This film is one of many 8mm films made by Ernest Hardy of Halifax Cine Club.  The Halifax Cine Club is one of the many cine clubs formed either before or just after the Second World War in West Yorkshire. They made a great many films, both 16 mm and 8mm, and Ernest Hardy was a very active member of the group making many films for the Club in the 1970s and 1980s. Hardy specialised in 8mm filmmaking and is credited as the camera operator on a number of films held in the Yorkshire Film Archive,...

This film is one of many 8mm films made by Ernest Hardy of Halifax Cine Club.  The Halifax Cine Club is one of the many cine clubs formed either before or just after the Second World War in West Yorkshire. They made a great many films, both 16 mm and 8mm, and Ernest Hardy was a very active member of the group making many films for the Club in the 1970s and 1980s. Hardy specialised in 8mm filmmaking and is credited as the camera operator on a number of films held in the Yorkshire Film Archive, many of which were fiction/narrative films including the titles Over The Wall (1980s), The Pendant (1980s) and Framed (1986).

Formed in 1938, the Halifax Cine Club celebrated its 75th anniversary in March 2013 and is still going strong updating its name to The Halifax Cine and Video Club in 1982 to encompass the broader technical changes in filmmaking.  Completing a number of films, mainly actuality and documentary films, in 1972 the group went on to make perhaps their most ambitious film up to that point with This Town Of Ours (1969-1972) which tells the story of Halifax town, through its industry, sporting and cultural life.

Elland is a small market town in Calderdale just south of Halifax and Dobson’s was founded there by Joseph Dobson in 1850. The company is still run by his direct descendants, and currently has his great, great grand- daughter Miriam at the helm.  Dobson’s make boiled sweets and confectionary ‘the old fashioned way’ using only traditional methods.

Hardy’s film features the day to day running of the factory photographed at the beginning of the 1980s and offers a glimpse of the various production methods used at the time. The factory continues to manufacture a variety of different sweets that have become firm favourites; from mint humbugs and throat sweets to pear drops and the famous Yorkshire Mix.

The film also alludes to the importance of such firms to the identity and wellbeing of manufacturing towns in fostering a sense of continuity and community. The ‘local’ credentials of the business are highlighted in the closing scenes of the film as crates of glass jars full of sweets are loaded onto the lorry ready for distribution – not unlike a milkman doing his local round.

Halifax and Calderdale were known for producing wool, carpets and machine tools but an important addition to this list would be sweets and confectionery.  There are strong links to the confectionary industry across the region with the Mackintosh factory in Halifax (near the railway station at Albion Mill opened in 1909) and the Rowntree factory in York. In 1969 John Mackintosh & Co Limited merged with the York-based Rowntree Limited to form Rowntree Mackintosh. Later on like many of the well-known family firms this was in turn purchased by a large international conglomerate and many of the brand names subsequently retained. In this case Rowntree Mackintosh was acquired in 1988 by multinational food and beverage company Nestlé.

Completed in 1981 the Hardy film is an interesting document as it shows a traditional UK firm soldiering through the tough economic climate at the beginning of the new decade. With so much of the UK manufacturing sector impacted by the new Thatcher government’s radical economic policy, it is interesting to note now that this firm seems to have come through more or less unscathed. Operating out of its Victorian buildings and still manufacturing sweets to this day, the firm now distributes across the UK by mail order, through independent retailers and some of the major supermarkets.  In keeping with the company’s loyalty to its roots and the community from which it sprang, Dobson’s also continues to run a traditional shop on Southgate, Elland near the original factory.  For visitors and locals it provides a nostalgic trip back to a time where you can re-live your childhood past and get a quarter of your favourite humbugs measured out for you in a white paper bag!

Another film Fast Work (1982) from around the same period provides an interesting contrast to this film showing similar production methods but at a much larger confectionary manufacturing operation, this time at the Mackintosh factory in Halifax.  For more on the Halifax Mackintosh factory see the aforementioned This Town Of Ours (1969-1972) which includes scenes shot on the production line at the Mackintosh factory in Halifax.

The Dobson’s brand has clearly had to adapt to survive in what is a very competitive marketplace, yet it has remained distinctive with its adherence to its traditional methods and concentration on the ‘old favourites’.  It is interesting to note that in recent years, with a growing awareness amongst consumers of the hidden costs of processed food and the questioning of where the food that we buy in the supermarkets actually comes from, there has been a resurgence of artisan and craft methods with many start-up businesses using traditional and organic methods to produce their products. The ‘ethical’ choice and support for locally sourced produce is a growing market in itself and the popularity of confectionary particularly chocolate in the UK means there is a healthy market even if the health implications of having a sweet tooth are up for debate!

References

Ernest E Jennings and Peter R Holroyd, Halifax Cine & Video Club, 75 Years Of Film Making, 1938 - 2013

J B Dobson and Sons

Joseph Dobson Sweets

Five reasons to love Elland in the Calder Valley