Main Bay

Enjoy this cavalcade of events on Broadstairs' Main Bay in Enid Briggs' marvellous home-movie from the 1930s

Enid Brigg's film starts with swimmers enjoying the water while dinghies sail in the background. Visitors then take their seats for a minstrel show at Uncle Mack's end-of-the-pier show after which we see rowboats for hire and a brave man diving from a wooden post. Back on the jetty, visitors queue for tickets at Uncle Mack's, while the minstrels, without black make-up, mix with the crowds. After a potato contest we end with children enjoying a mass Shrove Tuesday boat ride.

Enid Briggs filmed scenes in the area of North Foreland and Broadstairs in the 1920s and 1930s. These films are of particular interest because they were made from a woman's visual perspective. Born to a wealthy Leeds family in 1898, Enid moved with her mother and sister, to a cliff-top home in Broadstairs in 1929. It was there that she took up the relatively expensive hobby of film-making. She filmed family activities, outings and local events as well as scenes recording seaside performers like Uncle Mack's Minstrels. Enid died in 1973 and her surviving films are now held in the Screen Archive South East collection.