Recreating the Netball Party, A Heritage Film Commission at Salford Lads Club

AVimmerse
Mar 27, 2019
3 min read

Updated: Jan 8

In 2019, AVimmerse was commissioned to create a short heritage film at Salford Lads Club, inspired by a remarkable and long misunderstood photograph from the club’s archive.

Historic netball party photograph recreated at Salford Lads Club as part of a heritage film project.

Known as the Netball Party, the original image shows over one hundred young men gathered in celebration inside the club in 1939. At first glance, the photograph feels almost improbable. The idea of a netball celebration among young men in this period appears unexpected, even surreal, prompting questions about whether the event was real or symbolic.

Yet the image was real, and its story revealed something deeper about the social history of the club, the role of sport, and the lives of young people on the eve of the Second World War.

An archive image that refused to be ignored

For staff and researchers at Salford Lads Club, the Netball Party photograph had long stood out as an anomaly within the archive. It depicted a moment of joy and togetherness, but many of the faces were unnamed, and little was known about the individuals captured in the frame.

The photograph was taken in 1939, just before the outbreak of the Second World War, giving it an added emotional weight. Many of the young men pictured would soon see their lives profoundly altered by global events. The image represents a final moment of normality, community, and shared experience before a period of immense upheaval.

Part of the intrigue lay in the fact that netball had been played at the club since the end of the First World War. What initially appeared unusual began to reveal a longer and richer sporting and social tradition within the building.

Reimagining the past through participation

Rather than attempting a literal recreation of the photograph, the project focused on reinterpretation. The aim was not to stage a historical re-enactment, but to explore how the spirit of the image could be carried forward into the present.

One early idea was to bring together current club members to recreate the scene, but the scale of the original photograph made this impractical. Instead, the decision was made to involve two local schools, inviting young people from the surrounding area into the club to experience the space, its history, and its ongoing purpose.

This approach echoed the original function of Salford Lads Club. The building was created as a place for young people, and it continues to serve that role today. By inviting contemporary youth into the space, the project created a living connection between generations.

Film as a tool for heritage storytelling

AVimmerse approached the commission as a piece of heritage storytelling rather than a conventional event film. The camera was used to observe, reflect, and listen, allowing voices connected to the archive to guide the narrative.

The film captures reflections on the photograph itself, the mystery of the unnamed faces, and the significance of discovering family connections to the image decades later. One such moment involved identifying relatives of individuals who appeared in the original photograph, grounding the archive in lived memory rather than abstraction.

Through this approach, the film explores how heritage exists not only in objects and images, but in stories, emotions, and shared spaces.

Place, memory, and continuity

Salford Lads Club is a rare example of a historic building that remains true to its original purpose. It continues to welcome young people, provide opportunity, and act as a social anchor within the community.

The Netball Party project highlights how places like this hold layers of memory that extend far beyond what is immediately visible. Film becomes a means of gently uncovering those layers, without fixing them permanently in the past.

By reinterpreting a moment from 1939 through contemporary participation, the project demonstrated that heritage is not static. It is something that can be revisited, reexperienced, and reshaped by each generation.

A heritage film at Salford Lads Club and AVimmerse’s early practice

Looking back, this commission represents an early expression of AVimmerse’s ongoing approach to heritage and place based storytelling. Long before current projects exploring castles, archaeology, and digital heritage platforms, this film engaged with the same core ideas.

Those ideas include:

Using storytelling to connect people with overlooked history.
Working collaboratively with communities and institutions.
Treating heritage as lived experience rather than static display.

Recreating the Netball Party remains a meaningful example of how creative technology and film can support memory, identity, and belonging, without overwhelming the story with spectacle.