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Girls gut herring on the quay at North Shields while a Showman tries to stir up trouble.
Non-Fiction 1901 2 mins Silent
One of the most impressive sights of the year on the English coast was the herring harvest. Hundreds of women would assemble in a race against time to gut, salt and barrel the fish before they went off. Their rapid gutting technique fascinated filmmakers. The trawler men, down from Scotland and the Islands, were famous for brawling, but they won't be persuaded to throw a fist for the camera.
Mitchell and Kenyon's films abound with images of workers, but because the lack of light made filming indoors impossible in the early 1900s, relatively few of them show anybody actually working - which makes this film particularly special.
Non-Fiction 1901 1 mins Silent Location: Liverpool
Early league football, with the team who will become Birmingham City losing at Anfield in a relegation year.
Non-Fiction 1899 2 mins Silent Location: Rhyl
Fun on Rhyl seafront as E. H. Williams and his troupe entertain crowds with much ducking and diving in this hectic act.
Non-Fiction 1901 3 mins Silent Location: Oldham
The evolution of Rugby League in a top of the table match between rival Lancashire clubs.
Non-Fiction 1901 4 mins Silent Location: Fartown Ground, Huddersfield
The annual championship meeting of England's premier athletics association.
Non-Fiction 1901 5 mins Silent Location: Accrington
Marching bands and local volunteers fill the streets of the Lancashire town.
Non-Fiction 1901 2 mins Silent Location: Carlisle
The circus comes to town in wintery Carlisle.
Amateur film 1947 9 mins Silent Location: Newcastle upon Tyne
Downriver with a movie camera for a special launch of the Tynemouth lifeboat.
Documentary 1980 26 mins Location: South Shields
Captain Purvis muses on his long life as a river pilot and the generations of men in his family who guided ships on the Tyne.
Amateur film 1931 16 mins Silent Location: North Shields
The casual heroes of the shipyards – workers and the ships they build on Tyneside are captured in beautiful monochrome by an early cine club.
Documentary 1959 14 mins Location: North Shields
A gripping ballad of fishermen aboard the Ben Torc trawler chasing the cod shoals on the black night seas to bring the catch back to North Shields.
Documentary 1964 25 mins Location: Seaton Sluice
A fishing rod is a stick with a hook at one end, and a fool at the other.
Documentary 1962 25 mins Location: North Shields
A striking documentary captures the waning fortunes of the herring industry as an old steam drifter braves a squally North Sea to bring in a fresh catch to North Shields.
Advert 1985 2 mins
Take a fighter jet, a Top Gun pilot with sunglasses and a brand new SAAB 900 and you have a sure-fire vehicle to launch a Hollywood career.
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"?
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