Rally of the Giants

Beryl Armstrong's film captures the joys of the Southern Counties Heavy Horse Association and Livestock show, near Goodwood, West Sussex. She portrays the various breeds of heavy horse in an heroic light, while at the same time extolling the virtues of horse-power over mechanisation. We see draught horses, often wearing elaborate harnesses, in the show-ring as well as taking part in ploughing matches. Decorated horse-drawn carts and commercial wagons are also seen.

New Zealand born Beryl Armstrong has, in her lifetime, made well over 100 films, many of which capture various aspects of rural life in Sussex and Hampshire, from the 1960s to the 1990s. Beryl began making films while she was living in India and over the years entered many of her films into local amateur festivals and competitions. She also taught her sons Richard and Anthony, who appear in several of her films, the art of filmmaking. Both went on to create amateur film collections of their own ranging from short documentaries to comedies and animations. Beryl is also the successful author of twelve published novels.