Ever since it was possible to record sound - and later moving pictures - the BBC has been a major force in capturing the past for the future, and has learned the hard way when it's chosen to bulk erase the past - think of the excitement of finding those lost episodes of Dr Who! After all, how often have you headed for the tin trunk in the attack to look for a particular family snap only to discover it has gone AWOL or that the mice have taken a liking to photographic paper? 
Jonathan Dimbleby - 1969
With our growing interest in old film and photos, the way we hang on to the past plays an important role in understanding our lives today, whether it's our own photo  albums, cine film or video, or the archives of broadcasters like the BBC. The BBC Regional News Archive lives in a small part of the basement of BBC West's regional home in Bristol. Opening the door to the archive is like stepping back through time itself since every shelf contains a mass of recorded evidence of West Country life since the late 1950s. 
John Norman - 1976
This shrine-like room contains the relics of some of the West's notable happenings, including evidence of its people, communities and varied countryside - the walls literally echo the voices of those who have reflected the West Country through the BBC's regional news programme, Points West. Here, the guardians of this remarkable collection - Fiona, Jan, Julie and Siobhan - have an equally incredible recall of the West Country's historic moments - as well as less memorable events (but just as fascinating). 
Follow the links to see more of Points West's Archive On-Demand (Requires RealPlayer) BBC Bristol Hartcliffe Factory : 70s/80s
Mother Goose: 1977
Ashton Gate: 1970/80
SS Great Britain: 1970
Bristol Winter
Severn Bridge: 1966
High Speed Train: 1976
Cary Grant: 1986
Bristol Carnival:1987
Clifton Suspension fireworks: 1988
Saltford: 1976 BBC Somerset Clarks Shoes : 1982
Wassailing: 1982
Bath Rugby: 1986
Bishop Carey: 1990
Hinkley A: 1965
Somerset Winter
Bath traffic: 1965
Taunton Canal: 1965
Bath Gliding Club: 1965
Acker Bilk: 1977
Bridgwater Carnival: 1966
Nether Stowey: 1964 BBC Gloucestershire Forest of Dean: 1965
Fairford: 1977
Forest Green: 1965/82
Berkeley: 1989
Gloucestershire Winter
Stroudwater: 1974
Severn Bridge: 1966
Laurie Lee: 1984
Sandling Fireworks: 1992
Barton Street Winter Carnival: 1989
Frampton on Severn: 1969 BBC Wiltshire Railway Works : 1960
Marshfield: 1967
Swindon Town: 1969
Silbury Hill: 1969
Wiltshire Winter
The Magic Roundabout
Bath Gliding Club: 1965
Severn Bridge: 1966
Diana Dors: 1978
Pains Wessex, Salisbury: 1967
Steeple Ashton :1969 Chris Vacher's "People's Archive" - see the films | 
