Councillor tracks down oldest unseen films of Rochdale.

Date published: 20/03/2006

Councillor Ian Duckworth has made a successful bid to locate historical film of Rochdale, which dates back to the turn of the last century. Working in conjunction with Touchstones, Councillor Duckworth hopes that the films will be made available on DVD so that they can be enjoyed throughout the town.

Councillor Duckworth got the idea to search for scenes of latter day Rochdale after watching a BBC documentary on the lost films of Mitchell and Kenyon. A short while ago workmen doing alterations to a chemist shop in Blackburn discovered three large drums containing hundreds of feet of old film. They nearly threw them in a skip but instead they contacted a local historian who discovered they were the lost films of the two local businessmen who shot film of the Northwest area during the late nineteenth century.

The local historian sent the films to the British Film Institute, where they were digitally remastered and transferred to DVDs. The result was film as clear as the day it was shot, with amazing lost scenes of local life. Councillor Ian Duckworth wondered if there were any surviving images of Rochdale, especially relevant to this, the150 Anniversary year of the Rochdale Council. He contacted the British Film Institute and they found three Rochdale themed films dating back to circa. 1900, entitled:
 
Film of Rochdale Tram Ride
 
Film of Turn out of the Rochdale Fire Brigade
 
Film of Robinson's Iron Foundry Workforce Leaving for Dinner
 
Councillor Duckworth said, "I've contacted Touchstones and can't wait to get the DVDs to Rochdale and share them with everyone in our town. The tram scene is rather ironic in the present era when we're fighting to get the Metrolink to come here. Who knows this might be a lucky omen!"