Edgar Anstey

Scottish Television's film on the 40th Edinburgh International Film Festival in 1986, starring Robbie Coltrane (a former EIFF chauffeur) and featuring interviews with Bill Forsyth, Samuel Fuller and Barry Norman, among many others.

Avant-garde appeal on behalf of and made by the adventurous leftist London cinema, The Other Cinema, using the facilities provided by the BBC community programme unit.

Newsreels from the '30s constitute the bulk of this fascinating documentary, clearly illustrating that the public was fed an extremely biased view of events: straight propaganda, the stricture to provide entertainment, and the attempt to be objective all contributing to this. Lewis and producer Elizabeth Taylor-Mead have constructed their argument well, but it is Jonathan Dimbleby's brief comments towards the end that contain the crucial lesson: forty years on, the same forces work to distort our view of Northern Ireland. The film only indicates this to be the case, but it is precise and coherent enough to make the point with considerable force.

Examines Britian's industrial heritage, concentrating on the period between 1708 and 1850, and showing many examples of surviving relics of the period.

Part of BFI collection "Running a Railway."

As a training exercise for their apprentice camera operators, British Transport Films used surplus roll end length of film to record the daily lives of their neighbours from the roof of their building Melbury House.

As a training exercise for their apprentice camera operators, British Transport Films used surplus roll end length of film to record the daily lives of their neighbours from the roof of their building Melbury House.

A cheerful and very colourful pastiche of live action with combined graphics set to the music of Muir Mathieson. This film typifies the image British Rail was keen to transmit during the early part of the 1970s. It marked the start of the age of the train, when 100mph running became standard and travelling inter-city took you from 'city to city - heart to heart'.

Report No. 11 in a series of 13 topical films. Because 1970 was European Conservation Year, this issue of the Rail Report Series was devoted to examples of what railways in Britain are doing to help conserve and improve the national environment.

A poet's eulogy to his beloved mode of transport.

Building a new harbour at Port Talbot - it’s a man’s world in which the only females are a dredger and two seafaring vessels.

Report No. 9 in a series of 13 topical films, covering: Euston; ships - Freightliner II, Antrim Princess; container handling Parkeston Quay; Merry-go-round coal trains; permanent way lining and tamping machine; off loading cable troughing; strengthening the Royal Albert Bridge; Old Course Hotel, St Andrew's; car bodies by train - factory to assembly line; Beckenham train control; speed up of West of England expresses.

Intended as a sales tool for manufacturers, this short film details the production installation and maintenance for long welded track in use on British Railways.

Report No. 8 in a series of 13 topical films, produced since the far reaching plan for the modernisation and re-equipment of British Railways in 1955 started to take effect, to log the many developments - new services, equipment, techniques - wherever these have been introduced. They provide a unique pictorial record of the progress of British Railways.

Electrification, and the raiIway men of Rugby adopt new methods and use new machines. In this film they tell in their own words of the great technological changes and the human problems of adapting which each has to face. As with seamen and farmers, railwaymen even today remain curiously close to nature; and gain flexibility of mind from the relationship.

The film's contents are as follows: Merry-go-round coal trains - between collieries and power stations; Motorail; stations - Birmingham New St., Durham, Sunderland, Kirkcaldy; hovercraft - Isle of Wight service; Cartic car-carrying wagon; testing of wagon bodies - Derby laboratories; Southern House; Glasgow suburban services; Guildford signal box; Freightliners, company trains; hostesses - Seaspeed and at Gatwick Airport station.

There have been railways in this country for over three hundred years. In the nineteenth century, railways spread across Britain and changed the geography, history, economy, and the life of a nation, but already there existed primitive railways for moving coal and other minerals from the pits and quarries to navigable water and roads. This film scans the present and the past to show those economic principles governing the early railways have been rediscovered as a basis for modern freight trains.

Behind Britain's railway modernisation lies research, design and development. Research ensures in various ways that passengers travel fast, safely and in comfort. Design and development yield new vehicles, equipment and methods; from motor-car conveyors to micro-wave communications. The electrification of the busiest mainline in the world also depends on research, design and development.

Exploration of the Slimbridge Wild Fowl Trust in Gloucestershire, England, which boasts the largest collection of living wild fowl in the world.

A BAFTA award winning documentary focussing on how drivers are trained to drive new electric trains in the UK.

A film looking at the first 100 years of the Underground Railway in London from 1863 to 1963. A range of well known people and senior managers speak alongside some excellent archive film.

The film version of Dr. Richard Beeching's plan for the re-shaping of British Railways, showing some of the problems involved, the research necessary, and the answers that were produced.

The film version of Dr. Richard Beeching's plan for the re-shaping of British Railways, showing some of the problems involved, the research necessary, and the answers that were produced.

The film version of Dr. Richard Beeching's plan for the re-shaping of British Railways, showing some of the problems involved, the research necessary, and the answers that were produced.

