This vintage home movie shows the Ramsgate Model Village as it appeared on a brilliant sunny day in the summer of 1955.
The film is a Kodachrome standard 8mm which has kept much of its colour and definition over the years and still looks pretty good. There was a little bit of shake on the film which I corrected by running the digitised version through a stabilizing filter before I uploaded it, which I think has made the film more watchable.
Finding the location was not difficult in the case of this film, since the opening sequence shows a plaque with the name of the village on, 'Ramsgate model village'. The date was equally easy because the box the film was in has a clear October 1955 post mark. This was the date the film was returned from the developing lab of course, so I've estimated that it was actually shot in the late summer of that year.
Since the model village in Ramsgate closed down in 2003, I classify this film as one of those on the site which, although not historically important, is still significant.
Ramsgate Model Village on film
The film shows two children as they take a journey through the model village and explore the different streets, buildings and landmarks. What I found interesting about this village is the way small models of people have been added to capture village life; the cricket team are playing a match, a couple having a chat next to a car, a group playing a game of golf - it's all very realistic.
I don't know if the day this film was made was particularly quiet, but there didn't seem to be many people there - at least there weren't many caught by the camera.
Anyway, the film is below; watch it and make your own assessment.
The closing sequence of the film, just after the children leave the model village, shows another landmark from Kent, the Viking Ship Hugin.
