This film is one of many made by the Cine Section of Hebden Bridge Literary and Scientific Society. How many they made is difficult to say, although a trawl through their archives may give some idea. It isn’t known how many have survived, the YFA has a few – see Half-an-Hour of Your Time (1951). Among those mentioned on the online Archive list of the Societies’ minutes and other materials are films of “Wings for Victory Week”, made by the then Secretary Kenneth Crabtree, and “Salute the...

This film is one of many made by the Cine Section of Hebden Bridge Literary and Scientific Society. How many they made is difficult to say, although a trawl through their archives may give some idea. It isn’t known how many have survived, the YFA has a few – see Half-an-Hour of Your Time (1951). Among those mentioned on the online Archive list of the Societies’ minutes and other materials are films of “Wings for Victory Week”, made by the then Secretary Kenneth Crabtree, and “Salute the Soldier Week”; both made during the war.  Kenneth Crabtree, who was Secretary for 21 years, made a number of films, including one on snow scenes as part of a library of local interest films. Another film made in the same year as this one is Small Fry, made on Hardcastle Crags about a gamekeeper showing a child some of the wonders of nature. The films were passed on to Halifax Cine Society. The YFA has a list of some of these films – see also the Context for The Pace Egg (1960-61).

 

The Literary and Scientific Society itself was formed out of an idea by William Nowell who ran it in the local press. This led to a meeting one Saturday afternoon on November 11th 1905, held in the Central School at Hebden Bridge. The following month a further meeting was held with James Brown in the chair, and a resolution was passed forming the Society, with the aim: ‘"To carry out the further education of the inhabitants of Hebden Bridge, by means of assembling together to read and hear papers on subjects kindred to such an Association, and by arranging rambles for the study of natural history; and further to stimulate interest in educational facilities."

 

The Cine section was formed on 24th June 1941, and put on films during the Second World War (soldiers were allowed in free of charge) despite difficulties in obtaining a projector enabling sound. It very soon had a large membership: with a membership of 133 in the first year, achieving its highest number of 1,642 in 1943, and never falling below 100. Other groups within the Society that formed included Natural History, the oldest section, Music, Literature and Photographic.  A Local History group was formed in 1949, and since that time it has put on many talks and has numerous publications to its name.  In 1955, the year of its 50th anniversary, the Society had a total membership of 661.  By 1980, the year of its 75th anniversary when Ted Hughes read out some of his poetry, this had reduced to below 300.

 

There was also a theatre group, or ‘dramatic section’, formed in 1924, staging their first play – a production of The Walls of Jericho by Alfred Sutro – in the Co-operative Hall in December of that year. For the next five years a play was presented annually, with the group producing plays almost continuously ever since. As well as the drama group using the Little Theatre, the location for this film, they also played in places as various as the Co-operative Hall, the Picture House, the Band Rooms on the park, and for a prolonged period (1937 -1977) in the Ground Floor of the Trades Club.  Their Archive has an album of photographs and programmes of productions at the Little Theatre between 1937 to 1945, collected by Misses E and O Woods.  The Little Theatre was subsequently expanded to a 120 seat theatre in 1993.

 

Societies like this one had formed in many places during the course of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Hence Castleton Literary and Scientific Society was formed 1894, Huddersfield Literary And Scientific Society in 1857 and Whitby Literary and Philosophical Society goes back further to 1823. Following the lead of the Royal Society, founded in London in 1660, and the Academy of Science in Paris founded six years later, Scientific or Philosophical Societies emerged right across Europe, and indeed the British Empire, during the Enlightenment. Although many took the name of ‘Science’, the term ‘Natural Philosophy’, or just ‘Philosophy’, prevailed well into the 19th century. Thus the Yorkshire Philosophical Society was formed in 1822 to pursue the study of the natural sciences. As well as these more high level societies, there were also coffee houses, Debating Clubs and Salons, all devoted to public discussion and education of various forms. 

 

What is fascinating about these societies is that they enabled self education outside of the universities, and provided a forum for public discussion – something that is much less in evidence today, at least outside of the internet (see Habermas, References). Needless to say these were predominantly middle class and usually excluded women – the Salons being an exception here, for example with Rahel Levin Varnhagen in 1780s Berlin. Later came the growth of similar working class education societies. The mechanics institutes at Bradford, Keighley, Halifax and Stalybridge all grew out of the mutual improvement societies.   Jonathan Rose, in his absorbing book, notes that, “The Huddersfield Mechanics Institute was founded in 1840 with only one room and one teacher: in less than twenty years it was offering ninety-one classes to 800 students.” (Rose, p 67)   Women still tended to be excluded, although the Women’s Co-operative Guild was founded in 1883 offering a feminist alternative, with 88,000 members at its peak in 1938.

 

The Hebden Bridge Literary and Scientific Society is still going strong, despite the many changes the village has undergone in the years since this film was made. For a comical look at how Hebden Bridge has changed since these times take a look at the trilogy of books by local John Morrison, beginning with a View from the Bridge, published by Pennine Pens (References).

 

References

 

Hannah Arendt, (Liliane Weissberg, editor), Rahel Varnhagen: The Life of a Jewess, Johns Hopkins University Press, 2001.

Jurgen Habermas, The Transformation of the Public Sphere, Polity Press, 1992.

Jonathan Isreal, Radical Enlightenment: Philosophy and the Making of Modernity 1650-1750, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2002.

Jonathan Rose, The Intellectual Life of the British Working Classes, Yale University Press, 2001.

Hebden Bridge Literary And Scientific Society Archive

Hebden Bridge

View from the Bridge

 

Further Information

 

Colin Spencer, A Century of Change: A 100 Years of Hebden Bridge and District, Hebden Bridge Literary & Scientific Society, 1991.