Wycombe Museum

Archival footage showing the process of 'bodging' - chair turning done in beech woods around Buckinghamshire in the south of England. Footage from around 1950.

Made by Geoffrey Hughes.

From the collection of Wycombe Museum.

Publicity film made by Ercol, a High Wycombe furniture manufacturer, in the 1970s.

Archival video footage from the collection of Wycombe Museum, High Wycombe, UK.

Bassetsbury Manor and the accompanying mill are historic features of High Wycombe, in Buckinghamshire, England. This archival film shows a tour of the inside and outside of the house, highlighting significant features in the architecture and furnishings.

Made in 1936.

This archival foortage is...

A snapshot of life in High Wycombe in 1951, designed to show how people lived to Wycombe residents 100 years in the future. Produced for Wycombe Borough Council by the High Wycombe Film Society in commemoration for the Festival of Britain, a national exhibition and fair, marking the centenary of ...

General Ira C Eaker, commander of the US 8th Airforce in Britain, receives the Freedom of High Wycombe - the highest award the town can present. The force had been stationed at Wycombe Abbey School.

Made in 1946

From the video archive at the collection of Wycombe Museum, High Wycombe.

Silent film, August 16th 1919
Showing Peace Day Celebrations and Children's Day in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, UK.
With a parade, may pole dancing, and a gathering on the Rye.

From the archival film collection at Wycombe Museum, Buckinghamshire, UK.

In the 1960s, after the local craft of chair bodging was no longer practiced, High Wycombe furniture makers Parker Knoll made this informational film recreating the life of a bodger - or turner- in the local beech woods. It follows Bill Rockall, a young man who's father worked as a bodger from ar...

Archive film of the Dean brothers, some of the last chair bodgers - or turners - working in Bucks beech woodlands. Filmed about 1950.

From the archive film collection at Wycombe Museum.

The earliest known footage of chair leg turners at work in the Chilterns, Buckinghamshire. Filmed by Eustace Alliott before 1935. The commentary was recorded and added about 40 years later in the 1970s, when Eustace was 89 years old.

Shows craftsmen working the the village of Turville, in woodla...