Several stunning cine films capturing a rare glimpse of Lake District life in the 60s have been shared online for the first time.
Kevin Morgan-Dawson, 54, of Bowness, decided to share the films last week, after he digitised them during the pandemic, with the hopes that it would bring back memories for local people.
The short films were created by Kevin’s grandad Leslie Dawson, a talented film hobbyist, keen photographer and member of Barrow Cine Club, who also won a club award for one of his films.
Some of the cine films are short clips of everyday life, while others are more creative and feature full story lines of wind-up beetle toys causing chaos and playful mock interviews with café staff of all ages in Bowness.
Leslie died in 1990 at the age of 88, but Kevin’s family made sure all 30 of his cine films – some of which he recalls himself and his family being part of – were kept safe.
Kevin said: “The cine films have always been part of our family, he was a keen photographer and when cine came along he got into that.
“But on special occasions like Christmas when we were at our grandparents on their very top floor they had a room where he had all his cine films and as kids we’d watch the same ones over and over again.
“I always used to ask if we could watch them backwards. So they’ve always been part of our life, but I think if he’d been alive when video was out properly, he’d have got into that.”
Kevin said he made the decision to have the films professionally digitised to make sure they were never lost to age or wear and tear.
But he only recently made the decision to post them on social media, where he received hundreds of comments from people sharing memories of the town and pointing out old friends and relatives who featured in the footage.
The films also heavily feature Bowness’ old Arcade Café, which Kevin said his family, who are originally from Barrow, owned at the time.
He added: “At first I put some photos and screengrabs on Facebook and asked if anyone recognised them or if anyone used to work there and got a lot of responses.
“That was when I realised how many of the cine films were actually of Bowness and the café they had, so I put them all up and loads of people if they didn’t work there recognised it or people in them.
“Watching them as kids it was a novelty to see out home village and what you’d see at the time on screen, but looking back now it’s oh god yeah that building is completely gone or the chemist is there is where Vinegar Jones chip shop is.
“It is really interesting and it did make me do some in the 90s on video, just sort of copying what he did and taking shots of Bowness at the time so hopefully in 50 years time people will look and be like wow how that’s changed.”
Some of the films, which span from 1962 to 1974, have also been narrated by Leslie and some feature carefully selected music as well as title and ending screens.
Both Kevin and his dad Michael also feature in the cine film interviewing staff from the café. Kevin’s dad is interviewing, while Kevin appears at the start as a three-year-old.
Kevin added: “He sounds very BBC of the 1930s sometimes in them, but it must have taken a while for him to do and he probably got lots of tips from the Barrow Cine Club.
“I’m on the staff interview one with my brother which was done in 1974, so I was only three, but I think it took a long time as we were sat outside and waiting for the staff to finish serving.
Kevin said his grandad never pursued film as a career, instead, he worked several different jobs throughout his life.
He added: “My grandad had a range of jobs from being a tailor for his dad which I don’t think he wanted to do, but as a kid you just do it.
“Then in second world war they ended up doing chicken farming and then then his wife’s family took over a herbalist chemist and turned it into a café and then they got the bigger café in Bowness.
“I was just 19 when he died so I knew him up to early adult life. He seemed like a big kid at heart really, we’ve got a picture of him and his family where he’s about 10 and he’s just a cheeky boy.
“Him and his dad had a really good rapport as well, we’ve got some more reel to reel tapes and you can tell they’re more like brothers than father and son.
“It’s a shame he didn’t go more in the film direction, it would have been interesting to see where he’d gone with it.
“Nowadays it’s all so accessible and we can all do short videos on our phones, but these could have easily got lost and thrown out and not many people were taking films in that era, so it’s quite nice to have them.”
