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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Growth of Durham
A lyrical dawn-to-dusk portrait of Durham City made by a student at Bede College in the 1960s.
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Overview
The beauty, brains and commercial heart of Durham - a Bede College student crafts a silent, contemplative portrait of a city on a winters day. The film documents a cityscape of incremental changes, layers, and time zones, from a magnificent Norman cathedral and castle, cradled in the bend of the River Wear, to post-war industrial edge lands near Gilesgate Moor. The slow tempo picks up with Christmas shoppers at Woolworths and in the busy Market Place.
Amongst the architecture and environs of Durham captured by this films static camerawork, the imposing art deco Majestic Cinema stands on Sherburn Road in the Gilesgate Moor area, once home to coal mining communities. It was opened in 1938 by the great Teesside cinema magnate Thomas Thompson and his North of England Cinemas consortium, the first days offering being Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy in Maytime. The picture house occupied a prime site opposite the new council housing estate. Thompsons career began in 1908 with the opening of Cleveland Hall Cinema in Middlesbrough, affectionately known as the "Bug and Flea".
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