Editing Mitchell and Kenyon (section)

==Discovery and restoration of the Collection==
In 1994, during demolition work in what had been Mercers toy shop in Northgate, Blackburn, two workmen were clearing out the basement when they found three metal drums like milk churns, and looked inside to see hundreds of small spools of film. On their way to the Lethbridges Scrap Metal Processors was Magic Moments Video which did cine to video transfers, and the workmen dragged in a churn and asked the proprietor, Nigel Garth Gregory, if the films were of any value.

Knowing of local businessman and historian Peter Worden's interest in cinematography, Gregory phoned Worden and offered to arrange for the drums to be delivered to him. Following delivery Worden examined the rolls and realised that the film stock was highly volatile and stored the rolls in a chest freezer in his garage until their transfer to the [[British Film Institute]] in July 2000. A large cache of Mitchell & Kenyon negative and positive films and a Norden cinematographic camera was offered by Christie's South Kensington on 23 November 1997. A second group of five 35&nbsp;mm negatives was sold by the same auction house on 20 February 1997.<ref>The Christie's catalogues provide detailed lot descriptions and illustrations of the camera and the films. See: https://www.christies.com/lotfinder/lot/s-j-mitchell-blackburn-591675-details.aspx?from=searchresults&intObjectID=591675&sid=0b4e4aa7-0367-41c5-b1f9-9558ad65a0a7 Accessed 27 March 2017.</ref> The film titles sold in the initial lot are listed in the reference.<ref>Film titles sold at Christie's: '''Film negative in metal tin and box''' Poisoning the Well, Compo's Tea Party, Whole Stole the Bike [two reels], The Despatch Bearer, Our King and Queen, God Bless 'em, The Sporting Colliers and the Bobby, Putting Him on the Black List [in three reels], Chasing De Wet, The Fisherman, Baby, Scout, Rival Snow Shovellers, The Interrupted Picnic, Tommy's Last Shot, Through the Enemy Lines, Cool Proceedings, Surprise of a Boer Camp, Sneaky Boer, Swimmers, No Bathing Allowed, Saved by a Woman, A Standing Joke, Dogs, The Rival Lovers, May Day in the Slums, The Snowman, Poison, Mrs Camp's Mishap, Hands off the Flag, Clever Correspondent, Happy Mrs Grunt/Pigs, Winning the V.C., A Slippery Job, The Mad Barber, The Kidnappers, [?] The Distinguished Gentleman; '''Film Negative in box only''' Champion lady boxers, [?] Nurses Brother, Shelling Red Coats; '''Film Negative in tin only''' Mick and Mike find the Hidden Treasure, The Lonely Father, Women Take Warning, Lady Boxers to the Rescue, Poacher [8 reels], Just Like a Woman, A Lively Fish, Lost Palace [3 reels], Sentry; '''Positive Film in tins''' North Wales, Isle of Man, Rough on the Collector; '''Titles in both Negative and Positive Film''' Artist
(100 Reward. Lost, Diving Lucy, The Tramp Cyclist, Off for the Honeymoon [2 reels], Village Derby, Monkey's Merry Morning.</ref>

Worden, along with another local historian, Robin Whalley, researched the films and provided an invaluable introduction to the firm and their films in an article published as "Forgotten Firm" in ''Film History'', volume 10, no. 1, 1998 ({{ISBN|1-86462-031-5}}).

The Peter Worden Collection of Mitchell & Kenyon Films has now been preserved by staff at the [[British Film Institute]]'s [[BFI National Archive|National Film and Television Archive]], carefully storing the dangerously flammable 35&nbsp;mm nitrate negatives in rooms that are constructed with water tanks suspended above a glass ceiling so that if the stock should ignite, the resulting fire will cause the glass ceiling to fail and enable the suspended tanks of water to extinguish the fire. Painstaking [[film preservation]] techniques were used to produce remarkably clean and scratch-free positives, adjusting the speed to smooth out the variations in these hand-cranked films. The results are fresh and natural, offering an unparalleled social record of early 20th century British life.

The [[University of Sheffield]]'s National Fairground Archive and the British Film Institute were awarded a three-year research grant by the [[Arts and Humanities Research Board]] to research, catalogue, identify and contextualise the 800-plus films. This has culminated in a collection of essays, ''The Lost World of Mitchell and Kenyon: Edwardian Britain on Film'', edited by Vanessa Toulmin, Simon Popple and Patrick Russell and published by the BFI in October 2004 ({{ISBN|1-84457-046-0}}, paperback, {{ISBN|1-84457-047-9}}, hardback) and 15 articles. The major catalogue and interpretation of the Collection has been published by the British Film Institute titled ''Electric Edwardians: The Story of the Mitchell & Kenyon Collection'' (London: BFI, 2006), by Vanessa Toulmin; it contains 431 stills from the collection, an array of handbills and posters from the National Fairground Archive and 100,000 words of text and filmographic references. Also available is a companion DVD titled ''The Electric Edwardians'' with two hours of highlights from the Collection, extras on the archiving of the films, an essay by film historian [[Tom Gunning (film historian)|Tom Gunning]] and an interview with the lead researcher on the Collection, Vanessa Toulmin. Other DVD releases include ''Mitchell & Kenyon in Ireland'' and ''Edwardian Sport on Film'', though only available in Region 2.

A prime-time three-part series ''[[The Lost World of Mitchell & Kenyon]]'' was shown on the [[BBC]] in January 2005 with enthusiastic commentary by historian [[Dan Cruickshank]] and interviews with descendants of people shown in the films, and is available on DVD from the BBC and the BFI.

In 2014, ''The Life and Times of Mitchell and Kenyon'' was produced at [[The Dukes (Lancaster)|The Dukes]], Lancaster and the [[Oldham Coliseum]], starring Gareth Cassidy, [[Liam Gerrard]] and Christopher Wright, with video elements by [[imitating the dog]].<ref>{{cite news|title=The Life and Times of Mitchell and Kenyon review – celluloid ghosts are spellbinding on stage|url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2014/apr/24/life-times-mitchell-kenyon-review|accessdate=23 October 2014|work=The Guardian|date=25 April 2014}}</ref>

The BFI and the NFA have toured the Collection extensively presenting over 100 shows throughout the North of England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales, proving once again that local films for local people are as popular today as they were a century ago. Vanessa Toulmin of the National Fairground Archive has also presented specialist feature shows on the history of [[rugby league]] with Professor Tony Collins, seaside entertainment with John Walton, and football history with Dave Russell.

In May 2011, the Collection was inscribed in [[UNESCO]]'s [[UK Memory of the World Register]].<ref name="unesco2011">"[http://www.unesco.org.uk/2011_uk_memory_of_the_world_register 2011 UK Memory of the World Register] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110529015843/http://www.unesco.org.uk/2011_uk_memory_of_the_world_register |date=29 May 2011 }}", United Kingdom National Commission for UNESCO, 2011. Accessed 4 June 2011.</ref><ref>"[http://www.bfi.org.uk/news/109 BFI National Archive collections awarded UN status] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110619040055/http://www.bfi.org.uk/news/109 |date=19 June 2011 }}", British Film Institute, 24 May 2011. Accessed 4 June 2011.</ref><ref>Gill Johnson, "[http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/news/9050358.Blackburn_historic_films_listed_alongside_Magna_Carta/ Blackburn historic films listed alongside Magna Carta]", ''Lancashire Telegraph,'' 26 May 2011. Accessed 4 June 2011.</ref><ref>"[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-13518226 Rare Edwardian footage added to Unesco list]", BBC, 24 May 2011. Accessed 4 June 2011.</ref>