North-east man seeks help to transform old film footage from the 1940s

A Deeside pensioner is appealing for help to him view a childhood film he last watched 69 years ago.

William Finnie is hoping someone can help him transform an old film reel onto a disc so he can relive fond memories of his childhood.

Mr Finnie, who lives in Banchory but is originally from Turriff, said: “My hope would be to put the footage onto a disc, I’ve had it for all these years but I can’t watch it on the projector I have at home.”

The 79-year-old does not know much about the origins of the reel and how it was manufactured, but believes his father might have bought it in the 1940s – possibly from an old shop called Laisers.

He added: “You don’t always appreciate these things when you’re young but it’s something I’m interested to know more about now. I would have watched it with my sisters years ago,  if I could get the footage transferred to a disc I’d be able to show my family what’s on it too.”

“I don’t really remember all that well what footage is  on it exactly but some of the cartoons on these old reels were really funny. I think it would be interesting to see how it compares to what’s on television today, so much has changed since then.”