We are very pleased to have been given copies of some wonderful cine films taken in the early 1960s in the fen edge area of Black Fen, near Wissington. These will be available to watch via this page.
Alexis Brand, one of our oral history interviewees, donated the films and discusses them in her oral history interview, which will be placed on the website soon – find it via this page. Her father, Jeff Waterfall, took these films showing scenes of farming and vegetable production, family life, skating, sledging and other winter activities, work to create the Cut Off Channel, and blowing up bog oak!
Links to view the films on YouTube (more will be placed here soon):
- Alexis Waterfall skating at Poultry Farm, Wissington, winter 1962/1963 [23]
- Alexis and Patricia Waterfall with swans at Poultry Farm, Wissington, summer (?) 1963 [6]
- Digging out the ‘New Cut’ near Wissington Sugar Beet Factory, (?) 1963 [7]
- Blasting bog oaks, Methwold Fen, early 1960s [13]
- Digging and blasting bog oaks, Methwold Fen, early 1960s [12]
- Bulldozing bog oaks, Methwold Fen, early 1960s [2]
- Shooting in the snow, Methwold Fen, early 1960s [13a]
Read account of digging the new cut from driver, Don Wyatt (link downloads Word.docx, 1 page)
Stoke Ferry & District History Group also have some interesting films about farming generally and farming sugarbeet on their website with memories from local Roger Warner, who we interviewed for his memories of the river. See Farming at Boughton in the 1950s and Sugar Beet Harvesting, Boughton, 1952