Published: Tuesday, 30th September, 2008 09:30
Alexandria man's rare footage find
By Mike Farrell
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RARE footage of the Queen opening the Vale of Leven Hospital has been uncovered.
The Royal ceremony was captured on film by one of the first ambulance drivers to work at the hospital after it opened in 1955.
And little did great-grandad Jim Denny know, but he was the only person believed to have recorded the ceremony.
Now Jim, 77, hopes that after converting the four-minute film to DVD, someone will be able to put it to good use.
He told the Reporter: “It’s not like now, there was no security, so at one point there’s only a sheet of glass separating me and the Queen.
“I was just at work at the Vale and managed to get it all on camera.
“It’s a wee bit of history, and that’s why I’d like to see it preserved or used in a way to keep it that way.
“On the day I never saw another camera about, and I’ve never seen any other footage of it, so it’s pretty special.”
In the film the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh Prince Phillip are greeted at the then-new hospital by a crowd of nurses.
With this film, Jim is hoping others will be able to re-live the historic visit.
And there has already been interest from one Dumbarton group, which focuses on the heritage of the area. Dumbarton Cine, Video and Digital Club say they would like to take a look at the footage.
It is looking at joining it up with another stop the Queen made that day, to the County Buildings, Dumbarton.
Bill McQueen, of the club, said: “We haven’t got anything and aren’t aware of any other footage of this event. We’d definitely want to examine it, because stuff like this is so important.”
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