North Waltham, Steventon, Ashe & Deane History Society (From Basingstoke Gazette)

North Waltham, Steventon, Ashe & Deane History Society

12:40pm Tuesday 8th December 2009 in

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FROM the North Waltham Mummers, streamers blowing in the breeze, to the elegance of Vine Hunt leaving Manydown House, and the efforts of the farm labourers to control a blaze with Basingstoke’s fire brigade charging to the rescue, all on silent cine film – this was a glimpse of 1920s life.

Colour and sound from the 1960s found us in Jane Austen’s Steventon. The lost soundtrack from photographer Hayward’s stroll around central Basingstoke before its rebuild enabled older residents to locate the little shops and factories, and the grand Methodist church rebuilt after the war only to be knocked down.

But most entertaining was the filming on the Alton Light Railway, first of a staged level crossing crash reused in several films, and then the end of “Oh Mr Porter” when the train destroys its Basingstoke platform.

David Lee explained how he’d started to gather audio-visual material across southern England and had now a base in Hampshire Record Office to store, repair and show movies, aided by Hampshire Archives Trust. Our oral recordings from the mid-1990s are among his collection of 32,000 items.

The next meeting is the society’s party at Pond Corner from 8pm to 9.30pm on Thursday when members are invited to bring an interesting artefact to show.