 |
Home
Langley Mill & Aldercar Heritage Group dvd
|
|
|
|
Langley Mill & Aldercar Heritage Group dvd
Location: Derbyshire
RECIPE:
Take one group of dedicated citizens, with a pinch of ambition
Add a healthy portion of a village's heritage
Mix with a challenge to unearth memories via servings of photographs, anecdotes and personal reminiscences
Bring to the boil and serve in any dvd player
'Walking Through the Mill' a film - based on the group's book of the same name - records local residents' memories of what they believe was once the most industrialised village in the UK.
Until the Industrial Revolution in the late 18th century, the area which was to become Langley Mill was simply a crossing place on the River Erewash, with links to Derby, Heanor, Eastwood, Mansfield and Nottingham.
Although there had been a water mill there since Doomsday, it was the canals - the Erewash, Cromford and Nottingham all converged in the area - which led to the industrial development of the village, known as Langley Bridge.
When the Midland Railway arrived in 1847, more large industries followed.
The growth and development of Langley Mill over the past 200 years is regarded by many as a perfect example of the rise and fall of an industrial village through its geography, economics and aspirations of its inhabitants, which is why it made perfect material for local author Derek Fox, who penned 'Walking Through the Mill' in 2002 and has written the script for the film.
The Heritage Group meets weekly at The Bridge Centre on Cromford Road. Derek facilitates the group , which grew up out of the Centre's Older Persons Project and it seemed a natural follow-on from the book for the Centre staff to seek funding to develop the group further.
Derek said 'When we got the funds we wondered if we could use some of them to make a film. Everyone was really up for the idea and so we set about pulling it all together. We didn't want a dry documentary, so we came up with the idea of doing it in a Last of the Summer Wine style.
A group of local characters, speaking in dialect, walk through the village telling tales about the history of the place as they meander along.
The film lasts for about 50 minutes and is the result of four and a half days of filming, which according to the men who star in it, Brian Gration (65). Jim Trueman (64) and Alf Hursthouse (69) was very gruelling.
The film starts and finishes on the banks of the canal and takes in the old Co-op (part of which is now The Bridge Centre, a local resource Centre for local groups, education and leisure activities), Smiths Flour Mill, the former Vic Hallam Builders site, the former sites of Langley Mill Pottery, Turners and artistic as well as featuring houses which used to be key shops within the village such as the milliners. Whilst there was not a colliery in Langley Mill itself, many of the local residents were miners at local collieries.
The film also features Slaters Glass which occupies the site of the old cinema and which provides some very nostalgic memories for the group.
The guys really enjoyed the making of the film and even turned their hand to a game of cricket during the filming.
The dvd was officially launched at The Bridge Centre on 10 March 2006 and is available for purchase at £12.99 per copy (£14.00 inc p&p)
Copies can also be purchased at Shipley Country Park, Frosts in Heanor and B&A Photographic in Eastwood.
|
|
|
|
