The Dalesman team’s favourite Yorkshire films

The Dalesman team share with you our much-loved Yorkshire films, characterised as such by either being filmed or set in our county’s regions. Of course, there are too many to cover in a list of eleven, but hopefully this will have you considering your own favourite films and their Yorkshire links!

THE RAILWAY CHILDREN (1970)

Made in West Yorkshire, this classic utilised the Keighley and Worth Valley railway, noticeably the stretch between Keighley and Oxenhope. The Edwardian-style Oakworth station held a starring role, and north of the station Bents Farm stood in for the ‘Three Chimneys’. The village of the film was Haworth, while the doctor’s house was the renowned Brontë Parsonage Museum! Mytholmes Tunnel was used for the paper chase scene and the famous landslide, where the girls warned the train with their petticoats.

KES (1969)

Suburban streets in South Yorkshire form the film’s backdrop: Parkside Road in Hoyland and Lewis Road in Lundwood. Skiers Spring Colliery, where Jud worked, was just south of Hoyland. When Jud and Billy’s mum enjoyed some drinks at Dard’s, they were truly there in the (now closed) Cudworth pub, north-east of Barnsley. Tankersley and Leeds also feature in the film, the former in farmland off Black Lane (when Billy finds a kestrel’s nest) and the latter as a second-hand bookshop in Queen’s Square.

HARRY POTTER (2001-2011)

This popular franchise has many Yorkshire filming locations. Goathland Station on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway was the setting of ‘Hogsmeade Station’. Malham Cove featured in Deathly Hallows Part One as somewhere Harry and Hermione camped on their journey to find horcruxes. York Station is a mini-location, in that only its footbridge featured in the first film, when Hagrid gave Harry his ticket and magically disappeared. The Shambles in York has also been noted as a direct inspiration for Diagon Alley.

THE FULL MONTY (1997)

Set in 1990’s Sheffield, this comedy film starring Robert Carlyle and Mark Addy was filmed in and around the very real city of Sheffield. Sheffield and Tinsley Canal is where Gaz and Dave get stranded atop a sinking car, Sanderson Special Steels is the closed steelworks, Shiregreen Working Men’s Club stood in for the fictitious Millthorpe WMC, and the current Sheffield Boxing Centre was the film’s school and job centre.

YANKS (1979)

Select Yorkshire locations featured in the film, with many others filmed in Saddleworth – a civil parish historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire. A scene of GI trucks climbing a steep hill was filmed at Southowram Bank, while filming also occurred outside a Type 24 WW2 pillbox attached to a former Royal Ordnance Factory in Steeton. The emotional final scene, where the troops board their train to the front, was filmed at Keighley railway station; an authentic Second World War locomotive was used especially.

RITA, SUE AND BOB TOO (1987)

This risque comedy-drama film was set and filmed in Bradford, spread across various suburban locations. The very first scene depicted The Beacon pub, now demolished, on Reevy Road West, while the residential area of Buttershaw was home to Rita’s house, Sue’s flat and the local school. Baildon is the site of Bob’s house and the film’s moorland scenes. And, on a school trip, the class visits Haworth and the Brontë Parsonage Museum!

DAMNED UNITED (2009)

The sports-drama film followed Brian Clough’s time at Leeds United, and did so across many Yorkshire locations, including Headingley Stadium. The car park outside Elland Road was dressed to look like Leeds’ training ground; the former Bradford Central Police Station was used for the interior shots of the Elland Road board room, players’ lounge and manager’s office; filming in Scarborough was used in place of Brighton. Recreations of TV interviews, though, were filmed at the original locations – Yorkshire Television Studios in Leeds!

AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON (1981)

A comedy-horror werewolf film, this production saw two American backpackers trekking across the moors in Yorkshire, where they were attacked by a vicious beast. However, none of the film was actually shot in Yorkshire! Instead, Wales stood in for our glorious county. The North York Moors were replaced by the Black Mountains of South Wales – a stunning location, but not likely to displace ‘God’s Own County’ anytime soon.

CALENDAR GIRLS (2003)

Starring Helen Mirren and Julie Walters, and based on a true story about a group of Yorkshire women, this comedy used the North Yorkshire village of Kettlewell for its fictitious village, Knapely. This included shots of the now iconic bridge across Kettlewell Beck, and the village hall. Other Yorkshire spots were Cow and Calf Rocks in Ilkley, Burnsall as the location of the annual village show, and The Tennants Arms, Kilnsey hosted the men awaiting the production of the calendar, as well as the later press conference.

BRASSED OFF (1996)

Set in ‘Grimley’, a thin veil was drawn over the actual location of this film: the South Yorkshire village of Grimethorpe. The entrance to Grimethorpe Colliery was the exact spot where Danny collapsed in the film. Perhaps the most notable Yorkshire spot featured in the film is Halifax’s The Piece Hall; the brass band championship was filmed there and it was surely a fitting choice of location for the musical competition.

WUTHERING HEIGHTS (1992)

The adaptation of Emily Brontë’s novel centred itself around North Yorkshire. This particular Wuthering Heights building was located north of Grassington, and the palatial Broughton Hall (north of Skipton) stood in for Thrushcross Grange – home of Edgar Linton. Heathcliff worked in the tithe barn of the seventeenth-century manor house, East Riddlesden Hall, Keighley, while the narrative’s wild moors were filmed around Malham Cove. Aysgarth Falls set the scene for Cathy and Heathcliff’s declarations of love.