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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Master Guns & Master Gunners
Tales of the ‘Breydonners’, the gentlemen wildfowlers and punt gunners that once lived and worked on Breydon Water near Great Yarmouth.
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Overview
Documentary about the wildfowlers of Breydon Water, the legendary characters, with equally legendary names, such as “Pintail" Thomas, "Stork” Thacker, “Admiral” Gooch, and “Punt” Palmer. Punt gunners worked the lonely and often treacherous marshes and estuaries of the East Anglian coast, to search out wildfowl, which was destined for the local butchers.
The mid-nineteenth century was the heyday of the punt gunner, however, in 1880, the Wild Birds’ Protection Act was enforced, prohibiting wildfowlers to shoot any wild birds between March and August. Consequently, a living from the estuary became difficult to obtain, and the punt gunner tradition died out. Breydon Water, once a wildfowler’s stronghold, is now the UK’s largest protected wetland.
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