[William Darbyshire Home Movies: Reel 11]

William (Billy) Darbyshire (1903–1979) was a film enthusiast and traveller who emigrated with his parents from England to Australia in 1911. It may have been this early trip that influenced a young Billy to travel the world later in life and film his travels as he went.

First travelling to Africa for work and to various destinations whilst in service during WWII, Billy would continue to travel after the war throughout Asia, Europe, Africa, the Pacific and North America. It was in this period, during the 1960s, that he purchased an 8mm movie camera which resulted in a collection of films that capture his travels, taking in the sites of the world from Asia to Europe and Africa to the Americas.

In this film, Billy travels to what was then Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) and briefly visits South Africa. He films visits to the tourist spots of Victoria Falls and the Matobos National Park which may be where he captures some wonderful wandering wildlife, keeping abreast with them from a moving vehicle. Billy also captures the landscapes wherever he goes, including some public gardens, national parklands, cultivated land, hilly rocky and dry land and some lovely waterways.

This film was originally made using Standard 8mm film. The quality of the film can be a little challenging as it is jumpy, damaged and scratched at times.

Selected highlights list:
00:00:05:00 Bulawayo Rail Station
00:00:06:00 views around the quiet town of Bulwayo including the ‘Rhodes Memorial’
00:03:23:00 some of the ‘Balancing Rocks’ of the Matobos National Park and the plaque marking the grave of Cecil Rhodes.
00:06:15:00 ‘Livingstone Memorial’
00:07:20:00 views capturing the wonderful Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe.
00:08:00:00 baobab trees
00:08:20:00 filming of wildlife begins in the (likely) Matobos National Park
00:08:51:00 herd of elephants moving through the grasses
00:08:31:00 a giraffe runs alongside the filmmaker’s moving vehicle
00:10:11:00 up close to an elephant
00:11:10:00 a zebra looking at the camera
00:13:40:00 a group of people enjoying afternoon tea
00:14:18:00 a train travels through some dramatic, dry landscape which then becomes lush and green as Billy enters South Africa.
00:14:49:00 the sign for the township of ‘Paarl’, in South Africa.