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
Wonders of Yorkshire
Rocks resembling alien creatures, a giant white horse, wooden mice, a cave where a famous prophetess lived, and a teddy turned to stone.
From the collection of:
Overview
Another highly accomplished documentary type film by Leeds amateur filmmaker Ken Leckenby, which is both very informative about the places it features and beautifully shot. Ken highlights the iconic Brimham Rocks, the picturesque North Yorkshire village of Kilburn, home of “Mousy Thompson”; Knaresborough, home of the oldest chemist’s shop in England and Mother Shipton’s cave; and Thomas Taylor’s White Horse, carved into a hill near Roulston Scar in 1857.
Ken Leckenby made films both on his own and collectively as a member of the Mercury Movie Makers Cine Club of Leeds. This is one of his own, which included other similar films on Wharfedale and Nidderdale, and a series of films he titled ‘Out and About’, which all had the form of bringing together film and information of local places and events. Each event would have a subtitle and Ken would often supply an informative commentary to go with the film. Ken would go out most weekends filming for these, and this continued from the 1960s through to the 1990s.
Related
Watch for free
Around the Village Green Around the Village Green
Travelogue 1937 12 mins Location: Finchingfield
Rural life in the Essex villages of Finchingfield and Great Bardfield - and the mixed reactions of older residents to changing times.
Watch for free
One Foot in Eden One Foot in Eden
Documentary 1978 49 mins Location: Orkney Islands
Orkney evoked through poetry, the sounds of nature, and the music of Peter Maxwell Davies.
Watch for free
A Day in the Hayfields A Day in the Hayfields
Non-Fiction 1904 3 mins Silent Location: Walton-on-Thames
Midsummer haymaking larks
Watch for free
West of England West of England
Industry sponsored film 1951 10 mins Location: Stroud
The Stroud valleys of Gloucestershire in glorious Technicolor - and with a Laurie Lee script.
Watch for free
Showtime Showtime
Documentary 1984 23 mins Location: Newark-on-Trent
From shire horses to the Royal Marines, welcome to the annual Newark Show. A serious business for the farming community, with prizes to win and 800 gallons of beer to be drunk.
Watch for free
Springtime in an English Village Springtime in an English Village
Documentary 1944 7 mins Location: Stanion
An extraordinary and unexpected snapshot of rural life in wartime in which a young black girl is crowned Queen of the May.
Watch for free
Wilf Hutchinson Woodcarver Wilf Hutchinson Woodcarver
Factual TV 1983 4 mins Location: Kilburn
Kilburn’s master woodworker, Wilf Hutchinson, offers an in-depth guide to the craftsmanship behind his oak furniture.
Watch for free
Cardigan Rd, Kilburn (Fun Palace outtakes) Cardigan Rd, Kilburn (Fun Palace outtakes)
1963 3 mins Silent Location: Kilburn
Lost London: fun and vibrant life on a Kilburn street, demolished soon after in slum clearances
Watch for free
Red Red
Drama 1995 26 mins Location: Kilburn
Beautiful, bittersweet tale of love, longing and Elvis. Xiao Mei leaves China for marriage in Britain. But her true desire is to find her family.
Watch for free
China O'Brien: The Reunion China O'Brien: The Reunion
Documentary 2024 60 mins
Cynthia Rothrock, Richard Norton and Keith Cooke reunite three decades on from the groundbreaking martial arts classic.
Watch for free
Women in Action Panel Discussion Women in Action Panel Discussion
Inside Film 2024 28 mins
Action Xtreme - the UK's leading action film studio - hosts this panel discussion with four leading women in action cinema - Soo Cole, Jo Rolison, Jadey Duffield and Ioanna Karavela.
Watch for free
Starve Acre - Exclusive Q&A Starve Acre - Exclusive Q&A
Short interview 2024 24 mins
Daniel Kokotajlo talks to Nia Childs about Starve Acre, his folk horror about a couple digging deep into grief in the heart of the Yorkshire Dales.
Watch for free
Sky Peals - Exclusive Q&A Sky Peals - Exclusive Q&A
Short interview 2024 30 mins
Sky Peals director Moin Hussain and lead actor Faraz Ayub talk to Tomisin Adepeju about their magic realist drama.
Watch for free
Inside the Archive: The Early Films of Michael Powell Inside the Archive: The Early Films of Michael Powell
Documentary 2024 42 mins
Documentary exploring the BFI National Archive’s role in rediscovering and remastering the early films of Michael Powell.
Watch for free
Inside the Archive: The Riviera Revels Inside the Archive: The Riviera Revels
Short documentary 2024 12 mins
Bryony Dixon, curator of silent film at the BFI national archive, explores the origins of a series of comic travelogues, and Michael Powell's involvement in making them.