Keeping House

KEEPING HOUSE is an evocative documentary film exploring the beguiling atmosphere of the William Cowe & Sons cockle shop premises, a family business dating back to 1801, on Bridge Street in Berwick-upon-Tweed.

Behind the shuttered doors, amongst ledgers, overflowing cupboards, tea chests and family memorabilia, filmmaker Ian Fenton and poet Jacob Polley discovered a world caught between the near and distant past, where obsolete floppy discs were filed with cheques from the 1870’s, and everything – right down to the atmosphere itself – seemed charged with historical significance. Watch on Vimeo 

Dir. Ian Fenton & Jacob Polley (UK • 2015 • 22 mins)
Commissioned by Northumberland County Council’s “At the Crossroads; heart of Berwick-upon-Tweed Townscape Heritage Initiative” with support from the Heritage Lottery Fund.