Mr Tedham, a Sussex wheelwright, demonstrates the traditional method of making a cartwheel. This was the method used to fashion wheels for carts and coaches, gigs and wagons for hundreds of years. It depends on a combination of skilled craftsmanship with a thorough knowledge of local conditions.

Part of a series of seven short films (19341951) made to record the traditional ways of working of old crafts, many of which are fast dying out.

For more information about Shell’s Historic Film Archive please contact: [email protected]

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Shell’s surprising and captivating Historic Film Archive dates from 1934 and covers a rich mix of topics from technology, science and engineering to craftsmanship, motorsport and travelogue.

The Shell Film Unit, responsible for the content, was a highly celebrated part of Britain’s Documentary Movement. Key figures from that movement were involved, including: Jack Beddington, Edgar Anstey, Arthur Elton, John Grierson, Kay Mander, Stuart Legg and Douglas Gordon.

Its films were wide reaching, often screened in cinemas and through the nontheatric film distribution circuit, which brought film to educational establishments and organisations across the UK. While many films covered technological themes related to Shell’s activities, others were entirely unrelated and served purely to educate the general public.

As Shell innovated in technologies that would provide oil and gas products for the world, the Shell Film Unit also innovated in the technological advancement of film, incorporating graphics and different forms of animation as early as the 1930s.

During WW2 the Shell Film Unit was coopted into war effort, making films for the Ministry of Information’s film division. Its prowess in technological documentary suited the MoI’s need for technical training films.

While the name and the medium has changed many times over the years, the documentary tradition lives on at Shell. Its contemporary film team is part of Shell’s multidisciplinary inhouse agency, Creative Solutions. It continues making awardwinning factual content that informs and educates the public, now usually released on social media platforms.