The North East Film Archive is one of a network of regional film archives established to collect, preserve and show film made in, or about the North East of England. Our collections are non-fiction, and date from the early 1900s to the present day, providing a rich record of life in the region over the 20th century. Many of our films are available to watch, free of charge, on our website.
This film is part of Free

Tyneside Vagabonds 1960 Cyclo Cross
A Northumberland cyclo-cross ride on the wild side with the Tyneside Vagabonds.
From the collection of:

Overview
Mired in mud, cyclo-cross riders with true grit are more off the bike than on in this quirky winter sport of “rough stuff”, captured on film by cycling fan Milton Newton. Cyclists endure a dunking in a Middleton burn and compete across the brown bracken moorland, steep hills and peat bogs around the Shaftoe Crags, Northumberland, the race organised by the Tyneside Vagabonds. Wesley Clayton of the Tyne Road Club was first past the finish line.
“They’re supposed to stick to a certain course you know but a few keep taking shortcuts …” These words belong to an amused Bill Baty, top rider and Tyne Velo veteran who won the Beaumont Trophy in 1958, the amateur British National Road Race in 1959, and was in the British team for the 1955 Peace Race behind the Iron Curtain. In 1990 he added a humorous commentary to his friend’s film of the November 1960 cyclo-cross race. Baty, it was rumoured, mischievously moved the course markers, forcing fellow competitors to cross the deepest part of the burn, where the race descended into more of a bike tossing contest.
Related

Tyneside Vagabonds 1959 Cyclo-Cross Tyneside Vagabonds 1959 Cyclo-Cross
Amateur film 1959 16 mins Silent Location: Middleton
Cyclo-cross riders join hard-school marathon man “Geronimo Jim” Alder on a brutal race around the Shaftoe Crags, Northumberland.

Workers at Dickens & Heywood, Middleton (1900) Workers at Dickens & Heywood, Middleton (1900)
Non-Fiction 1900 1 mins Silent Location: Middleton
A rare snapshot of the daily routine of the workers of a Lancashire textile mill.

Alexandre Desplat (Masterclass) Alexandre Desplat (Masterclass)
Inside Film 2011 33 mins
Over 30 years and 150 projects, the composer shares, with humour and passion, the intricacies of making film music.

Ian Neil (Masterclass) Ian Neil (Masterclass)
Inside Film 2012 74 mins
Neil selected soundtracks for 127 Hours, Shame, Kick Ass, Control and many more. He discusses the job and its complexities, referencing his own work.

Screenwriters' Lecture: Peter Straughan Screenwriters' Lecture: Peter Straughan
Inside Film 2012 mins
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy's adapter reveals his quest for "the poem of the book" and the importance of simplicity: 'Drain the pond to find the fish'.

Gabriel Yared on composing for film Gabriel Yared on composing for film
Inside Film 2013 11 mins
Composer of The Lives of Others, The English Patient and Betty Blue on intimacy and experimentation.

Lois Burwell on movie makeup Lois Burwell on movie makeup
Inside Film 2013 17 mins
Lincoln, Braveheart and Magnolia make-up artist Lois Burwell explains how she created some of her most iconic looks, as part of a BAFTA Masterclass.

Barry Ackroyd (Masterclass) Barry Ackroyd (Masterclass)
2013 61 mins
British cinematographer of The Hurt Locker, Captain Phillips, Hillsborough and Riff Raff reviews the art of the moving image.