Research on Kirkstall...

Having been doing some research on my postcodes of Kirkstall and Burley this morning I was saddened to read that Kirkstall Forge had closed it's doors for business. The forge was one of the oldest continuously used industrial sites in Britain having been founded in 1200AD by the Cistercian Monks of Kirkstall Abbey. Apparently the site is to be redeveloped into hotels, offices, housing... etc.

Several years ago, as part of my degree, I took a practical film elective in which we were given a brief to create a short film inspired by a poem, an extract from a book or a piece of music. My team chose a piece of music that used industrial sounds within it and to increase our challenge decided we wanted to create an audio visual piece constructed entirely from industrial sound and footage. We approached Kirkstall Forge who were happy to help and extremely accommodating. They allowed us to wander freely around the vast grounds setting up shots in front of awe inspiring pieces of deafening machinery manned by friendly, colourful characters. As the floors shook and sparks flew 50 feet in the air we were told it was quite common for filming to be taking place at the forge and they were quite used to strange little requests from film students. Our film turned out extremely well and I'm certainly glad I got to see the forge in full working action before it closed its doors for the final time.

Mike