London’s Screen Archives enables Londoners see their past come alive on film. Managed by Film London, we are a unique network of historic film collections that cares for, collects and screens heritage film across the city. Together we preserve London’s rich film heritage from feature films to home movies, public information films, newsreels, and records of the capital’s many different industries.
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Princess Di Wedding and Winter Snow
Everyone's home in Harrow to witness Lady Di's debut as a Royal and a record-breaking winter causes chaos in 1981.
From the collection of:
Overview
An estimated 750 million people were glued to the telly to watch Lady Diana and Prince Charles tie the knot in 1981 and the residents of Harrow were no exception. Aside from the occasional street party, the streets are empty and shops closed as events unfold on a flickering TV set at home. Then came the snow and one of the severest winters on record.
These news items shot by the local cine society record major national events from a local perspective. A family gather round their TV set in the living room to watch the newlyweds walk up the aisle and local press reports how Harrow became a ghost town for the day. The coverage of the record-breaking winter of 1981 documents the heavy snowfall, problems on the roads and the fun had by children who took to the slopes with sledges. It was a drawn-out winter and January 1982 saw some of the coldest temperatures of the century whilst parts of the UK had their first white Christmas since 1970. This film is from the collection of Harrow Local History Library, a member of the London's Screen Archives Network.
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