Ipswich Street Scenes

Ipswich, 1933. Not content with filming at home, fifteen year old cine enthusiast Don Chipperfield captures street life, focusing on the trolley buses that once served the town.

In 1933, Don Chipperfield (1918 - 1992) was just 15 years old when he took to the streets of Ipswich to capture the trolley buses journeying around the town. Unlike many cine photographers of the day he did not confine his filmmaking to the family and the home, instead capturing everyday scenes on the streets. Don focuses in this film on the public transport popular of the day, and incidentally captures a thriving town centre teeming with cyclists, motorists and pedestrians.

Don Chipperfield's enthusiasm for cine photography continued throughout his life. Following school, whilst employed as a cost clerk at Ransomes Sims & Jefferies, he also produced publicity films for the company. He was a founding member of Ipswich Film Society. When war broke out he was enlisted as a photographer for the Royal Air Force. When demobilised in 1946, returning to Ransomes he was employed as filmmaker producing instructional and publicity films in addition to filming social events. Don travelled worldwide, producing travelogues for Boulton & Hawker Films. Just a year before his passing, aged 73, he flew to Patagonia to film on the subject of ancient civilisations, a self-initiated project.