One Summer in Somerset (1968) | BFI National Archive
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Ah, the good old days - when hitchhiking and driving without a seatbelt were as safe as houses, and the average English seaside resort town was "clean, spacious, with the air of distinctive elegance". Sceptical? Then follow the West Country wanderings of one broke Aussie student, who thumbs a lift to sunny Weston-Super-Mare in his quest for a good time (and a tour of local historical monuments), and finds himself a surprisingly glamorous travelling companion.
The technique of building a mini-fiction into a travelogue profile of an area wasn't uncommon, and is quietly effective here. Janet in her sports car and our Australian friend may not be the most convincing characters in cinema history, but the jaunty narrative carries us through this promotional film for the local area more effectively than an objective voiceover might have done.
This video is part of the Orphan Works collection. When the rights-holder for a film cannot be found, that film is classified as an Orphan Work. Find out more about Orphan Works: ec.europa.eu/internal_market/c.... This is in line with the EU Orphan Works Directive of 2012. The results of our search for the rights holder of this film can be found in the EU Orphan Works Database: euipo.europa.eu/ohimportal/en...
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Пікірлер: 340
Proof that progression of time doesn't mean it's better.
It can be hard to see what we once had and what we have since lost,
@Paul-md8de
2 ай бұрын
What do think we once had that we have since lost ?
@itwasntme8770
2 ай бұрын
@@Paul-md8de Civil society, based on trust, honesty, decency and respect for others and the law.
@careytitan9097
2 ай бұрын
@@Paul-md8de A white homogenous, safer society, amongst our own people.
@Paul-md8de
2 ай бұрын
@@careytitan9097 So white people don't commit crime eh!!! our society has never been totally white , seems certain people cling on to racism like it's some treasured value from the past and they just can't let it go can they ???
@RichardThomson-oe3yv
2 ай бұрын
@@careytitan9097 Even if your comment wasn't racist, it's just factually wrong. Somerset's population today is 98.5% white.
This film is how I remember Weston in my childhood. It’s very nostalgic for me .
@GrrMeister
3 жыл бұрын
Dream on !
@pmacc3557
3 жыл бұрын
I'm sure its just as nice today...right?
@jimmywormholes2053
Жыл бұрын
ViSiTed Summer 2015 TourinG Around SomerSeT And DeVon BaSed In WellS Then Ilfracombe Two DaY TripS To WeSTern Super Mare. On Comparison To WhaT It Was In 1968/1969 Its More WeSTern Super NiGhTmare.
@terrystevens5261
2 ай бұрын
@@pmacc3557 It is a dump now.
Take me back to the 60’s 😀
@dulls8475
Жыл бұрын
I will join you.
@jermainesimpson834
Жыл бұрын
I bet the 60s was good
@davids8449
2 ай бұрын
@@jermainesimpson834 much happier and simple times , No PR today's world people in Britain are shaped to size by the Government , the medium being Television, Press , and the main ingredient greed , and fear
@keithroberts5611
2 ай бұрын
I remember as a kid going there by car before the motorway was built, From Bristol in the hight of summer it took almost half a day to get there because of the traffic jams, But as the film shows well worth the hassles, It was a real treat back then, All so different these days, Just imagine hitch hiking and be picked up by a single girl😮Pure fantasy!! Anyways thanks for sharing this film a trip down memory lane 🇬🇧👍🙏😊
@griswald7156
Ай бұрын
@@jermainesimpson834 like today…the 60s was crap for a lot of people,lots of people going without…but for the old people today the 60s was when they took their good health for granted..and didn’t worry about being able to see a doctor..
Look at our broken County now
@stephenchappell7512
2 ай бұрын
but at least it's 'enriched' 😏
@griswald7156
Ай бұрын
@@stephenchappell7512with what?
@AussieKim42
Ай бұрын
Stop voting Tory, then.
@fletchsrv
13 күн бұрын
@@stephenchappell7512 Sadly that lovely seaside town and many others like it are now decayed like broken teeth and full of asylum seekers and various other dregs of society. Hopefully Janet gave our young chap a day to remember though!
I was born in Weston and was 16 when this was made. I left in 72 for Oz. It’s like looking thru a Time Machine, so many memories. Dad was drummer in the Ken Birch band at the Winter Gardens. I gave up my job and hired deck chairs on the beach before I left. Never regretted leaving.
