The Mallard – 75 Years

3rd July 2013 marks 75 years since the famous steam locomotive “Mallard” broke the world speed record. British Pathé has some interesting films of this great engine. This collection holds all five films, or you can view the individual clips via the links below.

DRIVER JOSEPH DUDDINGTON

Duddington drove the Mallard during its record-breaking run. In this film from 1944, Duddington drives the famous train one last time before his retirement.

MALLARD AT DONCASTER WORKS

This 1964 newsreel features some nice close-ups of the train and we get a glimpse inside the driver’s cabin.

ROLLING STOCK EXHIBITION FILM 1 & FILM 2

The Duke of Edinburgh pays a visit to the Rolling Stock Exhibition in Marylebone in 1961 and takes a look at the Mallard on show in these two films from the archive.

MALLARD STEAMS AWAY

The “Mallard”, pulls out of a station before travelling at high speed down the line in this montage of steam power from the 1970s.

www.britishpathe.com

Prince Philip’s 90th Birthday

To celebrate the 90^th birthday of Prince Philip we’ve ploughed through our hundreds of reels that feature the Duke to pick out some favourites, click on the links to watch them:

Prince Philip a biography  

This beautifully made 1950s Pathé biography of Prince Philip includes shots of the Duke as a baby, as captain of the Gordonstoun cricket team and starring in Macbeth. The piece follows Prince Philip through his formative years, and contains a speech in which The Queen first mentions her “future husband”

Duke Lauds Atom Power

Prince Philip has long been a firm supporter of technological advances and scientific discovery. This 1963 newsreel shows Prince Philip inspecting the control room of Berkeley nuclear power station in Gloucestershire and is a good example of British Pathé’s many reels that followed the Duke on what seems to be a lifetime of official tours and inspections. There’s even a video of Prince Philip touring a cigarette factory in the archive.

The Duke Visits The Pacific Isles

Prince Philip is carried along the beach on a ceremonial chair! Whether it be onboard the royal yacht HMS Britannia or inside a fortified dinghy, Prince Philip feels an affinity with the high seas. British Pathé cameramen accompanied the Duke on his comprehensive world tour.

Duke of Edinburgh Award

The Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme is still a vibrant and popular pursuit for young people today. Here we see the prince presenting awards and also visiting various activities clubs around Britain.

Royal Family on Holiday

In a different media age the Royal Family were more comfortable with inviting cameramen to film their private lives and family affairs. Here Pathé spent the afternoon filming The Queen and Prince Philip enjoying a traditional English picnic with their children. The reel includes footage of Prince Philip holding Prince Edward as a baby.

All of these clips feature in a larger Prince Philip collection with over 50 newsreels that focus on his life and achievements. You can watch all of those reels in the British Pathe archive for free here: Prince Philip – The Duke of Edinburgh