At Wessex Film and Sound Archive you can see and hear history, from late Victorian times to the present day, through moving images and sound recordings. The Archive contains over 36,000 film and sound recordings relating to Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, Berkshire, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire, including film and tapes of local TV and radio.
This film is part of Free
Lady Congleton's film of the Cowes Regatta
Lady Congleton's remarkable film gets right in the middle of all the yachting action during Cowes Week
From the collection of:
Overview
This remarkable film takes us right into the action of Cowes Week with views of several yachts racing on the Solent while a fast launch passes close by. A man wearing a captain's cap steers the boat's wheel as an elegant woman looks on. As the yachts round one of the Solent forts we see a trans-Atlantic liner in the distance, making for the open ocean.
The films in the Congleton collection derive from the family of the 6th Baron Congleton - John Brooke Molesworth Parnell. Congleton was married to Edith Mary Palmer Howard in 1918. They had nine children in all, some of whom appear in this film, though only seven would reach adulthood. Most of the films within the collection feature aspects of family life, and the children feature prominently.
Related
Watch for free
Red Funnel Ferries Red Funnel Ferries
Advert 1969 0 mins Location: Solent, The
Thrill to the speed onboard a Red Funnel hydrofoil as it scoots across the Solent in this nostalgic advert from 1969
Watch for free
Portsmouth & Southampton during the summer of 1929 Portsmouth & Southampton during the summer of 1929
Amateur film 1929 9 mins Silent Location: Portsmouth Harbour
Come aboard a jolly mini-cruise around the Solent in this fascinating 1929 film from Ralph Staley - featuring his wife Ellen, his daughter Pam and the Mauretania
Watch for free
Isle of Wight Isle of Wight
Amateur film 1953 11 mins Silent Location: Bembridge Harbour
Join the Corders on a family holiday to the Isle of Wight - complete with beaches, boats and a rare glimpse of an all-metal flying Princess
Watch for free
Getting it Back: The Story of Cymande - Q&A Getting it Back: The Story of Cymande - Q&A
Inside Film 2024 22 mins
The director of a documentary about British funk pioneers Cymande joins the band at BFI Southbank to talk about the film.
Watch for free
The West Case The West Case
Action and Adventure 1923 28 mins Silent Location: Tilbury
Plotting world domination, Devil Doctor Fu-Manchu steals plans for a new aero-torpedo in this earliest surviving thrill-a-minute serial instalment.
Watch for free
Enter the Scala!!! Enter the Scala!!!
Inside Film 2024 16 mins
Filmmakers Jane Giles and Ali Catterall discuss their documentary Scala!!!, revisiting the legendary and inspirational cinema venue and some of the most notorious films that screened there.
Watch for free
Smith Smith
Charity appeal 1939 10 mins
Long thought lost, this Powell-directed promotional short for a veteran’s charity was only rediscovered in 2003.
Watch for free
An Airman's Letter to His Mother An Airman's Letter to His Mother
Documentary 1941 6 mins
A poignant, stirring letter from a recently deceased pilot to his mother is read by John Gielgud.
Watch for free
The NHS75 Celebration The NHS75 Celebration
Short documentary 2023 3 mins
Former Bristol Poet Laureate, Miles Chambers reads a poem specially commissioned for the 75th anniversary of the NHS.