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Old footage of Canterbury
found in loft

by Adam Williams

awilliams@thekmgroup.co.uk

Rare film of Canterbury will be screened for the first time this
month as part of a new project launched by Christ Church
University.

The footage, shot by professional filmmaker John McCallum, was
unearthed after the 81-year-old rummaged through his lofts to find
reels of cinefilm from the 1940s and 1950s.

John, from Clapham Hill, Whitstable, started filming aged 12 as
the youngest member of the Canterbury Cine Club. In 1946, he
captured the royal visit by King George VI and made a short
documentary, called Ruins of Canterbury, the following year.

The footage has been donated to the university in order to
preserve it and hopefully pave the way for other filmmakers to do
the same.

"I started amateur filmmaking in the 1940s and over the years
shot miles of film before becoming a professional cameraman," said
John.

"I would
shoot footage all around Canterbury, local stories that eventually
led into the Festival of Britain in 1951. There were eight of us in
the Cine Club at one stage and we all had our own cameras. We were
enthusiastic amateurs, but none of us could afford to buy much
film, which is why a lot of the footage is very short.

"For events like the royal visit, in those days if you had a
camera on a tripod, the police would always let you muscle your way
to the front of a crowd and get a good spot to shoot from.

"All we’ve got left at the moment are the rushes that weren’t
used. There are better shots out there, but we’re still searching
for a lot of that footage.

"I hope we can find it, as it would be a shame to lose the final
edit. These images are part of the fabric of Canterbury and I’d
love for future generations to appreciate them."

BLOB The public can see the footage themselves during a special
screening at the Powell Lecture Theatre on the North Holmes Road
campus, Canterbury on Thursday, October 27 at 7.30pm.

To book a place, contact the Cathedral Archives on 01227
865330 or emailarchives@canterbury-cathedral.org
BLOB

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Tim Jones and John
McCallum discuss his rare cinefilm footage of Canterbury from the
1940s

Senior lecturer Tim Jones, from the department for media,
art and design, specialises in amateur filmmaking.

He is casting his eye over hours of vintage footage to create a
Canterbury on Film exhibition and series of documentaries.

He said: "I’ve been surprised at how much I’ve found and I’ve
been copying that footage where it’s safe to do so and cataloguing
it.

"There’s been some great discoveries. John films are interesting
because they were shot in the 1940s, when there wasn’t much
filmmaking going on.

"It’s quite unusual in its content as he filmed parts of the
city that were ruins, rather than the usual things like the
cathedral and the Westgate Towers."

Tim is especially keen to trace footage shot by filmmakers
Sidney Bligh and Bill Entwistle. He can be contacted on 01227
782350 or email tim.jones@canterbury.ac.uk

Tells us your memories of Canterbury in your childhood.
Do you remember the city in the 1940s and 1950s? Join the debate
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