I'll second that @Venge. My beloved country too before it was soiled. That's how I remember England years ago, including the easy going music which was how it was.
@chapsnaps1
2 ай бұрын
It's a great depiction of time past. No poverty and decay, no litter and no feral teenagers. Things don't always change for the better.
@keithroberts5611
2 ай бұрын
Agree what happened to british groups all but gone now, Its all gangta rap!!
If only we had the ability to see our life in reverse. In the summer of ‘68 I was working at Butlins in Filey- it was more like a holiday than a job! For me all of that decade was wonderfully memorable and videos like this don’t lie! If only we could retrace our footprints or turn Time around…😢
I was there in that beautiful summer of 1968, a young lad on the brink of manhood and surrounded by beautiful girls. That summer has stayed with me since then.
@garryharriman7349
Ай бұрын
I hear you're into fellas now, beautiful or not!😂
@griswald7156
Ай бұрын
I was there in July 1967….aload of rockers arrived on the seafront they throbbed along the promenade on their bikes a few hundreds or more…i was scared stiff..
This region of Somerset was my summer holiday for many years. My grandparents lived in the delightful seaside town of Burnham-on-sea. I loved the freshness of the ozone air, the open countryside, with its outbreaks of real hills, like the Mendips, the Quantocks and a wonderful feature near Burnham called Brent Knoll, which always looked to me like a huge green trilby hat. A few years ago I finally climbed it, and it was a lot higher than it looked. After many years of not going to the region, I now spend in total a week or more in Burnham every year.
@petemitchell3067
3 жыл бұрын
Martin Mitchell ; ‘Tis even better here in Watchet!😏👋👍
@martm216
3 жыл бұрын
@@petemitchell3067 yes, my dad used to drive us around to that part of the coast, I remember - Watchet, Porlock and Miinehead. Everywhere around that part of the world is lovely to me. Last year I went to Dunster and Dunster Castle, which was fabulous.
many of the cars at the seafront - made in the UK. Ford Zephyr, Ford Anglia, Triumph Spitfire Mk2, Vauxhall 101 Victor, Morris Oxford, Jaguar Mk X, Morris Minor, Hillman Superminx Convertible and more...........made in 1966; may well have been released for watching in 1968!
@ChangesOneTim
27 күн бұрын
The beauty contest winner's floral sash shows 1966.
This sort of thing used to happen to me all the time when I was hitching around. Got fed up with it in the end.
A few of us lads would visit Weston for the day to play on the arcade machines in the early to mid 90s. Get down there about 9, have some pie and chips for lunch, and back to the arcades. It was a great day out! Surprisingly, Weston looked pretty similar to what is shown in this film in the early 90s. I haven't been back for over 20 years, and I would imagine it has changed considerably since then.
@LoyalTeenWolf
Жыл бұрын
It’s a chavvy area
@MrJenklns
Жыл бұрын
Weston's country lanes have become housing estates and traffic gridlocked roads !
@orionxtc1119
8 ай бұрын
@@MrJenklns sad
@keithroberts5611
2 ай бұрын
Drug capital of the west country!!😢WTF happened and what became of the people we used to be???The only thing to look forward to the past🤔🇬🇧🙏
back in the 50s, we called it Weston-super-mud. used to cycle there from Chippenham.
What a day of Sunshine,,,,reminds me of my childhood,,,,,
The scene where she picks him up is Hillend near Locking. Next scene is of Coronation Road, Bleadon. That merges into footage of Lower Kewstoke Road in Worle. The police station was in Laurel Drive, Uphill.
@andrewmorley474
4 жыл бұрын
Of no interest to anyone really but , I lived on Laurel Drive
@Lookup2Wakeup
3 жыл бұрын
@@andrewmorley474 Did you bump into Janet in her Spitfire........😀👊
@Psammead21
3 жыл бұрын
@andy885 Thanks for answering my question before I asked! I wondered where they were.
@craigkilmurray1273
3 жыл бұрын
Any idea what village they drive through on the way to Glastonbury?
Wouldn't see any streetscape like 0:44 anywhere in the UK now. And this was filmed as recently as 1968. More likely to be a morass of concrete traffic islands, bollards, railings, CCTV gantries etc.
@Khayyam-vg9fw
2 ай бұрын
Someone's brother-in-law is making a tidy packet from these things.