Thirty Million Letters is a 1963 short documentary film directed by James Ritchie and made by British Transport Films. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Short.

Comprising train and track footage quickly shot just before a heavy winter's snowfall was melting, the multi-award-winning classic that emerged from the cutting-room compresses British Rail's dedication to blizzard-battling into a thrilling eight-minute montage cut to music. Tough-as-boots workers struggling to keep the line clear are counterpointed with passengers' buffet-car comforts.

Part of BFI collection "London on the Move". A day in the life of London and the Home Counties in 1962, seen from the perspective of the use of London Transport facilities from buses and tubes to long distance coach routes. Accompanied by extracts from BBC radio

A film about one of the most responsible and professional jobs on British Railways. Practical work in shop and signal box, on gantry and trackside, coupled with instruction in mechanics, electricity, electronics and draughtsmanship, lead the apprentice intro the intricacies of design, the excitement of research and experiment, and the intense satisfaction of being in on a big changeover from old-style semaphore signalling to a new coloured light system.

This fly on the wall-style documentary from 1961 won an Oscar for best documentary, and shows the changing patterns of human emotions during 24 hours in the life of Waterloo Station.

The flora and fauna of the Scottish highlands, including footage of ospreys, and stags in Argyle.

The work of a team of men who tackle a special British Road Services job in the treacherous terrain of the Scottish Highlands.

Donald Houston plays a Welshman who tells the story of what it's like to live in small town Wales and how the train service helps.

Blue Pullman is a 1960 short documentary film directed by James Ritchie, which follows the development, preparation and a journey from Manchester to London on new British Railways Blue Pullman units. As with earlier British Transport Films, many of the personnel, scientists, engineers, crew and passengers were featured in the 20 minute film. It won several awards, including the Technical & Industrial Information section of the Festival for Films for Television in 1961. The film is also particularly noted for its score, by Clifton Parker, which, unlike the earlier Elizabethan Express is uninterrupted by any commentary.

Through the forward-looking windows of the new diesel multiple-unit trains reveals a new world of signs, signals and railway sights to those who ride behind the driver. For children, particularly, find this is a fascinating experience. This film communicates something of their excitement and wonder as well as some of the wry, un-conscious humour with which their pertinent and amusing questions and comments are so often interlerded.

On the shortest journey you pass a church or two. Out of the 20,000 churches in Britain, the artist, John Piper, whose work contributes to the glory of England's churches, selects and describes a church built in each of the last nine centuries, from Norman times to the present day. Accompanied by the music of Peter Racine Fricker, he reveals the beauty and riches of architecture, decoration, carving and sculpture aged in mellow stone and weathered glass; the art of the wood carver and the sculptor, and in doing so finds that through the centuries the portrayal of the human face and figure has been an unfailing source of inspiration to all who have brought their talents to the service of the Church.

‘St Christopher’s - for the children of Railway Servants’. About a hundred children are cared for at this Derby railway orphanage and this film gives a selection of scenes from a typical day: the breakfast mail, a boy with a problem, a girl with a worry, a visit from two widowers, a birthday tea party. An official insight into a forgotten aspect of railway operation.

A short documentary.

A cautionary tale of a typical holiday suitcase. Crammed beyond its capacity, imperfectly fastened, inadequately and confusedly labelled, the railways transport it from station to station, seeking its true abode. Finally, one of its owners comes to the nightmare tribunal where those who maltreat their luggage are dealt with. Did it happen? Was it a dream? Be warned. See this film. Avoid making yours 'a desperate case'.

A 200-ton transformer is moved by road from Hayes, Middlesex, to Iver, Bucks. Behind the story of the journey there is another tale: the problems which had to be solved before the task could be undertaken. This background story is told by the voices of those responsible for the various aspects of the operation, until the transformer is placed within a 'bee's wing' of its intended position.

Between the Tides is a 1958 short documentary directed by Ralph Keene for British Transport Films.It is a study of the animal and plant life of Britain's shores. The film show the fascinating and colourful marine life of shoreline and rock pool, filmed in the inter-tidal zone of a typical and attractive rocky shore of southwest England. The amazing diversity of creatures must be seen to be believed; periwinkles, top-shells, starfish and lump suckers, the self-concealing flatfish, the gaper and razor fish and the commuting and breeding seabirds. Beautifully photographed in glorious Technicolor by resident cameraman Ron Craigen, the film was awarded fifteen international film honours, and was nominated for an Oscar for Best Live Action Short Film.

