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.
This film is part of Free
Beauty Spots of Ripon
As the more affluent visit the Spa Pump Rooms in Ripon, those of a more outdoors spirit have their own bathing huts placed next to the River Ure ready for their Sunday dip.
From the collection of:
Overview
Preserved historic monuments, landscape and traditions stand cheek by jowl with fashions that haven’t survived the rapid changes of the twentieth century. Here we see swimmers in woolly costumes using bathing huts on the River Ure, and women playing tennis in long skirts, alongside a tour of historic buildings in and around Ripon as they were in 1922, finished off with the Sergeant at Mace and the Ripon Hornblower keeping a watchful eye out for troublemakers.
We can only speculate on who made it and for what purpose. In some respects it appears an early example of a tourist film, showing Ripon and historic buildings in the area. Certainly after the First World War, US tourists in particular were doing the rounds of British cathedrals. The famous German Baedeker guides to Britain, going back to 1887, had recently acquired an English editor during the First World War. However, the scenes of bathers and the view over Ripon suggest it may just be a home movie. The Ripon Hornblower hasn’t missed a single night of blowing his horn at the Obelisk since Alfred the Great. The railway station is still standing, more or less, although it hasn’t seen a train since 1967.
Related
Ripon Cottage Hospital Ripon Cottage Hospital
Non-Fiction 1926 1 mins Location: Ripon
Princess Mary is given a warm welcome by locals as she arrives to open a new wing of Ripon Cottage Hospital.
Beautiful Yorkshire Beautiful Yorkshire
Amateur film 1936 12 mins Silent Location: Harrogate
Sedate cars drive by the Stray at Harrogate, where stately ladies serenely walk, while a lonely woman in a glides by in a punt at Knaresborough.
Tramp Tramp Tramp Tramp Tramp Tramp
Amateur film 1936 14 mins Silent Location: Richmond
A dance band crooner and his sweetheart take the rough with the smooth on a hike through Yorkshire in the 1930s.
Getting it Back: The Story of Cymande - Q&A Getting it Back: The Story of Cymande - Q&A
Inside Film 2024 22 mins
The director of a documentary about British funk pioneers Cymande joins the band at BFI Southbank to talk about the film.
The West Case The West Case
Action and Adventure 1923 28 mins Silent Location: Tilbury
Plotting world domination, Devil Doctor Fu-Manchu steals plans for a new aero-torpedo in this earliest surviving thrill-a-minute serial instalment.
Enter the Scala!!! Enter the Scala!!!
Inside Film 2024 16 mins
Filmmakers Jane Giles and Ali Catterall discuss their documentary Scala!!!, revisiting the legendary and inspirational cinema venue and some of the most notorious films that screened there.
Smith Smith
Charity appeal 1939 10 mins
Long thought lost, this Powell-directed promotional short for a veteran’s charity was only rediscovered in 2003.
An Airman's Letter to His Mother An Airman's Letter to His Mother
Documentary 1941 6 mins
A poignant, stirring letter from a recently deceased pilot to his mother is read by John Gielgud.
The NHS75 Celebration The NHS75 Celebration
Short documentary 2023 3 mins
Former Bristol Poet Laureate, Miles Chambers reads a poem specially commissioned for the 75th anniversary of the NHS.