Sikh Games

Paddington to Birmingham in five and a half minutes! A sped up journey filmed from the front of the train.

Tourist promo film extolling the delights of Birmingham and the Midlands, with a sprinkling of arch one-liners.

Female graduates and gents sporting spectacular Edwardian whiskers take part in Birmingham’s first Degree Day ceremony.

Exuberant scenes of engineers and machinists at the famous Cornwall works near Birmingham.

Out and about across the Midlands to see what people do with their Easter Monday holiday. Spring is in the air with time for swimming, funfairs and a good honest pint.

C2963 or Gravelly Hill Interchange or Spaghetti Junction? The public's name is going to be the one that sticks as a little bit of Los Angeles arrives in Birmingham.

Hindu and Muslim creations in gold inject bright new styles into Birmingham's jewellery making industry.

19 April 1940 finds the King and Queen on a morale boosting visit to the glassworks of Chance Brothers in Smethwick - another vital cog in the wheel of British war production.

The dirt, grime and molten metal of the foundry has long reflected the strength of West Midlands industry; but for how much longer?

The Boulton Place flats in Smethwick are 14 years old but some residents who used to be proud to live there want them pulled down. What's gone wrong?

Blissful long summer days with children playing outside late into the evening. In Smethwick not everyone is enjoying the fun.

"There's been no active encouragement for black people to participate within the political structure of this country". A bleak picture of the lack of equality in Britain.

The director of a documentary about British funk pioneers Cymande joins the band at BFI Southbank to talk about the film.

Plotting world domination, Devil Doctor Fu-Manchu steals plans for a new aero-torpedo in this earliest surviving thrill-a-minute serial instalment.

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.

Long thought lost, this Powell-directed promotional short for a veteran’s charity was only rediscovered in 2003.

A poignant, stirring letter from a recently deceased pilot to his mother is read by John Gielgud.

Former Bristol Poet Laureate, Miles Chambers reads a poem specially commissioned for the 75th anniversary of the NHS.