Metadata
WORK ID: YFA 6777 (Master Record)
| Title | Year | Date |
| THE DALES WAY | 1977 | 1977-01-01 |
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Details
Original Format: Super 8 Colour: Colour Sound: Silent Duration: 19 mins Credits: Filmed by P. Finch. Filmed by G. Thackwray. Filmed by J. Hawkridge. A J.H. Production. Genre: Home Movie Subject: Travel Sport Environment/Nature Disability Countryside/Landscapes Agriculture |
| Summary A film by John Hawkridge (an enthusiastic hiker with Cerebral Palsy) showing his journey on the Dales Way walking route (which traditionally goes from Ilkley, West Yorkshire, to Bowness-on-Windermere, Cumbria) which is around 78.5 miles long. He uses the book 'The Dales Way' by Colin Speakman to aid his travels. Filmed also by P. Finch and G. Thackwray. |
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Description
A film by John Hawkridge (an enthusiastic hiker with Cerebral Palsy) showing his journey on the Dales Way walking route (which traditionally goes from Ilkley, West Yorkshire, to Bowness-on-Windermere, Cumbria) which is around 78.5 miles long. He uses the book 'The Dales Way' by Colin Speakman to aid his travels. Filmed also by P. Finch and G. Thackwray. ‘The Dales Way’ books are shown.
The film begins with a town, focus on a church and some flower beds. There are fields, and The...
A film by John Hawkridge (an enthusiastic hiker with Cerebral Palsy) showing his journey on the Dales Way walking route (which traditionally goes from Ilkley, West Yorkshire, to Bowness-on-Windermere, Cumbria) which is around 78.5 miles long. He uses the book 'The Dales Way' by Colin Speakman to aid his travels. Filmed also by P. Finch and G. Thackwray. ‘The Dales Way’ books are shown.
The film begins with a town, focus on a church and some flower beds. There are fields, and The Dales Way’ book is shown labelled ‘Day1’.
A map from the book is shown, and John and another man are ready for the hike with some hiking bags. John walks down some steps and then down a country road. Town buildings can be seen along with fields and a river with ducks swimming in it.
John is walking through a field. Country lanes and houses can be seen, and there is a signpost reads ‘Bolton Abbey’.
Large tree logs are piled up near more countryside buildings. There is another shot of the river and ducks, and John is seated at an outdoor table and having a drink.
More sense of countryside landscape, fields and water. John continues on his journey, walking downhill, though fields, and through a woodland. He lays over a rock to drink water from the river.
Water flows under a bridge. John sits with some of the luggage at the side of the river. More scenes of the countryside follow.
‘The Dales Way’ book is shown labelled ‘Day 2’. A map from the book is shown.
There is more footage of the scenic countryside as the hikers continue along the Dales Way. A signpost reads ‘Appletreewick’ in one direction, and the sign in the other direction is too burnt by the lighting out to read.
A white car is reverses next to a cafe. A jogger is shown runs across a suspension bridge over the river. A long bench is shown, with a plaque that reads ‘Coronation EIIR’, and the sun sets over a hill to end the second day.
‘The Dales Way’ book is shown labelled ‘Day 3’. A map from the book is shown.
John emerges from a red tent followed by more footage of the countryside and some rock formations. The river under a concrete bridge is shown, and John is sitting by the riverbank.
‘The Dales Way’ book is shown labelled ‘Day 4’. A map from the book is shown.
There is more footage of the scenic countryside as the hikers continue along the Dales Way. John walks down the road. Sheep are being sheared in pens, and the wool rolled into bundles. John watches this by the gate. A church and a graveyard are shown followed by scenic views of the countryside as John walks through fields. A red tractor drives through a field as the sunsets on day 4.
‘The Dales Way’ book is shown labelled ‘Day 5’.
There is more footage of the scenic countryside as the hikers continue along the Dales Way including fields of sheep. John walks down a stone cairn structure. There is a white building and signage for a campsite.
‘The Dales Way’ book is shown labelled ‘Day 6’. a map from the book is shown.
There is more footage of the scenic countryside as the hikers continue along the Dales Way including the George & Dragon Hotel Free House.
John and a group of women cross the street. The women are gathered around the Adam Sedgwick memorial stone/fountain. John walks through fields of sheep., and the sun sets on day 6.
‘The Dales Way’ book is shown labelled ‘Day 7’. A map from the book is shown.
John walks through a field. The man travelling with John is walks to a gate with the camping bags on his back. John looks at a signpost and carries on walking. The two signs on the signpost each read ‘Dalesway’. John stands watching a duck and ducklings swim down the river. He walks up a track by the main road. A cow is shown munching on grass.
