Tuesday, March 02, 2010

60 YEAR OLD CINE FILM ABOUT RICHARD JEFFERIES FOUND IN A LOFT IN ESSEX RETURNS HOME

PRESS RELEASE: RICHARD JEFFERIES SOCIETY

2 March 2010

A cine film, made by the Film Production Unit of the Swindon Public Library Film Society in 1948, has found its way back to Swindon. The film, produced as a tribute to Richard Jefferies one hundred years after his birth, was found in a loft in Essex by Philip Mansbridge among films about trains.



Mr Mansbridge has sent the film to the Richard Jefferies Society but has no idea where it came from. It is possible that it originated from Albert Mansbridge who was the founder of the Swindon branch of the Workers’ Educational Association.

The film runs for fifteen minutes with no sound-track and it shows shots of Richard Jefferies’ birthplace and home at Coate, and some of his books and places that were special to the writer such as Liddington Hill, the Gamekeeper’s Cottage at Hodson and Coate Water. There is a charming re-enactment of a scene from Jefferies’ boys adventure story: Bevis, where local boys wield hand-made wooden swords at Coate Water in a mock battle. Those children would now be in their seventies and may still be living in Swindon and remember making the film. The Richard Jefferies Society would like to hear from them.

The film was last shown at the Arts Centre on 21st June 1948. It will get a new airing this Saturday (6 March) at the Richard Jefferies Museum when enthusiasts of Richard Jefferies and Alfred Williams joining forces to share readings from their favourite works of the two Victorian Swindon-born authors.

The meeting starts at 2pm and is open to the public.

Contact Jean Saunders on 01793 783040 for further information.