Video: Beer as we used to enjoy it

And Yorkshire’s famous breweries are intertwined with the region’s history to such an extent that there is perhaps no other part of the country which shares such a proud heritage with the iconic pint of beer.

To celebrate the close affinity with the brewing trade, a series of film clips has been compiled by researchers who delved into the vaults of the Yorkshire Film Archive (YFA) to piece together the history of beer in the region.

A 90-minute package of the footage will be shown later this month at the City Screen Picturehouse in the centre of York to mark the city’s annual beer and cider festival, which runs from September 19 to 21.

The cinema’s marketing manager, Dave Taylor, confirmed that while only one screening is due to be staged on September 22, more could be added if it sells out.

Mr Taylor said: “Beer and brewing are part and parcel of British life, as well as the heritage of Yorkshire itself. The footage that has been compiled from the Yorkshire Film Archive is a fascinating insight into how the industry has evolved.

“There are so many major brewing companies and micro-breweries in the region, and this is a celebration of their popularity.”

Footage from the British Film Institute’s own collection was shown at the City Screen cinema in a compilation called Roll Out the Barrel: The British Pub on Film earlier this year. The event prompted the idea to create a collection of clips specifically about Yorkshire’s long and proud brewing history.

A public appeal for any footage followed and clips were also dug out from the YFA’s own archives, including a rare, pre-television advert promoting Melbourne Beer that would have been shown in local cinemas in Leeds.

York itself also features in the compilation with the opening of the King William IV pub at the Castle Museum by TV star Barbara Kelly in 1963, a Magnet Cup at York Racecourse from the same year which was sponsored by the Tadcaster-based John Smith’s brewery, and a film about the campaign to save the John Bull pub in Layerthorpe in the 1990s.

The YFA’s archive manager Graham Relton, who will present the films at City Screen later this month, claimed the brewing industry is deeply ingrained in the region.

He said: “The screening is a great mix that celebrates the popular Yorkshire pastime of beer – whether it’s the brewing process at Hammond’s, Timothy Taylor’s or Samuel Smith’s, footage of the iconic Woolpack pub in the mid-1980s, New Year’s Eve celebrations in the 1930s or a dreaded post-war beer shortage – there should be something to suit everyone’s taste.”

The screening is being backed by Timothy Taylor’s, the award-winning Yorkshire-based brewing company which established a base in the centre of Keighley in 1858 before moving to its current site in the town, The Knowle Spring, in 1863. To coincide with the screening, the YFA, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, has added a short film dating from 1975 to its website that explains the brewing process behind a pint of Timothy Taylor’s.

A spokesman for Timothy Taylor’s said: “This is a unique insight into Yorkshire’s brewing heritage and with over 150 years of brewing at Knowle Spring in Keighley, heritage is something we know all about.

“The YFA team have done an amazing job restoring the 1970s film and our message hasn’t changed in these last 40 years – Timothy Taylor’s beer quality is all about skilled brewers using the finest ingredients in a tried and trusted way.”

The Reel Ale screening is part of an increasingly diverse programme of events which are being staged at the City Screen cinema, which re-opened in June after undergoing a £300,000 refit – the biggest renovations since it opened in 2000 in the old Yorkshire Herald printworks overlooking the River Ouse in the heart of York.

Special event screenings are featuring more heavily in the programme of the venue.

Among the forthcoming screenings will be a performance of The Audience stage production featuring Helen Mirren as the Queen, and the cinema is also showing performances of the National Theatre and New York’s Met opera company, as well as RSC productions for the first time.

• Tickets for the Reel Ale screening, which starts at 6.15pm on September 22, can be booked from the box office at the cinema, by calling 0871 902 5726 or online at www.picturehouses.co.uk/york

• LEEDS Town Hall is brewing up a storm as it plays host to a gathering of thousands of beer lovers.

The second annual Leeds International Beer Festival, which starts today and runs until Sunday, is being staged there and organisers are hopeful of doubling last year’s combined attendance figure of 4,000 people. The festival is being held in association with Kirkstall Brewery and features hundreds of beers from the UK and overseas. Well-known trade names taking part include Ossett Brewery, Ilkley Brewery and Oakham Ales.

Visitors will be able to raise a glass to the Tour de France’s arrival in Yorkshire next summer after brewers from Magic Rock have produced a beer, Magic Spanner, to celebrate the county’s hosting of the first two stages of the world-famous cycle race.