Metadata
WORK ID: YFA 3522 (Master Record)
| Title | Year | Date |
| THIRD CENTURY: THE STORY OF YORKSHIRE POST | 1967-1970 | 1967-01-01 |
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Details
Original Format: 16mm Colour: Colour Sound: Sound Duration: 23 mins 33 secs Credits: Produced by Yorkshire Television in conjunction with the publicity department Yorkshire Post Newspapers Ltd. Subject: Industry Architecture |
| Summary This film covers the Yorkshire Post's move to the Wellington Street office. Produced by the Yorkshire Post Publicity Department, the film shows the different activities and range of stories across Yorkshire. It also examines the history of the Yorkshire Post and associated newspapers - Intelligencer and Mercury. The new office is under construction ... |
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Description
This film covers the Yorkshire Post's move to the Wellington Street office. Produced by the Yorkshire Post Publicity Department, the film shows the different activities and range of stories across Yorkshire. It also examines the history of the Yorkshire Post and associated newspapers - Intelligencer and Mercury. The new office is under construction, and the viewer is given a tour of the new building including spaces, presses, automatic loadings, and van delivery.
The film opens with a...
This film covers the Yorkshire Post's move to the Wellington Street office. Produced by the Yorkshire Post Publicity Department, the film shows the different activities and range of stories across Yorkshire. It also examines the history of the Yorkshire Post and associated newspapers - Intelligencer and Mercury. The new office is under construction, and the viewer is given a tour of the new building including spaces, presses, automatic loadings, and van delivery.
The film opens with a plane taking off.
Title - Third Century - The story of the Yorkshire Post Newspapers
There are aerial shots of the Yorkshire rural and urban landscapes before the film begins to speak about the history of the Yorkshire Post newspaper which has been reporting news since 1754. At the annual Literary Luncheon, which began in 1961, there are well-dressed men and women seated at long tables. Many of the attendees are smoking while they listen to the guest speaker, who as the commentary notes, was selected for both his wit and wisdom.
Pieces of artwork show Leeds in the 18th century when it was still a market town. The Leeds Intelligencer was the forerunner to the Yorkshire Post and was started in 1754. Later, in 1866 the paper because a daily. Over footage taken inside a wool factory, the commentary explains the important part Yorkshire played in the Industrial Revolution. There is also footage taken inside a steel factory.
1890 saw the beginnings of the Yorkshire Evening Post. There is footage of a steam train pulling out of the station and miners coming out of the pit after a day's work. A reporter from the newspaper is speaking to one of the managers about the change in industry, and the commentary points out that reporters travel all over to get a detailed and accurate news story. These stories are then relayed back to the editorial offices at the newspaper offices. Many women are seated at typewriters transcribing the news which is relayed to them.
Following this is an exterior shot of the Albion Street offices. Behind this building are thirteen smaller buildings which are also part of the newspaper offices. The commentary explains that in 1923, the Yorkshire Post took over Leeds Mercury. There are more scenes of the editorial offices followed by shots of the printing rooms, and the commentary points out that office planning is very important in the running of a newspaper. While the current offices may be a part of a beautiful and historic building, the building layout is not most efficient in today's running of a newspaper.
Demolition work began in in 1967, and construction vehicles can be seen at the demolition site. Then in September, 1968, construction of the new Yorkshire Post building began. Workers can be seen pouring the first parts of the building's foundations. It will be more like the modern architecture found in the city, some of which is highlighted. It is also noted that there is still room for historic buildings, and a photographer and reporter speak with a woman at a stately home.
The Yorkshire Post does not just cover news items, but sports also play an important part in the publication of the newspaper. Sports reporters can be seen in the reporter's box at a cricket match (possibly at Headingley,) and following this is a brief scene of a football match filmed from ground level (possibly at Elland Road.)
Early 1969 and the foundations have been completed at the Wellington Street offices, and 107 foot steel beams are being delivered. At the time, they were the largest steel beams made, and construction workers can be seen performing different tasks at the building site.
The film notes that the Yorkshire Post has many branch offices in the region and elsewhere, and more than just news is printed in its pages. Travel, fashion, TV programme guides, and puzzles are also included. Additionally, along with the Flowers for Leeds Committee, the Yorkshire Post sponsors the annual event. This year's winners are being presented with a trophy in their back garden.
Summer 1969 and the first part of the building has been completed. It is now time for the new, state of the art, printing presses to be installed. They are set up for a test run. Smoothly running presses are important as the paper must print on average 60,000 copies per hour.
September, 1970 and the transfer between buildings is complete. Within 18 hours, all vital machinery was transferred over without disruption any printing or distribution. Without skipping a beat, a reporter is currently interviewing a witness at a crime scene. He runs to a phone box to relay the story to the editorial offices at the new building. The copytakers are ready and waiting at their typewriters.
Following this, the film highlights the different parts of the new facilities. These include the new editorial hall, and the open-plan marketing department. There is an emphasis on spaciousness within the new building. The classified adverts department is the fastest growing with 40 female secretaries fielding 2000 calls per day. New machinery and equipment have also been installed throughout the offices. Some highlights include computerized typeset and automatic typecasters. All lines are still laid by hand. The film then shows many parts of the printing process including the plate castings being made and set up, photo printing and flexible plates for the press, proof reading offices, auto counters and packaging. It is noted that the Yorkshire Post uses 15,000 tons of paper a year to produce its newspapers.
In the loading bays, a man loads up his van to distribute the newspapers. The van drives along the motorway, and other delivery men are also seen. As the film comes to a close, the commentary notes how far the newspaper has come as it makes its way into its third century.
Title - Third Century
Produced by Yorkshire Television in conjunction with the publicity department Yorkshire Post Newspapers Ltd.
