Hair Thatching (1958)

Long Wittenham in Berkshire (now Oxfordshire). Man measures proportions of a dilapidated cottage - its windows are broken. Mr Roye England makes scale models of traditional English cottages that are ready for demolition or just falling to pieces. He is creating a model village. Mr England is seen working on a model. He uses tweezers to move parts of his model. He uses fine sand from egg timers to represent soil, rubber sponge is used for ivy, card for the buildings, blackbird feathers are used for flowers etc. Mr England’s wife and Wynne Morris turn up and Mr England asks his wife to cut a chunk out of Morris’s hair. This will be used in the model to represent thatched roofing. Mr England has another project which is (surprise, surprise) a model railway. Another man - Guy Williams - is working on this project with him. Mr Williams gives the “thumbs up“ signal to Mr England and he flicks a switch. Various shots of the model railway in operation. FILM ID: A VIDEO FROM BRITISH PATHÉ. EXPLO