British Pathe

Abbey House Museum, Kirkstall, Yorkshire.

L/S of a nice looking big old house - Abbey House Museum at Kirkstall, Yorkshire. A man is walking in front of the museum. L/S of the interior of one of the rooms. There is a great collection of walking sticks in the room. A man enters with several...

Abbey House Museum, Kirkstall, Yorkshire.

L/S of a nice looking big old house - Abbey House Museum at Kirkstall, Yorkshire. A man is walking in front of the museum. L/S of the interior of one of the rooms. There is a great collection of walking sticks in the room. A man enters with several sticks under his arm. He places them with the others but leaves one in his hands. M/S of the man observing the stick. A young woman comes into the room carrying a book.

Man is Mr Maynard Mitchell, well known rabologist (collector of walking sticks) and director of Leeds City Museums. He has to catalogue a newly acquired collection of walking sticks. M/S of Mr Mitchell looking at carvings on the stick - snakes and baboon. C/U shot of the baboon carving on top of the stick. This is West African witch doctor's stick. M/S of Mr Mitchell taking another stick to catalogue it. He dictates the stick's characteristics to the girl. M/S of the girl writing. M/S of Mr Mitchell looking at the stick made of twisted glass. C/U shot of the twisted glass.

L/S of a hand placing the twisted glass stick among the others and taking one that looks like a lace. It is made of shark's vertebrae and not very reliable as a walking aid. C/U shot of the holes, and joints, on the stick. C/U shot of the girl's face while listening to Mr Mitchell. C/U shot of Mr Mitchell's face observing carving of girl's body on a wooden Burmese stick. High angle shot of Mr Mitchell's hand leaving the Burmese stick and taking a wooden stick with 'ivory' handle. 'Ivory' is actually African hippo's tooth!

M/S of Mr Mitchell taking another stick - Algerian carved and painted stick. C/U shot of the girl taking notes. Cut to a great shot of another glass stick - this one with head full of "hundreds and thousands" (voiceover's remark - what does it mean?) C/U shot of Mr Mitchell's face as he observes the sticks. Several C/U shots of carvings of dogs' heads on the sticks. L/S of line of sticks.
Note: hundreds and thousands are tiny sugared strands and balls that are used as a dessert topping - SL.