See years of Ipswich history appear before your very eyes!
The East Anglian Film Archive is giving people in Suffolk the chance to step back in time, with the release of a brand new DVD in the 'Your Region on Film' range.
The DVD, 'Ipswich Past: The Town Our Parents Knew,' shows over sixty years of Ipswich life in film and captures a bygone age - when a career meant learning a trade, when the fire brigade was helped along by volunteers and when trolleybuses rattled through the streets of Ipswich.
Andrew Gray, the Suffolk-born Managing Director of Independent Studios explains, "The response to the DVDs has been magnificent. In October last year we released a range of documentaries about life as it used to be in East Anglia, which were very popular with the public.
"What I love about Ipswich Past is that it spans a half a century of enormous change. Many of the streets and buildings are recognisable, but we travel from the Edwardian period right through to the 1960s."
To mark the release of this new DVD, the film will be screened at Hollywood Cinema in the Corn Exchange, Ipswich at 7.30pm on Tuesday 8th July – and entry is free of charge to the general public.
Ipswich Past includes rarely seen footage of many local events including Armistice Day in 1918, the Suffolk Show in 1957, and the Queen's visit to the town in 1961. The earliest piece of film shown is now approaching 100 years old and this, like the other footage, would have been lost without careful preservation from film archivists.
"Over time, film will deteriorate, unless it is kept under very carefully controlled conditions," says Director of the East Anglian Film Archive, Richard Taylor. "Our archive has the equipment and expertise to preserve this film for generations to come.
"The public don't often get to see the gems from decades past stored here, so we are delighted to be able to share our local history on film with the wider community. These DVDs mean everyone has the chance to see what life was like through the years, by watching film shot by professionals and amateurs from all over the East of England."
The East Anglian Film Archive DVDs cost £9.99 each from www.archivefilmshop.co.uk (opens in a new window), your local library and the Ipswich Tourist Information Centre in St Stephen's Church by the Buttermarket Shopping Centre, as well as selected bookshops and retail outlets across the county.
For more information contact the Tourist Information Centre on 01473 258070, or email tourist@ipswich.gov.uk.