Audiences will get to see how farming and rural life have changed over the years
Historic farming films are set to be catalogued and preserved for the future thanks to heritage funding totalling £80,000.
The Museum of English Rural Life (The MERL) has received the financial support from the BFI Screen Heritage Fund to make a remarkable archive of agricultural films assembled by Nottinghamshire farmer Richard Watts, accessible to wider audiences.
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For around 30 years from 1981, Mr Watts embarked on an extraordinary labour of love to trace and preserve films of all gauges – amateur and professional – relating to the development of agriculture and allied industries in the UK. Inspired by the demise of 16mm film as video began to take over, he amassed a collection of more than 1,000 titles dating back to 1908.
Milk Marketing Board
The collection includes films from organisations such as the Milk Marketing Board, Massey Ferguson and Potato Marketing Board, as well as amateur films documenting everyday work across rural Britain. After Watts passed away, The MERL rescued the collection but it has remained largely inaccessible.
Caroline Gould, principal archivist at The MERL, said: "Richard Watts' collection is a treasure trove of agricultural and rural history. These films capture a way of life that has disappeared and offer invaluable insights into the development of British farming.
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"The funding from the BFI will allow us to preserve these films digitally, making them more accessible to researchers and the wider public."
Heritage
Working in partnership with Reading-based film company Real Time, the project will develop further knowledge and understanding of barriers to accessing films and archive footage, as well as identifying technologies that improve their presentation for wider audiences.
Marta Berto, Screen Heritage Fund manager at the BFI said: "Connecting with heritage fosters belonging, builds resilience and contributes to wellbeing. We are excited to see how the MERL will use its diverse and surprising collection to explore how the skills and experiences of farmers and craftspeople, past and present, can help shape our lives now and into the future, reminding us of the ongoing relevance of the countryside to our lives."
