North Devon’s Lines
The two main journeys, Exeter to Barnstaple (1978) and Ilfracombe to Braunton (1970), were produced after a meeting with six steam ‘veterans’, drivers all, who poured out memories and anecdotes. An overall cabside run from Exeter used three films with frantic re-loadings. All was done again from the passengers point of view. Then again for the trackside shots.
Description
BACK ALONG NORTH DEVON’S LINES
Colour – 60 minutes
The two main journeys, Exeter to Barnstaple (1978) and Ilfracombe to Braunton (1970), were produced after a meeting with six steam ‘veterans’, drivers all, who poured out memories and anecdotes. An overall cabside run from Exeter used three films with frantic re-loadings. All was done again from the passengers point of view. Then again for the trackside shots. A year after, the drivers gave it their approval as did the rail clubs from Taunton & Yeovil, Exeter to Plymouth & Launceston, plus a hundred more from the W.I.s to schools. Archive film from 1898 and vintage steam clips tell the story with stills of the ‘silence’ that fell on the Ilfracombe branch, providing an ending which no buff will resist without a tissue.
A book of the film, ‘Back Along the Line’, has been available since 1983, authored by Victor Thompson, who taught film-making and cine history through the lecture panel of the BFI in the 1960s. At 77, he is still happy to be of service to the screen.
Specifications
All the DVDs are produced, packed and sent directly from Aarchvie Films.
The original documentaries were made on S-VHS, in a 4:3 ratio, so on a standard TV/computer screen, will show black bars on both sides.
There is some very brief areas of ‘dropout’ when they were converted from S-VHS video to digital. We have done the best we can to reduce this, but it is still there.
All of the documentaries were produced by Roger Lilley of Aarchive Films, who passed away 20 years ago. Some of the ‘modern’ footage is from between 1995 – 2000, so some of the newer footage may look different now. Also, when Roger would would use the term ‘today’, this was written back in before 2001.
Digital Remasters
Some of the video have been digitally remastered, into a 16:9 widescreen format, with updated maps, sound, colour grading and more.
The new remastered versions are online only from our Patreon Page. The DVDs are still the original format above.
