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A breathtaking winter journey in the Pennines, from country to town and back again via electric tram.
Non-Fiction 1902 4 mins Silent
An unusually painterly visual sweep (taking landscape rather than people as its subject) distinguishes this particularly special Mitchell and Kenyon film. It proves thought-provoking as well as beautiful: expressing the changes to the face of Britain heralded by tram electrification and later accelerated by the internal combustion engine: the route travelled here is today a busy A-road.
In his celebrated 1934 travelogue An English Journey, author and thinker J.B. Priestley suggested there were "three Englands": the first a peaceful, ageless, pastoral land; the second a gritty, smoky one spawned by the Industrial Revolution; and the third an urban and suburban 20th-century England less rooted and romantic than either - and destined to supplant them both. Tram Ride in Halifax was filmed three decades earlier, yet it somehow encompasses all of Priestley's Englands, while revealing the crucial role of transport in connecting and transforming them all.
Non-Fiction 1902 9 mins Silent Location: Portishead
A fine variety of views of the Avon gorge taken from various positions downstream from the Clifton Suspension Bridge.
Non-Fiction 1902 2 mins Silent
Tranquil scenes of rural Edwardian Ireland, on a rail journey with views of Blarney Castle.
Non-Fiction 1905 5 mins Silent Location: Rochdale
Splendid views of Edwardian Rochdale from the front of a tram after a recent dusting of snow.
Non-Fiction 1902 2 mins Silent Location: Derry / Londonderry
Bustling scenes show Edwardian Derry-Londonderry before industrialisation took hold.
Non-Fiction 1902 1 mins Silent Location: Southport
A headlong tram ride passing Southport's finest emporia.
Non-Fiction 1902 2 mins Silent
Edwardian images of County Cork's famous port, filmed from a bobbing boat.
Documentary 1981 6 mins Location: Halifax
Dedicated volunteers from Halifax provide a talking newspaper service for locals on cassettes, strangely not motivated by money.
Factual TV 1987 9 mins Location: Halifax
Halifax’s Calderdale Council inspires real and lasting positive change in the community through infrastructure investment in this film.
Amateur film 1985 9 mins Location: Halifax
An experienced Halifax baker takes us behind the counter and showcases his sweet and savoury secrets in this endearing short film.
Documentary 1910 2 mins Silent Location: Halifax
One of the most industrious and enterprising towns of northern England takes a break to greet the novelty of the movie camera.
Documentary 1985 25 mins Location: Halifax
Women workers give voice to their puzzlement, anger and despair as years of hard work cleaning laundry for hospitals is discarded.
Industry sponsored film 1965 17 mins Location: Halifax
The lesson here is clear, do the right things in the workplace – wear totectors and Rozalex barrier cream – and all will be well, and if not there is a nurse on hand with a plaster.
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.
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.
Travelogue 1953 21 mins Location: York
The Stationmaster at York guides us through a typical day, from dawn to dusk.
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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