Markfield Carnivals c1937-1939

Carnivals at Markfield were filmed over several years, probably from c1937 to 1939, by local cinema manager George Weston, who ran the Majestic Cinema at nearby Ratby. The carnivals appear to be in aid of the Leicester Royal Infirmary.

There are three main parts to the footage, some of which is in colour (including some excellent footage of Main Street).  Follow this link to see the films.

• "Last year's parade" - People are standing outside shops and houses and in the street, posing for the camera. "The Management take pride in presenting  the Markfield Annual Infirmary Effort - first a few scenes from last year's parade". We see children in costumes and prizes being awarded. "Mrs Plowman crowns Miss Dorothy Cooper Carnival Queen", showing the crowning ceremony with flower girls in attendance. We then see colour shots of the parade including a marching brass band, decorated lorries and local people wearing costumes. 

• "Markfield 1938 Parade" - People taking part in the 1938 parade pose for the camera in a field. 

• "Markfield 1939 Infirmary Parade" - Crowds gathering and people taking part in the parade, including a Neville Chamberlain at Munich spoof entry. "Sir William Edge MP crowns Miss Rita Bown Carnival Queen". Sir William Edge was the Liberal MP for Bosworth from 1927 until 1945. The Bowns are a long standing Markfield family, their shop on Main Street can be seen in the films and they still run a hardware shop. There are shots of the crowning and a crowd of spectators. The film again switches to colour for scenes of the parade including more decorated floats. 

Follow this link, or paste the address below into your browser, to see the films on the University of Leicester Special Collections website:

http://cdm16445.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/singleitem/collection/p15407coll2/id/27/rec/1