Sunday 29 May 2011

Tons Of Practically Useless Flesh


In a bit of a change of scenery from the concrete spires and rotundas of Brum, here's Jack Hargreaves out in the country doing what he does best, i.e. looking at big veg and sinking a pint.

'Out Of Town' ran between 1963 to 1981, with subject matter ranging from fishing to farming to hobbies and horses, dogs, hunting, handicrafts, fetes, foxes, birds, carts, moles, lobsters and charcoal burners: a staggering variety of country pursuits recorded for posterity as they began to slowly die out. This report is from 1978, concluded with an insert added in the late eighties. Typical of the gentle, slightly wry approach of the show, it's a charming eight minute report on a small village and the things that knit it together: gigantic gourds.

There is, by the way, a good reason why this film is an appropriate sequel to the Telly Savalas post, but you'll have to watch it all the way through to see it.


Things to note: the people; the knitwear; some of the trousers and, most of all, the faces: forget the cardigans and the flares, these people's faces would have been equally at home at a witch burning, or a joust, or a battle with the Vikings.

I also like Jack's sign off, and the rather abrupt way he cuts off his stream of consciousness. He's a busy man: he can't sit here all day jabbering about the size of onions.

2 comments:

  1. I'll assume you've seen Markets of Britain - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSG2pD-2O2g - which looks like it uses a bit of Out of Town.

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  2. Surprised 'OOT' ran for so long - 18 years?! Impressed at the apparent orderliness of the festival.

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