A LONG lost wedding film of a Hartford couple has unexpectedly come to light half a century after it was made.

The unlooked for rediscovery is particularly poignant for Sallie Birtwisle as it has happened in the run up to what would have been her golden wedding anniversary with husband Tony, who died 10 years ago.

They never saw the film.

"A lot of my friends are coming up to their 50th wedding anniversaries," she said.

"They're all having exotic holidays and big parties but suddenly I've got something that I consider to be far better."

Sallie and Tony married at Christ Church, Tettenhall Woods, in the West Midlands, on July 31, 1965.

Sallie's uncle gave her away and filmed the preparations, ceremony and lavish reception in a 24-minute colour film.

"It's a bit of live history that's come to light that involves people from Hartford and might strike a chord with one or two people's families in Northwich," said Sallie, of Lymcote Drive.

"My uncle gave me away and gave me the most amazing wedding you've ever seen for 1965.

"In those days there wasn't a great deal of money – we were still getting over the war, still picking ourselves up and dusting ourselves off.

"It encapsulates that breed of people who had come out of the war, started again, made good money and were flaunting it."

A family fall-out meant that Sallie and Tony, who owned Birtwisles garage in Hartford and Northwich, never saw the film and forgot it existed.

It had been stored in a tin and spent 30 years in a shop in Wolverhampton, then 20 years in an archive before the Media Archive for Central England (MACE) won Lottery funding to preserve footage from the Midlands.

"A lady from MACE told me about this film and I said I've never seen it – it blew her away.

"They're absolutely bowled over by it because it's 24 minutes of 1965 history and the colours are absolutely brilliant."

Sallie, who has three sons and four grandchildren, has also appeared on BBC Midlands since the film was rediscovered.

The Marriage of Miss Sarah Leslie Turton with Mr Richard William Anthony Birtwisle from MACE Archive on Vimeo.