Francis Russell, Reed Cutting

From the collection of

East Anglian Film Archive at the University of East Anglia
The East Anglian Film Archive, the UK's first regional film archive, offers a unique record of the East of England's social and cultural history. As part of the University of East Anglia, we continue to lead moving image heritage research and inspire audience participation through community projects and events. Our collections represent a broad range of amateur and professional creativity, from 1896 to the present day.

Francis Russell, Reed Cutting


A timeless scene of a man harvesting with a scythe. On Hickling Broad National Nature Reserve in Norfolk, the reeds that grow on the marshes are cut over the winter months and sold to local thatchers, 1,000 bundles at a time. Now they are harvested by machine, but warden Francis Russell demonstrates the traditional way of scything the reeds and preparing the bundles, using the old words describing the craft.


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