ARCHIVE footage has emerged of old news clips going back to the middle of last century.

Though mostly covering more populous areas of the country, a few clips of the South Lakes have emerged - including both Malcolm and Donald Campbell's attempts to break the water speed record on Coniston and flooding from Kendal in 1954.

As part of its centenary celebrations the BBC has launched ‘BBC Rewind’ across the UK, providing public access to a vast portion of the Corporation’s extensive archive. 

The new website contains tens of thousands of audio-visual recordings, largely from news output and documentaries. They reflect the life and events of the UK spanning decades, telling the story of the nation through its people.

Footage from 1949 includes a report on the death of Malcolm Campbell - which features an earlier clip from 1946 of him trying to beat the world water speed record on Coniston.

The interviewer asks: "Something that intrigues me is that you should want to do a thing like this…you can break a neck, you know?"

Campbell replies: "You can also get run over if you walk through the streets of London!"

Other clips show clips from flooding in Kendal from 1954, though unfortunately the sound has been lost.

From Ulverston, alongside recent coverage of the Roxy Cinema and a 2008 report from the Dickensian Festival, fascinating reports have surfaced of an interview Lionel Denham of Ulverston Town Council discussing the new post of Lighthouse Keeper.

The oldest report from the town is of the opening of a new industry - Cumbria Glass in 1975.

"The teamwork involved in making a simple water jug is better than anything you are likely to see at Wembley," the reporter says.

Other clips include a visit to Ulverston's Hartley's Brewery in 1980 and again in 1981, as well as a showcase of the Laurel and Hardy Museum in 1998.

In total, over 30,000 pieces of uncovered content will be on the site with the oldest material dating back to the late 1940s.

The BBC Rewind website is available at www.bbc.co.uk/rewind.