Metadata
WORK ID: YFA 4162 (Master Record)
Title | Year | Date |
ARNCLIFFE VILLAGE SPORTS AND FETE | 1976 | 1976-01-01 |
Details
Original Format: 16mm Colour: Colour Sound: Sound Duration: 10 mins 40 secs Credits: Produced by Ken Leckenby Subject: Sport Rural Life Fashions |
Summary Made by Mercury Movie Makers, this film documents a sports day and fete which take place in Arncliffe village in order to raise funds to put towards the rebuilding of the village hall. Arncliffe is a small village in North Yorkshire whose houses, cottages, and other buildings face in towards a large green, and outwards to green hillsides etched wit ... |
Description
Made by Mercury Movie Makers, this film documents a sports day and fete which take place in Arncliffe village in order to raise funds to put towards the rebuilding of the village hall. Arncliffe is a small village in North Yorkshire whose houses, cottages, and other buildings face in towards a large green, and outwards to green hillsides etched with limestone scars. The village was the original setting for the fictional village of Beckindale in the ITV soap opera Emmerdale Farm, from its...
Made by Mercury Movie Makers, this film documents a sports day and fete which take place in Arncliffe village in order to raise funds to put towards the rebuilding of the village hall. Arncliffe is a small village in North Yorkshire whose houses, cottages, and other buildings face in towards a large green, and outwards to green hillsides etched with limestone scars. The village was the original setting for the fictional village of Beckindale in the ITV soap opera Emmerdale Farm, from its inception in 1972 until the relocation to Esholt.
Title - A Magnetic Sound Stripe Film Cine-Sync Sound System
KL Films Present
Arncliffe Village Sports and Fete
Produced by Ken Leckenby
The film opens in the centre of the village where residents are gathering on the village green. There is a large drum which is labelled Lofthouse and Middlesmoor Brass Band. Villagers are also congregating around the local pub waiting for the procession to start. A fancy dress procession is led by the brass band. They make their way down the small village streets to a field where the rest of the day's events will take place. At the end of the procession is a large tuck which is used to haul many bales of hay.
There is a man selling raffle tickets as part of a fundraiser.
Sign - Arncliffe Hall Rebuilding Fund
Sign - Emmerdale Cast NOT appearing due to strike!
The commentary explains that the cast of Emmerdale was due to open the fete as well as attract a large crowd to help raise funds for the building. However, Mr. Ellis does not waste any time in opening the event. He awards prizes to the winners of the children's fancy dress competition. One of the children is dressed as Kojak, and the other as a 1976 Olympian.
After the fancy dress competition there is a footrace for the children. Spectators are seated in lawn chairs at the side-lines. Following the foot race, children race down the field on Space Hoppers. Elsewhere at the event, villagers line up to purchase ice cream, and a woman is blowing up colourful balloons.
Sign - Guess the Weight? 10 p a go £2 Prize for nearest
There are other games set up as well. One involves searching through barrels of sawdust in search of a prize, and there is a shooting range set up as well. Some of the children go on pony rides, and the rolling hills of the surrounding landscape can be seen in the background.
The commentator explains that Cumberland Wrestling is a novelty in this area, and challengers are few and far between. Two men are getting ready to wrestle and strip down to long-johns and undershirts. Spectators are seated around the sectioned off ring. Billy Bland and his brother, John, take to the ring to wrestle. Intercut with footage of the wrestlers are some of the spectators seated around the ring as well as their reactions.
One of the main events of the day is the race to the top of the hill. There is a large crowd of racers who line up at the starting line waiting for the race to begin. They're off, and there are shots of the race from the bottom of the hill. The winner is able to finish the race in a record time of seven minutes, and there is footage of him as well as the second and third place runners crossing the finish line. After the race, the crowd disperses.
Title - The End
A KL Film Production
Context
This is one of many films made by amateur filmmaker Ken Leckenby, a member of the Mercury Movie Makers Cine Club of Leeds who also branched out to make his own films, such as the Out and About series of documentaries. As with other films that Ken made, this film features an informative and often humorous commentary. For more on the Mercury Movie Makers see the context for A Vision Fulfilled (1984).
