In 1938 the world stood on the brink of war – and Haslingden got trounced in the Lancashire League. Images portraying both events are captured on a stunning 15-minute film made by the Rossendale Free Press all that time ago ... and you can see it here.
The film which has sat in the archives at Rawtenstall Library for half a century has been uncovered by the North West Film Archive at Manchester Metropolitan University.
Collections assistant Geoff Senior belives it provides a fascinating insight into the early days of film-making and life in the Valley at one of the most pivotal moments of the 20th Century.
Geoff said: "The film features a compilation of events in the Rossendale area.
"Half the film is about the cricket and the other half features the mayor making ceremony in Crawshawbooth and the Armistice Day service in Rawtenstall.
"There are some quite poignant scenes of the First World War memorial surrounded by people digging air raid precaution trenches.
"They’re remembering one war, but preparing for the next at the same time."
See the full, 16-minute silent film below ...
The majority of the film is taken up with the nailbiting climax of the cricket season.
In September 1938 there were four teams tied for first place in the Lancashire League.
The film has footage from the final play-off, where Haslingden were beaten by Todmorden by an innings and 71 runs.
Geoff said: "They were well and truly slaughtered.
"The actual action shots are a bit hit and miss.
"You don’t see any wickets.
"They could only film for six minutes at a time.
"They wouldn’t have been able to get the camera set up at the right moment to see a wicket, it would have all been down to luck."
Cinema owners would often commission film makers to produce local news items to show in the cinema.
They would aim to get local people in the shot so they would go and watch themselves at the cinema.
There are lots of crowd shots in the cricket scenes for this reason.
The silent, black and white film was shot by the Rossendale Free Press on 16mm film.
It’s unclear where the films would have been shown, as most cinemas used 35mm film projectors.
Geoff said: "Whether they had them shown in local cinemas or to local clubs and groups I just don’t know.
"Maybe the Free Press had access to a cinema with 16mm facilities, or perhaps they went into local church halls."
Geoff added that the film is of a high quality compared with others from the same era.
He said: "The quality is pretty good, it’s not too bad at all.
"They must have had access to a graphics department somewhere because the titles are a lot more upmarket than most other films from around the same time.
"They’ve been done by somebody with a bit of flair."
The history of the film itself is a mystery.
In 1989 Rawtenstall Library passed it on to the North West Film Archive for preservation, but it is not clear how Rawtenstall Library came to be in possession of the film.
The team at the NWFA catalogued it and the film was forgotten about until cricket historian Nigel Stockley requested a copy of it for his Lancashire League website earlier this year.
Geoff said: "I would imagine it has been produced not with any long-term aim, it’s just been produced to be shown a few times and forgotten about.
"How it ended up at Rawtenstall Library is bit of a mystery, as no records came with it.
"It wasn’t very common for videos to be made by newspapers.
"There’s a very nice one made by the Stockport Express on the issue of whether parks and gardens should be opened on Sundays during wartime.
"But that was for a specific campaign.
"A newspaper producing a newsreel like this one is quite unusual."
The cricket match was shot on September 10, 12 and 13, 1938, while the Armistice Day footage is from November, meaning that the 15-minute film covers events from a three-month period.
Tantalisingly, one of the end titles reads ‘Look out for further Free Press films showing local events’, raising the possibility that there may be more films out there.
Geoff said: "Perhaps they did three or four of the films a year.
"I imagine from the title at the end of the film that there would have been more of these made.
"I think there’s probably someone out there who would remember it.
"That would be very interesting to know if we could find that information."
Do you remember seeing films made by the Free Press in 1938? Can you shed any further light on the mystery of the films? If so, please contact Paul Harvey – telephone him on 0161 211 2958.
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Is this film in HD 1080p with dolby 7.1 & will it work in my blu-ray player?
The Free Press film brought back (mostly) happy memories. I remember seeing the trenches being dug in the memorial gardens while I was on my way to St Mary's school. We had a trench dug outside the school. The only person I could definitely recognise in the crowd scenes was the Town Clerk, who I think was called Mr Isherwood, though I think I caught a glimpse of 'Carrie' Whitehead -- a formidable character at the time.
Many thanks, Free Press.
Gordon from Lewes
It may be of further interest to know that events concerning life in the valley from the late 1940's have been accurately recorded in several books by LMScott, they are "The Golden Age of Steam." "The Princess Anne. and " Rail Revelations," Followed by two new editions of "Beautiful Britain" especially written and published in luxury format for Her Majesty the Queen's Golden Jubilee in 2002 with direct Royal approval.
It is believed by some that the the engine-men of the Rossendale Valley were of little importance and just travelled short distances, but in fact they were of prime importance in the wars against Germany, and they travelled far and wide immediately after the war, it was then that the rogue assett strippers moved in, demolished the progress of over a hundred years and stealing selling everything possible.
Engine Driver Len Yarwood was only one of the Valley men devoted to serving his country and he actually drove the one and only Turbomotive; with a coal train from Yorkshire into Manchester. And Bacup Engineman Tommy Burke; actually drove a massive Black Five engine with a very long train on the main line, and he was only a passed cleaner at the time. (Read the true stories!)
But even better, see them for yourself, because Rossendale Libraries has already obtained D.V.D copies of the books for public distribution, and individual copies will be available from myself, before Christmas of this year. A marathon task of over half a century; beginning with a black lead pencil and scrap paper completed at last.
That was a sizeable crowd spectating the cricket final. My how the mighty television has taken over!
The scene at the armistice day service was very poignant with the trenches all around. It must have made a very sombre event even more so. Interestingly there was a huge amount of middle aged women paying their respects. I imagine they were all remembering someone very close from the Great War.
The Mayor's day at Crawshawbooth showed many different voluntary organisations represented in the march. Curious how we don't see anything like that anymore.
WOW what good stuff for the year.
John G