Touring film programme makes first stop at Grassington Festival

A JOURNEY through the Upper Wharfedale landscape through films captured from as far back as the 1930s will be shown at Grassington Festival as part of a new touring programme of locally-tailored films.
A still from Farming on Grassington Moor, from the 1930sA still from Farming on Grassington Moor, from the 1930s
A still from Farming on Grassington Moor, from the 1930s

Moving North: Rural will see a series of film screenings and events, with the first at Grassington Festival today (Monday).

The movies, newly digitised as part of BFI’s Britain on Film project, will include examples from the film pioneers of the early 1900s capturing the Yorkshire scenery on film for the first time. Filmmakers recorded farming life through the seasons, as well as village events and country shows, youth hostelling and fell runs.

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At Grassington, films selected by the Yorkshire Film Archive will show local landscapes, farming on Grassington Moor in the 1930s, evacuees in Linton in the 1940s, and a look back at Bill Mitchell’s days on the Dalesman.

A still from Farming on Grassington Moor, from the 1930sA still from Farming on Grassington Moor, from the 1930s
A still from Farming on Grassington Moor, from the 1930s

The touring programme will stop at Parkway Cinema, Beverley, on July 21, Beverley Guildhall on July 22, the Deer Shed Festival in Topcliffe on July 23, Bishopside and Bewerley Memorial Hall, Pateley Bridge on August 20, Masham Town Hall on August 30, and Settle Victoria Hall on October 5.

The director of Yorkshire Film Archive, Sue Howard said: “Moving North: Rural is a fantastic opportunity to bring locally made films back to local audiences right across the rural landscapes of Yorkshire, Cumbria and the North-East of England.

“The problem for us is more about how to select the material from our collections – we have a whole century of rural life captured on film – from harvesting and haymaking to generations of craftsmen carving from the landscape in wood and stone, the impact of the two world wars on communities, and the celebrations – the village fêtes, fairs, and festivals – all set within the rich and beautiful rural countryside of the North of England.”

Further details are at www.britainonfilmscreenings.org.uk

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