Filmography

If you are interested in the availability of any programme please contact us. If you want a copy of the Fred Dibnah documentaries, then you can obtain them through the section of this website entitled "Fred Dibnah: The Untold Story". 

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'The Last Weapon' was an anti-war book written by Theodora Wilson Wilson in 1916. It was banned by the government and they attempted to destroy every book in circulation.  The book had become very popular and, apart from being anti-war, was extraordinarily prophetic about a nuclear future. The government failed to destroy every copy and this film was part of a campaign to re-publish the book and the film seeks to use crowdfunding to bring this about. Produced in November 2019. You can see a trailer below, contact us if you are interested. All proceeds will be dedicated to a republication of the book.

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'The Memory Makers Project', financed locally and organised events to help local people come together after the experience of the floods. This initiative brought together archive photographic collections, together with entertainment and Nick was involved with the oral history aspect of the events, which entailed interviewing local people about their past and a number of short films were made from the material.  Produced in 2017/2018.

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Floods Again', made as a fund-raising exercise to help local people, comprised collected memories from local people in Hebden Bridge and Mytholmroyd of the floods on Boxing Day 2015, thought to be the deepest ever that people in the Calder Valley had experienced. Produced in March 2016.  

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'Give us back our Catchment' was a campaign documentary, also about the 2015 flood. This was the third major flood to hit the valley in three years since the two large ones in 2012 and the film examined why the millions of pounds spent by the Environment Agency had failed to prevent one of the largest ones to ever hit the locality and suggests that local people are more experienced about their own catchment than the Environment Agency and have a better idea about what needs to be done to protect the area.  Completed in December 2016. 

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Grave Concerns: Ian Dewhirst, historian and raconteur, brings vividly and hilariously to life the turbulent and often tragic history of Haworth in Victorian times, painting a dramatically lucid picture of the small industrial town that the Bronte sisters knew as home. He uses the churchyard graves as a link to the past and tells tales with a wicked sense of dark humour, a subtle poignancy and an aptitude for storytelling.

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Hebden Bridge: A 700 Year Story (and how it was nearly lost) (2015) Telling the story of the evolution of Hebden Bridge over seven centuries, this film documentary shows the part that the Calder Civic Trust and local people played in saving the town from demolition in the 1960s and helped to shape it since and preserve its heart. To be screened at Hebden Bridge Picture House on May 2 at 5pm.

 

Fred Dibnah: The Unseen Story (2014-???) When the BBC stopped filming what the late steeplejack and television personality Fred Dibnah amusingly called "The Fred Dribble Saga", he asked us to film the continuation of it. The resulting series features the story of his life with Sheila, his charismatic widow, his later work and passion for his back garden, his final chimney drop, and his battle with cancer. 12 episodes. If you are interested in purchasing these documentaries, please see the dedicated section of this website.

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The Stoodley Pike Bicentenary (2014) A short documentary following the day's events at Stoodley Pike celebrating its 200th year since its initial construction.

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The Saving of Fred Dibnah's Mill Chimney (2012) A documentary following efforts to repair and preserve the chimney in Fred Dibnah's back garden, now a Heritage Centre.

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John Bright and The Angel of Death: Bicentenary Edition (2011) An updated version of this film we originally produced in the early 90s, in celebration of the bicentenary of his birth.

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Hebden Royd At The Movies (2010) A live presentation at Hebden Bridge Picture House celebrating films that have been made in the local and surrounding area, with the intention of enhancing knowledge of Helen Of Four Gates, a near-forgotten silent Cecil Hepworth film made in the area - which was based upon a novel by Ethel Carnie Holdsworth, who wrote it while living in the area - and with the hope of raising enough funds for restoring the film and having it screened at Hebden Bridge Picture House. It was a successful endeavor.

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A Calder Valley Christmas (2009) Having had its premiere at Hebden Bridge Picture House, this is a fun and festive celebration of winter traditions and rituals ancient and new, surviving and lost.

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Moore and Moorcock: Live in London (2006) Prolific author Michael Moorcock celebrated the release of his novel The Vengeance of Rome by talking to the cult graphic novelist Alan Moore at The Vanbrugh Theatre in London. The conversation ranges from WW2 to modern politics to literary preferences and the art of writing.