A lot can go wrong in fifty years
"Phwooar look at those gorgeous Sheilas.." Oh you smooth-talking Aussie...
I lived in Somerset around that time my father served in the British army and we lived in Yeovil and went to the preston road primary school I remember the head mistresses name was Mrs Gilbert Great memories
13:30 *Weston-Super-Mare is a great place and I love it still in post Lockdown 2020. Lovely area.*
@Vingul
3 жыл бұрын
Glad to hear it's not all burkinis and litter.
@keithroberts5611
2 ай бұрын
Don't visit after dark!! Stay safe people!!🤔
@terrystevens5261
2 ай бұрын
You have to be joking right.
Bought back memories, thank you so much for posting
Lovely bit of nostalgia not to sure about the Beauty contest judge !
@terrystevens5261
2 ай бұрын
Swimming pool was his downfall.
Wonderful video, love seeing these videos of the 60s and 70s
Weston like most UK seaside towns declined once ordinary people could afford to go abroad for guaranteed sunshine.
@GinaJones-we4eq
2 ай бұрын
It isn’t always guaranteed. I remember some friends who went to Turkey at the time of the eclipse in 2000 . It rained for the whole two weeks… 12:40
Happened all the time when I was hitching in those days, waited a couple of minutes then a blond in a sports car took me where I was going... or... did I wait for hours and a wagon might pull up after an hour... yes, that was more like it.. but a nice film indeed.
the beauty queen garland says 66 and the car is a 1965. i think this was shot in 1966
1968. The last time the tide came in at Weston!
@Gannett2011
Жыл бұрын
My dad used to call it Weston-on-the-Mud
Nice film, thanks for posting.
I've never heard of Wells Cathedral, amazing building I'll look forward to visit one day.
@trollmeistergeneral3467
Жыл бұрын
&Ria Why have you never heard of Wells Cathedral? It is world famous.
Don't let Len Fairclough anywhere near that swimming pool ffs.........
@swansong5263
Ай бұрын
😮😅
No cultural enrichment, heaven on earth.
Hitch hiking with a suitcase? Try that today.
@GrrMeister
3 жыл бұрын
*It need a GirlFriend with Great Legs and you know and 1 Minute at most will all it takes !*
@neilhartley3339
3 жыл бұрын
😂🤣😂
@benitopussolini544
Жыл бұрын
no,you need a petrol can and not look like a freak!
1968 was the year the family was making a film 📽️ of Chester, Bromborough, Eastham, and Woodside. Happy days long gone..........main camera men were my father, brother, and myself
Shows that there are now too many people in the UK now. Getting rid of the Italian garden and replacing it with concrete was the saddest.
that was great thank you ,
Loved it.
I have visited "Weston Super Mud" many times over the years but in more recent years it has been a sad place to be with as the place is run down, just as most towns on the coast. Brean and Burnam were also great places back in the day with our caravan back in the day. I recall going on holiday when I was about 10 or 11 to Clevedon further along the coast where I feel the scalextric race track was located at the time. Looking back on much happier time.
In the credits it says that the lead actresses clothes come from Marks and Spencer St Michael. The height of Elegance.
I was about 6 years old so at the start of my conscious memory. Many of the UK seaside towns became since then very run down with poor or retired people in them as British people turned to better weather and cheap package holidays to Spain (our first was in 1970 - first time I had even spent a night away from home). (And yes we always say going to the seaside not going to the beach) I remember a lot more hitchhiking in NE England in the 1960s (where I am from) than now and we had 16 million fewer people in the UK about 60 years ago than we have now - so we have got an awful lot more crowded since I was little. No matter. Long live the UK and Long Live the Queen.
When kids could play in the sea without constant watching and molly coddling from parents. A lot of children these days under 5 are on leads lol. They would never let a donkey go near to a child now, think of the health and safety. That bike race today would have all the bloody police force there, little Hitler's in hi viz jackets all over the place and all the streets would be cordoned off just because there's some big bike race going on, and they'd be ambulances on stand by to attend to the crowds. Everything is extreme and unnecessary today when it comes to any event or public gathering. I've been to food markets I've seen ambulances there. It's ridiculous. No ones gonna get hurt for godsake.
@terrystevens5261
2 ай бұрын
Donkey rides still happen on Weston beach.
