Home projects morvenstow the film: Harvesting Memory
The Film: Harvesting Memory PDF Print E-mail

From the tea party, we identified five people who appeared to be the best subjects for the film. They were farmer John Littlejohns, tea room founder Vera Metters, carpenter Bill Burrow, mother-of-four Brenda Burrow and local historian Alan Rowland. They represented and reflected different aspects of Morwenstow life. We contacted each of them and explained that we wanted to make a film and to invite them to take part. All agreed, but more than that, they were enthusiastic. They were asked to choose a place which was special or significant in their lives. Alan chose Vicarage Cliff as he wanted to talk about St Morwenna’s Well. Bill chose Coombe, where he worked as a carpenter for many years. Brenda also chose Coombe to speak about family life and the role of women in previous generations. John chose his land at Shears Farm to discuss the changes to agriculture over his lifetime. Vera chose St John’s Church to talk about the Patronal Festival.

We set an itinerary for each subject and on the day of the filming, which was fortunately unusually bright and sunny for late-November, the film team arrived early. We interviewed each of the subjects, inviting them to talk about their lives, their hopes, their relationship with the parish and the landscape. The aim was to allow them the freedom to talk, rather than engage in a formal interview. The resulting stories were variously informative, witty and incisive, but always fascinating. Their value to future generations is immeasurabl