Detail
Collection London Road School
Summary
A collection of films by Headmaster Mr A. C. Barnden of Oakmeeds School in Burgess Hill, comprising several films for use in the schools classrooms.
Collection ID | 417 | Reference code | WS 020930 / 1 |
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Title | London Road School | ||
Dates | 1940s - 1970s | ||
Production | Headmaster: A.C. Barnden | ||
Materials | FILM 16mm Audio | ||
Access status | Contact Screen Archive South East for details |
Description
Mr A. C. Barnden, headmaster of London Road School in Burgess Hill, made several films in the late 1940s and 1950s. The films were intended for use in the classroom and demonstrate a keen interest in capturing and conveying local rural industry subjects, as shown in A Bottle of Milk (ca.1947), Haytime (1949?), and About Horse Shoes (1949). The collection also includes instructional items such as Making a Film and Making a Single Section Book (ca. 1953). Mr Barnden also recorded school activities such as sports days, school trips and plays. The collection also features a series of commercially made films on educational topics.
The London Road School collection consequently illustrates the educational role that film could play in schools, where they acted as audio-visual supporting material in the classroom.
Films in this collection:
Showing 11 results.
[London Road School Sports]
Date | [ca. 1945] | ID | 3006 |
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Amateur film of sports day at London Road School, Burgess Hill. Events include boys and girls races: sprinting, running, relay racing and presentation of winners' shield. There are various views of parents/spectators and scenes of a man teaching a woman to shoot and a man with a catapult.

Haytime
Date | [1949?] | ID | 3001 |
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An educational film showing a variety of labour- and time-saving machinery used on a farm at haymaking time. Intended for use in the classroom, the film uses intertitles to ask questions and raise discussion points.

A Bottle of Milk
Date | [ca. 1947] | ID | 3005 |
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A concise account of the production of a bottle of milk, from dairy cow to doorstep in just four hours.
The Fourth Year
Date | 1948 - 1949 | ID | 2998 |
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A two-reel film recording the activities of the fourth year of London Road School, in Burgess Hill. The film is divided into autumn, spring and summer term activities and depicts project work, school trips, sports day and preparing for the school play.

About Horse Shoes
Date | 1949 | ID | 3004 |
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Amateur educational film showing the workings of a blacksmith's forge. Scenes include horse being led to smithy, old shoes being removed, blacksmith working at forge and new shoes being fitted. Demonstration of different sizes and types of horseshoe, followed by shots of cart horses and hunters and illustration of type of shoe worn by racehorses. The film ends with a man (the blacksmith?) showing a record book indicating the costs of shoeing.
[Making a Film]
Date | [ca. 1950s] | ID | 3009 |
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Amateur film with opening shots illustrating basic film making processes, particularly splicing. This is followed by a short fictional film depicting five characters in a waiting room, including a kissing couple, who appear to catch fleas from a tramp.
Making a Single Section Book
Date | [ca. 1953] | ID | 2999 |
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Educational film demonstrating book binding. Instructions are given in three stages: cutting and assembling boards and spine, sewing, and fixing the book into the case. All stages are demonstrated by a pupil/student and intertitles are used to provide further instructions. The finished book is inspected by a teacher.

Pennies. School Trip to Switzerland
Date | June 1951 | ID | 3011 |
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'Pennies' is a cautionary story about the importance of road safety. Two boys on a bike are hit by a car. One boy is killed and the other injured. His class give pennies to the teacher for funeral flowers. The second film (not online) 'School Trip to Switzerland' follows a group of children as they learn about the Swiss way of life and explore the countryside.
![[Coronation Celebrations in Burgess Hill] (1953) a still from [Coronation Celebrations in Burgess Hill] (1953)](/wp-content/uploads/films/3000/image_a_thumb.jpg)
[Coronation Celebrations in Burgess Hill]
Date | 31 May 1953 - 06 June 1953 | ID | 3000 |
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This film records the events taking place in Burgess Hill to commemorate the Queen’s Coronation in 1953.

The Adventures of Tom, Dick and Harry
Date | [ca. 1955] | ID | 3002 |
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Educational film about road safety. The film is in three sections: what happened, what might have happened, and what should have happened.
Here and There Round Britain's Coasts
Date | [ca. 1959] | ID | 3003 |
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Various scenes filmed around Britain's coast, including Brixham, Land's End, Aberlyn, the Severn Bore, the Clyde ferry, "Northwards beyond Glencoe", Fort Augustus, the Forth Bridge and Newhaven. Scenes of sailing dinghies, boats at sea, fishermen at work, countryside and mountain views, car ferries, a steamboat, fishermen unloading their catch and repairing nets.
Showing 11 results.