The film shows the summer fete at Arncliffe, the largest of four settlements in Littondale and...
This is one of many films made by amateur filmmaker Ken Leckenby, a member of the Mercury Movie Makers Cine Club of Leeds who also branched out to make his own films, such as the Out and About series of documentaries. As with other films that Ken made, this film features an informative and often humorous commentary. For more on the Mercury Movie Makers see the context for A Vision Fulfilled (1984).
The film shows the summer fete at Arncliffe, the largest of four settlements in Littondale and the inspiration behind Charles Kingsley’s didactic children’s story The Water Babies, published in 1863. Later, Arncliffe became known as the original home for the set of the Yorkshire-based soap opera Emmerdale Farm, a role which it fulfilled from 1972 until 1976. The programme was then re-located to Esholt, where it remained over the course of twenty years until its latest move to Harewood House. A film of the transformation that took place in changing From Esholt to Beckindale, once again produced by Ken Leckenby, can also be seen on the YFA website. One interesting feature of the film is the demonstration of Cumberland and Westmorland Wrestling, also known as Cumbrian wrestling. Due to its similarity to an Icelandic form of wrestling known as Glima, the sport is believed to have arrived with the Viking invasion. Each bout is decided on a best-of-three principle, with the loser being the first to touch the ground or lose hold. A number of different weight divisions are competed, with wrestlers able to compete in their own class as well as any higher weight category. The pinnacle of the Cumberland and Westmorland Wrestling year is the Grasmere Show, an annual celebration of Lakeland Sports that has taken place on August Bank Holiday since its inauguration in 1852. In keeping with historical practice, the traditional uniform of long johns, velvet trunks and vest is still very much a part of the sport and can be seen on display in the film. Even today at Grasmere, the wrestling events are preceded by a costume competition rewarding the best embroidery and efforts at material personalisation. It was not until 2007 that the Cumberland and Westmorland Wrestling Association - formed in 1906 to clarify the rules of the sport - agreed to let competitors wear athletic apparel of their own choosing. As with many localised sports, Cumbrian wrestling success seems to have often been passed down through generations, such as that among the Harrington, Brocklebank and Fox families. The two wrestlers named in the film, Billy Bland and his brother John, were also part of something of a wrestling dynasty. Their father Gilpin Bland, who would later become a judge at the Show, won the 11-stone Grasmere Championships on six occasions between 1919 and 1938. On one occasion, Gilpin won the competition despite having retired three years earlier and unaware that he had even been entered into the Grasmere Show. Between them, Gilpin and his five sons amassed a total of 25 World Championships and a further 23 victories at Grasmere. Besides wrestling, the film also features a children’s race on space hoppers, at the height of their popularity in the 1970s. The space hopper was invented by an Italian, Aquilino Cosani, in 1968, before being introduced into the UK a year later under the famous Mettoy brand name. Although perhaps not the most efficient method of transport, the space hopper achieved great commercial success, with the manufacturer promising “hours of fun for girls and boys”. Now seen as classic “1970s retro”, the space hopper appears to have made a resurgence and has even been used in a multitude of record-breaking attempts. Serial world-record chaser Ashrita Furman currently holds (as of 2012) the fastest 100m hop, completing the course in 30.2 seconds, whilst over 2500 people in the Netherlands have been inducted into the Guinness Book of Records for their valiant efforts in simultaneous bouncing. Some of the costumes worn by the children also give an insight into the fads and fashions of the day, including a girl dressed as Nadia Comaneci, who had only just become the first gymnast ever to receive a “perfect 10” score at the Montreal Olympics. Perhaps the most deserving winner of the competition though would have been the boy dressed as Kojak, the lollipop-wielding detective played by Telly Savalas between 1973 and 1978. It seems unlikely that he had much of a say in his choice of costume! References For more information on the sport of Cumberland and Westmorland Wrestling, see: http://www.cumberland-westmorland-wrestling-association.com/ Robson, R., Cumberland and Westmorland Wrestling – A Documentary History (1999) |