Screen Archive South East is a public sector moving image archive serving the South East of England. The archive's collections of magic lantern slides, films, videos and associated materials capture the many varied aspects of life, work and creativity from the early days of screen history to the present day and serve as a rich and invaluable historical resource.
This film is part of Free
Local News Hastings
A fascinating glimpse of life in Hastings on the eve of the Great War, featuring Empire Day, an aviatrix, physical jerks, fishermen and an eye-catching fancy-dress pageant.
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Overview
This fascinating film records life in Hastings during the last months of peace in 1914. We start on the 24th of May with an outdoor Drum Head Service on Empire Day. This is followed by a tinted section showing an elegant woman disembarking from an early seaplane and being carried ashore by two men. Next we see young women exercising on the beach, fishermen off-loading their catch and a fancy-dress pageant through the town. The film ends with a march to the Drum Head service.
The Drum Head service seen in this film took place in Hasting's Alexandra Park on Empire Day, the 24th of May. This celebration was instituted in 1902 and lasted for over half a century until it was changed to British Commonwealth Day in 1958. In 1966 it was again re-branded as Commonwealth Day and the date was moved to the 10th of June, which coincided with the Queen's official birthday. In 1977 the date was moved once more to the second Monday in March. The costumed parade through the streets of Hastings was filmed at the bottom of All Saints Street.
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