The dog knew him!
Now Weston is ruined and taken over by people that care nothing for things like intricate floral designs like the clock , diving pools, large scale events ect.... Now we only have two donkeys that look sad in the rain on the beach
@jeffaller6190
3 жыл бұрын
Can't someone get those donkeys out of the rain?
@rodbridger3319
Жыл бұрын
Jußt like Hastings I'm afraid. The seaside used to be a wonderful experience with model village, floral clocks etc, now Hastings is only a shadow of its former glory.
@rodbridger3319
Жыл бұрын
D anny is 0Smoking I can see the proof of the pudding then you know that I have just been given to the probability of course and assured that you are able to the blood that has been soaked into the proof of the pudding then you know that I have just stumbled across these videos on KZread and '-'' cellar to the???
@lynnstorey8020
6 ай бұрын
@@rodbridger3319 What??
thanks for the memories chappie
A bit before my time, but what a lovely film!
my beloved country, before it was soiled.
@southlondon86
3 жыл бұрын
I know right! Take us back to the good old days of Jimmy Savile and Myra Hindley!
@iVenge
3 жыл бұрын
southlondon86 If that’s the only thing you get out of Britain in the 1960s, then you must be rather deranged.
@Vingul
3 жыл бұрын
@Times Arrow Peoples all over the planet have done horrible things to other groups in the past, and the past can't be changed, the fact remains that those countries were founded by Anglos. If the Turks were being flooded with Europeans (not that that would be in the least likely), would you then tell them to move back to central Asia, where they originated? Of course you would not, nor should you. That's not even mentioning that Anatolia (Turkey) was populated by Greeks before the Turks came, Somalis and Pakistanis didn't exactly originate in the U.K. -- but that's beside the point. We've all heard your type of silly argument before, it always works only one way, and that is to the detriment of Europeans. Get real.
@jonny7491
3 жыл бұрын
Times Arrow I would say most of these expats living in these countries all have the same values as their nationals and respect the country they decided to call home. They don’t try and push their own cultures on on other and cry racism when someone complains.
@ibrahimsulaiman9047
3 жыл бұрын
@@Vingul "To the detriment of Europeans" - Europeans have settled all over the world, and so there's no injustice when the world comes to settle in Europe. It really is that simple.
Left the UK 18 years ago, cannot stand what it has become. The past really is another country!
10:09 *"Their are some Wonderful Views up here," long before **_Dogging_** was invented, which simply meant taking your pooch for a walkies.*
I like W.S.M. I was there injuly 1967..
Triumph spitfire !
Apparently a great fire swept though the model village that called on fire fighters from all around, at the height of the blaze the flames could be seen from nearly 4 feet away 😂 great video
That Aussie chap is a first rate cad and a blighter!
By the sash its 1966 not 68.
Lots of the country side still looks like this , I was born in 1968 , janets still got the sports car but the dog got run over ,,
Nice!, Len Faircloughs' tongue was hanging out judging the beauty contest.
@stephenchappell7512
2 ай бұрын
Back when it wasn't a crime to be a lad
1965 Spitfire mark 2 painted in powder blue just like the one I had.
@blackvulcan100
2 ай бұрын
And I dove WSM often.
@Ifitwerks
2 ай бұрын
I wonder how long it lasted after its salt bath!!!! Terrible thing to do to it!
1968 in Historic archive? This was 2 years AFTER I left the Royal Navy for cryng out loud!!
@neilelliott6151
3 жыл бұрын
The year I hatched and 17 before I got pressed
@pmacc3557
3 жыл бұрын
congrats you are a member of historical society!
@janesmith9024
3 жыл бұрын
Yet if we don't preserve them we lose them so it is worth saving.
@rabbit64sj91
3 жыл бұрын
1966 is 55 years ago, so quite obviously part of history now! 😉 All of the past becomes history, and this is over half century ago: It's just as we grow older we become rather amazed to find ourselves a part of it really, as our memories stretch further back in time. ☺
I know it was not perfect back then. But that place has certainly gone down hill.
‘Heading for Bristol’ lolz
Wells Cathedral was the See since AD29. So, before the crucifixion then? We were clearly a forward-thinking race!
@complexlittlepirate3589
Жыл бұрын
You gave me a good laugh, thanks!
Wonder how much is left of the buildings such as the pavillions and pool?
