Hope Springs Eternal: Mr E. Winter of Richmond Park Displaysthe bird-like Machine with Which He Hopes to Achieve Flight

From the collection of

London’s Screen Archives
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Hope Springs Eternal: Mr E. Winter of Richmond Park Displaysthe bird-like Machine with Which He Hopes to Achieve Flight


A Richmond inventor shows off his flying machine in the park before news cameras and some unimpressed spectators.

There's a tragicomic quality to this short, in which Mr E Winter takes to Richmond Park with his “bird-like machine”- a bicycle with giant flapping wings – in a bid to take flight. He doesn't make it, and instead finds himself cycling rather slowly around the park while passers-by watch in bemused disbelief. After the demonstration, Mr Winter poses alongside his contraption in a local yard. One wonders what happened to it afterwards.


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