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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Just Billingham No. 7
A cheery report on the successful Synthonia Club rugby team, ICI blood donors, and an irritable bus queue in Billingham.
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Overview
The jovial Just Billingham series for ICI workers settles into its amusing and informative post-war groove. This edition boasts gloriously lively images of sporty exercise and scrums as the Synthonia Club Rugby Section, a force in Durham County Rugby Union after World War Two, prepares for a winning match against Darlington RA. ‘Incidentally girls, this sort of thing isn’t bad for the waistline.’
Also featured, volunteer ICI workers take time out to donate a pint of blood soon after the peacetime launch of the National Blood Transfusion Service. And a topical transport tale stages a tongue-in-cheek visual skit on the very British art of complaining across the class divide as Billingham workers queue for a Stockton and Middlesbrough Corporation bus. Just Billingham was the earlier of two internal relations cinemagazine titles produced by ICI, the other called Panorama, a format first popularised by the Pathe Pictorial in 1918. Twenty seven issues were released from 1946 to 1960 covering all aspects of the company including sporting and social events.
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