Archive footage – Icelahoma, Christmas 1953
Being in business for over 30 years means we have a fair amount of ‘archive’ material but we love it when people bring their old cine film and VHS tapes into our studio and ask us to convert them to DVD and online content.
We were lucky enough to have someone from The Southampton Ice Dance and Figure Skating Club come in the other day. The Club celebrates its 60th Anniversary this weekend (March 24th/25th 2012) and we were asked if we could help with some cine film of what was probably their first production for Christmas 1953.
The Club used to meet and use the old Southampton Ice Rink. This was situated alongside the old speedway stadium at what is now called Charles Knott Gardens in honor of the founder of Southampton Vikings ice hockey team and owner of the land – Charlie Knott Jnr. Click here for more details. Footage of the speedway stadium can be found here.
The Rink itself opened in 1931 and finally closed in 1988. A history of the rink from 1931, through its rebuilding after war time damage in 1940 and its use for ice hockey can be found here
The original Cine film had been converted to VHS. We digitised it and converted it to DVD with some additional document scans for use at the Clubs reunion.
We are sure it will bring back happy memories for many people.
We thought it would be nice to share it with a wider audience by putting it out as webvideo on our site and we were kindly given permission to do so. Some people may remember the Christmas show of 1953 or even spot themselves on ice!
We have been reliably informed that the barrel jumper that can be seen at 02.35 to 02.53 was one the UK’s leading experts in this skill!
Details of the Southampton Ice Dance and Figure Skating Club can be found here. A book on the history of the club by Eileen de Lisle and Brian Cox can be found here.
FlyToThePast – WWII pilot interviews – Molly Rose & Joy Lofthouse
At the start of World War II it quickly became apparent that all the trained and in-training RAF and Royal Navy pilots would be needed for combat roles and the important task of ferrying freshly built aircraft from factory to Maintenance Units for armament and radio fitting or moving them between airfields would need to be given to non-RAF and RN pilots. As a result civilian pilots were recruited and the Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA) was formed. The ATA web site explains the history in detail.
Initially only male pilots were recruited but within a few months this was expanded to include women who were qualified civilian pilots.
At the FlyToThePast 2011 airshow at Oxford airport were lucky enough to meet two of the former ATA female pilots and interview them.
Molly Rose joined the the ATA in 1942 and Joy Lofthouse joined in 1943.
In the interview below Molly and Joy talk about how women ATA pilots achieved a notable first when they were awarded equal pay with men (to lose it after the war was over). They also talk about how lucky they feel they were to have the chance to fly and seem almost embarrassed to been singled out for media attention in the last few years when everyone did what they could during WWII, even if was working in a wartime factory. They share their experiences of having no radio contact with the ground and relying on a compass and map reading to find the airfields they were delivering the aircraft to. They talk about the value of visual objects such as railway lines, tree clumps and checkpoints for navigation when airfields were camouflaged and all signs for road and railway stations had been removed for security. They also talk about the risk of death and injury when flying at low altitude and avoiding wires from barrage balloons especially over Southampton Waters. They also talk affectionately about the Hamble airfield where they were based, the multinationals represented there and the hobbies and pastimes they undertook while waiting to take off and the availability of locally picked fresh strawberries in the summer.
The interview was recorded on location at the FlyToThePast airshow held at Oxford airport in 2011. Post-production and editing was done at our audio-video studios in Southampton.
For more information visit the ATA museum at White Waltham in Maidenhead, Berkshire.
FlyToThePast – WWII pilot interview – Joy Lofthouse
At the start of World War II it quickly became apparent that all the trained and in-training RAF and Royal Navy pilots would be needed for combat roles and the important task of ferrying freshly built aircraft from factory to Maintenance Units for armament and radio fitting or moving them between airfields would need to be given to non-RAF and RN pilots. As a result civilian pilots were recruited and the Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA) was formed. The ATA web site explains the history in detail.
Initially only male pilots were recruited but within a few months this was expanded to include women who were qualified civilian pilots.
At the FlyToThePast 2011 airshow at Oxford airport were lucky enough to meet two of the former ATA female pilots and interview them.
Joy Lofthouse joined the ATA in 1943 when they started recruiting people who would be trained to fly as all qualified civilian pilots had already been recruited and were in service!
In the interview Joy talks about how the women ATA pilots progressed from being allowed to fly single engine training aircraft to single seat fighter aircraft (Hurricane and Spitfire), twin engine aircraft and in some cases even 4 engine heavy bombers (Lancaster). She also talks about how important the Ferry Pilot Notes were in helping explain handing characteristics. Very important when you cannot be trained to fly a single seat aircraft. Every flight will be solo – even the first one!
For more information visit the ATA museum dedicated at White Waltham in Maidenhead, Berkshire.
- Archive footage – Icelahoma,Being in business for over 30 years means we have a… »
- FlyToThePast – WWII pilotAt the start of World War II it quickly became apparent… »
- FlyToThePast – WWII pilotAt the start of World War II it quickly became… »