British Pathe

A British Travel Association film. Commentary by Colin Wills.

01:44:35 Landscape. Car drives along a country road. Signpost reads: "Widecombe Fair". Views of the road as car drives through Devon landscape. Girls ride ponies down a country road. Tourists walk through the streets of Widecombe...

A British Travel Association film. Commentary by Colin Wills.

01:44:35 Landscape. Car drives along a country road. Signpost reads: "Widecombe Fair". Views of the road as car drives through Devon landscape. Girls ride ponies down a country road. Tourists walk through the streets of Widecombe on the Moor. Various shots of people walking through the village. C/U of the village sign. Various shots of the fair. "Uncle Tom Cobbley" rides a horse through the crowds. "The quaint villages of Devon are English to the core. Old, rich in tradition and proud in heritage. Various shots of stalls at the fair. Narrator tells the history of the fair. Livestock displayed at the agricultural show part of the fair. Dartmoor ponies and Dartmoor and Exmoor sheep. Gymkhana - horses and riders. Woman on horseback is given a trophy.

01:46:59 "London too has its little bits of country." Various shots of shopping streets of London. Bond Street windows - jewellers. Two women shoppers visit Shepherd Market. Montage of shots of the small shops and market stalls. Antiques shop. Butchers - the two shoppers are shown a chicken or turkey by the butcher. The girls sit sipping tea at a pavement cafe.

01:48:44 Liverpool. Liver building. Various shots of a vintage car being lifted down from a cargo ship onto the dockside. First Anglo American rally for vintage cars (sponsored by the British Travel Association) is due to take place. Various shots of the 10 cars from the Veteran Car Club of America that will compete in the race. Cunard liner. British number plates are affixed to the car. C/U of Paul J. Tusec (?) of Ohio who owns the car, and his wife. They polish the brass accessories. More shots of the cars and their owners. They set of from the quayside.

01:50:21 Edinburgh. The race will start from here. Crowds mill around the cars which stand in the Castle Esplanade. Men in traditional Scottish dress admire the cars. C/U of a Rolls Royce.

01:50:41 Mayor shakes hands with some of the representatives of the Vintage Sports Car Club of Great Britain and the Veteran Car Club of America. C/Us of some of the cars including a Bentley and a Lanchester (sic). Edinburgh to Goodwood in Sussex is the route. The cars set off, man in RAC uniform waves them off. People watch with interest as the cars pass.

01:51:50 Warwick Castle - the drivers make a stop. Cars drive through an archway. A.C. Baker of Battlecreek (?) Michigan is mentioned. Drivers climb out of their cars. Photographs are taken. Captain Austin Clark (?) is the first to leave, followed by a Wolsley Sidley (?) We then see the Stanley Steamer and a 1928 Bentley driven by Terence Bream (?) Stratford upon Avon is the next place to be visited - shots of the cars on their way. Various views of Stratford, the river, Anne Hathaway's cottage, Shakespeare's birthplace - now a museum - C/U of sign outside the museum.

01:54:06 Prescott (?) Hill, near Cheltenham. A speed trial for the vintage cars. The four speed Biddle (?) is seen setting off. Edward Hanson of Madison, Wisconsin drives the Biddle. He is followed by the Rolls Royce Silver Ghost. Various shots of the cars during the speed trials.

01:55:13 Marlborough (?) various shots of the town as the vintage cars drive through. Shots of spectators. Narrator describes the history of the town, mentioning Cardinal Wolsey and the town's famous public school.

01:55:41 Goodwood. Vintage enthusiasts from all over the country have gathered. Various shots of many, many vintage cars. The Goodwood circuit provides the place for the last laps of the contest. The "old crocks" go through their paces. C/U of the silver trophy awarded to the Brits. Various shots of the cars and drivers.

Note: print on unusual stock - Dubray Howell perforations.