This film was made by John Scorer who was born in 1931 in the Willington Quay area and spent most of his life in the parish of Cullercoats on the North East coast where he lived with his mother. A scholarly gentleman who was well-loved by those who knew him, John taught RE at Marden Bridge Middle School in Whitley Bay but had many hobbies and interests, film making included. John had a passion for historical costume which he enjoyed sharing with others by staging exhibitions in unlikely...

This film was made by John Scorer who was born in 1931 in the Willington Quay area and spent most of his life in the parish of Cullercoats on the North East coast where he lived with his mother. A scholarly gentleman who was well-loved by those who knew him, John taught RE at Marden Bridge Middle School in Whitley Bay but had many hobbies and interests, film making included. John had a passion for historical costume which he enjoyed sharing with others by staging exhibitions in unlikely venues such as Killhope lead mining museum and at his local Womens Institute. As well as collecting costume, John was also an avid sewer and often took apart the costumes in order that he could recreate them for local dramatics groups. John had a love of the outdoors and along with his mother would spend the entire summer holidays in Swaledale, North Yorkshire, taking a taxi there and back each year. John was a very modest filmmaker and did not seek recognition for the films he made, but they provide a fascinating insight into one man’s personal interests and work. This film captures one of his many trips to Reeth in Swaledale. John passed away on 11 January 2018 aged 87 years. (1)

The introduction of 16mm film in 1923 opened up the world of filmmaking for the first time to non-professionals and was popular for non-theatrical productions (for instance, industrial and educational films). Eastman Kodak first developed this film format and pioneered accessible and affordable film technology during the early 20th century. Kodak had vastly improved the safety of its products too, with new-fire resistant acetate rolls of film meaning that amateur filmmakers could enjoy a cigarette whilst projecting their home movies without fear of causing an inferno.

By the mid-1930s, a German observer estimated that the British amateur cine scene had around 250,000 hobby filmmakers and about 3000 to 4000 of those people was a member of an amateur cine club; the home movie craze had taken hold of Britain. By 1965, amateur film equipment had become increasingly smaller, lighter, cheaper and easier to use, leading to increased popularity of home movie making and screening.

Scorer captures the filming of an episode of the BBC period television series 'All Creatures Great and Small' on one of his many visits to Reeth. The series, which ran from 1978 until 1990, is based on the semi-autobiographical best-selling books by writer and veterinary Alf Wight under the alias of James Herriot and chronicles the ordeals of a group of vets based in the fictional village of Darrowby in the Yorkshire Moors. Set in the 1930s and just after the Second World War, the show stars Christopher Timothy as Herriot, Robert Hardy as Siegfried Farnon (based on Donald Sinclair), the proprietor of the Skeldale House surgery, and Peter Davison (born Peter Moffett) as Siegfried's younger brother, Tristan (based on Brian Sinclair). Davison’s character Tristan is filmed by Scorer outside the Black Bull Hotel (famous for its upside-down sign) and the Kings Arms Hotel in Reeth, in-between takes of one of the 90 aired episodes of the show.

Although the books were set in the Yorkshire Moors, filming actually took place in the Yorkshire Dales due to the extensive amount of protected land in the Dales that is mostly untouched by modernity, making it ideal for period dramas. Confusingly, in this film Davison is shown outside the Kings Arms Hotel in Reeth, but it appears that the local boozer of the show, the Drovers Arms, was in fact filmed inside the Kings Arms in Askrigg (9 miles south west of Reeth), which provides the set for the fictional village of Darrowby. (2) The Kings Arms in Askrigg is an 18th century coaching inn built by renowned racehorse breeder John Pratt and is now a tourist hotspot for fans of the show who stop by to enjoy the familiar pub interiors and look at the vast collection of memorabilia from the show on display. (2)

‘I love old things. Modern things are so cold. I need things that have lived,’ proclaimed Biba founder Barbara Hulanicki to the Daily Telegraph in 1966.  This statement captures the mood of disillusionment that characterised the late 60s and early 70s, which manifested itself visually in the retro and revival fashions of the period. By the 1970s, Britain was on its knees. The three day week, regular strikes and mounting rubbish on the streets caused a widespread feeling that the country was ‘rotting away,’ and that the proverbial ‘gilt had come off the gingerbread.’ Reacting against the optimism of the early 1960s, characterised by technological advancement and modernist space-age clothing, from the late 1960s into the 1970s, Britain harked back to an era thought more honest and straightforward in the search for something softer and more natural, resulting in the country escaping into its own past. This escapism is most evident in the fashions of the time, with designers such as Laura Ashley who captured the nostalgic longing for nature and simplicity in the rural Edwardian clothes she designed. These fashions and ideas translated into other forms of pop culture and the 1970s saw a huge increase in period dramas such as All Creatures Great and Small, Upstairs, Downstairs and The Forsythe Saga, along with the iconic Hovis advert of 1973, which equally captured this nostalgic rustic simplicity and a harking back to better times.

References:

(1) Lasting Tribute Page for John Scorer - https://funeral-notices.co.uk/North+East-Tyne+%26+Wear-Newcastle+Upon+Tyne/death-notices/notice/SCORER/1758382

(2) All Creatures Great and Small - http://www.dalesbound.co.uk/discover-the-yorkshire-dales/tv-film/all-creatures-great-and-small/

(3) Askrigg & James Herriot's 'All Creatures Great & Small' - https://www.dalesdiscoveries.com/perfect-days-in-the-yorkshire-dales/askrigg-all-creatures-great-small