Playing on Beach (Passmore Family Film)

Utterly gorgeous Edwardian home movie of a family's day out with bucket and spade on Bognor Regis beach.

This utterly gorgeous Edwardian home movie is a simple snapshot of a family day out at the seaside: bucket-and-spading on Bognor beach. Private moments preserved on film - here are Alfred and Annie Passmore playing in the sand with their son Brian, while sailor-suited daughters Margaret and Mavis splish-splash in the surf. And this is among the rarest treasures of British cinema: one of the earliest surviving home movies in the world.

The film is one of a collection of 15 home movies, mostly shot by Alfred Ernest Passmore (1867-1948) of his family at home and on holiday between 1902 and 1903.