Skip to content

Red Trawlers of Brixham, 1933

This Pathé archive footage of the Brixham Regatta, 1933 opens with a title screen ‘The Red Trawlers of Brixham – famed in song and story – make glowing picture as they strive for championship at the regatta. (Under the flag of the Royal Thames Yacht Club).’ In black and white with soundtrack, there are various shots of large trawlers sailing off Brixham, Devon. The ships are competing in their annual race, providing for us 90 years later, some evocative shots of these old sailing vessels. There’s also close-ups of men on board hauling in ropes. 

Created at the beginning of the 20th Century by the Pathé brothers, the newsreel was the world’s first televised news platform. Pioneering the technology and methods of cinema, British Pathé stayed at the forefront of filmed news for decades. Releasing three newsreels a week during that period, British Pathé was the way the people of Britain experienced world events until the advent of television.