The Yorkshire Film Archive collects, preserves, and shows film made in, or about Yorkshire. Our collections are non-fiction, dating from the 1890s to the present day, and providing a rich and visually compelling record of all aspects of lives, cultures, landscape, industries, major events and everyday activities, many of which are available to watch, free of charge, on our website.
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Seascape
Filmmaking that is both educational and fun with this highly accomplished amateur film of the Devon coast, and its inhabitants, before it became overloaded with holidaymakers.
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Overview
This is an example of one of the high quality films made by husband and wife team Betty and Cyril Ramsden of Leeds. This film of a holiday on the Exmouth Estuary in 1951 is typical of how they transfer their natural interest in places and the occupations they foster – here fishing and boat building – into an informative and whimsical film. In this case one gets a real feel of the love of the sea, and of boating, characteristic of this island people.
Betty and Cyril Ramsden, prominent members of Leeds Cine Club, began making their large collection of films in 1945 and continued into the mid-1960s. Their film collection was made the subject of a BBC/Open University television programme, Nation on Film (2006). Cyril had a dental practice in Headingley, with his wife Betty as the secretary. They usually filmed their holidays, often with Betty providing the cinematic eye behind the camera. Here Betty sets sail in a yellow headscarf, while Cyril shows off his sea fishing skills. In this year they also managed to film a trip to the East Coast of Yorkshire, Coxwold Gymkhana and Leeds Children’s Day in Roundhay Park.
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