Midland Journey (1947) | BFI National Archive

Majestically (and optimistically?) proclaiming in the opening credits “Distributed throughout the world” this promotional travelogue shows the sights of Birmingham and the Midlands with a sprinkling of one-liners from newsreel legend EVH Emmett. His arch commentary often takes an oblique approach to its subject and it’s unknown whether this sometimes eccentric film boosted visitor numbers to the Midlands.
This film was made for The Travel Association of Great Britain and Northern Ireland with a view to encouraging visitors to come to the Midlands. It was part of a series called Travelling Around - other episodes featured Ulster, the Lowlands of Scotland and London.
This video is part of the Orphan Works collection. When the rights-holder for a film cannot be found, that film is classified as an Orphan Work. Find out more about Orphan Works: ec.europa.eu/internal_market/c.... This is in line with the EU Orphan Works Directive of 2012. The results of our search for the rights holder of this film can be found in the EU Orphan Works Database: euipo.europa.eu/ohimportal/en...
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[@nigelparker5886]

We loved the young lady’s skip as she crossed the road! Something left over from her childhood that we were all inclined to do when we were young! Cheers

[@aib0160]

Videos like this should be compulsory part of the school curriculum so we see the past for what it actually was and not how its been portrayed. School should be about learning and not a place for propaganda!

[@michaelportaloo1981]

Harry Enfield got his Mr Grayson voice from this man methinks.

[@Wench64]

If only it was still like this

[@tubecated_development]

Rose tinted glasses. My family lived in the Midlands in the 50s and 60s and the rivers were filled with factory filth and chemicals. Alcoholism was rampant in the working class neighbourhood. Backstreet abortions. Dads worn out with lung disease, cancer etc and dying on the factory floor before they got to 60 yrs old. There were fewer cars though, and consumerism hadn’t filled every corner of our landscape with litter and cars. The rivers are full of sht again after a brief cleanup in the 90s…

[@timcarnell5133]

Joseph Chamberlain the statesman ! We don’t have those anymore. When was the last time you heard of a politician being described as “ a statesman “

[@trudilouise9368]

I don't live far from Birmingham and I detest it. But it looks so stunning in this footage I'm amazed.

[@fujivillan]

Utter nonsensical rubbish.

[@nicksealey7004]

IF ONLY YOU COULD TURN THE CLOCK BACK, FAR FROM WHAT IT IS TODAY SADLY

[@hypergolic8468]

5:33 The camouflaged roof on the bus, a fascinating glimpse back to the few years prior to this footage.

[@spinynorman8217]

Oh my lord, Birmingham looked fabulous...what did the planning department do except destroy it?

[@fujivillan]

Nearly 90% in that video of Birmingham is still there. Non of its destroyed. Only the bull ring markets was developed.

[@patriciahayes7315]

It's too bad this film isn't in color.

[@grahamariss2111]

@@patriciahayes7315 May be, but it would also show how dirty it was with all the pollution from the burning of coal

[@geoffcrisp7225]

Broad street is not the same. The inner ring road was a mistake with high rise flyovers.

[@fasthracing]

Trying to put my finger on the one thing that has changed most.

[@mikeymike1001]

Maybe its the lack of diversity???🤣

[@YouTube_User_Pasta]

'In Birmingham they don't get much wet weather'. Love it.

[@grahamariss2111]

Its relative, but sitting low and shielded from the west by the mountains and hills of Wales, it has relative low rain fall compared with much of the UK.

[@TheDAT9]

"Councillors who do a lot of work without any thanks" WOW!!!

[@matthewtrow5698]

That footage of Birmingham - 1947 - my Mom would've been 8, she was born in Birmingham and lived there or near most her life. There was a joke about Birmingham - what the Nazi's didn't destroy in the Blitz, city planners finished off in the 1950's and 1960's. They gutted the town centre around the bullring, the only old building left standing being St. Martins church. A concrete monstrosity was erected, that within a decade was already falling apart with decay. It limped on into the 1980's and a rebuild was proposed. It took almost 2 decades to arrive. An improvement, but just imagine if it had been left like the footage we see in this video. So much of the old city was bulldozed - an era of absolute madness. And in the comments about this footage and other footage from the 50's and 60's, people wax lyrical about "How I wish it was like that now!" Rose tinted glasses, if ever there were! I'd certainly prefer to have less people around and absolutely wish we didn't have a climate crisis, but those years were no picnic and footage like this really serves more as propaganda than anything else. This era and into the 50's, 60's and 70's represents the start of a huge amount of destruction of our landscape - massive amounts. Nature ripped apart, quite literally. Very sad.

[@patriciahayes7315]

Wow. This was post-WWII Britain and everything was still being rationed.

[@justanotheryoutubechannel]

My Nan grew up in that era and she tells me about how dismal it was, a lot of things were more heavily rationed after the war as we were completely broke and we stopped getting the same level of “aid” from America, during the war they would ship us huge amounts of products (that we eventually had to pay back, of course) but after the war that stopped and we couldn’t afford to import luxuries. Basic staples like potatoes and vegetables became more common and stopped being rationed but sugar and luxuries and even a lot of fruits were very hard to find and were extremely rationed due to the cost.

[@zen4men]

Looking at Birmingham, I see no bomb damage, so I wonder if it was filmed in 1939, but only released in 1947? Birmingham looked a pleasant place - not so today!

[@zen4men]

@@UCLAfilm01 I once helped a Bangladeshi shopkeeper several times, going to wholesalers, and Halal butchers in Birmingham - back around 2002. I could not believe the Third World I found myself in. The butcher - if white - would be closed down instantly - it was vile.

[@perkinscrane]

The power station shown was the Hams Hall A and B. The B station was commissioned in 1947. At the time the station was the largest in Europe.

[@zen4men]

@@perkinscrane OK, thanks for that! /

[@COIcultist]

Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. What on God's earth did we do to this country?

[@martiniv8924]

Incredible 👌🏻😎

[@martiniv8924]

Jennifer Blane Yes I try not to think about it too much, i miss it !

[@alileevil]

If this film was made today, there would be talking about how inclusive all the factories are.

[@geoffcrisp7225]

What a lovely city, destroyed by the planners as it looks nothing like this film today. Only Bourneville has survived their destructive idea's.

[@daffyduk77]

OMG, babies crawling on grass/soil, imagine the bacteria lol, quick, get the anti-bac wipes !

[@Biigfish559]

My holy days!! Being brainwashed by Elfy Safty over the years I am choking with fear looking at this lol

[@sgbh8874]

Lots of people caught rickets in those old days, and fog was everywhere.

[@vipeton.8927]

Narrator sounds angry.

[@scotisland]

No gloves for the workers.

[@timchalk6810]

Nowadays it seems councillors are the ones that get paid a lot to talk about things they do nothing about!

[@mikeymike1001]

Now you need a passport to enter Birmingham!....🤮