Starcross at the Movies

Historical display in St Paul's

Great turnout tonight to see the South West TV and Film Archives footage: about the SWFTA, from Devon and Cornwall and STARCROSS. This was part of the Villages in Action project; "Unearth" which is working with 4 Devon communities to unearth their histories.
Films were both professional and amateur. Some of the SWFTA  archives are accessible online; via  the British Film Institute Player as part of the Britain on Film project. 
Films shown included haymaking, cidermaking and village life. The Starcross footage included a demonstration about the Starcross School buildings, the Royal Western Counties Hospital and the last conductor-operated bus through Starcross. Conductor Norman Holwell, Driver Tom Rote and Inspector Les Cann were interviewed at the main bus-stop, with the Devon General AEC Regent double-decker.
An online search reveals no films about Starcross, but SWFTA's collections are available to all. Visits to SWFTA in Plymouth are to be arranged. We will be shown how to research their archives. and discover some of their extensive range of films about Starcross.

During the interval, we looked at a collection of historic material from Starcross which was on display. The Punishment Book, dated 1911, from Starcross School contained records of how many strokes of the cane children were given for "talking in the classroom" "stealing an apple" or "receiving stolen fruit". Photographs included the Penny Farthing bicycle which used to be in the hedge outside Penny Farthing Cottage,

The core group of researchers were delighted to find that new information had been added to the collection; on the paper provided on tables: memories of Magic Lantern shows in St Paul's, and a project to research the famous, prizewinning, Powderham herd of South Devon cattle which was sold after the tragic death of the herdsman John McMahon.

Starcross Primary School is involved with the Unearth project. Children were allowed in for free, although it was quite a late night. Headmaster Iannis Ireland, and history lead Georgie Lax are very supportive of the project and are excited that the children can be involved and learn about the history of their village. They have already been part of two Starcross History projects. They made feathers for the sculpture of The Swan of the Exe and they made peacocks' tails for the Peacocks' Tails Trail.
Kate Green, from Villages in Action, will help Key Stage 2 children to research Starcross history, and teach a group of 8 students how to use digital equipment, so that they can interview and record stories.

The next event in the Unearth project will be Starcross Stories on Wednesday afternoon, 25th January in St Paul's Church; from 3pm until 5pm. Invitations are being sent out to key people in the community, and refreshments will be provided. More Starcross Stories will surely be unearthed.

The completed research will eventually be used to create a multi-media production about Starcross, probably in July.