Southwold Holiday

Victor Harrison's 1935 family film of holidays on the Suffolk coast; Southwold, Lowestoft, The Broads, and Thorpeness.

Nineteen thirties holiday film of the Harrison family at a number of Suffolk coastal holiday hotspots; including Southwold, Lowestoft, the Broads (Beccles), and Thorpeness. This reel, with scenes in both Dufaycolor and black and white, shows the family having a jolly old time bathing, picnicking at their beach hut, horse riding, and sailing. Intertitles include “Susan on the li-lo” and “tea with the mater”.

The filmmaker, Victor Harrison, stored his family films in the basement of his office, which unfortunately was flooded in a freak rainstorm, which accounts for the water damage shown at the colour sections of the film, giving an unintended psychedelic effect. Nonetheless, the reel is a wonderful record of family holiday activities in the nineteen thirties. EAFA acquired a collection of 16mm films (60 odd rolls) from John Harrison, who features frequently along with sister Susan in the family films captured by their father Victor Harrison. Many films in the collection show time spent on their yacht Elver, a familiar sight in the Blackwater throughout the 1930s.