A MOBILE cinema that was rescued from a field in Essex is coming home.

The Bedford SB3 was one of seven built by the Government in the Sixties which then toured the country’s factories showing films promoting British manufacturing.

Now lovingly restored by art graduate, Oliver Halls, it tours the country once again, but this time showing archive film and worked by independent film-makers.

Oliver says: “It was rescued in 2003 by Nancy Rose Mills and Rob Howell from a field near Braintree.

“Nancy spotted it when she was visiting her mum, who lived nearby. They took it back to their home in Somerset with the intention of restoring it, but it didn’t happen.”

That’s where Oliver stepped in, buying the vehicle and then spending the next five years, and “quite a few pounds”, returning it to its former glory.

This week the Vintage Mobile Cinema will be touring north Essex, showing a range of local archive footage.

That will include Back to the Sun at Clacton-on-Sea, a holiday brochure film from Clacton Urban District Council from 1952, and Children’s Matinee from 1912, in which children queue for the matinee film at the Vaudeville Cinema in Colchester, playing up to the cameraman.

There will also be Pastures Old, a collection of amateur and professional films showing East Anglian farm life from the Twenties to the Sixties.

Oliver adds: “I think it’s quite poignant it now shows archive film, bearing in mind the Heritage of the cinema itself, and as this will be its First time back in Essex, that will be quite special too.”

Organised by Firstsite, in conjunction with the East Anglian Film Archive, the Digital Heritage Project and Moving Image in Wivenhoe, the mobile cinema will stop off first on Thursday at the Musket Club car park, off Fallowfield Road, Colchester, with screenings at 3.30pm and 4.15pm.

On Friday, it’s at Myland Primary School, in Colchester, again showing films at 3.30pm and 4.15pm.

On Saturday, screenings take place at 10am, 10.40am and 11.20am at the MICA Centre, in West Mersea, and at 2.30pm, 3.15pm and 4pm at the Jaywick Martello Tower.

It ends its short tour on Sunday in Wivenhoe, outside the Station Hotel, with films being shown at 11am, 11.45am, 12.30pm, 2pm, 2.45pm, 3.30pm and 4.15pm. All screenings are free, but because space is limited, booking is advised by calling 01206 577067.