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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WACAR Annual Sports Day 1950
Workers in their Sunday best attend the annual Gateshead WACAR sports day in this well-crafted amateur film.
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Overview
A silent amateur film of an annual inter-club sports day for workers at heavy engineering firms in Gateshead and Newcastle is full of memorable vignettes of the crowd and competitors in athletics, quoits, and tug of war contests. On the cusp of the consumerist 1950s, women are still wearing war-time fashions - Utility clothes, a popular pompadour hairstyle. Its a wonder winners appear unfazed by the distinguished prize givers outrageous fox fur stole.
The annual sports day was organised for employees of Wright Anderson, Armstrong Whitworth, Redheugh Iron & Steel, and Clarke Chapman engineering firms. Films exist for 1950s and 1960s events, which took place at the 'WACAR' Associated Sports Clubs ground in Dunston, in sight of the Newcastle to Carlisle railway line, or at Eslington Park, Gateshead.
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