The East Anglian Film Archive, the first and largest Regional Film Archive in England, was established in 1976. Since 1984, EAFA has been owned and operated by the University of East Anglia, Norwich (UEA), to support research and work to preserve our moving image heritage. More than 250 hours are freely available online as examples of the wide range of film which attracts interest the world over.
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Death of a Railway
A British Railways “Here to Serve You” notice is ironically juxtaposed with a “Withdrawal of Services” notice in this regional news footage from Anglia Television.
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Overview
1964 brought about more cuts to train services with branch lines and station closures. The British Railways “Withdrawal of Passenger Service” notices were seen at many stations in rural parts of East Anglia. Throughout the year, Anglia Television captures the last working days of some of Cambridgeshire’s stations that served passengers and freight trains, including those at Histon, St Ives, Somersham, Chatteris, and March.
For television broadcast, this footage was to be featured as part of an “About Anglia” news programme, presumably to be transmitted with live reporting or edited with commentary. The footage does show, quite ironically, many of the British Rail advertisements complimenting the public train service.
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