New film celebrates the Queen's Platinum Jubilee with archive footage from her Yorkshire visits
Video report by Sarah Clark
A new film featuring fascinating archive footage of the Queen’s visits to Yorkshire has been made as part of celebrations for the Platinum Jubilee.
Staff at the Yorkshire Film Archive spent the last four months searching through over 130 reels of material to create the documentary, “Seen To Be Believed”, which takes an affectionate look at how people in Yorkshire celebrated coronations, jubilees and royal visits through the decades.
The film’s title draws inspiration from a famous remark by the Queen, "I have to be seen to be believed". It looks through the lens at street parties and pageants, bunting, banners and flag waving, and discovers what the Royal Family, and the Queen in particular, mean to the people of our region.
It features a mix of footage from both professional and amateur filmmakers in Yorkshire.
William 'Billy' Ibberson, was Master Cutler in Sheffield when the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh visited the city in 1954. He was a passionate amateur filmmaker and some of the footage from his collection features in "Seen To Be Believed", including shots of thousands of Sheffield schoolchildren creating a massive Union Jack formation for the Queen on the pitch at Hillsborough.
His son Charles recalls how his father's encounter with the Queen went down in family folklore. William Ibberson presented her with a pair of commemorative pocket knives, and following tradition, the Royal couple gave him a penny each in return.
The documentary by the Yorkshire Film Archive is available for community groups to hire as part of their Platinum Jubilee celebrations.
Did you spot yourself in the footage? Or have you met the Queen? We'd love to hear your stories.
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