THE work of Burnley film-maker Sam Hanna, who compiled almost 600 reels of clips in his amateur career, will be screened later this month.

Footage from his films, accompanied by the silent film musician Stephen Horne, will be shown at Burnley Mechanics by the North West Film Archive at Manchester Metropolitan University.

The event is part of a major project illustrating Sam’s life and work, but will also highlight the work of other local film-makers who came before him.

A website is set to be launched later in the year, with 10 hours of films online and a full catalogue of the Hanna films, all set in the context of Sam’s life and work.

Setting the scene will be a selection of early silent films made in, and around, the Burnley and East Lancashire area, from the pioneering days of Mitchell and Kenyon with their scenes from the Boer War, World War Two and the activities of the town’s ARP.

You can join the onlookers at a procession in 1908 in Accrington and take a ‘phantom ride’ through the village of Waterfoot following the King’s visit in 1913. See, also, Burnley prepare for the 1926 season at Turf Moor and watch the last of Colne’s trams head into retirement.

Sam, who lived from 1903 to 1996 and was a handicraft teacher at Burnley’s Abel Street School, is best known for his series of films depicting old English crafts, but his work also records life in the Burnley area from the 1930s through to the 1980s.

One of his films follows the work of a clog block maker, as he uses traditional tools, alongside skill and judgement, to make clog soles from the timber of alder trees grown on his small farm.

There is colour footage of the football match between Burnley and Manchester United in April 1957, filmed only 10 months before the Munich air disaster that claimed the lives of many of the Busby Babes.

The audience can also relive games such as skipping and conkers played by children on the cobblestones of the 1950s, and discover how a trainee nurse worked, and relaxed, at the Burnley School of Nursing in the early 1960s. They’ll also be abe to witness the work of the infamous local alarm-clock service, the knocker-up, as he wakes his customers at the start of their working day.

Finally, in ‘New Fields for Industry’, made in 1957, we see the Burnley area promoted as a location ready to take on new industries to replace the cotton trade. The screening of ‘Better than Chalk and Talk’ takes place at Burnley Mechanics on Wednesday, May 26, at 7.45pm. Tickets are free and can be obtained in advance from the box office, or by calling 01282 664400.

The film archive’s service manager Marion Hewitt said: “We are delighted to bring ‘Better than Chalk and Talk’ to the Mechanics, and for Burnley people to see their very own Sam Hanna’s films on the big screen after a long absence.”