Northern Ireland Screen's Digital Film Archive is a free public access resource for teachers, students, historians and anyone who has an interest in moving images. Spanning from 1897 to the present day, the films in the Digital Film Archive cover all aspects of life in Northern Ireland and includes everything from dramas to documentaries, newsreels and features, animation to amateur footage.
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Skating at Balmoral
Men, women and children enjoy the thrills and spills of the Belfast ice rink.
From the collection of:
Overview
Now gone, but once a Belfast institution, the ice rink, at the King’s Hall, Balmoral opened to the public on the 4th October, 1939. It was an immediate success, with the local press reporting that one thousand skaters “besieged the building”. This film highlights the appeal of the ice rink, with skaters of all ages and abilities taking to the ice.
These rushes are amongst a wealth of footage that was generated by the Northern Ireland Tourist Board. This government department had their own staff who documented the region through stills and moving images and the films they created capture various facets of life in Northern Ireland. The department was particularly busy in the mid-1950s to late 1960s, creating films that aimed to sell Northern Ireland as a holiday destination. This material captures Northern Ireland at an intriguing time, post-World War Two and pre-Troubles.
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