Range Clearance (1953)

Dartmoor, Devon. Various shots of young boys in cowboy gear riding through the countryside on horses. They are on a holiday at the Devon cattle ranch of Ross Salmon, who is teaching them how to be cowboys. We see them learning to ride on a saddle mounted on a fence and being shown how to use whips, ropes and lassoes. The boys attempt to lasso cattle in a field. Boys on horseback round up cattle. They try out different ways of mounting their horse. Nice shots of them riding across fields in the countryside and herding cattle. Sheep are rounded up on foot. We then see the cleared countryside being used as a range for temporary manoeuvres by the army cadets of Eaton Hall in Okehampton. Several shots of soldiers firing Bren guns, throwing grenades and running about. An officer blows a whistle for the all clear. More shots of the cowboys riding about the countryside. At night they sit around a camp fire and sing songs. One man (Ross?) plays a guitar. FILM ID: A VIDEO FROM BRITISH