This film is part of Free
Bousfield Personal Film 2: Colour Scrapbook
An aptly named scrapbook film featuring a train spotter's view of King's Cross around 1937, river journeys and Home Guard training
Overview
The carefully observed railway scenes in this filmic scrapbook take you back to King's Cross in the heyday of the steam age. Even if you've never considered yourself a train spotter, the close-up view of these magnificent beasts may have you reaching for a notepad and pen to jot down the numbers - and then comes the privileged view from inside the train cab.
Like a good scrapbook, this roughly hewn miscellany of home movies offers many of the diverse pleasures, pains, pastimes and peculiarities that life throws at you. From operating a cement mixer in a kilt, messing about on the river, building an air raid shelter, training with the Home Guard, and welcoming a new member of the family, it's a terrific document of tempestuous times.
Related
Among the Rails of Wales Among the Rails of Wales
Amateur film 1952 12 mins Location: Welshpool/Y Trallwng
Jim Fraser of Bristol, with great affection for his subject, introduces the viewer to the “quaint little railways and tramways” of Wales.
Trail of The Iron Horse Trail of The Iron Horse
Amateur film 1966 37 mins Location: Maldon
Shy and testy retired signalman Wally Trigg chats to amateur filmmaker and railway enthusiast Chib Thorp, as Micky the Collie happily ambles along the overgrown railway line.
The Rocket The Rocket
Amateur film 1929 4 mins Silent Location: Darlington
A full size replica of Robert Stephenson’s world famous locomotive, The Rocket, steams up a 1920s crowd at the North Road Works in Darlington.
Railway with a Heart of Gold Railway with a Heart of Gold
Documentary 1965 15 mins Location: Talyllyn Railway
At the heart of the Talyllyn Railway are the volunteers – e.g. schoolboys, bus drivers, actors – whose commitment ensures the line’s continuance, despite the odd derailment.
A Special Event A Special Event
Amateur film 1958 2 mins Silent
The West Sussex Downsman railtour visits Midhurst, eminent Victorians appear in Petersfield and part of the town's railway fabric is demolished just before its centenary
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?
Frederick Wiseman's High School - a discussion Frederick Wiseman's High School - a discussion
Short documentary 2026 22 mins
Filmmaker Andrea Luka Zimmerman and curator Matthew Barrington discuss Frederick Wiseman’s High School with Sandra Hebron.
Hard, Cracked the Wind Hard, Cracked the Wind
Horror 2019 17 mins
A haunting with words is the lure between life and death for a young Cornish poet.
A Last Resort A Last Resort
Comedy 2022 17 mins
Rose is desperate to celebrate her 60th birthday in style, but her daughter Genevieve is struggling to ignore some recent tragic news about her mum.
Seagull Seagull
Horror 2022 6 mins
Seagull is a recovering drug addict who is about to have a very strange night on The English Riviera.
The Walk The Walk
Drama 2023 12 mins
Adeel Akhtar portrays a man on a weekly trek to his nearest JobCentre, entering a state of purgatory through barriers put in place by the system.
Octopus Octopus
2021 13 mins
Upon returning to her home town for a funeral, a young woman reconnects with the friends she left behind.