British Pathe releases historical news clips

For anyone interested in history and news media, I've come across an incredible site which is sure to provide hours of distraction (as if we needed anymore internet distractions...). It's the British Pathe website which has "3,500 hours of video, 12 million stills" over "75 years". Usefully, it has a search facility - a search on 'India', for example, gives 1,043 results. Many of these clips include early footage of the Nehrus, of Gandhi, of various British encounters with and visitors to India as well as more anonymised clips of festivals and villages.

Amongst the earliest clips with sound, is one of the "Maharaja of Patiala" from 1921, as he "dedicates beautiful Gateway in memory of India's heroic dead in great war. Brighton, Sussex." I wonder if the plaque is still there?

The possibilities are endless. Other south London bloggers (eg. 853, Transpontine) have already usefully catalogued their searches on south-east London which include gems such as the following and many more:

1914: Artillery sports at Woolwich.
1914: A Victoria Cross winner gets a hero’s reception at Deptford.
1916: Lewisham’s pride – footage of soldiers from World War I.
1941: An RAF parade at Kidbrooke.
1942: Mr Woolley of Eltham shows off his model of the Queen Elizabeth cruise ship.
1946: A school for barmaids at the Dover Castle, Deptford.
1947: Their proudest moment – Charlton win the FA Cup.
1947: Bexley’s teenage mayoress.
1948: Cooks on parade for Christmas at Woolwich Barracks.
1948: Making propellers at Stone’s foundry in Charlton.
1948: A mobile fish and chip shop is a big hit in Sidcup.
1948: A “silent butler” to help busy housewives is unveiled in Hither Green.
1949: “Daredevil cockney kids” use a New Cross bomb site as a speedway track.
1949: “Plumstead Plumber” Bill Painter climbs Eros in a trilby.
1967: The aftermath of the Hither Green train disaster.
1967: The second Blackwall Tunnel opens – and work starts on the Blackwall Tunnel Southern Approach.
1968: The Gipsy Moth arrives at Greenwich – by road from Woolwich

So enjoy yourselves and let me know about your favourites.