At Wessex Film and Sound Archive you can see and hear history, from late Victorian times to the present day, through moving images and sound recordings. The Archive contains over 36,000 film and sound recordings relating to Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, Berkshire, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire, including film and tapes of local TV and radio.
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The Torrens family visits the Isle of Wight
Join the Torrens family as they enjoy a holiday on the Isle of Wight - featuring grand views of gentle bays, wild cliffs and a pelican
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Overview
Starting with an Isle of Wight sign we then get a view over the wide bay at Shanklin and Sandown towards Culver Down in the distance. We're then at Blackgang Chine looking down on cliffs that show signs of having collapsed. At Sandown we see, rather surprisingly, a pelican as well as one of the Torrens boys fishing in rockpools. There is a view of Sandown pier with Ventnor Down and its radar masts in the distance. Finally, we arrive at Yarmouth to catch the ferry back to Lymington.
An Irish born dentist, Robert Torrens lived with his family in Corfe Mullan in Dorset though his dental practise was in nearby Bournemouth. He was also an enthusiastic member of the Bournemouth Amateur Film Society, which began in 1930, and the Bournemouth Camera Club - which was later dubbed Crystal Productions. Amongst his many papers relating to his film making, Torrens left a scrapbbok of cuttings which gives details about the club's films and how they were made and exhibited. The papers tell how Crystal Productions would advertise that they were about to film a certain event and then screen the footage to local audiences.
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