The Yorkshire Film Archive collects, preserves, and shows film made in, or about Yorkshire. Our collections are non-fiction, dating from the 1890s to the present day, and providing a rich and visually compelling record of all aspects of lives, cultures, landscape, industries, major events and everyday activities, many of which are available to watch, free of charge, on our website.
This film is part of Free
Heinze Wolff and the 57 Tricycles
An archetypal eccentric professor is a fitting presenter for an equally eccentric and ingenious bunch of human powered mobile contraptions.
From the collection of:
Overview
Professor Heinz Wolff here takes time out from his BBC programme, the Great Egg Race, to present a programme on a one-off event, The Festival of Human Power, in Milton Keynes in 1985. Here are gathered a great assortment of odd and ingenious human powered machines, on land and water. Wolff and some of the contestants explain the aerodynamics and other principles behind the machines, mainly recumbent cycles and velomobiles, as well as the famous hydrofoil, the Flying Fish.
Heinz Wolff, a regular face on TV, here hosts a Yorkshire Television production. Wolff arrived in Britain with his family from Berlin fleeing from the Nazis in 1939, aged 11. He lays claim to having coined the term bioengineering, a field he initiated in the early 1950s, and has pioneered ever since. As well as developing technologies to help the aged, in his 80s, he has championed a form of community care. The Festival of Human Power took place on Saturday 31st August, with 90 bicycles and tricycles, including the Flying Fish, which performed the first sustained flight of a human-powered hydrofoil. Afterwards there was a symposium to discuss their inventions chaired by Professor Heinz Wolff.
Related
The Flaming Tar Barrels of Ottery St Mary The Flaming Tar Barrels of Ottery St Mary
News 1978 2 mins Silent Location: Ottery St Mary
Unique tradition of Ottery St Mary’s flaming tar barrels rolls on
Haggis Hurling Haggis Hurling
News 1980 6 mins Location: Belfast
Meet the president leading the haggis hurling revival and learn how delivering lunch became a sport for kilted gentlemen.
Pipe Smoking Contest Pipe Smoking Contest
News 1963 3 mins Silent Location: Rathfriland
A piano player, a magician or sandwiches, which would motivate you to smoke the longest?
Stuntwoman Human Cannonball Stuntwoman Human Cannonball
News 1975 3 mins Location: Knebworth Ho
Human Cannonball Mary Connors has the guts and determination of any Olympian, proving she really is a she performing at Knebworth House, 1975.
Cheese Rolling Cheese Rolling
News 1960 1 mins Silent Location: Cooper's Hill
Injuries abound as the annual cheese rolling at Cooper's Hill near Brockworth claims its usual victims.
Tug of War Tug of War
News 1975 5 mins Location: Leicester
Their training regime includes lifting a lump of concrete into a tree - meet the Leicester tug-of-war team preparing to take on the world.
Anglia Reports - Railways Transport Special Anglia Reports - Railways Transport Special
Documentary 1982 24 mins Location: Norwich
1982 was a particularly bad year for rail commuters, with five weeks of rail strikes to contend with. Anglia Television asks, “What shall we do with the railways system?”
Milton Keynes - A Village City Milton Keynes - A Village City
Cinemagazine 1973 8 mins Location: Milton Keynes
"The most exciting thing going on in Europe, if not the world": welcome to Milton Keynes circa 1973.
Milton Keynes and the area Milton Keynes and the area
News 1968 10 mins Silent Location: Milton Keynes
Anglia TV footage of the pre-existing towns and pretty North Bucks hamlets newly incorporated into the New Town Development of Milton Keynes. For TV transmission on 28 June 1968.
Getting it Back: The Story of Cymande - Q&A Getting it Back: The Story of Cymande - Q&A
Inside Film 2024 22 mins
The director of a documentary about British funk pioneers Cymande joins the band at BFI Southbank to talk about the film.
The West Case The West Case
Action and Adventure 1923 28 mins Silent Location: Tilbury
Plotting world domination, Devil Doctor Fu-Manchu steals plans for a new aero-torpedo in this earliest surviving thrill-a-minute serial instalment.
Enter the Scala!!! Enter the Scala!!!
Inside Film 2024 16 mins
Filmmakers Jane Giles and Ali Catterall discuss their documentary Scala!!!, revisiting the legendary and inspirational cinema venue and some of the most notorious films that screened there.
Blades Blades
Drama 2023 2 mins
A group of young Black boys run into a building. One of them is about to do the unimaginable.
We Collide We Collide
Romance 2023 2 mins
A queercore romance - a visceral and immersive exploration of the power of the mosh pit and finding love in the most unlikely of places.
Smith Smith
Charity appeal 1939 10 mins
Long thought lost, this Powell-directed promotional short for a veteran’s charity was only rediscovered in 2003.