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.
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This Town of Ours
Nothing is left out of this portrait of Halifax as it emerges into the 1970s, from the making of Quality Streets to its new high-rise flats, markets, pubs and recent immigrants.
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Overview
Halifax Cine Club reveals their civic pride in this highly accomplished overview of the West Riding town of Halifax in transition from back-to-back houses and cobbled streets into the modern world. The film provides a fairly comprehensive overview of its history, landmarks, industry, and sporting and cultural life. Not without some criticism of housing developments, the film nevertheless gives a positive gloss to the town, including the recently settled immigrants.
This is one of very many diverse films made by the Halifax Cine Club and their enthusiastic members made since their formation in 1938 (and still going). Here they have deliberately set out to provide a record of Halifax caught between the old and the new for future generations to view. Made for the Corporation of Halifax, it commemorates the town by highlighting its many admirable features and achievements. It is worth comparing with films they made of Halifax in the 1950s. The film originally premiered on 31st May, 1972 at the Halifax Civic Theatre and was later shown to audiences at the former Alexandra Hall.
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