The Kintyre Forum

Found this clip of troops arriving in Campbeltown in 1914.

I was'nt too sure that it was Campbeltown,but you can clearly see Dalintober pier and Low Askomill(Davie's hoose)in the background.

http://ssa.nls.uk/film.cfm?fid=0795&sea ... _fuzzy=yes

Fantastic footage Bill thanks for link

Well done, Bill! Quite the detective, tracking that down - great stuff.

That was 94 years ago ... odd to think about that. I suppose the older ones among us would have known the children in the footage, when they were adults, and we were weans ourselves. Alas, all these people are probably no longer with us - even the baby in the pram. Especially sad when one thinks of the soldiers, confidently making their way up from the pier, many of whom would not see the war out.

Strange how a short, sub-one-minute film, can make you think.

Cheers, M

This is part of the "Campbeltown Film" which I understand was made by the gentleman who was the original manager of The Picture House (forgotten his name - Burnett?). Originally it was a much longer film showing a journey by car up Loch Lomond and over the Rest and Be Thankful along with the scenes in this extract and shots of the car outside the White Hart Hotel and then arriving at the Ugadale Hotel at Machrihanish. It was filmed on the old nitrate stock and so was very volatile. It was kept at The Picture House and at some point when the Chief Operator (my uncle George) was away, someone tried to show it and when he came back it was found to have been badly damaged. I can imagine he had plenty to say about that! Only about two minutes' worth were left. An exhibition copy on safety stock (celluloid) was made by the archivist at the Scottish Film Council in the mid 1990s. We showed it along with the very first Scottish feature film at the cinema's 85th anniversary. Mr David McEwan played the piano for the occasion down in front of the screen just like in the old silent days. The new copy may be held at The Picture House or at the Scottish Film Council, but the deal was that it couldn't be shown too often as it would deteriorate like the original. The original was eventually handed over to the Scottish Film Council as they have the facility to preserve it properly (and safely - it could spontaneously combust!) and was taken to Glasgow by me and handed over to the Chief Operator at the Glasgow Film Theatre. I remember being mighty relieved to do so as I fully expected it to burst into flames at some point on the journey. I have a VHS copy which I made off the screen during its showing at The Picture House (no piracy involved as it was our film!). The soldiers shown were, I believe, the pre-WWI equivalent of the TA arriving off the boat from Glasgow and heading out (on foot - marching all the way) to the camp at Dalivaddy.

The actual film is 5 mins long, and is available to buy,as are all the films on this site.

"Filmed for Randall Burnette, owner of the De Luxe Cinemas in Rothesay and Glasgow, and member of the Board of the Picture House, Campbeltown

Nitrate print was first 're-discovered' in 1950's at which point it was projected and a section of emulsion peeled off. No record of how much of the film has been lost but oral recollections state that it was a filmed jouney by R Burnette from Argyll Motor Works, Alexandria to Campbeltown in an Argyll motor car. This is an incomplete version, end section of film only."



WC1,I take it your Uncle George was George Durnin ? I remember George from when Catherine and I worked in The Rex projection room,while George and Davie ?(Sleepy) were in the Wee pictures projection room.

The very same, Bill. Davie McLean was his second operator, with Duncan Martin the postman as the relief (and myself, of course, once I'd mastered the fine art of the change-over). Davie moved to Glasgow round about 1966 or 67 and was working in the roofing trade. I met him in Glasgow round about the Spring of 68 and had a great yarn about the cinema trade. We always intended to meet up again, but sadly, we never did. Just a couple of years later, he fell through a roof he was working on and died of his injuries. A nice, quiet, big fellow.

I wonder if any of the proceeds of the sale of this item go back to The Picture House? Technically it's their film, given to the SFC (or are they Scottish Screen now?) for safe keeping, so they should have been asked for permission before it went on public sale and should surely be entitled to some of the money taken in sales. Just a thought.