James Ritchie

Twenty-four hours in the story of the British Railways Channel ferryboats, the 'link spans' directly joining the roads and railways of Britain with those of France and all the Continent. The Lord Warden laden with an assortment of road vehicles from Dover, and the Night Ferry from Newhaven carrying passengers bound for Paris, Vienna or Rome are two of the ferries illustrated in this film; and freight is not forgotten.

In the Hull Docks, the steamer S.S. Bravo arrives from Gothenburg with cargo.

Young Robbie, a keen footballer and a railway enthusiast, is persuaded by his big brother to go through a hole in a railway fence on to the track for some reason. His laces become caught on the tracks and he has an accident so serious that he will never play football again. A film for showing to eight to eleven-year old children and their parents, which points out the folly of breaking railway fences and trespassing on the line, and illustrates the immediate dangers. Part of BFI collection "The Age of the Train".

Features the 07.55 from Sheffield to St Pancras. The camera follows to Leicester, where a young man is late for a job interview thanks to a variety of incidents including a freight train blocking the line and an improperly secured door at Derby. The film is a modernised version of an older theme for British Transport 'Right Time Means Right Time', where the accumulation of many minor delays on the part of BR staff soon add up down the line to make a train very late.

When a schoolboy's day-dream of a fantasy sports day includes events where acts of vandalism and trespass are required, dire consequences ensue. Originally created as an educational film, this somewhat surrealist short has a serious message at its core. This won't be a lesson you'll forget in a hurry.

The complex technology of modern rail track is shown, covering component manufacturers, current methods of laying track and its maintenance.

‘St Christopher’s - for the children of Railway Servants’. About a hundred children are cared for at this Derby railway orphanage and this film gives a selection of scenes from a typical day: the breakfast mail, a boy with a problem, a girl with a worry, a visit from two widowers, a birthday tea party. An official insight into a forgotten aspect of railway operation.

The 24th issue of the long running industry cinemagazine, featuring the articles: 'Holiday Camp', 'Beside the Sea', 'Up River' and 'Pitmen's Derby'.

A romantic overview of England in the Elizabethan Age.

A look at the transport system in the South Wales Valleys and how it effects peoples livelihoods and everyday lives.

Intended for European audiences to encourage them to drive to Britain for their holidays. Shows the travel facilities offered by Sealink, and suggests some of Britain's tourist attractions.

A film about one of the most responsible and professional jobs on British Railways. Practical work in shop and signal box, on gantry and trackside, coupled with instruction in mechanics, electricity, electronics and draughtsmanship, lead the apprentice intro the intricacies of design, the excitement of research and experiment, and the intense satisfaction of being in on a big changeover from old-style semaphore signalling to a new coloured light system.

Made for senior and middle British Rail management and supervisory staff, to stimulate discussion and provoke action, by alerting them to their responsibilities for staff safety, and the pressing need to reduce accident figures.

The history of the BRS (British Road Services), the general haulage network of the UK. Part of BFI collection "Points and Aspects."

The work of a team of men who tackle a special British Road Services job in the treacherous terrain of the Scottish Highlands.

Promotional tourist film, presenting a history of Britain concentrating on landscape and Inter-City travel.

British Rail's wagon control system and how it works, concentrating on the information most useful to the specific wagon operating staff.

A review of innovation and development within BR and its businesses, including: modernisation of freight facilities and service to new companies; progress of the Bedford/St. Pancras electrification project; paved track and permanent way maintenance; Sealink's "Galloway Princess"; Seaspeed's SRN4; and the Research department's magnetically levitated vehicle. For general showing.

The Peak District waits invitingly within a sixty-mile reach of half the population of England. To this green centre of a great industrial area, the first of the National Parks, holidaymakers come throughout the year to enjoy a wide variety of scenery and of pastimes. Some visitors come to glide, others to go ‘caving’ or climbing, boating or fishing. The lovely surroundings vary from the windy flat tops of heath with their rocky outcrops to the lush, sheltered dales of the Manifold, the Derwent and the Dove; from the simple stone cottages of the quiet villages to the historic architecture of Ashbourne, Bakewell and Buxton, and the great houses of the past like Chatsworth and Haddon Hall.

Britain operates the most experienced diesel and electric railway in tne world. A century and a half ago she invented the steam engine and introduced a new system of transport; and in only nine years British Rail and the British locomotive industry designed, built and tested enough diesel and electric locomotives to replace fifteen thousand steam engines. The transition from steam to new forms of motive power, and its effects on rallwaymen and passengers, is the subject of this film. Produced in association with the Central Office of Information, the British Locomotive Allied Manufacturers' Association and the British Electrical Manufacturers' Association.

A record of a winter journey, when a farmer decides to move his whole stock by rail from Yorkshire to Sussex.

A compilation film on the recent technical achievements of British Rail; made for screening in Washington on the signing of the 'Budd' contract. Material obtained from various BTF films directed and shot by others.

Originally intended as an advertising short, this film follows The Elizabethan, a non-stop British Railways service from London to Edinburgh along the East Coast Main Line. A nostalgic record of the halcyon years of steam on British Railways and the ex-LNER Class A4.

Southampton, a deep-water port with four tides a day, is an ocean terminal for the world's largest liners. Their coming and going, and the people who work with them are the subject of this film as they reflect in their personal lives some of the drama and romance of its situation. Among them are a tug skipper and his crew, a stewardess on a Cape ship, an assistant wharfinger in charge of handling baggage and freight, a taxi driver, and a pilot taking a great liner down Southampton water at night.