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Heptonstall: A Village of Memories (2006) Nick Wilding takes you on a fascinating journey into the past of the ancient Anglo-Saxon village of Heptonstall, a rich source of preserved history where the tales of characters long gone provide humour, excitement, intrigue and pathos. 20 years in the making, this was a labour of love for Nick and Excalibur.

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Bouncing Back and Driving Forward (2005) Gabriel Wilding made his directorial debut with this documentary about the Halifax Table Tennis Centre. The project was Excalibur’s donation to the registered charity to help it gain funding to remain open and continue its contribution to the local area.

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Race Through Time (2004) Let Donald, Lloyd and Doris take you on an excellent adventure through the declining years of the industrial revolution in the Calder Valley. Nick Wilding broke free from the conventions of documentary to create this popular, hilarious, fascinating and enjoyable story of how life changed throughout the 20th century.

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Sacred Place: Ted Hughes and the Lost Culture of the Calder Valley (2003)

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The Michael Gibbon Collection (2003) A remarkable artist whose work has drawn comparisons with Salvador Dali, Michael Gibbon's fine art wood carvings offer a glimpse of the power that this diminishing art form still commands. This film gives Gibbon the chance to reflect and talk about each of his creations and celebrate the permanent housing of his work at The University of Worcester.

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A Tale of Two Towns (2000) a chronicle of Hebden Bridge and Mytholmroyd produced to celebrate the millennium; two communities facing the future with different problems. The reminiscences of many local people evoke the past with poignant stories.

Calderdale 2000: A Bridge Across the Generations (2000)

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Not Just Anytown: 2000 years of Rochdale (1999)

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Ellenroad: The Story of a Lancashire Cotton Mill (1998) The only remaining complete mill power plant of it's type in the world, the Ellenroad engine house offers a glimpse of the remarkable steam engines used in the mid-19th century to drive the machinery of cotton mills across the North West of England. The important Whitelees Beam Engine of 1842 is preserved and demonstrated in its original, unaltered state.

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Lakes and Legends Series (1998)

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Reclaiming the Future (1997)

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The Growing Image: Life Drawing with Alan Gummerson (1997) Carefully freeing the artist from the rigid, academic practices of life

drawing, the extensively experienced practicing artist and teacher Alan Gummerson explains and demonstrates a liberating approach in this hour-long programme.

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Urban Oasis: Reclaiming our inner cities (1996) The residents of a Salford high-rise were inspired by David Bellamy create a garden out of the concrete jungle that surrounds them.

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Operation Snowdrop (1996)

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The Face of Tragedy (1996) Using compelling performances by the Actors of Dionysus (AOD), The Face of Tragedy stylishly brings to life

key scenes from the timeless tragedies of Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides, including Oedipus the King, Agamemnon, Medea and

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Electra. The AOD take each scene and explore the very idea of what defines a tragic hero.

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Paint Along with Arthur Craven (1994) A series of, at the time, radical interactive videos following painter Arthur Craven as he paints a picture of the beautiful contiguous Pennine landscape with a step-by-step guide by the artist to the technique required to paint along with him.

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Brighton Evacuees 1941 (1994)

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Sara Maitland: In Conversation (1994) Sara Maitland explores her writing, life and very individual spiritual and philosophical convictions. she discusses myth cycles and fairy tales as sources of material, her kindred relationship with Angela Carter and her extraordinary experience of working with Stanley Kubrick.

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Blake Morrison: In Conversation (1993) Blake Morrison discusses growing up in Yorkshire, the relationship with his parents and sometimes hard choices made on the way to a literary career. He discusses poetry and it's true relevance as an instrument of comment and change in the modern world.

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Learning For Life (1993) Celebrating the 150th year since the Rochdale pioneers started the co-operative movement, this video was made to show the influential part that the town played in the history of adult education in Britain.

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The Birth of the Supertram (1992)

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John Bright and the Angel of Death (1991)

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Bright Ideas (1990)

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John Bright: Hero or Villain? (1989)

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Rochdale Rushbearing (1988)

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Journey of a Lifetime (1987)