The Media Archive for Central England is the public screen archive for the East and West Midlands. An independent charity and company based at the University of Lincoln, MACE acquires, catalogues, preserves and makes widely available moving image materials that inform our understanding of the diverse cultures and histories of communities between the Lincolnshire coast and the Welsh border.
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Somercotes Parish Church Sunday School Procession 1953
The Sunday school in their Sunday best taking their message into the community.
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Overview
It's Coronation year 1953 and at Somercotes in the Amber Valley district of Derbyshire a procession is leaving the parish church on Nottingham Road and winding its way into town. Marching proudly behind a band with the church choir leading the way we see the children of the Sunday school (in their best clothes of course) stopping for hymns while the collecting purse is passed around. It's a brief snapshot of British life that has since been consigned to history.
Sunday schools were once attended by millions of British children. A continuous decline was experienced throughout the twentieth century: in 1905 56% of all children attended Sunday School and by 2000 this number had dropped to 4%.
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