Gordon Payne, Edgar Pritchard and Billy Cotton in a remarkable photo supplied by Gordon Payne. That’s a great pair or smiles!
I’ve had a fascinating email from Gordon Payne of Brownhills Air Cadets who’s got a rather exciting item that requires a caring and experienced film technician to help with – a so far unseen Edgar Pritchard film.
Edgar was of course, the talented brother of Syd Pritchard, and Edgar made fantastic films that have provoked so much interest here previously – from the 1934 Brownhills Carnival film donated by Aer Reg, to the comedic short Hope Springs Eternal and the truly stunning Poacher’s Apprentice.
Grodon wrote:
Hi Bob,
Just enjoyed reading all about Edgar Pritchard on you website and thought you might be interested in the attached.
Edgar made a 16mm Kodachrome film in 1943 called ‘They Want to Fly’ to promote the ATC and encourage people to join. The photo is of me and Billy Cotton who played in the film.
I have the two original reels which are largely intact but need restoration. I wondered if you new or had a contact who might know who we could responsibly trust to restore/digitise this heirloom. Also I would like to contact Billy Cotton if he is still with us.
Kind regards,
Gordon Payne
Thanks to gordon for sharing this. Can you help with news on Billy or do you know a good film restored who can be trusted with such a precious artefact?
If you can can help, please comment here or mail me on Brownhillsbob at Googlemail dot com, and I’ll put you in touch.
The film in question – precious indeed. Image kindly supplied by Gordon Payne.
Claremont Cottage. Do we have a picture of that? Image kindly supplied by Gordon Payne.