Lost Film?
Whilst recently unpacking an 8mm projector that our technical director had in the attic we discovered a bag of Super 8mm film reels. The film which had no date or name on the cases had obviously been in the box with the projector for quite some time. The films which presumably belonged to the same person that once owned the projector were un marked except for one marked “Manx Start”, this 3 1/2 minute reel can be seen above.
Always keen on a good mystery we loaded the films up and watched them all. The films seem to follow car races at an event which we presumed was taking place on the Isle of Man, and judging by the hairstyles it is at some point during the 1970’s! What we do know for certain is that the projector was saved from being thrown out at Treharris Community Centre approximately 6 years ago. So the best guess is that the film maker was from the Merthyr Tydfil area and the projector was left at the community centre at some point before this.
We thought it would be an adventure of sorts to reunite the footage with either the film makers, someone feature in the film (one of the racers perhaps) or a family member who may recognise some element of the film. We converted the film to digital and uploaded it to YouTube in the hope that getting the film out and in front of as many eyes as possible would help us find some answers.
The film footage has been online for less than 24 hours and we have already been contacted by Manx Radio, the radio station of the Isle of Man, in regard to the finding someone who may recognise the film. David Goodfield our technical director recorded a short interview which is due to be broadcast on their morning show some time between 7.30 and 8.30 on Thursday 19th March. A link the Manx Radio website can be found here, if you want to listen live or use their listen again feature. We would like to thank @ManxRadio and journalist Jason Roberts for getting in touch with us and helping to get the footage out the Isle of Man racing community. It would be amazing if someone who listens to Manx Radio or who sees the video on their website could shed some light on these films.
Can You Help?
If anyone can identify the three individuals in the film or if you know of anyone who may have been filming car races during the 1970’s on the Isle of Man please get in touch as we would love to return the now converted film reels to either the people involved in the filming or any family who recognises any part of the film.
We will be posting regular updates on this story as there are developments, you can follow us either through our website, on our Facebook page, via YouTube or follow us on Twitter.
