Well done to the County Press for noticing that British Pathe, the old film news company, has put a lot of its video archive online.
We’ve had a quick search and found 225 videos that feature the Isle of Wight with many of them feature Cowes Week over the years.
The voice-overs are in the kind of clipped, “Mr Cholmondley-Warner,” pronunciation that you just don’t hear any more, all backed with the instantly recognisable ‘pah, pah, pah’ Pathe music.
An interesting slice of life and perceptions in those days.
We had a gander over a few bits of video and have gathered a little section for you …
12 metre yacht racing at Cowes in 1960
Cowes week in 1932
A “freak yacht” – the Trion – sets sail in Cowes 1954
Pathe are also showing footage that was shot, but wasn’t used in one of their news reports, so has no sound track.
An example of which this is below, which includes a few crowd shots too, so some people might recognise themselves …
Footage show at Cowes Week in 1968
Image: © Screen grab from Pathe
