and operators, whose combined skills try to ensure that a train journey is a delightful experience.

Illustrating the efficiency of express freight trains, and how they link manufacturers with their customers at the other end of Britain.

Examining a day in the life of what was then the busiest railway system in the world – British Railways.

British Transport Films record the varied daily lives of their neighbours as seen from the high roof of their building in London’s Marylebone.

A 1957 film examining the future for British Railways, and some of the opportunities provided by a new modernisation plan.