New film sheds light on Yorkshire's love of The Queen over the decades

Seen To Be Believed is a new standalone 55-minute film available to community groups, cinemas, local authorities and other organisations, for screening during the Jubilee festivities.

Taking an affectionate look at how the people of the North-East and Yorkshire have celebrated coronations, jubilees and royal visits through the decades, it draws inspiration from a famous remark by The Queen: “I have to be seen to be believed.”

The film takes a look through the lens at street parties and pageants, bunting, banners and flag waving, and discovers what the Royal Family – the Queen in particular – means to the people of our region. All footage in the film was made solely by Yorkshire and North-East Filmmakers, both amateur and professional.

It is the work of the Yorkshire and North-East Film Archives, a charitable organisation tasked with preserving and digitising old films for future generations.

Graham Relton is Archive Manager and he says he was moved by the similarities in the sentiment within all the footage he viewed.

“We’ve searched through our vaults and selected the very best royal footage held in our collections, made by Yorkshire and North-East filmmakers, to curate a stand-alone film fit for a Queen.

“We looked at around 130 source films including, amateur, professional and local news pieces and ended up using around 70 of those (appropriately for her Platinum Jubilee) in the final production. It was tough to choose the bits to edit out, but that’s the nature of the job,” says Graham.

“It was interesting to see all the differences over the years when it came to fashion and other things, but the sentiment towards the Queen either during her visits or during the street parties to celebrate a Jubilee was just as fervent and we expect the Platinum Jubilee celebrations to be no different. It is clear that the region has had a very special relationship with the Queen and the Royal family for decades.”

But the film isn’t just all Royal pomp and circumstance.

“We really wanted to show the real people and how they have celebrated the Royal family over the last 70 years and even further which is why we have focussed very much on the ordinary people,” explains Graham.

“What we didn’t want was just lots and lots of footage of the Queen visiting different places, we very much wanted it to include footage of ordinary people and their reactions to the visits and to other royal celebrations. What we hope we have achieved is to show what a real sense of community these events and visits created no matter when they happened. It is a joyous celebration of people coming together and we wanted to try to capture some of that excitement.”

The film includes footage of the Queen’s visit to Bradford in 1954 and 1974.

On October 28, 1954, nearly 18 months after her Coronation at Westminster Abbey, Her Majesty came to Bradford with the Duke of Edinburgh. Their visit was part of a nationwide tour, and followed state visits to 11 Empire and Commonwealth countries.

It was Bradford’s first Royal visit since 1942, when King George VI and Queen Elizabeth toured wartime Bradford.

Among the people in town that October Thursday in 1954 was 17-year-old David Hockney, who was in his second year at Bradford Art College.

On a wet and windy November day 1974 the Queen went on a walkabout in Bradford, talking to people about the poor weather – one of the wettest Royal visits to the North for 20 years. Torrential rain soaked the official party as well as hundreds of people lining the Queen’s route, but their patience was rewarded when the Queen stopped to chat with some of the crowd on her way from opening Bradford’s new police HQ to City Hall.

The archive film also includes fascinating footage of the Queen’s parents, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth visiting Hull showing how they broke down barriers during visits and appearances, changing the public’s perception of the Royal Family – something the Queen would build upon when she took to the throne.

Prince Philip, who she referred to as her “rock”, is filmed by her side, and also in his own right on a number of solo visits to the region.

“There is some lovely footage of Her Majesty visiting HIllsborough where 4,500 schoolchildren took to the pitch with a big display.”

Then there is also the opening of the Humber Bridge in June 1981 as well as Jubilee celebrations in Bradford in 1977

The footage is all woven together by a narrator, providing background information together with an insight into changing times and perceptions in the region.“The Queen was the first monarch who really felt she needed to be seen in public for people to believe she was real. Also she was the first monarch where all her visits were televised and shown to the masses, up until then any footage had only been available really in cinemas and through official channels or for the wealthy who could afford cameras. The advent of the video camera and then the smartphone means that everyone can capture these moments.”

However the wealth of footage available today brings another headache for Graham and his small teams based in York and Middlesbrough.

“We rely on donations from the public and they are very generous whenever we put an appeal but we do ask for quality over quantity where possible.”

The Yorkshire and North-East Film Archives work is to collect, preserve, and make the work of amateur and professional filmmakers who have been capturing life in Yorkshire and the North East of England on film for over 130 years accessible for everyone.“With over 70,000 items of original film, video tape, and born-digital material, the task of preserving, cataloguing, and digitising these collections is immense – but so are the rewards,” says Graham. “We have had a lot of interest in the film, even from other parts of the country who must want to see how the North celebrates the Royal Family.” The film is being shown at a number of locations across the region and there is still time to book a copy to show at an event this coming weekend. There are plans eventually to put it online in the hope that it will become an historical document for future generations to enjoy.

www.yfanefa.com

Seen to be Believed is being shown at venues across Yorkshire and the North east including; Running until July 9 - Bankfield Museum, Boothtown Road, Halifax HX3 6HG. June 2 - 4 - York BID – big screen in St Sampson’s Square, York YO1 8RL. June 2 - Parkway Cinema & Theatre, Beverley. June2 & 3 -Pontefract Castle, WF8 1QH. June 5 Seven Arts, 31A Harrogate Rd, Chapel Allerton, Leeds LS7 3PD