This film is part of Free

Cleveland Conservation

A local history teacher takes full advantage of an opportunity to highlight the decline of parts of Cleveland, and present a highly engaging case for preserving its heritage.

Open access programme 1976 15 mins

From the collection of:

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Overview

Local historian Bob Woodhouse makes a heartfelt case for the protection of the remaining historic buildings in the Middlesbrough area in the face of the developers; having recently witnessed the demolition of the Halfpenny Bridge at Saltburn in 1974, shown here. Woodhouse traces the cultural decline of Cleveland and highlights the places that ought to be saved in his fascinating historical tour, as well as exposing a lack of knowledge of these sites among the locals.

This is the filmed element of an edition of the Tyne Tees Television programme 'Access', which would involve a discussion of the film. Access was one of the first television programmes to give an opportunity to local people to make their own films, with professional help. It started in 1973, the year that the innovative producer Rowan Ayers introduced Open Door on the BBC. At the time Bob Woodhouse was Head of the History Department at Hummersknott School, Darlington uncredited is student Peter Boughton and has since written a pictorial history of Middlesbrough and writes for the local Evening Gazette. Most of the places highlighted have been preserved, including the Middlesbrough Historic Quarter.