HISTORY buffs are being offered a free nostalgic trip into the past.

Film archivists at the University of Teesside, Middlesbrough, have got together film depicting key periods in the town's history.

The compilation, Middlesbrough on Film, will be introduced by Leo Enticknap, film historian and lecturer in media studies at the university, who will provide commentary for the film, which ranges from early colour home movies, industrial footage of steelmaking from the 1930s, to news reports about a residents' fight to stop a house clearance programme in and around Cannon Street.

Patricia Zakreski, film access and education officer at the university, said: "These films will appeal to anyone who is interested in the history of our region, particularly the Cannon Street redevelopment, which caused a lot of controversy at the time and is still a topic of discussion for a lot of people.

"I also think the other films about the area, such as the story about an unsolved murder at a Middlesbrough carpet shop, will be fascinating viewing."

The film is to be shown in the main lecture theatre in the Constantine Building, on February 25.

It will draw from clips held by the Northern Region Film and Television Archive (NRFTA), which stores thousands of hours of TV footage filmed all over the North, including an extensive collection of BBC and Tyne Tees newsreels, home movies from amateur film-makers and corporate videos and training films from some of the big companies in and around the area.