Typical Budget. West Sussex News Items
From the collection of
Screen Archive South East at the University of Brighton collects, preserves, catalogues and provides public access to its collection of films and magic lantern slides. The collection charts the rise of screen culture in the region and the nation and captures many aspects of life, work and creativity in the South East from the late 19th century to the present day. It is available for research, screenings, creative re-use and commercial access.
Typical Budget. West Sussex News Items
Harry Guermonprez' amateur newsreel captures a Bognor battered by winter storms, silly season antics off the pier, flooding and a shipwreck
This fascinating wet and wild record starts with flooding in the Arun Valley and at Pulborough. We next see men climbing a pole on a buoy to a watching crowd followed by storms battering Bognor Regis. A flashback to summer fashions on the promenade - is followed by scenes of inundation at the same location. Smashed sea defences and beach huts litter the scene while in Selsey, the SS Mango is seen stranded on the shore. The film ends with a walk around the Cowdray ruins in Midhurst.
To escape the storm, the SS Mango was driven aground on 10th January 1932 and was eventually refloated a fortnight later. Harry Guermonprez, who filmed its predicament, went on to become co-founder of the Bognor Regis Film Society in 1938. He was a photographer by trade, beginning in Bognor Regis, where he managed a chemists and photography shop. He later moved to Chichester, where he set up Chichester Photographic Services. After the Second World War he photographed scenes in and around the historic city, many of them for the Chichester Observer, the local newspaper. His photographic collection, consisting of hundreds of glass plate negatives, is now held at the West Sussex Record Office in Chichester.