Journey into Spring is a 1958 British short documentary film directed by Ralph Keene, and made by British Transport Films. The film -- partly a tribute to the work of the pioneering naturalist and ornithologist Gilbert White (1720-1793), author of The Natural History of Selborne -- features a commentary by the poet Laurie Lee, and camerawork by the wildlife cinematographer Patrick Carey. The journey suggested by the title is through time rather than space. In fact, two such journeys are made: the first back to the eighteenth century to pay tribute to the work of White, and the second studies the changing natural landscape near White's home town of Selborne in Hampshire between a typical March and May. It was nominated for two Academy Awards -- one for Best Documentary Short, and the other for Best Live Action Short.

Short documentary hymning the wonders of 'modernisation' on the railways.

The holiday attractions of the Lancashire coast, including a beauty contest in Morecambe, Southport flower show and Blackpool Fun Fair.

Lively holiday in Blackpool, with jazz accompaniment.

A look at the transport system in the South Wales Valleys and how it effects peoples livelihoods and everyday lives.

A romantic overview of England in the Elizabethan Age.

Twenty-four hours in the story of the British Railways Channel ferryboats, the 'link spans' directly joining the roads and railways of Britain with those of France and all the Continent. The Lord Warden laden with an assortment of road vehicles from Dover, and the Night Ferry from Newhaven carrying passengers bound for Paris, Vienna or Rome are two of the ferries illustrated in this film; and freight is not forgotten.

The history of the BRS (British Road Services), the general haulage network of the UK. Part of BFI collection "Points and Aspects."

A documentary showing aspects of long-disappeared rural life in Northumberland in 1953.

A random selection of housewives around the UK take a day off from their traditional domestic chores.

A short film about the recovery of a snowbound train in 1950s England.

A school journey through the city of London as seen through the eyes of the children and their teacher.

The Cotswolds are the largest areas of Britain, stretching over a hundred miles from Chipping Camden to the city of Bath.

A tour of East Anglia, with its waterways and low-lying country.

A fond farewell to London's trams - whose peculiarly endearing qualities were discovered only at the threat of their disappearance.

A look at the 1953 transport infrastructure of York.

In the cities of Britain we can travel in time as well as space. This film chooses the England of Hogarth, Gainsborough, Robert Adam and Captain Cook. As the camera moves across outstanding monuments of their work and relics of their achievements from Syon House to Greenwich, members of the Old Vic Company speak appropriate passages from the literature of the mid-eighteenth century. The musical score was specially composed by the late Sir Arnold Bax.

Southampton, a deep-water port with four tides a day, is an ocean terminal for the world's largest liners. Their coming and going, and the people who work with them are the subject of this film as they reflect in their personal lives some of the drama and romance of its situation. Among them are a tug skipper and his crew, a stewardess on a Cape ship, an assistant wharfinger in charge of handling baggage and freight, a taxi driver, and a pilot taking a great liner down Southampton water at night.

The transporting of a distillation colurm, 137 feet long, 500 miles by road from Greenwich to Grangemouth in Scotland. The commentary, spoken by the rigger in charge and one of the tractor drivers, expresses the humour and resourcefulness with which these transport workers tackle their job; and the camera has captured moments of beauty as well as some amusing episodes in this journey of the longest load to travel by road in Britain.

Whether it is a paddle in the sea or a visit to some Roman remains, a day spent watching the countryside go by or an afternoon's inspection of a famous house, a party outing by hired coach can be a real day out. Away For The Day is the story of some coach parties enjoying a wide variety of trips all over England and Wales, and an impression of the places they visit.

A British Transport Films short film

Replacing a century-old rail tunnel at Woodhead, co-ordinated road haulage services in Argyllshire, Whitemoor freight marshalling yeard, Bristol bus services and the Calais to Dover cross-channel ferry: these are the subjects of this early BTF production covering a world of transport co-ordination now largely vanished.

Part of BFI collection "Tales From the Shipyard".

A look at life in the Fenlands (a coastal, marshy plain in eastern England) in 1940's.

A British documentary on tunneling if a building falls in ruins.

Information on the different groups and organizations that are there to help the population during wartime.

The film is designed to encourage recycling - which was a key part of the war effort.

The challenge of what to feed her family weighs on the mind of hard-pressed Mrs Bond in this surreal wartime film made for the Ministry of Food.

A British documentary short about nutrition

The problem of slum dwellings in the 1930s.

The problem of slum dwellings in the 1930s.

Documentary following an Edinburgh fishing trawler, the "Isabella Grieg".

Documentary following an Edinburgh fishing trawler, the "Isabella Grieg".

Documentary following an Edinburgh fishing trawler, the "Isabella Grieg".

Short documentary showing the workings of a large London sorting office.

A documentary looking at a day at Croydon Airport south of London.

Grierson set out to make "propaganda," and this film--with it's voice-over proclaiming the great value of the British industrial worker, without a hint of ambiguity or doubt--fits that category well. The authoritatarian narrator feels out-of-date and unsophisticated, but the footage is well shot and interesting, and the transparency of the propaganda aspect is almost a reflief at a time when so many films have hidden agendas.