Title:VACATION MEMORIES. MINEHEAD JULY 1941 [Main Title]
Film Number:MGH 6823
Other titles:AMATEUR FILM BY WILLIAM CLAYPOLE-SMITH [Allocated Title]
Summary: Amateur film with titles shot by William Claypole-Smith, a caterer from Watford, records family holidays to Minehead (Somerset) and Lynmouth (North Devon) in July 1941, highlighting the contrasting impact of the Second World War in the south west of England.
Description: Scenes on the flat beach at Minehead, where tall wooden posts erected in the sand in the summer of 1940 in order to guard against the threat of German airborne invasion by glider at low tide. Peggy Claypole-Smith leads her three year old son David from the promenade onto the beach to play and build a sandcastle with his father William, while she sits writing in a deck chair; all are warmly clothed on this English beach. Forte's Ice Cream Parlor [sic] visible on seafront. They later venture into the sea in bathing suits.
"Over Porlock to Lynmouth" (Colour - Kodak UK 1940 date code) Scenes of Exmoor sheep in the lush countryside around Countisbury Hill above Lynmouth, and views of the hilly landscape, cliffs and sea. A green country bus descends the steep zig-zag road towards the seaside town. "Lynmouth" Family, with other wartime holidaymakers and two servicemen in uniform, view the sights of the town, including the River Lyn, Bevan's Hotel, the Rhenish Tower, a three-masted schooner under way offshore and the Cliff railway station up to Lynton, which displays a large advertisement for Britain's most popular newspaper "The News of the World".
"The Valley of Rocks" Peggy and her son walk around the area and view the rocky coastline. Back in Lynmouth, two soldiers in uniform stand out among the civilian holiday makers. Close up views of a popular attraction, the Mickey Mouse Circus, a miniature circus of scurrying rats of various sizes and colours. Peggy Claypole-Smith walks with her son in the country and stands beside the family's sportscar. View towards precipitous cliffs on the eastern side of Lynmouth.
The Claypole-Smith family visit Lynmouth again in 1955 (Kodak UK 1955 stock date) [three years after fatal flash floods allegedly provoked by cloud seeding experiments by Porton Down]. Peggy follows her son David and daughter Susan through the opening in the Rhenish Tower. View of severe erosion beside the River Lyn.
Alternative Title:AMATEUR FILM BY WILLIAM CLAYPOLE-SMITH [Allocated Title]
Colour:B&W (part Colour)
Digitised:
Object_Number:MGH 6823
Sound:Silent
Access Conditions:NON-IWM
Featured Period:
Production Date:1941-07
Production Country: GB
Production Details: Claypole-Smith, William (Production individual)
