Right of Way

After seeing him mentioned on a Bishop’s Transcript held in Gloucestershire Archives, Dan goes for a walk in the woods in search of Daniel, a man buried in Nympsfield on the 31st December 1719 and described on the document as ‘a black stranger’. Whilst walking, Dan talks directly to Daniel, speculating about the parallels between him and his namesake and wrestling aloud with the problems that come with trying to read the archive at face value and fill in its gaps.

Pastoral Malaise is a meditative reflection on the absences found in rural pastoral environments, that are often framed by a false romanticism and picturesque conventions, constructed as tourist sites within rural landscapes across Britain. Inspired by Una Marson’s poem Spring In England and Dorris Henderson’s 1965 cover of the popular British folk song One Morning In May, the film recalls an imagined relationship to the English landscape told through memories and speculative histories.

Syncopated Green reflects on the history of outdoor free parties in the English countryside, using rave music, past and present, to help forget the ‘official’ portrayal of England as picturesque, nostalgic, white, and rural. The film invites rave music into the English landscape – turning imperial history inside out. Somewhere between a music video, a memoir and an essay, it asks: how might our future be different if we had other histories to lean on – and dance with?

Holidaying in Eastbourne, the Sanderstead Youth Fellowship take in an organised walk over the South Downs from Beachy Head to Cuckmere Haven. Courtesy of Screen Archive South East at the University of Brighton

From Farnham to Canterbury, this 120-mile trek across the famous Pilgrim’s Way section of the North Downs Way takes in some of south-east England’s prettiest towns, villages and pastures. Courtesy of BFI National Film & Television Archive

Recorded over 60 years prior to the establishment of the Thames Path National Trail, this film follows England’s best-known river for 185 miles as it ambles from its source in the Cotswolds through several rural counties and into the heart of London. Courtesy of BFI National Film & Television Archive

Glasgow’s Countryside Club visits the North Norfolk Coast, taking in sights along the still-to-be-established National Trail Path. In this clip the group journeys from Morston Quay to explore Blakeney National Nature Reserve. Courtesy of the East Anglian Film Archive at the University of East Anglia

This amateur travelogue-style documentary follows the route of the South Downs Way three years after its official opening, accompanied by a voiceover providing historical narrative on the route and local history of the areas it passes through. Courtesy of Screen Archive South East at the University of Brighton

One week before Prince Charles opens the Peddars Way Long Distance Path, local journalist Bruce Robinson talks through the book he has written about the historic Roman road it follows. Courtesy of the East Anglian Film Archive at the University of East Anglia

ITV’s popular Country Ways television series explores The Ridgeway National Trail through the eyes of the people that live and work along the historic pathway, commonly known as ‘Britain’s oldest road’. Courtesy of the Wessex Film and Sound Archive at Hampshire County Council