The Witches of Belvoir is the true story of the persecution, conviction and execution of the Flower sisters and their mother who died in suspicious circumstances on the way to Lincoln Jail.  The filming of this story was interrupted by the first Covid 19 lockdown but we managed to finish the film by unconventional means, showing that film-makers can work from home!  It will be one of the films shown at Quick Flicks at The Lyric Rooms in Ashby de la Zouch on Thursday 19th May at 7.30 pm.  Entry is free but come early.  Doors and bar open at 7 pm.

The General Election of December 1918 was the first in which women over the age of 30, with some property conditions, were allowed to vote.  In this story, Martha is a married woman living with her husband and father in law.  The latter has very old fashioned views on women and his domineering attitude has crushed Martha's spirit and self-belief.  She does not believe she should vote.  Her friend Emily is passionate about women's rights.  Frustrated that she isn't quite old enough to vote, she is doubly frustrated at the thought of Martha wasting her hard-won vote.

Under the leadership of Helen Emery of the Century of Stories project, six pupils and their teacher from Maplewell Hall School met once a week at lunchtime to devise a story set in the First World War.  They wanted it to include a train driver, Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson, an arms dealer, a playwright, Jack the Ripper and a railway tea lady.  Murder on the Maplewell Express was the result.

The 4th Earl Ferrers of Staunton Harold Hall is famous for shooting and fatally wounding his steward, John Johnson, in 1760. Dr Kirkland attended the dying man and keep meticulous notes, not just on medical matters, but also on exactly what happened and what was said.  It gave us a racing start for our film, acted by the children of Grace Dieu Manor School. Earl Ferrers was convicted of murder and was the last peer of the realm to be hanged.

Ann was born in Ravenstone and her parents kept the Plough Inn in the village.   She married the village surgeon but after only three years she was widowed. Soon afterwards she volunteered to become a nurse in the hospitals in Turkey attending the sick and injured soldiers of the Crimean War.  She was highly thought of and in her old age she returned to live in the almshouses in Ravenstone where she was awarded the prestigious Order of the Royal Red Cross for nursing.  As well as this film, we also produced a book about her life and work and successfully competed to get her a green plaque which is now displayed on the front wall of Ravenstone Historic Almshouses.   Some of her descendents still live in the village and the unveiling was a very proud day for them.

Charlie's War was only the second drama film that we made with a cast of teenagers drawn from the drama group "Rising Stars" in Ashby.  Based on a real man, it tells of how he volunteered to fight in the First World War but quickly suffered from "Shell Shock" and was sent back to England to a lunatic asylum.  Our film also featured the plight of his wife, but this part of the story is largely a fictitious account.

Roesia de Verdun founded Grace Dieu Priory in the 12th century and when she died she was buried in the grounds.  When the priory surrendered during Henry VIII's dissolution of the monasteries, her body was exhumed and reburied in the nearby St John the Baptist Church in the village of Belton.  During the 19th-century, Ambrose Phillips DeLisle, a Catholic convert, built Grace Dieu Manor and planned to have Roesia's body returned to Grace Dieu, but things didn't go according to plan.  In this film, the children of Grace Dieu Manor School re-enacted the story.

The pupils of Maplewell Hall School devised this film.   They each chose a real historical figure to research.  Each one had fought in the First World War, survived and gone on to achieve notable things.  The idea the pupils had was to think what if they had all been killed but the Grim Reaper had the power to save just one.  The audience are invited to think which one they would save.  Their teacher played the Grim Reaper's secretary!