ACA News Reel Events of 1933

This extraordinary cine club newsreel of glittering charity events was made when Depression era soup kitchens flourished. Prince George opens the Poor Children’s Holiday Association headquarters, thousands of children squeezed into Newcastle’s Percy Street to welcome him. At Cramlington’s British Hospitals Air Pageant dashing aviator C.W.A. Scott tops the bill for flying stunts, whilst a fashionable crowd splash their cash on the horses at Gosforth Park races.

Strongly crafted in the tradition of the local topical by Newcastle & District Amateur Cinematographer’s Association filmmakers, these high profile charity events attended by royalty and aviation stars clearly had commercial value. The camera captures the faces of many children at the opening of the PCHA, although it’s doubtful they could spare the price of a cinema ticket to see themselves on screen. Many of the children accommodated in this new building would be destitute or, at least, underfed. It is believed the footage at Gosforth Park is the popular Pitmen’s Derby (also known as the Northumberland Plate), which took place during “Race Week”, a holiday for local miners until 1949.