London’s Screen Archives enables Londoners see their past come alive on film. Managed by Film London, we are a unique network of historic film collections that cares for, collects and screens heritage film across the city. Together we preserve London’s rich film heritage from feature films to home movies, public information films, newsreels, and records of the capital’s many different industries.
This film is part of Free
The Hillingdon Show
Were you there? Women motorcycle acrobats and crime-fighting female police officers show how it's done at Hillingdon Show.
From the collection of:
Overview
Enjoy the spectacular Hillingdon Show in this family film from the early 1970s. First up are a couple of health and safety nightmares: a squad of women motorcycle acrobats and a daredevil military attraction that invites civilians to climb the tower at their own risk. A highlight is a martial-art-style demonstration by feisty female police officers who wrestle male attackers to the ground in an impressive display of force.
This unique footage of the Hillingdon Show in 1973 demonstrates the variety of events it encompassed from a military exercise where soldiers construct a make-shift bridge to show jumping, sheep dog trials and marching bands. As well as countryside pursuits, there are exhilarating and large-scale demonstrations such as a daredevil who races through a ring of fire on his motorbike and a mass gymnastics display in the warm sun. The show, usually held in June, began as the Uxbridge and District Horticultural Show in 1909 before becoming the Hillingdon Show in 1965. This film is from the collection of Hillingdon Local Studies, Archives and Museum Service, a member of the London's Screen Archives Network.
Related
Watch for free
Movements Recollected Movements Recollected
Animation & Artists Moving Image 1999 22 mins Location: Beragh
A young artist's journey of self-discovery; an odyssey through rural Northern Ireland to the cities on London and Milan
Watch for free
Fallen Heroes Fallen Heroes
Non-Fiction 1918 1 mins Silent Location: Hillingdon
A war shrine is unveiled in Hillingdon by one of Britain’s leading wartime politicians
Watch for free
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.
Watch for free
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.
Watch for free
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.
Watch for free
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.
Watch for free
An Airman's Letter to His Mother An Airman's Letter to His Mother
Documentary 1941 6 mins
A poignant, stirring letter from a recently deceased pilot to his mother is read by John Gielgud.
Watch for free
The NHS75 Celebration The NHS75 Celebration
Short documentary 2023 3 mins
Former Bristol Poet Laureate, Miles Chambers reads a poem specially commissioned for the 75th anniversary of the NHS.