Context
Produced by Yorkshire Television and the Yorkshire Post Publicity Department, this film is part of the Armley Mills collection, donated by the Industrial museum in Leeds. Unsurprisingly like most films in this collection, this film focuses on industry within Yorkshire. Whereas other films of this collection are about heavy industries such as coal and iron, Into the Third Century looks at the newspaper industry. As such the film shows various activities relating to the Yorkshire Post....
Produced by Yorkshire Television and the Yorkshire Post Publicity Department, this film is part of the Armley Mills collection, donated by the Industrial museum in Leeds. Unsurprisingly like most films in this collection, this film focuses on industry within Yorkshire. Whereas other films of this collection are about heavy industries such as coal and iron, Into the Third Century looks at the newspaper industry. As such the film shows various activities relating to the Yorkshire Post. Yorkshire Television has been a force in local filmmaking since its creation in 1968, in addition to its role as a commercial broadcaster, Yorkshire Television often created promotional features and documentaries such as this one, to highlight interesting events in the region. This film in particular shows the history and recent developments of the Yorkshire Post.
As evidenced by the informative voice-over, this film is clearly a documentary one. As a joint effort by Yorkshire Television and the Yorkshire Post, the film effectively documents the construction of the Yorkshire Post’s new building, as well as giving a brief history of the paper, interspersed with the day to day running of the offices. Typically a film of this type would be made to commemorate a certain event or landmark, and this one is no different. As the title would suggest the Yorkshire Post has been around, in some shape or form for around 300 years. As the film shows, the Yorkshire Post is one of the oldest newspapers in the country, founded in 1754 by Johnston Press. Before it was the Yorkshire Post however, the paper was originally called the Leeds Intelligencer or the Leeds Intelligencer before 1765. The Intelligencer would eventually become the Yorkshire Post in 1866, which coincided with the change from a weekly newspaper to a daily one. The paper has clearly then served the Yorkshire region for a fair few centuries, and remains to this day politically right-wing. In fact after the name change in 1866, the paper contained a statement outlining its political alignment ‘the political principles of this journal are Conservative; while supporting every practical improvement, it will resist organic changes ... It will be at once conservative and progressive, a foe to democracy and revolution, but the firm friend of all constitutional reform.’ The paper has had an illustrious history, breaking momentous stories such as the 1936 abdication crisis, and at its peak sold more than 120,000 copies a day, yet the Paper’s glory days are far behind it. Like many regional newspapers The Yorkshire Post has not been immune to the economic downturn of recent years, and with the dominance of online news outlets often available for free, regional newspapers are facing dire times. Declining sales and the loss of advertising revenue has led to the loss of thousands of jobs throughout the sector, perhaps most notably the axing of the paper’s editor in 2004 in favour of a ‘director’, presumably to help the paper adapt to the difficult market. The Paper and it’s publishers have somewhat succeeded in adapting to a predominantly internet focused market, with the Yorkshire Post having its own website, yet copies a day of the physical paper had dropped to 40,000 by 2012. Arguably the centrepiece of the film is the Yorkshire Post’s new building on Wellington Street. Officially opened in 1970 by Prince Charles, the building housed both the Yorkshire and Evening Posts for a little over 40 years, only recently getting demolished. In 1970 the building housed over 1,300 staff, whilst at the time of demolition held around 400. The grey concrete bunker-like building was a prime example of ‘60s ‘Brutalism’ architecture. These days Brutalism is almost synonymous with the ‘60s and the post war period in general, its concrete constructs often seen as simple, effective and cheap, even if seen by many as almost dystopian. The Yorkshire Post building was not the only example of Brutalism in Leeds however. Other notable examples include Leeds University’s Roger Stevens Building, Leeds International Pool and the offices of the Merrion Centre. Leeds is widely regarded as one of the best examples of Brutalism in the UK, yet clearly this does not mean they are immune to demolition. Many have lamented the loss of, what is in essence, Leeds’s architectural heritage, for example Christopher Beanland’s article in for The Guardian is effectively a love letter to Leeds’s relationship with Brutalism. Into The Third Century has examples of not only the newspaper industry, but an array of other industries. As the narrator points out, Yorkshire has had a long history with industry, and played a key role in the industrial revolution, it should come as no surprise then that the film shows different aspects of industry in the region. Leeds especially was an industrial powerhouse. As Mick McCann notes,’ Leeds is a city built from textiles’, textiles which were invaluable to the industrial revolution. A major figure in the industrial revolution and the textile industry was Benjamin Gott, a Leeds born industrial magnate, whose Armley mill (which would eventually become the very museum which donated this film) was the largest in the world in 1805. Gott was a pioneer during the revolution, innovating new methods and techniques such as power looms and hydromechanics in general. Indeed Gott became a leading figure in both civic and industrial life, as Margaret Jacob notes ‘Gott’s expertise was sought out by imitators and rivals alike’. Evidently then Gott was an important figure not only for the industrial revolution but Leeds in general, even going on to be the city’s mayor in 1799. References The Yorkshire Post, The Leeds Intelligencer Christopher Beanland, Farewell to Leeds’ 60s Architecture Adam Newton, The Brutalist Architecture of Leeds Jayne Rodgers, Beautiful Brutalism Suzanne Graham, Discovering Leeds, 1750-1850 Mick McCann, Leeds, A City Built From Textiles Margaret C. Jacob, The First Knowledge Economy: Human Capital and the European Economy, 1750-1850, Cambridge University Press, 2014 Mark Sweney, Yorkshire Post publisher scraps editors’ posts on regional Newspapers Paul Linford, ABC figures: How the regional dailies performed |
