Eli Simpson Collection Reel 2

It’s May 1953, and influential and controversial British speleologist recorder Eli Simpson embarks upon an ambitious, but uncompleted, project to make a film, Birth of a Yorkshire River. This clip includes a sojourn around Malham Cove and some romantic images of a couple silhouetted against a still pool of water. In contrast, black and white film of inside Ingleborough Cave, with guide Arnold Brown and his Tilley lamp, brings out the textures of the rock formations.

This is one of many reels of rushes that were made under the direction of Eli Simpson, founding member and Recorder of the British Speleological Association. The idea was to make a film titled “Birth of a Yorkshire River” or “The Waters of Mawn” (a puzzling title). Simpson, in control of a fracturing British Speleological Association, got the help of his Settle neighbour Eddy Perry as technician and camera operator, and BSA member John Tobin, a photographer from Keighley, also behind the camera. The filming, poorly resourced over two years, eventually petered out. The whole enterprise has been meticulously recorded in a film made by fellow caveman filmmaker Sid Perou, who has also made a film about Simpson.