Scenes of Ashton under Lyne (1901)

Ashton-Under-Lyne
1901
Silent
3m

Aspects of the Lancashire market town, with policemen, small girls, dogs and passers-by.

This collection of apparently random 'scenes' begins on the Ashton-under-Lyne Town Hall steps (identifiable by its famous Corinthian columns), apparently capturing a civic occasion. Policemen and, later, well-dressed dignitaries stride in formation. In the streets, as passers-by react to the camera, a man can be seen displaying a placard: "THESE PICTURES SHOWN ODDFELLOWS HALL MONDAY NEXT".

The Victorian World

Vivid portraits of everyday Victorian life, thanks to the first generation of filmmakers to take to Britain’s streets.

Some of the most fascinating of early films are those which are content to watch the world go by. Numerous filmmakers parked their cameras on street corners, in parks, on seaside promenades or outside workplaces or churches to capture fleeting moments of everyday life.

In their own day, these films held a mirror up to Victorian society. Today, these images of our ancestors – relaxed, smiling and laughing, gazing at us through the camera lens - are a gift of moving history. The offer us extraordinary insights into a lost world, more vivid than any still photograph or written account.