Metadata
WORK ID: YFA 4897 (Master Record)
Title | Year | Date |
CCPCC CYCLING | 1947 | 1947-01-01 |
Details
Original Format: 16mm Colour: Black & White Sound: Silent Duration: 13 mins 37 secs Subject: Sport |
Summary This is part of the collection of films made by Sheffield teacher William Gordon Gregory. It shows an athletics and cycle racing event of the CCPCC. |
Description
This is part of the collection of films made by Sheffield teacher William Gordon Gregory. It shows an athletics and cycle racing event of the CCPCC.
The film begins showing a crowd watching a cycling race. Behind the spectators, with the children sitting on the floor, there is a caravan with ‘Mellors’ written on it. Along from there is a corrugated fence with ‘Gents’ written on it. The camera goes around the circuit stopping to film each part of the crowd, some of whom being either stood...
This is part of the collection of films made by Sheffield teacher William Gordon Gregory. It shows an athletics and cycle racing event of the CCPCC.
The film begins showing a crowd watching a cycling race. Behind the spectators, with the children sitting on the floor, there is a caravan with ‘Mellors’ written on it. Along from there is a corrugated fence with ‘Gents’ written on it. The camera goes around the circuit stopping to film each part of the crowd, some of whom being either stood or seated behind a rail. Behind the spectators are trees, then fields, a stand, and possibly a school building. Some of the spectators are making notes on their racing programmes. Every so often there is a Red Cross worker. Next there are several men’s sprint races, followed by cycle races, with the judges looking on. Then there is a men’s middle distance running race, with the cyclists resting with their bikes in the middle of the track.
The athletes and cyclists are each wearing their club vests. Then there is a number of cycling races, both men and women racing. One woman cyclist, possibly the winner, and a male club mate, are shown close up. This is followed by another running sprint race, again showing the winner close up. Then there is another cycling race, with the camera following the cyclists around the track. Again the winner poses for the camera, and again the camera goes around filming sections of the crowd. There is another cycle race, followed by several sprint races, showing the winner again. There is then a walking race, another middle distance running race and another cycle race.
The film then shows some of the organisers of the event posing for the camera, and the film closes showing a flag with CCPCC written on it.
Context
A rare film of an exciting sprint and cycle racing event just after the war, it captures most of the large expectant crowd and many competitors.
This is an extremely intriguing film about which nothing is known: what the event is, or where it took place, or when - possibly 1947. All we know is that it was filmed by Sheffield teacher William Gregory. The initials on the flag for the event, CCPCC, are equally obscure. It shows a well-attended athletics and cycling event – with wonderful...
A rare film of an exciting sprint and cycle racing event just after the war, it captures most of the large expectant crowd and many competitors.
This is an extremely intriguing film about which nothing is known: what the event is, or where it took place, or when - possibly 1947. All we know is that it was filmed by Sheffield teacher William Gregory. The initials on the flag for the event, CCPCC, are equally obscure. It shows a well-attended athletics and cycling event – with wonderful close up shots of the athletes, cyclists and spectators – which clearly attracted participants, male and female, from many cycling clubs. William Gordon Gregory – so named after the famous organiser of the Gordon Riots who died shortly before his birth – taught Chemistry at Sheffield Senior Technical School (where he had the nickname “Pop”). He made a large number of films, some during the war period, as in this case, and many after the war, mainly in colour, and later left teaching to devote more time to putting on film shows. At this time the National Cyclists Union, which officially ran the sport, didn’t allow road racing, and so track racing was more common (although road racing was being organised by The British League of Racing Cyclists, formed in 1942). |