Bygone Bassingham DVD...new!
This new nostalgia DVD .... released in autumn 2011.....will reconnect Bassingham with its 1950s history. The 1958 “village film” has been improved, narrated, and set to music for the first time.
In that year local cine enthusiasts Jim Donnelly, a veterinary surgeon, and Ken Franklin, an electrician, decided to film village life and follow the seasons around.
They filmed scores of fellow villagers and many activities. They went everywhere from the school sports to the summer floods, from the bowls team to the Blankney Hunt meet.
They ventured into the fields to see harvesting with the tractors and combines of the day, and as far as Norton Disney (for Mrs Norah Pacey's house warming) and Thurlby (for a Conservative fete attended by Joe Godber MP).
They recorded four precious reels of 8mm colour film providing a unique record of the village life of the time.
The reels have been lost for years – but fortunately the three that survived the longest were transferred to VHS by Bassingham Parish Council in the 1980s.
Working from this sole surviving VHS Master, and using the post production techniques available to today's editors, Bygone Producer Andrew Blow has gone through the entire film shot by shot to improve the viewing experience.
For the first time a narration has been added identifying who did what, and an attractive music bed of nostalgic piano music has also been added.
The resulting 48 minute programme will delight all who know Bassingham and be of great interest also to everyone interested in the period.
Andrew Blow said: ”I'm told by people who know the original VHS that I have improved it significantly. At the pre-launch event in Bassingham, on the big screen at the Hammond Hall the film looked as good as any of the old footage from elsewhere.”
Blow by Blow was assisted by a grant from the Bassingham Heritage and Community Association. A short trailer comprising of nostalgic clips of Bygone Lincoln DVD 3 is also included on the DVD, which is also available at Bassingham Post Office.
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