The Media Archive for Central England is the public screen archive for the East and West Midlands. An independent charity and company based at the University of Lincoln, MACE acquires, catalogues, preserves and makes widely available moving image materials that inform our understanding of the diverse cultures and histories of communities between the Lincolnshire coast and the Welsh border.
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Midland Montage: 17.11.1960: Melbourne and Swarkestone
History within the fabric of an English market town. A visit to the area that gave Australia's Melbourne its name and a look at the site of the Scottish pretender's last stand.
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Overview
Over four million people live in Melbourne in Australia. That's probably around 1,000 times the number that live in its namesake in South Derbyshire. It's that small market town that this silent ATV film takes us to, with views of the town in 1960 and nearby Melbourne Hall. We then visit the historic Swarkestone Bridge over the River Trent. It was once one of the primary route into Derby from the south but even in 1960 it was struggling to accommodate ever increasing traffic.
In 1837 Queen Victoria had given her name to a state in Australia and then chose to name one of its fast growing settlements after her Prime Minister, William Lamb, the 2nd Viscount Melbourne. Lamb's seat was at Melbourne Hall in the low key South Derbyshire market town of the same name. The thirteenth century Swarkestone Bridge is the longest stone bridge in England and in 1745 it became the furthest point south reached by Charles Edward Stuart, or Bonnie Prince Charlie, the 'Young Pretender' to the English throne.
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