Established in 1977, the North West Film Archive preserves moving images made in or about the North West of England for the education and enjoyment of the region’s people. Part of Manchester Metropolitan University Library’s Cultural Collections, and based within Manchester Central Library’s Archives+ partnership, we are a specialist resource dedicated to saving and growing our region’s rich filmed history.
One Day in the Corn Exchange
Inside the Exchange's indoor market - a record of a lost part of Manchester.
The Corn Exchange is a fine building in Manchester city centre built in the late Victorian era, becoming popular a century later as the home of an indoor market with independent traders selling clothes, jewellery, books, records, and bric-a-brac. In this short film, some of the traders talk about how poor economic conditions nationally have affected sales, and browsing visitors offer their thoughts. More recently, the bombing of Manchester city centre in 1996 caused severe damage to the building, which was subsequently redeveloped as an upmarket retail centre.
From the high street to the information superhighway: shopping undergoes a makeover.
The 1980s heralded a sea change in the way we shopped - and what we shopped for. Reflecting the growing impact of new technologies, from the arrival of credit cards to the consumer electronics boom and ultimately the internet shopping age, this collection also journeys through the changing face of our high streets into the 1990s and beyond.
This is the era of out-of-town supermarkets and supersized shopping malls muscling in on the traditional town centre trade. Many smaller villages faced the loss of local shops entirely, but they didn't give up without a fight. Alongside these existential threats, local news reports investigate such emerging issues as convenience food labelling, shoplifting and the campaign to 'Buy British' as domestic manufacturing continued its long and painful decline.
Glimpses of long-lost chain stores, brands and products that once dominated everyday life across the UK may inspire more than a whiff of nostalgia. Yet this collection also tells a story of continuity: despite the all-powerful internet, we do still seem to want to come together to shop in the 'real world', not least at Christmas, and those seasonal shopping moments are here waiting to be unwrapped
33 videos in this collection
Watch in libraries only
Shopping
Newcastle upon Tyne
1999
Watch in libraries only
Shoplifting Is On The Increase
Chelmsford
1983
Watch in libraries only
Dog: Dog Days
Watch in libraries only
Post-Christmas Sales
Belfast
1984
Watch in libraries only
Toy Fair 1980
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Charm School
St Austell
1989
Watch in libraries only
Round Robin: Think British
Norwich
1982
Watch in libraries only
Debden Village Shop Re-opens
Debden
1982
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Anderson and McAuley Department Store
Belfast
1986
Watch in libraries only
Credit Card Shopping in Northampton
Northampton
1986
Watch in libraries only
Villagers Open Community Shop
Stetchworth
1984
Watch in libraries only
St George's Market
Belfast
1980
Watch in libraries only
Shopping Centre Santas
Belfast
1984
Watch in libraries only
Yvonne Aston is the New Outsize Model
St Ives
1985
Watch in libraries only
Chinese Supermarket in Nottingham
Nottingham
1985
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Big Night Out Shopping
Belfast
1985
Watch in libraries only
E Numbers in Everyday Popular Products
Norwich
1985
Watch in libraries only
Battle Goes On Over Sunday Trading
Cambridge
1986
Watch in libraries only
Counterfeit Goods
Hornchurch
1987
Watch in libraries only
CD Video is the Future
Belfast
1988
Shop Safely on the Net: Virtual Mail (BSL / subtitles)
