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.
This film is currently unavailable

Know Your Midlands No 2
A short travelogue to help Midlands television viewers become more familiar with their region takes us to the traditional centre of England.
From the collection of:

Overview
The traditional centre of England is at Meriden and here we see the wayside cross that marks this symbolic site a few years after it was restored during the Festival of Britain. Also featured is the nearby town of Royal Leamington Spa with its spring water and, on a lovely early summer day, we also tour the historic Jephson Gardens. A hint of the industrial Midlands is glimpsed with a view of car bodies on their way from Birmingham for assembly in Oxford.
Meriden was part of Warwickshire until 1974 when it became part of the West Midlands. In 2002 the Ordnance Survey made a more exact check on the true centre of England and came up with a new location of Fenny Drayton located eleven miles north of Meriden in Leicestershire.
Related

Immigration Control Immigration Control
Current affairs 1978 9 mins Location: West Bromwich
The UK's immigration laws have prevented Dara Singh from seeing his family for a decade. His is one of many sad stories...

Leamington Spa Race Relations Leamington Spa Race Relations
News 1971 4 mins Location: Royal Leamington Spa
A 1971 race relations report claimed that Leamington Spa was way ahead in its dealings with issues arising from migrants settling in the town.

Railway Vicar Railway Vicar
News 1978 7 mins Location: Royal Leamington Spa
Church bells, organs and choirs are all sounds you'd expect to hear at a church - but what about the sound of a steam locomotive at full tilt?

Lockheed Wartime Factory Films Lockheed Wartime Factory Films
Amateur film 1943 56 mins Silent Location: Royal Leamington Spa
Camouflaged against aerial attack, the Lockheed aircraft factories in Leamington Spa and Leicester work day and night for the war effort.

Grand Union Canal Grand Union Canal
Documentary 1937 34 mins Silent Location: Houses of Parliament
Follow working narrow boats as they make their 60-hour trip from London to Birmingham along Britain's longest industrial waterway.

Shakespeare Land Shakespeare Land
Travelogue 1910 5 mins Silent Location: Royal Leamington Spa
Elegantly attired men and women while away a sunny afternoon on the banks of the River Avon in this idyllic Edwardian travelogue.

Alexandre Desplat (Masterclass) Alexandre Desplat (Masterclass)
Inside Film 2011 33 mins
Over 30 years and 150 projects, the composer shares, with humour and passion, the intricacies of making film music.

Ian Neil (Masterclass) Ian Neil (Masterclass)
Inside Film 2012 74 mins
Neil selected soundtracks for 127 Hours, Shame, Kick Ass, Control and many more. He discusses the job and its complexities, referencing his own work.

Screenwriters' Lecture: Peter Straughan Screenwriters' Lecture: Peter Straughan
Inside Film 2012 mins
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy's adapter reveals his quest for "the poem of the book" and the importance of simplicity: 'Drain the pond to find the fish'.

Screenwriters' Lecture with Brian Helgeland Screenwriters' Lecture with Brian Helgeland
Inside Film 2012 27 mins
L.A. Confidential's screenwriter explains why he thinks writer's block is a myth, and reveals Clint Eastwood's unique powers of persuasion.

Olivier Assayas (Masterclass) Olivier Assayas (Masterclass)
Inside Film 2010 41 mins
Irma Vep writer/director Assayas moved from film journalism to filmmaking – a fascinating journey told with disarming honesty to Jonathan Romney.

Roger Corman in Conversation Roger Corman in Conversation
Inside Film 2013 61 mins
Jack Nicholson, Boris Karloff, Francis Coppola and making movies in five days – prepare yourself for Corman wisdom.