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
Pedestrians and Traffic
This engrossing film transports us back to a time when cars stopped for pedestrians and not the other way around, when the cars were British made and pedestrians held their ground.
From the collection of:
Overview
This spectacle of pedestrians going will-nilly across the busy city centre streets of Sheffield in 1950 may have been filmed for the purposes of traffic control, but, as the camera wanders hither and thither, it has given us a wonderful picture of the days of long grey coats, trilbies and headscarves. It was also a time of open backed lorries, trams and policemen in white coats directing all and sundry.
While in the throes of clearing up the hefty bomb damage from the war that had ended just five years previously, still in evidence in the film, the city council needed also to deal with the increased traffic. The need for traffic control was apparent. Despite the seeming casualness of the pedestrians displayed here, perhaps surprisingly, the fatality rate per vehicle mileage in 1950 was over 14 times what it was in 2007. Along with the increase in car ownership, petrol rationing ended in 1950, the Highway Code had yet to be introduced (in 1954), and there was a post-war surge of road safety films. The result is a quite different Fitzalan Square, Fargate and Church Street seen here from as they are today.
Related
Watch for free
The Queen at Sheffield The Queen at Sheffield
Documentary 1897 1 mins Silent Location: Sheffield
Sheffield gives the capital a run for its money with an impressive parade celebrating the monarch, a month before the Diamond Jubilee.
Watch for free
Special Olympics Special Olympics
Factual TV 1988 5 mins Location: Sheffield
Sheffield professional sportsmen train determined disabled adults to compete at the Special Olympics in this heart-warming short film. (
Watch for free
Women's Munitions Workers, Sheffield Women's Munitions Workers, Sheffield
Amateur film 1940 7 mins Silent Location: Sheffield
Highly-skilled women defy 1940s gender prejudices and produce munitions in one of Sheffield’s many wartime factories.
Watch for free
Wartime Events in Sheffield Wartime Events in Sheffield
Amateur film 1942 19 mins Silent Location: Sheffield
Military men and women from Sheffield put on a show from 1942-1947 in this patriotic compilation film.
Watch for free
Bus Strike Traffic Bus Strike Traffic
Non-Fiction 1959 9 mins Silent Location: Sheffield
A Sheffield bus strike causes traffic congestion in this film that shows the significant local impact that a workplace dispute can have.
Watch for free
Sheffield Peace March Sheffield Peace March
Amateur film 1936 7 mins Silent Location: Sheffield
As the rise of fascism casts a shadow over Europe, the people of Sheffield take to the streets to deliver a powerful message.
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.
Watch for free
New Perspectives: Oldboy New Perspectives: Oldboy
Short documentary 2024 4 mins
Discover why Dan George of Northumbria University believes everyone should experience Oldboy at least once.
Watch for free
New Perspectives: Wings of Desire New Perspectives: Wings of Desire
Short documentary 2024 4 mins
Trixie Parkin-Christie of Northumbria University offers fresh insight into why Wings of Desire remains essential viewing.