About Dave Platts
Dave Platts comes from a famous family of dealing people, and when he was a child he was taught family traditions including how to live off the land, running dogs, training animals, looking after cattle and horses, poaching... giving Dave a rich traditional upbringing and enabling him to live off the land in his native Leicestershire.
Born in Hugglescote, Coalville, in North West Leicestershire, to Frances Toon and John Augustus Levi Platts, both sides of Dave Platts' family have a long history of dealing - in horses, scrap metal, dogs - as well as breeding racing pigeons and looking after livestock. Surrounded by lurchers, horses and game fowl, Dave soon learned to look after animals with encouragement from his family and the wider community of gypsy people.
A proud lurcher breeder, Dave Platts is renowned for bringing back the English Deerhound from extinction, as can be seen in the upcoming film "Dave Platts: A Breed Apart".
HISTORIC FILMS is the owner of this website has been a good friend of Dave Platts for the best part of 3 decades. Dave Platts has never missed an opportunity to get the camera gear out and film something interesting. Between them they have have travelled thousands of miles enjoying traditional English events and escapades.
Our films show old England, gypsy traditions, hunting, fairgrounds, poaching and ratting. We hope you enjoy the site!
The Recreation of the English Deerhound
The English Deerhound was an extinct dog breed, lost to the annals of historic England. Dave Platts had a singular vision, to recreate the English Deerhound, bringing the breed back from the past and back into the present.
Here you can learn more about the recreation of the English Deerhound breed, how and why it has been brought back, and what is being done to make sure it stays around this time.
Poaching & Ratting
Two of Dave's great loves are poaching and ratting.
Ratting is a traditional British sport, with dogs (usually terriers) bred specifically to catch the most rats quickly and efficiently, keeping the rodent population down where it is needed most (for example, where chickens are kept).
We have a selection of British Ratting videos available to stream on our Films page.
