The Yorkshire Film Archive collects, preserves, and shows film made in, or about Yorkshire. Our collections are non-fiction, dating from the 1890s to the present day, and providing a rich and visually compelling record of all aspects of lives, cultures, landscape, industries, major events and everyday activities, many of which are available to watch, free of charge, on our website.
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Annual Pram Race 1962
‘Carry On Castleford’ – crowds take to the streets in fancy dress for the Annual Pram Race.
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Overview
Frying pans and weighing scales – it’s all to play for in this wacky, fun-loving, event which captures Castleford’s hearts, humour and a sense of healthy competition as they prepare for their Annual Pram Race. The May Queen judges an eclectic mix of fancy dress as the crowds begin to gather to watch the race. Pushing prams in full costume, with a beer in hand and a cheeky pub pit stop - it’s the ultimate race for a modern 60s geezer.
Castleford held pram races since the early 1960s to raise money for charity. More recently the event returned, and the race is now held in the nearby village of Ackworth. Local bookie and amateur filmmaker Eric Bolderson documented several of the town’s races, and he was certainly no stranger to the camera. Eric appeared in front of the camera in 1969, when he was cast as the farmer in Ken Loach’s coming-of-age masterpiece, ‘Kes’. Interviewing Eric in 2005 for the book ‘Life After Kes’, Simon Golding wrote that, of all the people he spoke to who were involved in the film, Eric stuck in his mind: “A gentle man, a man of integrity, the type of man you would talk to in a strange pub and know you would be made to feel welcome.”
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