The lives captured on film include those of William Blake and his family, who once owned Blakes of the Hollow in Enniskillen.
THE stories, characters and events captured by amateur film makers from Enniskillen, Ballymoney, Portadown and Newry and Bessbrook are to be celebrated in a TV new series on BBC Northern Ireland.
In the new series, host Gloria Hunniford takes to the road with a unique travelling cinema to share with the residents of four local towns their stories, characters, celebrations and events captured by local film makers over the past 80 years.
The Travelling Picture Show begins on Monday, February 18 with a visit to Enniskillen. In the programme people from Enniskillen are invited to see their town, and its characters on the silver screen and witness events from the last 70 years. Gloria meets the people who made the films, those who appear in them, and those with a story to tell.
The lives captured on film include those of William Blake and his family, who once owned what’s known as Blakes of the Hollow public house in Enniskillen.
With his cine camera William Blake captured family trips to the seaside in Bundoran in Donegal.
Three sons of William Blake’s, Joe, Arthur and Pat speak to Gloria about their seaside holidays to Bundoran and of diving off Rogey.
They recall their father loved taking these home movies, but wasn’t so keen to appear on the other side of the lens.
Other local Enniskillen figures who feature in the archive footage include Isobel Topping, whose husband ran the popular local garage TP Topping.
In a wonderful, and rarely seen piece of footage William Blake captured the 1946 visit to Enniskillen of the then Princess Elizabeth (now Queen Elizabeth II) as she walked up the street in Enniskillen from the Imperial Hotel to the Townhall, where she appeared on the balcony directly opposite where Wiliam Blake was perched with his cine camera.
The film is in great condition and in colour, and years later William’s sons asked him how he had colour years before it was popular.
These film clips bring back great memories for many of the Enniskillen folk who gathered in the Travelling Picture Show tent to watch their town all those years ago.
From Enniskillen the focus moves to Clogher and to a young tractor mechanic called Harry Dunlop who recalls his early years of work.
The Travelling Picture Show is a wonderful snapshot into yesteryear and features several more stories of names, places and faces from a generation (or maybe two) ago.
The Travelling Picture Show featuring Enniskillen will be shown on Monday, February 18 on BBC One at 7.30pm.