The North East Film Archive is one of a network of regional film archives established to collect, preserve and show film made in, or about the North East of England. Our collections are non-fiction, and date from the early 1900s to the present day, providing a rich record of life in the region over the 20th century. Many of our films are available to watch, free of charge, on our website.
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28 June 1967: Town Moor Hoppings
A rap on rain and rates with Britain’s first black British broadcaster and the travelling showpeople at the Hoppings funfair in Newcastle.
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Overview
Britain’s first black TV news reporter, Clyde Alleyne, interviews showmen and women during a wet week at the annual Hoppings funfair in Newcastle. He talks to live novelty act Davey Jones, exhibiting in the 1960s with Florence and Robert Campbell and billed as a ‘Living Leprechaun – the World’s Smallest Man’. Mute footage of the fairground in action suggest that salacious showgirls and the nostalgia of curiosity driven sideshows still intrigue the crowds.
Born in the early 1900s in Lisburn, County Antrim, Davey Jones travelled around Britain’s fairs with Bostock and Wombell’s Menagerie from 1928 to 1933. He worked with Bertram Mills for one year before leaving to tour with the Barnum and Bailey Ringling Circus in the United States. He returned to Northern Ireland before the outbreak of World War Two. This Tyne Tees TV news footage records Jones during his final years with the Campbells, performing his show with a custom made miniature motorcar shaped like an E-type Jaguar. Clyde Alleyne is a forgotten pioneer in black British broadcasting. He joined Tyne Tees Television in May 1967, working on both the Six Five and Late Look news programmes.
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