Southampton's 'oldest film' reshot in city centre
A pleasing little heritage project here as a Hampshire museum looks to retrace the steps (or should that be rails?) taken by the first moving picture camera to appear in Southampton.
I always find these kinds of "revisits" to be intriguing as it can be incredible to see certain areas and buildings virtually unaltered by the passage of time, yet others completely changed. In this particular case there may well be more of the latter, as the earlier film apparently shows much of Southampton as it was before the Second World War. In this I also have a personal interest, as my great-grandparents were born in Southampton in the 1880s and lived there for many years, so the original footage at least will likely show the town as it was when they were there and it will be fascinating for me, their descendant, to see what it looks like today.
Once again ideas such as this are, in my opinion, an excellent way to engage the younger generation in the history of their town. To be able to see 100 years' difference side-by-side should make it easier for them to relate to the past. I hope this reshoot is a success and it would be great to see it taken up by other towns wherever possible.
As a Southamptonian it's lovely to see a pre-Blitz'd Southampton. I spied a complete Holy Rood church on the highstreet which was bombed in 1942 (I believe...), a highstreet that attached to the Bargate, and even my dad's old road! Wonderful!
ReplyDeleteThanks, glad you like it. I've never been to Soton despite having ancestors from there; maybe I'll have to try and get down one day. It's heartbreaking to see how much was lost in the Blitz. I can tell it must mean a lot to you as a local girl to see such long-lost landmarks.
Delete