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
Young Farmers Rally
The perennial cycle of learning, buying, judging and practising that is rural life, while having an enjoyable time, all distilled into a handy once a year package for all to share.
From the collection of:
Overview
First up is a Young Farmers rally, possibly two, possibly in Northallerton, followed by the Royal Agricultural Show of 1948 taking place in the Knavesmire in York. The first has cow judging, knot tying, sheep shearing, tractor driving (backwards), shot putting and the familiar another tug-of-war. The second has cow judging, tractor driving (forwards), but also how to build a stone wall and how to build a combine harvester.
This is one of two films of Young Farmers Rallies in North Yorkshire made by an unknown filmmaker in the late 1940s. In 1947 the National Federation of Young Farmers' Clubs (formed in 1932) organised a national scheme to promote agricultural skills, with the help of government money. The Knavesmire in York has hosted an odd mixture of events over the years apart from horse racing, and here we have the Royal Agricultural Show in 1948, being hosted jointly with the Yorkshire Show, still emerging from the war. The Knavesmire hasn’t hosted either since, though it did host the Royal Show in 1924.
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