This film is part of Free

West Runton Holiday

A record, circa 1932, of a family holiday on the North Norfolk coast, which gives the children plenty of time to lark about on the sand.

Home movie 1932 4 mins Silent

From the collection of:

Logo for East Anglian Film Archive

Overview

The Bird and the Salter families of Norfolk have a great time at West Runton beach, exploring the coastline and taking advantage of the cliffs natural slopes. Four children enjoy a day of fossil hunting at West Runton, accompanied by their parents and dog. Later, the beach cliffs are used by the children as natural slopes, sliding down the sandy cliff edges down to the sea. There is also a shot of a man, drying his feet after having a dip.

Mrs Bird is a life-long resident of Norwich who brought a collection of family films to the East Anglian Film Archive in the early 1990s. The films in the collection were shot by her father, Guy Salter, her mother, and later by Mrs Bird herself. Her father bought the camera, a Cine Kodak, in Rochester New York, whilst on a business trip for Colman’s in the early 1930s. Guy Salter had entered the firm of Colman’s, the manufacturer of mustard and other sauces, as an accountant and was to leave it as the Chairman many years later. Fossil hunting, as with the cliffs at Hunstanton, is a big draw to West Runton beach. It’s known as one of the best fossil collecting beaches around as well as one of the best rock pooling beaches.