Local History Videos

Old Images of Crawley, West Sussex

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Debbie Death
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Old photo postcard of the High Street Crawley West Sussex England looking up from the railway station

Enjoy a glimpse of history through old images of Crawley, West Sussex, England.

Murder 1949

John Haigh, known by the newspapers as the Acid Bath Murderer, killed between six and nine people for financial gain, disposing of their bodies in sulphuric acid. During this period he rented a small workshop at 2 Leopold Road, and sometimes stayed at The George.

Investigations about the disappearance of 69 year-old Olive Durand-Deacon, who was killed by Haig on 18 February 1949, led to his capture.

The silent footage shows a number of locations, the reel being labelled as Horsham and Crawley.

Haigh Murder (1949) – British Pathé on YouTube

Sarah Robinson County School 1961

In the grounds of Sarah Robinson County School, students used old cars from a scrapyard to understand how the mechanics of a car worked, and learn how to drive. The school understood that driving could be an important skill for its pupils – both male and female – and did something about it in an age when many families did not own a car.

In addition to some lovely old vehicles, this short clip includes images of the school, glimpses of surrounding homes, the teacher and his small group of pupils.

School Cars (1961) – British Pathé on YouTube

Oxygen 1966

At the Crawley laboratories of Britains’s largest oxgen producer, we see a range of uses of their product.

Unfortunately, we don’t see much of the buildings and only a few people appear, but presumably they lived somewhere locally.

The Power Of Oxygen (1966)- British Pathé on YouTube

More Pictures of Crawley

Old Crawley in West Sussex, England, enjoyed through historic photos, vintage pictures & archive film. Browse history in these fascinating old images of a bygone era on Pinterest Board.

More about West Sussex

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