Cine Films

With the kind help and cooperation of the Yorkshire Film Archive we are able to show you cine films of past events in Tickhill by linking to their website. Although silent, these films are superbly evocative of times past.

To view the films, go to the Yorkshire Film Archive website. In the top right corner in the "Search" box for the YFA Catalogue (not website), type "Tickhill". This will take you to the film clips. No need to login, just click on "watch".

TICKHILL CORONATION CELEBRATIONS

The film shows festival celebrations in Tickhill to to mark the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953. There are many shots of the floats which were highly decorated as well as the May Queen who was carried along on one of them. A detailed description  of the scenes captured on the film, prepared by the Yorkshire Film Archive is below:

Year: 1953
Film ID: 239

This film contains footage from a May Day festival celebrations that were held in Tickhill. There are many shots of the floats that were highly decorated as well as the May Queen that was carried along on one of them.

The film opens on a main street in Tickhill, near Doncaster, which is lined with hundreds of people all watching a car as it drives towards them. They wave flags and watch as the car drives past and then the crowd starts to move.

There are trucks decorated with flags, flowers and bunting and they drive down the road past `The Milestone Hotel'. Then there are shots from different parts of the town showing all of the decorated poles, buildings, and sets of steps covered in flowers.

In a field a crowd have gathered and are watching two girls sitting on a pole and trying to knock each other off with pillows; there are also sprinting races, sack races, and other games for children of all ages. The camera has positioned itself at the end of the track and from there takes shots of the girls' egg and spoon race.

In another section of the field a wooden frame has been erected and apples have been tied to string and young boys try to take a bite of the apple without using their hands. They also take part in an assault course where they crawl under nets on the ground.

Back on the streets of the town, two open back trucks are decorated with flags and bunting, and they carefully reverse onto a main street; women and children sit in the back wearing fancy dress. There are other floats in different parts of the town with people on them wearing costumes; there are princesses and princes, knights and clowns.

The floats drive slowly down the road in procession and a lot of people line the streets to watch as they go by. There are shots of the floats taken from different angles on the street and there are more shots taken from the town square which take in all of the people, floats and buildings. A policeman directs the floats around the square.

In the next scene, young boys and girls in fancy dress dance around the Maypole. A huge crowd of people watch them. Back on the main street some men in fancy dress carry a large drum across the road and wave at the camera. This is followed by shots of a brass band marching down the main street with flag bearers and a huge crowd of people walking after them. Then there are shots of some children wheeling each other along the road in wheel barrows and then stopping at a table that has been set up with glasses of orange.

There is a shot taken from one end of the main street looking down towards a crowd of cyclists; they speed past the camera and down the road in the opposite direction.

The next shot is a close-up shot of three young women sitting at the top of a float in dresses and holding bunches of flowers. The camera moves to show a young boy and some other girls on chairs also on the float. The shot then cuts to a woman holding a crown over the head of one of the women from the float, she has just been crowned May Queen. The float drives away and the camera gets shots of all of the people on it and the hundreds of flowers decorating it. The final shot is of another float with some women in dresses and holding flowers.

TICKHILL MAY QUEEN

The film shows the May Queen procession as well as the many games and sports in which the local children took part. A detailed description  of the scenes captured on the film, prepared by the Yorkshire Film Archive is below:

Year: c.1929
Film ID: 219
 
This film contains footage from a May Day event that was held in Tickhill, near Doncaster. There is footage of the May Queen procession and the many games and sports in which the local children take part.

The film opens with a shot of a lake taken from one side looking across to a village on the other side; a man with a camera walks up to some Scouts who are looking at swans in the water. Following this are more shots of buildings from around the village including a big Tudor-style house on the edge of the road.

In the next scene a procession of children, led by a young girl in a white dress, walk down the main street. The girls all wear dresses and hats and carry arches of flowers for the May Queen to walk under. Then some of the girls start dancing for the large crowd that have gathered in the street to watch. Then there are shots of some girls dancing around a May pole. Again there is a huge crowd of children and local gathered around to watch.

In another field some boys and girls do the three legged race, jump hurdles and take part in agility races along wooden poles raised off the ground.In another game the children have to throw small balls into buckets that are high up on sticks, take a bite out of an apple that is hanging on a string and do the high jump. The camera pans to show the rest of the children cheering for the competitors.

The next race is a skipping race for the girls who speed down the track towards the camera; one of the girls falls down. Following this is another dance around the May pole in a field with a wooden fence around it. Then there are shots of a large group of boys and girls dancing in this field; they dance in twos and in formation with the other couples.

In another field a crowd of men and women watch as cyclists race around the grass track and following this are several long distance and sprinting races.

Following this is a sequence of shots which depict all of the games that the boys take part in. A group of young men gather at one side of the field and get ready for the sack race, then there is a game where the young men stand on wooden boxes and blow up balloons, another one is where they have to carry many eggs in their arms and then another assault courses. All this time the field is surrounded by a large crowd of spectators.

The last scene takes place in another field where young adults are on their ponies riding around and over jumps. Then a huntsman and his hounds run around the field.