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Batley go down to Lancashire rivals Salford in the very first season of the Northern Rugby League.
Non-Fiction 1901 8 mins Silent
This is probably the most accomplished of Mitchell and Kenyon's rugby films. It's rich with sporting action from the Northern Rugby League's very first season, and offers rare glimpses of scoring opportunities: a Salford try under the posts and four kicks at goal. Remarkably, there's also an interior shot (rare as hen's teeth in Edwardian films) showing Salford's dressing room in the local pub.
The film is an incredibly atmospheric evocation of the afternoon's entertainment, and an eye-opening record of the speed, brutality and popularity of the sport in northern England at the time. Viewers of the modern Union game (a closer cousin to Northern Rugby League than the post-1907 Rugby League, when many of the game's most distinctive rule changes were set in place) may well recognise a game of explosive action intermixed with persistent and lengthy scrummaging - much to the frustration of many a commentator today.
Non-Fiction 1901 1 mins Silent Location: Liverpool
Early league football, with the team who will become Birmingham City losing at Anfield in a relegation year.
Non-Fiction 1899 2 mins Silent Location: Rhyl
Fun on Rhyl seafront as E. H. Williams and his troupe entertain crowds with much ducking and diving in this hectic act.
Non-Fiction 1901 3 mins Silent Location: Oldham
The evolution of Rugby League in a top of the table match between rival Lancashire clubs.
Non-Fiction 1901 4 mins Silent Location: Fartown Ground, Huddersfield
The annual championship meeting of England's premier athletics association.
Non-Fiction 1901 5 mins Silent Location: Accrington
Marching bands and local volunteers fill the streets of the Lancashire town.
Non-Fiction 1901 2 mins Silent Location: Carlisle
The circus comes to town in wintery Carlisle.
Charity appeal 1934 8 mins Location: Southport
Windows of opportunity: how a charity aimed to improve the lives of blind and partially sighted people.
Student film 1978 4 mins Location: Salford
When you're waiting for the emergency call, time goes by so slowly...
Amateur film 1945 11 mins Silent Location: Preston
Playing the beautiful game - the ladies from Lancashire demonstrate their skills.
Advert 1928 10 mins Silent Location: Salford
Watching the soaps in Salford, the "birthplace of a billion bubbles".
Advert 1948 4 mins Location: Nelson
A tribute to Lancashire, land of industry, leisure, sublime landscape - and laundry detergent
Documentary 1973 0 mins Location: Brentford
An insightful and understated television documentary following the lives of four Muslim families in Brentford, Manchester and Harrow.
Industry sponsored film 1960 24 mins
A new luxury express is put through its paces. This film looks over the shoulders of the select band of craftsmen, engineers and operators, whose combined skills try to ensure that a train journey is a delightful experience.
Documentary 1973 15 mins
British Transport Films record the varied daily lives of their neighbours as seen from the high roof of their building in London’s Marylebone.
Travelogue 1953 21 mins Location: York
The Stationmaster at York guides us through a typical day, from dawn to dusk.
Industry sponsored film 1957 20 mins
Illustrating the efficiency of express freight trains, and how they link manufacturers with their customers at the other end of Britain.
Documentary 1952 30 mins
Examining a day in the life of what was then the busiest railway system in the world – British Railways.
Industry sponsored film 1957 9 mins
A 1957 film examining the future for British Railways, and some of the opportunities provided by a new modernisation plan.
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