@terrystevens5261
2 ай бұрын
The Tropicana pool is no more sadly.
Is the narrator Tim Bowden? (From ABC’s old Backchat program, before it became MediaWatch)
Wow! Matthew Broderick's first role😉 Brilliant film from the "Ooh Matron" Carry-on era. Hitch-hiking; the mayor smokes a fag while ogling the beauty contestants; the line of deckchairs occupied by oldies in cloth caps and Sunday best; parking pretty easy; village police stations; high diving boards at the lido - shocking! One thing that never changes of course is Weston-super-Mud when the tide's out.
This hurts!
Beware. The Aussie student might be Bazza McKenzie
Worked at sand bay pontins 1976 77 .
Western super mare on mud
Hillman Super Minx Convertible 1962-1964 is the car he is sitting in at the end of the movie
Oh Weston, what's happened to you?
Does anyone know the first dual carriageway is/was or the police station in the first village?
@TheDIBSY
3 жыл бұрын
Laurel Drive in Uphill. Don’t know D/C 🤨
Ooh!len fairfinger,the dubious life guard.
Loving this but that guy must have got a time machine back from the eighties
My dad would’ve been 2 years old during this filming, interesting
Better Times
U climb all the way up the tor and dont give us a panoramic wow..?
Isn't that the actor from Coronation street - Len Faircluff at the beauty contest?
@paulnodalo9130
3 жыл бұрын
Yes!!
@connor25
3 жыл бұрын
Ironic he was at a swimming pool, after what he was had up for later on in life that is
@peezebeuponyou3774
3 жыл бұрын
@@connor25 I've given this a thumbs up.
The narrator barely sounds Australian. Still, all film voices were posh then. Thanks for posting this. p.s. We were condemned to Clacton for this decade. Quite similar in ways,except the beach.. Hard to tell when you're six.
@zogworth
3 жыл бұрын
He's a kiwi so it's probably just how he speaks with a bunch of RP RADA layered on top.
Are the South African teams provincial teams? So bigger playing base?
BELL BOY !!
Amazing journey back to a more innocent time when nobody threw their litter on the ground and just before the 1st Glastonbury festival. Don't fasten your seatbelts folks!
Wasn’t Peter Adamson done for messing with little girls in his local swimming pool?
@johnnyonenote376
3 жыл бұрын
A jury found him not guilty of those charges.
The mayor of Weston sending the Holy Thorn to the Queen ? Mayor of Glastonbury ..would have thought .15:28
There's a Local Police Station.
@SuperNevile
2 ай бұрын
"Heartbeat era" ~ A sergeant, and a couple of coppers, one on the beat and the other on a motorbike.
@robnewman6101
2 ай бұрын
Thanks.
Does he?
Don’t know who was creepier, Len Fairclough, scourge of the swimming pool or the weird faced Aussie.
@whitevanman999
3 жыл бұрын
Thumbs up from me for remembering Len Fairclough.
@None-zc5vg
3 жыл бұрын
@@whitevanman999 He got away with it, thanks to George Carman, only to shoot his mouth off later on.
@whitevanman999
3 жыл бұрын
@@None-zc5vg With hindsight my comment should of said, ' Number 2 got the thumbs up from peter adamson '.
I couldnt afford a car in1968, today i can afford a car but not the car parking charges and the fines..it was before double yellow lines and car parking apps on your phone..
☺❤😘
if you was to come here now its all changed the good old days have gone from back then this place is just a dump now with nothing to do i know as i live here it was a nice place to come back then but not anymore its the pits now thats for sure come see for your self and see whats left of the place now nothing nothing at all there is a pontins though if you want to experience the real hi-de-hi check it out lol
In his dreams!
He didn't sound very Aussie to me. Weston has changed regarding the attractions, but I recognise the buildings and the street layout. I think the donkeys have gone now though.
The dog was the star
Slimey git !!!!
I thought he was lucky for a minute when he got rid of that stuck up posh bint and then it comes back,shit, could have sold that dog!
How did it change into a dump
It's so obvious the script was he got his end away
Anyone know the beauty queen? She certainly was a looker in 66!
@DeanSinger-ky7md
Ай бұрын
Marion Jenkins
"Chicken in the Basket"...
Two sheilas one car
They just got rid of the flower clock
at the end she put her foot on the gas and the words were..............