Grand Tour

Conwy's bridge, castle and station glide past, as if in a dream, in this beautiful phantom train ride film (no ghosts but apparently no train either) from 1898.

Breath-taking view of waves breaking at the mouth of the Boca do Inferno.

Stand in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower and tour the pavilions of Paris's Exposition Universelle of 1900

A bustling Victorian street scene taken from Patrick Bridge

An intimate, playful scene of young lads cooling off and larking about in a Venetian backwater

This was one of a series of actuality films made by the Victorian pioneer Birt Acres during 1895. The film is thought to have been shot on the occasion of the opening of the Kiel Canal by the German Kaiser Wilhelm II.

Watching the trains go by on a summers day at Wood Green Station.

The wonder of Niagara captured in an early film

The hypnotic spectacle of waves breaking over rocks

Evocative images taken at the mouth of Victorian Britain's longest train tunnel

Detective work reveals… this very early film was shot at Southampton Royal Pier Station. But who’s the VIP on board?

Victorian-era quayside scenes filmed in northern Egypt

At sea for weeks on end, Victorian sailors had to find ways to amuse themselves and get a little exercise in too

Take a trip on the steepest rack railway in the world, scaling Mount Pilatus in the heart of the Swiss Alps

A river tragedy is narrowly averted in this early dramatic scene

A wonderfully clear view of Bushey Station in Victorian times

Scene in a bustling South African market town before the Boer War

Working conditions in South Africa before the outbreak of the Boer War

High jinks on the high seas: sample Union-Castle Line’s on-board entertainment.

A dispute on the ocean waves

This panorama takes in Windsor and Eton Riverside station, Windsor Castle, and plenty of Victorians at leisure.

Victorians messing about on the river

Small yachts sailing off Durban bluff

Enticing amateur snapshot of South Africa before the outbreak of the Boer War.

An improvised deck game to pass the time en voyage

Cape Town's handsome high street just before the outbreak of the Boer War

A clever early film that uses the new medium to drag the audience out to sea

Beautiful panorama of the ruins the of Pompeii, with views of Vesuvius

Get up close to the ancient British icon - before the coach parties descended.

This amateur film of a sailing event is the first film taken by an Irishman in Ireland

Views from an Edwardian railway trip, filmed just east of the Devon-Cornwall border and over the Tamar.

A striking panorama of the Peak District town and its magnificent Georgian Crescent.

A view of the many sea-going vessels around Saltash and Plymouth.

A close brush with the precursor to the number 73 bus in Victorian London.

Downtown Belfast is easily recognisable in these scenes from a tramcar ride in 1901.

Captivating early film by the pioneer of Welsh cinema.

The luxurious RMS Lucania is bound for New York in one of Mitchell & Kenyon's most elaborate and striking films.

A surprisingly close encounter with late-Victorian traffic, looking down Oxford Street from Marble Arch

A fascinating film tour into the heart of Edwardian Liverpool.

A journey across the well-known Scottish railway bridge, filmed from the engine front.

One of the earliest films to be shot in India apparently shows the Calcutta ghats - or does it?

Crystal-clear views of town, sands, sea, tourists and locals at the Lancashire resort.

Welcome to Place de L’Opera: an early filmed snapshot of Paris landmark the Palais Garnier.

Stunning glimpses of Hong Kong at the dawn of the 20th century through this roller-coaster ride on the vertiginous Peak Tram

A driver's view of the Furness Railway through Furness Abbey Tunnel and Station.

Pope Leo travelling through the Vatican, extending his blessing well beyond

The Pope arrives in a carriage and bestows a blessing.

A rare early film capturing the man and not just the figurehead

Don your straw boater and join Victorians at play as you potter down the river at Henley-on-Thames

A Victorian view of Egypt: exotic and elegantly filmed.

Splendid views of Edwardian Rochdale from the front of a tram after a recent dusting of snow.

All ashore! Passengers disembark and crew offload after a long Atlantic crossing.

A large liner draws away from the quay, but where is she headed?

Filmed by Rotherhithe, this film provides a glimpse into Victorian working life on the Thames.

A 'phantom ride' along a fondly remembered Devon railway, crossing the distinctive Taw Bridge into Barnstaple on the way to Ilfracombe

A view out of a railway tunnel, which could have formed part of a longer ‘phantom ride’ film.

One of a rare and revealing series of films capturing the first moving images of the Pontiff. Here the Pope leaves his carriage and enters a garden, his rheumatism clearly visible, providing insight into Leo's state of health at the time.

Exclusive images from within the Papal enclave

Intrepid tourists brave the great waves breaking on the marina wall at Brighton

A washerwoman's work is never done - especially when there's a drunken chimney sweep at large...

A steamship tour along the picturesque coast from Liverpool to the Menai Straits.

The headgear says it all in this parade of VIPs

Scenes from the 'Clyde Fortnight'

A film first - a Papal blessing for the camera

A break from the Boer War as a travelling film camera brings footage of an exotic feeding time back to Britain

Passengers make their own entertainment at sea with a game that’s a little rougher than shuffleboard.

A gorgeous ride through one of the Peak District's most stunning spots

Where is this unidentified stretch of railway track?

This early travelogue is potentially the work of Jasper Redfern.

Stirring image of late-Victorian rail

Mysterious passengers bound for who knows where

Steam trains pass at speed through Wood Green station on the Great Northern Line