🎬British Movietone - Quite rightly the people of Tristan da Cunha are to live near the sea. Overlooking Southampton Waters, their new homes are at the former RAF station at Calshot. Everything's been done to make them comfortable in what used to be married quarters, and even the larders were stocked!

🎬Building a Cob house in a day. Filmed on the Beaulieu Estate by Meridian Broadcasting.

Imagine the year is 1650, a young couple, Jacob and Catherine are about to get married, but have nowhere to live together. Their respective houses are already over-crowded. Up to 10 or more people would live in a Cob house 25 feet long and 13 feet wide.

Hence the practice of erecting a house in a single day by the whole village for the newly-weds. A communal venture. Once the house was completed, the householder would treat their guests to a party of eating, drinking and dancing.

But how was it possible to build a house in a little over sixteen hours, and could it be re-attempted 350 years later? The following is an account of an incredible day and a brilliant group of volunteers who made it all possible.

Our thanks to the staff at Meridian Broadcasting in Northam for their help in sourcing this film.

🎬British Pathé – GV. Lord Montagu driving towards camera in a 1902 De Dion Bouton and he swerves off the road. SCU. Lord Montagu gets out of car and starts to run. SV. Lord Montagu running towards camera and stops at a post with a light on top. CU. Lord Montagu presses the alarm button and the light on top starts flashing 'This button, when pressed, automatically informs police and ambulance that there has been an accident'. CU. The button. Pan up to the flashing light. CU. The flashing light. SV. From left to right, the inventors Mr Derek Warren and Mr Ronald Atkinson talking to Lord Montagu. CU. Pan, three men talking. GV. Pan showing another warning system which would go down the middle of the motorway. It has a trip wire which automatically starts horns and lights. Camera pans to the horns and lights, mounting. GV. Lord Montagu drives his De Dion into the trip wire. The horns start and the lights start flashing. CU. Flashing lights. SV. Lord Montagu in the De Dion. Camera pans to close up shot of flashing lights.

🎬British Pathé – The work of Coastal Command - shots on board a plane as it overflies a merchant convoy. Full title reads: "Air Gardians of the Coast". The Solent. MS and aerial views of Sunderland flying boat taking off in the Solent. Various good shots of the crew during a mission. with shots of pilot and co-pilot at controls, navigator at work, cameraman filming a merchant ship below and co-pilot using aldis lamp to signal to ships in convoy below, also MS gunners in their positions.

🎬British Pathé – A Sikorsky helicopter carries out a practise air / sea rescue in Calshot, Hampshire. Air-Sea rescue demonstration. L/S of a stranded pilot in a dinghy. Various shots of a Sikorsky helicopter coming to the rescue. C/U's of the pilot and joystick. M/S propellors revolving. L/S of the dinghy from the air, M/S as the helicopter hovers over it and drops a ladder, M/S as the pilot climbs to safety. M/S of the water. L/S of the helicopter flying away

🎬British Pathé – New RAF air sea rescue boat being tested on Solent. Air sea rescue launch tested on Solent near Portsmouth, Hampshire. Various point of view shots from back of speed boat. Various shots of RAF (Royal Air Force) air sea rescue speed boat at sea. C/U of helmsman at wheel. The boat passes a liner. C/U of controls inside wheel house. More shots rescue boat speeding past. L/S raft on fire at sea. The rescue boat passes it, crew direct hoses at blazing raft. C/U of man operating foam hose. C/U of foam squirting onto raft. Note: newspaper cutting and press release from Ministry of Supply about launch on file.