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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An intimate portrait of domestic life in 50s Roker featuring family, football and cricket.
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Overview
Vera and Maureen Torbet are the stars of this home movie produced by their brother Ronald as they play up to the camera at the family home in Bright Street, Roker. Not to be left out, brothers James and Ernest also appear, along with ‘ma’ and ‘dad’ who do their best to stay out of the way. These rare domestic scenes of everyday family life offer a unique opportunity for the viewer to experience the intimacies of one family during the 1950s.
Amateur filmmaker Ronald Torbet lived in Roker, Sunderland, attended Bede Grammar School for Boys, and was a draughtsman engineer all his life, working for A. Reyrolle & Company, a Tyneside engineering firm based in Hebburn. As a Scout Master for the Bedan Senior Scout Group, then based at the Bede Grammar School in Sunderland, he also filmed many of the group’s trips to Northumberland and North Yorkshire camps from the late 1950s through to the 60s.
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