Back in the early 80s in Minehead a friend of mine invested in a video camera. Video cameras at that time were very far and few between. The camera was the size of a small suitcase and had to shoulder mounted. Worse still was the recorder and battery pack (which was the size of another small suitcase but weighted like it was packed by my wife going on holiday). Now it’s all HD, and on your phone.
A few of us banded together to make our own sketch show as we had no idea what we were going to film. One bleak day we thought we would just drive around Minehead, not knowing what was best to film but just let it role for half an hour or so. I’m not sure of the year but we guessed it was about 1984 but since people have said to was a few year earlier.
Some of the big changes you’ll see is the old gasometers by the lifeboat station, that are now gone. There is also the bus station (where the coop now stands) and loads of those landmark shops. Enjoy a blast from the past and enjoy the video!
By Clive Smith
With Christopher Veale & Dave Crisp
6 Responses
Very interesting !
Thanks Justin. The bus depot is perhaps the biggest change.
I’m glad you’re all enjoying this video that I made back in the day. I think it was 1981 and in those days I could never have imagined how technology would improve so much as to allow us to make 4K video on a tiny phone the size of a credit card! The equipment at the time was the very latest and weighed half a ton with a separate shoulder-mounted camera and VHS portable recorder! 🤣 I still have all the original VHS video stock I shot then and want to enhance it from the old VHS to a sharper more colourful rendition, but this takes a lot of time and effort. Hopefully, I will be able to do that soon. The other guy in the car with me was Dave Crisp and it’s our voices in the background.
Thanks for sharing Christopher. 42 years ago!
Nostalgic for: The Creamery, Woolworths, Electric Milk Carts, Red Telephone Boxes.
We always liked the Bon Bon for some lemon sherbets.