Film reveals New Brighton life in the 80s and 90s from the funfair to Chelsea Reach

A new documentary film reveals life in New Brighton in the 80s and 90s, including its famous funfair and landmarks including the legendary Chelsea Reach nightclub.

Framing New Brighton has been made by Wirral-born filmmaker Dylan Cubbin.

The 24-year-old spent two years on a passion project to capture a time using images spanning two decades.

The short film shows New Brighton through the lenses of three photographers: Ken Grant, Alex Hurst, and Tom Wood.

Their photos of everything from the beach and prom to holidaymakers, arcades and nightlife are combined with interviews and archive footage to create a snapshot in time of the place and people.

Dylan said:

“The film looks back to a time before regeneration, when families visited to escape the city and young people flocked to the Chelsea Reach for a night out,”

Dylan, who lives in Wallasey Village, was inspired to make Framing New Brighton by his own love of film and his hometown.

“Being from the Wirral I’ve always been interested in photography of the area, I discovered Ken Grant’s photography on Instagram and was blown away by these photos of a place I love from a time when I wasn’t around,” he explains.

“I naively thought maybe there’s a film idea in this, so with a budget of about £20 I optimistically started off with one idea and then it went down other avenues. I found Alex and Tom and I was lucky enough that the photographers all agreed to collaborate with me.

“The three photographers’ work is from different periods – Tom Woods focuses more on late ‘80s, Ken is early ‘90s and Alex is late 90s early 2000s.

“Ken’s are mostly around the beach and the prom, Alex’s are the Ferris wheel and arcade, and Tom’s are more the nightlife.

“Using their different photos I was able to highlight specific parts of town, so it covers different places and decades but New Brighton itself is always the main character.”

Dylan studied film in Liverpool, where he met filmmaker Dan Draper, who also creates documentaries. They worked together on Liverpool Story last year, and Dan supported Dylan with Framing New Brighton, which was his first major solo project.

With access to the three photographers’ work, Dylan set about tracking down some of the subjects featured in them to interview.

“I was quite lucky because with Facebook and a bit of digging we were able to find some of the people and they’re very proud to be in the photos so they were more than happy to get involved in the documentary.

“Paul Chase, owner of the Chelsea Reach, is one of those in the film and he talks all about it. 

“I was too young to remember it so that was another fun thing about making the film: I was discovering this whole world that I’d never seen before and it was such a popular place that anyone I talked to about it would tell me their memories of nights out there.”

Framing New Brighton is having a series of screenings across the region, starting with its premiere at the Plaza in Waterloo on Tuesday September 24.

That night, along with the first of five screenings at The Light Cinema, New Brighton, has already sold out. FACT, Liverpool is showing it on Wednesday November 19 with a Q&A and Open Eye in Liverpool will have talk and screening on December 4.

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