Metadata
WORK ID: YFA 6480 (Master Record)
| Title | Year | Date |
| HUNT, XMAS, FAMILY, ARCHAEOLOGY | 1953-1955 | 1953-01-01 |
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Details
Original Format: 16mm Colour: Black & White / Colour Sound: Silent Duration: 14 mins 31 secs Credits: Filmmaker Geoffrey Willey |
| Summary Made by Geoffrey Willey, this film features footage filmed over a two year period in North Yorkshire including a hunt at the Falcon Inn, a family Christmas Dinner, winter sports, and an archaeological dig on the moors. |
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Description
Made by Geoffrey Willey, this film features footage filmed over a two year period in North Yorkshire including a hunt at the Falcon Inn, a family Christmas Dinner, winter sports, and an archaeological dig on the moors.
The film beings with crowds that gather around the Falcon Inn for a hunt meet. Van parked outside advertises ‘coffee, rum and coffee’. Cars shown parked up, men on horses, hounds following the horses. Horses and hound shown heading down the road.
Christmas scene – shows...
Made by Geoffrey Willey, this film features footage filmed over a two year period in North Yorkshire including a hunt at the Falcon Inn, a family Christmas Dinner, winter sports, and an archaeological dig on the moors.
The film beings with crowds that gather around the Falcon Inn for a hunt meet. Van parked outside advertises ‘coffee, rum and coffee’. Cars shown parked up, men on horses, hounds following the horses. Horses and hound shown heading down the road.
Christmas scene – shows a Christmas tree and a young boy (possibly Richard or Ian? But more likely a friend’s child as these people are shown later in the film) playing with his toys. He is dressed up as a soldier with armour on and a sword and shield. He play-fights with a man (an uncle?) There are other toys out, such as a toy castle and a blackboard in the background. He plays with a toy gun. A woman stokes the fire. The man from before has the toy gun and pretends to fire it.
The Christmas dinner table of the Willey family – shows Geoffrey’s mother and father, as well as his brother and sister in law. Geoffrey’s father carves the bird, and his brother Richard pours a beer. They all help themselves to dinner. One shot shows Geoffrey at the table, when his brother must be filming. A baby is also shown at the table, his brother’s son.
The next portion of the film features footage of an archaeological dig on the moors. People working in the trenches or digging new ones. All focused around mounds on the moor. Groups of people discussing the dig. Raymond Hayes, archaeologist, can be seen in some of the shots. He is shown with a pick pulling out heather and then using it as a brush. ‘Excavation fund for equipment etc.’ shown on a sign near a coffer outside a tent. A man pretends to saw off someone’s head with a walking stick.
Next Edith, a female friend of Geoffrey’s, is featured. It’s a snowy scene and they are stood by a car on the moors. In the background is possibly Farndale or Rosedale. The woman digs at the snow on the road, and the next clip shows the car driving up another very snowy road. Edith in skis, skiing down the moor before climbing back up to the top.
(Colour)
More skiing down and climbing up. Another woman joins them at the car as they pour wine into glasses. Geoffrey joins them to pump up a tyre on the car. Geoffrey then has a glass of the wine too and attempts to give Edith kisses on the cheek.
Context
Captured and produced by Geoffrey Willey, this film was used to encapsulate the Winter activities of ordinary people within the early 1950s. Through using this specific footage taken from 1951-1953, Willey demonstrates both his passion for photography and film making, as well as his love for Yorkshire and the North of England.
This film specifically continues with a similar format that can be found within Willey’s other films, as shorter pieces of silent capture is a link that can be drawn...
Captured and produced by Geoffrey Willey, this film was used to encapsulate the Winter activities of ordinary people within the early 1950s. Through using this specific footage taken from 1951-1953, Willey demonstrates both his passion for photography and film making, as well as his love for Yorkshire and the North of England.
This film specifically continues with a similar format that can be found within Willey’s other films, as shorter pieces of silent capture is a link that can be drawn across each of his archived films. This leaves his work open to individual interpretation, as without commentary or an obvious narrative structure, his audience are left to interpret their own conclusions and ideas over his work. The fact that his earliest pictures date back to the 1920s reinforce the filmmaker’s passion and tenacity, as his work within his industry expanded over eighty five years. Whilst his other films, like ‘Seaweed’ and ‘Craster Kippers’, show his dedicated passion and intrigue towards the North of England, both of which remained present until his death in 2015 (at 103 years old). As a result of his loyalty to his craft and the respect earned through his work, Willey developed a close relationship with the Ryedale Folk Museum, from whom this film as well as many was acquired. Published five years before he died, Willey had documented this relationship in his ‘Ryedale in my Heart’ book, summarising how the two had helped each other in their work. This relationship then culminated in the ‘A Life Through the Lens’ exhibition produced by the museum, of which would use Willey’s remaining pieces of work to celebrate and commemorate his life. Without narration the purpose of this film can be misleading, however when regarding the national context of this piece, it is probable that Willey’s ambition was to capture the general mood and state of mind of the ordinary people within Britain at this time. Potentially, he wanted to assess the truth belonging to Prime Minister Harold Macmillan’s statement in July 1957, as he proclaimed ‘most of our people have never had it so good’. This embarkment of a post-war affluent society was an intriguing conclusion applied to a society still physically and mentally scarred by the impacts of the Second World War. Despite this, the idea of Brits responding to post-war life positively should not be discredited either. As the 1951 festival of Britain and the 1953 Coronation of Queen Elizabeth both successfully portrayed the returning attitudes of proud patriotism and positive optimism for the future. This conflicting concept of a World War Two hangover, combined with a patriotic sense of optimism set up an intriguing landscape for capturing film, hence the potential purpose of Willey’s work. Amongst this, Willey’s use of ‘home movies’ in this case shows a truer reflection of the existing culture within this time period. Through using original film that he captured, the authenticity of Willey’s piece is in no way clouded by any commercial gain or promotional purpose, therefore its meanings and representations are left open to be interpreted by its audience. This idea regarding the purpose of the film is once more strengthened by the content within the piece. The fact that Willey’s imagery shows positive activity amongst British people within the early 1950s, demonstrates the film’s particular significance. The main events of the broadcast, being the large hunt at the Falcon Inn, the family Christmas dinner and the archaeological dig on the moors, all show a continuation of both work and leisure that demonstrates the idea that British people had already restarted life after the Second World War. Whilst it’s commemorative memories will live forever, Willey’s work in this case shows a positive reaction to the post-war British climate, as frequency amongst time with family and nature is shown to existential within this period. Refrences: https://www.gov.uk/government/history/past-prime-ministers/harold-macmillan https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofBritain/The-Festival-of-Britain-1951/ https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofBritain/The-Coronation-1953/ Geoffrey Willey, ‘Ryedale in my Heart’ (The Gallery at Ryedale Folk Museum, 2010) https://www.yfanefa.com/record/12735 – ‘Craster Kippers’ by Geoffrey Willey https://www.yfanefa.com/record/12745 – ‘Seaweed’ by Geoffrey Willey https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/heritage-and-retro/heritage/85-year-career-yorkshire-photographer-goes-display-ryedale-folk-museum-1888808 https://www.yorkshire.com/view/events/hutton-le-hole/geoffrey-willey-a-life-through-the-lens-2168071 |
