Shoreham Fort – Military History Weekend 2014

Back in February, at the bi-annual Hobbies Exhibition held at Worthing Assembly Hall, we were approached with a filming enquiry by Gary Baines, from a charity called the Friends of Shoreham Fort. Gary is the founder of this enthusiastic group of volunteers, whose ambitious goal is to restore the old fort to its former glory, rebuilding the demolished barracks for use as a multi-purpose community facility.

Every year for the past four years since the charity was established, they have organised a Military History Weekend, when military history enthusiasts from all across the region put on demonstrations of their activities for the public. This year’s event was held over the weekend 7/8th June and South Downs Film Makers were invited to film it.

The crew for this project comprised three cameramen – Richard Stockwell, Ted Forman and Bob Summers plus Janice Cicero on sound, assisted by her husband, Tony.

It was a very full but enjoyable weekend with a repeat programme over the two days, except for the highlight of the event – a live cannon firing by Fort Cumberland Guard, which was due to take place only on Sunday.

The weather on Saturday was fine but very blustery, which played havoc with the sound recording but Sunday was a perfect day with cloudless blue skies and no wind to speak of at all. By then, we also knew what to expect, which made the filming much more effective.

Post production has been completed in the last month by Ted and it is hoped the finished film will be screened on Wednesday 12th November.

My thanks to all the crew who participated in this project.

Bob Summers