Fermanagh photographer's colour film of Princess Elizabeth in 1946

Colour cine footage of Princess Elizabeth's visit to Enniskillen in 1946 filmed by William Blake.

With his cine camera positioned looking out of the top window of The Melvin House, now Pat’s Bar, William was able to record the princess as she waved to the gathered crowds from the balcony of the town hall.

Speaking to The Impartial Reporter about his father’s footage of Princess Elizabeth, Arthur Blake said: “My dad was an amateur photographer in those days and he was a very keen photographer. He would have taken a lot of photographs of different things.

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“He took photographs of Her Majesty The Queen when she was arriving at the Town Hall in Enniskillen from Melvin House.

Colour cine footage of Princess Elizabeth's visit to Enniskillen in 1946 filmed by William Blake.

“He would have been upstairs in the tea rooms, to get that angle.”

Explaining how his father was able to capture the footage in colour, Arthur said: “That was unusual – Kodak film colour, he was able to get it from America through a friend.

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“He was about the only one who had colour photographs in those days,” he added, noting that the footage wasn’t used anywhere; that it was just for his own personal record.

Colour cine footage of Princess Elizabeth's visit to Enniskillen in 1946 filmed by William Blake.

“He was lucky to get the footage at that time.”

The stunning colour film footage – some stills of which are shown here, using the film’s resolution from the time – was kindly sent to The Impartial Reporter, and with the blessing of the Blake family, is available to view via this newspaper’s website.

Colour cine footage of Princess Elizabeth's visit to Enniskillen in 1946 filmed by William Blake.