Society on the Moors

Join Lord and Lady Savile's shooting party for a day's sport and socialising on the moors near Hebden Bridge, Yorkshire.

It's a fine day at Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire, and the Topical Budget newsreel cameras are along for some shooting and hobnobbing with Lord and Lady Savile. The often repetitive activities of the nobility were perennially popular with the newsreels, which erred on the side of the Establishment. This well-photographed item offers a fascinating glimpse at social life for the 1920s upper classes.

The splendidly moustachioed Sir John Lumley-Savile, 2nd Baron Savile - seen descending the steps at the start and then shooting from a hide - is surprisingly sprightly given that he would have been nearly 70 at the time of this film. He was the illegitimate son of the 8th Earl of Scarbrough, and had his seat at Rufford Abbey in Nottinghamshire. His second wife, Esme Grace Virginia Wolton, is seen watching the men shoot.