The bygone days of Essex feature in two new films being launched in Colchester this month.

The DVDs are being released by the East Anglian Film Archive, run by the University of East Anglia in Norwich, and tell the story of life in the county through half a century of change.

They include archive footage of wartime East Anglia, bygone days of farming, and day-trippers and holidaymakers flocking to the coast in the 1930s.

Rare footage has been used to make a ten-title series which is being launched today at Essex University with the titles, Essex Past: part one and part two, which feature rare footage including a look around the streets of Colchester in the 1930s.

The launch will include the first public screening of the the first part of the film.

Andrew Gray, managing director of Independent Studios said: “These DVDs are a first for Essex.

“Until now, people have only been able to see the county’s past in photographs.

“Now we can all watch, on film, previous generations before us going about their daily lives in the places we know.

“The DVDs are the nearest we will get to time travel.”

The East Anglian Film Archive cares for many thousands of films and videotapes from the region.

  • The Essex DVDs will be available to buy online at the Archive Film Shop website (see related links) or by ringing 01603 251744