Month: July 2021

Silly Football (Taylor Memorial): 1971

In the Christmas edition of Felix from 1971 it was announced that on the 9 December the Taylor Memorial (Silly) Football Match would take place. It did, and STOIC were there to capture the event. You’ll notice that the picture is rather dim and very grainy. That’s because it was shot on 8mm film that STOIC developed ‘in house’ rather than use colour film that required external processing. With this method the film was available to be used within hours. It was in fact used in the Christmas Edition of TOPIC the weekly news programme. No sound of course, but there was a commentary added during the programme.

Were you in either of the teams back in December 1971? And does anyone know why it was the Taylor Memorial match? I can’t find any references to that name.

Colin Grimshaw July 2021

The Queen Mother visits St Mary’s: 1954

This post is a rare exception because the moving images, (in this case on 35mm film) are not held by Imperial College. The clips are from a British Pathé News item that would have been seen only in cinemas.

The Queen Mother visited St Mary’s Medical School for the 1954 Centenary Celebrations and I assume, is seen putting items into the second foundation stone (time capsule?) for the new buildings. Both of the reels do look as if they were never actually used and appear more like original rushes. An end result for Pathé would have had a commentary etc, on it. So don’t be concerned that the segments seem to stop and start a lot.

Colin Grimshaw July 2021