‘The Dales Way’ book is shown labelled ‘Day 8’. A map from the book is shown.
A man and a woman are walking from their house to a small apiary with man-made beehives. The man opens the lid of a hive and inspects inside. Train tracks from overhead are shown. A diesel locomotive appears and travels down the track, pulling several carriages. Scenic countryside shots follow including footage of butterflies, ducks, and a man laying under a tree. There is a large stone building, possibly Burneside Hall, and the Jolly Anglers pub is shown before another sunset.
‘The Dales Way’ book is shown labelled ‘Day 9 - To Bowness’. A map from the book is shown.
A man with camping gear on his back walks down a country lane. Fields/landscape are shown. A man looks through a fence at a sheep. Cows are walking down the road. A man sweeps up a pathway. The man with the hiking bags smokes a cigarette. John is shown getting up off the grass from a sitting position. He continues on walking down a path in the hills and through fields.
Birds are shown in the grass, and a red squirrel is running over tree roots. John walks past some cars down the road. Later, he is laid on the floor. Buildings in a town are can be seen, including the Stag’s Head pub. John and the man with the bags walk down a busy street. There are boats sailing on a lake before a shot of John’s hiking boots.
‘The Dales Way’ book is shown, labelled ‘The End’.
A landscape shot is followed by a shot of the sunset.
Credits:
Filmed by P Finch
Filmed by G Thackwray
Filmed by J Hawkridge
A JH production
Context
John Hawkridge (1948-2020) was a disabled mountaineer who is well-known for his ambitious walks and climbs despite his condition - Cerebral Palsy. He was born in West Yorkshire and lived in the area most of his life. He has featured in documentaries and interviews, in addition to writing books about his experiences (including ‘Uphill all the Way’ and ‘Sticks and Stones: an Autobiography’). He chose his journeys based on what would give the best views and satisfactory scenery, so it is no...
John Hawkridge (1948-2020) was a disabled mountaineer who is well-known for his ambitious walks and climbs despite his condition - Cerebral Palsy. He was born in West Yorkshire and lived in the area most of his life. He has featured in documentaries and interviews, in addition to writing books about his experiences (including ‘Uphill all the Way’ and ‘Sticks and Stones: an Autobiography’). He chose his journeys based on what would give the best views and satisfactory scenery, so it is no surprise that he also liked to document these journeys on film so that they could be remembered. He has done many hikes, ranging from recommended local footpaths, to challenging expeditions at international mountains such as Mount Everest in 1988.
John was born on the 19th August 1948, and was one of the first pupils to attend Larchfield School in Harrogate, a Leeds Education Authority residential school for disabled children. During his stay at Larchfield, he was fitted with metal callipers (a type of leg brace) to aid his walking. John later moved to Potternewton Mansion School in Leeds as a day student. He received two bouts of experimental surgery in 1959 to attempt to straighten his legs, though this resulted in him ending up in a wheelchair and having to learn to walk again with the aid of crutches. In his autobiography, Sticks and Stones (1987), John describes how his interest in hiking and mountaineering began. Despite his admission that he had previously ‘detested’ walking, in September 1968 he attempted to climb the summit of Skiddaw: a mountain in the Lake District just outside of Keswick in Cumbria, which at the height of 3,054 feet tall is the sixth-highest peak in England. Though he describes this expedition as a failure, he returned the next year with better equipment and a few friends to further his hiking pursuits. In an interview with Richard Smith for the British Library’s oral history project - Speaking In an interview with Richard Smith for the British Library’s oral history project - Speaking for ourselves: an oral history of people with cerebral palsy – John discussed how he first began filming his hiking adventures. In the mid-1970s, John bought a good-quality Super8 cinecamera, which was a popular tool for amateur home-movie makers at the time. He would take it with him to film himself on hikes and rock climbs, and then would make the footage into little cine-films to show people whenever he was ‘entertaining’. By the late 1970s, John’s films had reached the notice of Yorkshire TV, who sent someone to look into making a film with him. In the above interview, John described how the director was really impressed with the content of the films, but said he was unable to show them or make a film out of them. As the director claimed, the public “wouldn’t be able to take it”, as John doing all of this walking without any help was not what people had come to expect regarding disabled people and their abilities. Despite the fact that John had already written several articles about his hiking for local magazines such as The Dalesman, and was well known around Yorkshire, it was apparent that the TV people were “frightened” of the image of disabled people he portrayed. (John Hawkridge Interviewed by Richard Smith, 09:03:24-09:06:19). As John needed both of his hands on his sticks when walking, he often brought friends along with