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Crowds pay homage to the legendary naked rider during Coventry’s Edwardian coronation celebrations.
Non-Fiction 1902 9 mins Silent
Godgifu, an 11th century noblewoman, famously rode naked through the streets of Coventry to save her people from what historian Daniel Donoghue described as "an oppressive and shameful servitude". This film comprises four extracts from a two to three-hour procession, held in Coventry on the afternoon of 9 September 1902 to commemorate her legend and to mark the coronation of Edward VII.
The procession starred the fabulously voluptuous and successful London Hippodrome actress Vera Guedes as Godiva/Godgifu. The film opens with a lingering shot of Godiva on horseback (in a flesh-coloured dress), highlighting her significance in the event. The remaining sequences shift the focus as the procession is used to exhibit local trade.
Non-Fiction 1901 7 mins Silent Location: Hipperholme
Summertime laughs and larks at a West Yorkshire pleasure gardens.
Non-Fiction 1902 4 mins Silent Location: Southport
All aboard the charabanc for a trip along an Edwardian promenade.
Non-Fiction 1902 3 mins Silent Location: Southport
Beautiful shots of gentle waves on a shingle beach.
Non-Fiction 1904 3 mins Silent Location: Armley
The carnival comes to Leeds and a new Rose Queen is crowned.
Non-Fiction 1902 1 mins Silent Location: Northampton
A camera pan through the park reveals teaming crowds and changing fashions in Edwardian hatwear.
Non-Fiction 1902 5 mins Silent Location: West Park
Kingston-upon-Hull residents take the air and feed the birds in their Sunday finery.
Amateur film 1965 12 mins Location: London
Join the Clague family as they zoom up an empty M1 to Stratford upon Avon, Long Itchington and Coventry - a city reborn after its 1940 destruction
Current affairs 1986 7 mins Location: Coventry
Two councils with two different approaches to LGBT rights.
Current affairs 1978 9 mins Location: West Bromwich
The UK's immigration laws have prevented Dara Singh from seeing his family for a decade. His is one of many sad stories...
Documentary 1975 26 mins Location: Ruddington
The industrial Midlands pioneered textile production; from the framework knitters of Nottinghamshire to the birth of the modern factory in the Derwent valley in Derbyshire.
News 1965 3 mins Location: Coventry
As normal the fans are packed into Coventry City's Highfield Road ground for a match. The difference is that the game is being played 130 miles away in Cardiff.
Amateur film 1936 11 mins Silent Location: Coventry
The surreal presence of barrage balloons on the Coventry skyline gives this home movie an end-of-an-era feel.
Promotional 2019 10 mins
A wandering warrior dreams of a new form of expression, in this promo for UNKLE’s album The Road: Part II / Lost Highway Pt. II directed by Warren Du Preez and Nick Thornton Jones.
1935 16 mins
A rare glimpse of 1930s London in colour: the Thames has never looked lovelier.
Advert 1946 1 mins Silent
Life is looking up! The war is over and the “Corona” Man can visit his “Corona” families once more, door-to-door.
Advert 1962 0 mins Location: Rhyl
Cinema advertisement for Marine Lake & Ocean Beach, Rhyl, a popular destination for crowds set on a day's fun on free rides.
Advert 1942 7 mins Silent Location: Blaenau Ffestiniog
Who could deny these advertising claims: "Attractive hair is the ambition of every woman", and "Your family will enjoy Lincoln potatoes"?
Advert 1955 1 mins
Operatic chickens, shrimps and salmon sing-a-long with a paste pot chorus in this vibrantly animated advert for Shippam's
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