This film is part of Free

Regimental Sports

A last gasp for the British Army's cavalry: the skilled horsemen of the Leicestershire Yeomanry perform for a local audience.

Amateur film 1938 11 mins Silent

From the collection of:

Logo for Media Archive for Central England

Overview

A display of mounted cavalry sports at Burleigh Park in Leicestershire laid on by the Leicestershire Yeomanry in June 1938. A large crowd has gathered to witness the ancient cavalry arts of tent pegging and races over jumps that celebrate a type of warfare already consigned to history. Musical chairs on horseback seems a particularly difficult skill to master and the layman may question its effectiveness on the battlefield.

A keen filmmaker, the commanding officer of the yeomanry, Sir Eric Gore-Browne (he was knighted in 1948) is unlikely to have been behind the camera as we see him watching proceedings with other officers. With the need for a cavalry regiment in steep decline the Leicestershire Yeomanry was reorganised into two field artillery units for the Second World War. Post-war the regiment became part of the Territorial Army and was combined with the Derbyshire Yeomanry in 1957 to form the Leicestershire and Derbyshire (Prince Albert's Own) Yeomanry. Around the same time the Burleigh estate was sold to Loughborough College of Technology eventually forming part of the campus of Loughborough University.