him to do the filming. Most commonly he was accompanied by Graham Thackwray or Philip Finch, or sometimes both on different days of the same long hike. Besides The Dales Way, films of John’s hikes in the YFA collection include The Three Peaks of Yorkshire: YFA 6779 https://www.yfanefa.com/record/_peFMYpsOFPFyFxFMFpW, and Ascent of Scarfell Pike: YFA 6780 https://www.yfanefa.com/record/_1eF1rzHoFnFAFDFwFzp. The Dales Way is an 80-mile hike from Ilkley in West Yorkshire to Bowness-on-Windermere in Cumbria, which passes through the Yorkshire Dales National Park. The guidebook featured in the video, The Dales Way by Colin Speakman, is the very first guidebook made for the route, first published in 1970 by The Dalesman Publishing Company. Speakman, along with Tom Wilcock, created the Dales Way route when both were members of the Ramblers Association (who produced the other guidebook seen in the film). The Dales Way route joins together many existing riverside paths along rivers such as the Wharfe, the Lune, and the Dee, and passes landmarks such as the ruins of Bolton Abbey, which is pictured in the video (3:34). John undertook the Dales Way walk following his ascent of the Three Peaks in summer 1976 (the film of this walk is also in the YFA collection, see above). He had initially planned to undertake the Lyke Wake Walk, a 42-mile trek over the North Yorkshire moors, in December of the same year, but chose to end the journey early after a day and a half due to adverse conditions. The Dales Way was chosen for the next route as, although it was a much longer distance, it had better amenities and beautiful scenery. John and his companions began in Ilkley in the second week of July 1977, and arrived at the finish in Bowness 9 days later. The shots of John were filmed by his friends Graham Thackwray and Phil Finch. Graham filmed the first day, before Phil joined them and took over filming on the second day after Graham went home. John also notes in his autobiographies that the shots at the beginning of the film of the two men embarking on the journey (0:49) were filmed by Graham’s wife. Locations for filming were chosen along the way rather than planned in advance, as none of the walkers had done the route before. In his autobiographies, John gives an anecdote about the church seen in the video (13:13), and how a brief stop inside gave him the strength he needed to complete the walk: “Across the river from the George stood the Church of St Oswald dating back to the 12th century, a church I had attended on several occasions. I was now in a desperate state and needed help. My body was wearing out much too quickly for me to entertain any hope of completing the walk. I had covered only about one-third of the overall distance but my hands and feet were in a total state of disrepair. There was only one logical thing to do – pack in and give the whole thing up. My friends wondered why and how I kept going, and Phil began to realize that the possibility of completing the walk became more remote as each day passed. I was uncertain about what I should do, but from past experience I knew that life’s greatest and most satisfying achievements were not entirely based on logic. I knew that to reach the limits you somehow have to defy all sense of reason while managing to remail in full control of what you are doing. It was not the walk itself that was the challenge. The real challenge was to take myself to the limits of endurance, both physically and mentally. The walk was only a reasonable and enjoyable way of achieving this. However great the discomfort, it was always enjoyable. I loved the countryside and I loved the area and, however bad the pain, love is always enjoyable, although it is perhaps not until you no longer have it that you realize just how enjoyable it was. Nothing can transcend true love and my love for what I was doing was being put to the ultimate test. The church door was open and I entered. In a strange sort of way I had looked forward to this moment of tranquillity, solitude, and soul-searching. My faith was strong but I was under no illusion about the help I could expect. I sat down in my usual place and prayed. I needed help. A lot of help, and quickly. My dream was falling apart before it had hardly begun. In the cool, dark quietness I questioned my motives for doing the walk and what I hoped to achieve by it. What were my reasons? Then, for the first time, everything fell into place and I understood fully what my purpose was. A feeling of peace and trust came over me and I knew that, if I was being honest and kept faith, the strength to continue would keep coming. As I left the church I could feel a renewed determination, and was much better able to accept my physical deterioration. Very little in my life had been easy and this would be no different.” (John Hawkridge, Uphill All the Way, 147-148) Sources: John Hawkridge, Sticks and Stones: An Autobiography, Leeds: JH Productions; Bradford: Harvestime, 1987. John Hawkridge, Uphill all the Way, London: Penguin Books, 1991. Colin Speakman and Tony Grogan, 50 Years of the Dales Way, 2019, Shipley: Skyware Ltd, 2019. “John Hawkridge interviewed by Richard Smith,” audio recording, British Library, Speaking for ourselves: an oral history of people with cerebral palsy, Recording date: 2005-02-15, 2005-03-01, 2005-03-21, 2005-05-16, 2005-06-09, 2005-06-27, 2005-07-27, 2005-08-30, 2005-09-05, 2005-11-04 |
