What an utterly beguiling piece of nostalgia, haunting music and calm narration, the ominous blare of the Viking horn and the beautiful mix of countryside and coastal scenery. This was my favourite public information film and i would always stop whatever i was doing on hearing those opening notes, to gaze in wonderment at a world that seemed so distant from the bricks and mortar of my inner-city confines, strangely drawn to a faraway and yet oddly familiar time and place.
The past is definitely another country,peaceful,magical,mystical.I remember being transported to this beautiful forever summer place as a child from a 1970s living room, a land of Vikings,witches and kings.The narrators voice gives it a haunting warmth which entices you to step through the looking glass and to live life with gay abandon among the flora and fauna.I yearn to go back to how i looked at the world as a child even if it were just for a second so i may purge myself of the bleak cynical view of the world i hold today.It's quite ironic is it not that the most iconic piece of modern technology which we have today of which i despise the most(the internet)is the very thing that has brought me back to a forgotten dream.I don't know. whats it all about?
Jacob Freemans. Your thoughts on this wonderful clip beautifully and perfectly sums up the magical feelings of many I'm sure who were fortunate to grow up 'as a child from a 1970s living room'. Thank you.
you are so right Jacob ,ive been searching for this clip for years ,with only a patchy recollection of it but it left a deep impression on me ,im just happy other people feel the same.
Wow,I can hardly believe I have found this clip and watched it probably more than forty years after I last saw it. A couple of years ago I was tantalized by the short audio sample used by Belbury Poly,but frustratingly,not remembering the name of the clip,could not find it in its entirety. What a great atmosphere and what great memories come flooding back watching this.Absolutely wonderful !!
This week I finally did the coastal section of this walk, over forty years after seeing this film. Why did I wait so long to see how staggeringly beautiful my home region is?
Loved watching these short films (from the Dept of the Environment?) all those years ago in the 70s. I seem to recall that they often used to show them on BBC 1 on Saturday around midday - just before start of Grandstand. The only other one that I can find is the film about St. Mawes and Pendennis Castles. Great to see and hear them again.
there's one on the Ridgeway path also. I love these films. best thing about Saturday TV in the 70s. I'm sure I remember one about the civil war and maybe Warwick castle. peaceful informative and electric.
I loved these little movies, beautifully shot, and soundtracked. My kid brother, however, was terrified of the bits where you see a ruined castle, and battle sound effects are heard. He told me when he was older, that he thought it was ghosts.
I'm sure there were more of these. Certainly there was the Ridgeway Path but I'm sure there was one abot York. These used to be on before Grandstand years ago.
It's Lovely to see The Old Public information Films That was Shown on BBC1 During the 1970s Before Grandstand. One Love To See is The one Of The Late Sheila Steafal Letting Strangers in the House When she was in the Frontroom wiping Her Coffee Table Humming To Herself
Celebrating the Cleveland Way's 50th birthday this year ,we are only just over the hill from the stretch between Helmsley and Sutton Bank at www.carrhousefarm.co.uk. Nothing much has changed ,the Abbey and the Castle are still there and we have some amazing views to share.
Isn't it amazing I often wondered about these old films from 70s or 80s they were inspirational to us blundering teenagers with an urge to explore the wild
I saw this on TV loads in the 70s on boring Sundays waiting for children's programs to come on. It convinced me that witches were REAL too, they said so on TV! I think I might actually go there next week on my 2 weeks off work!
@melmau1 it was on here but its been removed. it is the one though, you here the horses hooves galloping then you see the rider appear and as the camera turns the horsemans gone. also has the girl walking the path and disappears. I remebered it so well and last yr i decided to walk the path. if you really want to see it its on a dvd called Charlie says, a compilation of old public information films, well worth a watch.
I've got these PIFs on the Charley Says DVD, the one about the Ridgeway Path is narrated by Bill Owen of Last of the Summer Wine fame. John Hurt, also sadly no longer with us, narrated that one about the Cleveland Way.
I, I, I don't get it. WTF is this, Hinterland Who's Who? I thought you Brits were better than this when it came to 70s PIFs. Where's the death and horror? Where's the Austin/Morris with a drunk driver plowing into the hikers? Or the abbey burning to the ground because the monks left cigarettes burning? Joe & Petunia not calling the Coastguard for drowning Vikings? One of the jockeys in armor, slashing the announcer's throat with a sword? Or those WITCHES?! Hmm, there's a good PIF right there!
I want to steal the hippy girlfriend away from the Che Guevara lookalike at 1:15 and marry her. I bet she looks like one of Pans People without the outdoor clobber on, and she obviously likes rolling around in the heather too.
