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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Queen and Duke of Edinburgh Visit to Dewsbury 28/10/1954
Just another visit from the Queen? Well yes, only here it happens in front of a Waddington’s factory, a man views from atop a lamppost and women with 1950s hairdos sit on shop ledges.
From the collection of:
Overview
A remarkable account of a Royal visit to a northern town, capturing the entire event, from putting up the bunting, to the whole customary rigmarole of the day: laying out of the red carpet, the turnout of the locals, the orchestrated flag waving and finally the crowds drifting away. But this being a 1950s northern town, the whole occasion has the feel of being from a distant time, and the imposed formality of the day is rather frayed at the edges.
The film was made by Dewsbury Amateur Cine Club, and it comes in a collection of films from one of the camera operators for the film, John Nunn. Among the collection there are several others from Dewsbury from the same year. With the amateur cine clubs that existed in the decades after the war it is often difficult to know whether films were collectively or individually made. In this case the cine club did a great job in capturing the entire event. The Queen visited Bradford on the same day, and had been to Sheffield the previous day, both occasions also filmed. Apparently, a meat tea for the elderly poor of Dewsbury was had in the town hall, and 135 of the poorest children were given a new pair of boots, stockings and hat.
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