An extremely memorable, enjoyable and moving film has been made by a team from the Gallery Youth project and film maker Harry Henderson to celebrate Alnwick’s traditional Shrove Tuesday football match. The 15 minute film is called 'The Lads and Lasses of Alnwick: Shrove Tide Football 2012,' the words of the traditional toast made by the organising Committee in the John Bull pub after the match, which is captured in the final scene. It has been made as part of the People’s Record for the Olympic Year, along with a series of over 40 excellent documentary photos by Andrew Tunnard. Sound recordings for the film and a series of fascinating oral histories provided by participants have been recorded with the support of audio editor James Boyd. The film, photos and recordings will be at the heart of a new exhibition at the Bailiffgate Museum, opening on 4h May 2012. The exhibition will run until 29th May 2012.
The film includes footage of the rituals of the day and the match itself, from the ceremony in the castle with St Cloud’s students making pancakes for the committee, to the Duke throwing the ball from the Barbican and the procession to the pastures. It goes behind the scenes to reveal what happens in the committee tent where officials organise the match and includes interviews with young people taking part, both male and female, students from the St Cloud State Centre for British Studies and adult men and women who have been involved, including their opinions on the value of heritage and tradition to the community and the ongoing legacy for future generations. Finally it shows the ball being retrieved from the river, the presentation of medals and certificates and the toasts in the John Bull. In addition to the film, oral histories and the photographic record made during the 2012 football match, there will also be historic documents and photos from the past on display.
Work from an event at the Museum, produced by children from Alnwick South School and filmmaker Harry Henderson, will also form part of the exhibition. And photographer Andrew Tunnard will be talking about “The Representation of Culture and Heritage within Contemporary Photography” on Thursday 24th May at 7pm.
The film, documentary photos and oral histories will be uploaded onto the national website for the People’s Record Community Projects as part of the Cultural Olympiad Project, so this unique record of Alnwick’s Shrovetide football match will become part of a national archive for future generations. The People’s Record has been collecting stories of sporting events and projects across the UK in the run up to the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympic Games, funded by Arts Council England.
The Bailiffgate Museum would like to invite anyone who has a photo from any Shrove Tuesday match to bring it along, put it on the community display board in the exhibition and donate it to the Museum’s archives.
No comments:
Post a Comment