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

The Night Has Eyes
With the wonderfully simple idea of the “cat’s eye”, countless lives have been saved by the son of a Halifax mill labourer; here we see just how they worked and were made.
From the collection of:

Overview
A genuine rags-to-riches story, with Halifax’s own Percy Shaw making a huge contribution to road safety with his invention of the “cat’s eye”. In a world that produces endless superfluous gadgets, here in Halifax in 1955 we see Shaw’s company, Reflecting Roadstuds, not only making these now ubiquitous objects still using the primitive technology of the pre-war age, but also methodically inserting them into our roads.
From humble origins, Percy Shaw of Halifax used his inventive skills to eventually start his own company, Reflecting Roadstuds, in 1935, the year after patenting his reflecting lens. Apparently Percy used to get his bearings on the road at night from the reflection from tram lines, but when these began to be taken up he sought an alternative. Then, the story has it, one night he was alerted that he was driving on the wrong side of the road by the glare from the eyes of cat, which gave him his idea. The blackout of the war led to his factory in Boothtown, Halifax – where it still runs – employing 130 people making over a million roadstuds each year. In his nearby home he would have 4 TV sets on at once, one for each channel.
Related

Opening of the Serbian Orthodox Church Opening of the Serbian Orthodox Church
Non-Fiction 1954 8 mins Silent Location: Boothtown
King Peter the second of Yugoslavia visits Halifax for the grand opening of a Serbian Orthodox Church.

New Perspectives: Tangerine New Perspectives: Tangerine
Short documentary 2025 3 mins
Harry Wallace, a student at Northumbria university, explains why Sean Baker's LA-set comedy-drama, about a transgender sex worker on the hunt for her cheating -ex, is worth your time.

Daniel Craig in Conversation with Mark Kermode Daniel Craig in Conversation with Mark Kermode
Inside Film 2025 44 mins
Daniel Craig talks to Mark Kermode about his acting career, from his early role in Love is the Devil through to the Luca Guadagnino directed Queer.

New Perspectives: Fish Tank New Perspectives: Fish Tank
Short documentary 2025 4 mins
Adam Smith of Northumbria University explains why Andrea Arnold's coming-of-age story, about a girl who uses dance to escape, is his favourite film on BFI Player.

New Perspectives: Pusher New Perspectives: Pusher
Short documentary 2025 5 mins
Noah Ball of Northumbria University explains why you should seize the chance to watch Nicolas Winding Refn's debut.

Twin Peaks star Kyle MacLachlan on working with David Lynch - Q&A Twin Peaks star Kyle MacLachlan on working with David Lynch - Q&A
Inside Film 2025 38 mins
Kyle MacLachlan talks to BFI CEO Ben Roberts about working with David Lynch on the legendary series Twin Peaks.

On Falling - Exclusive Q&A On Falling - Exclusive Q&A
Inside Film 2025 30 mins
Writer-director Laura Carreira talks to Nia Childs about her debut feature, On Falling.