Shiremoor Children's Treat 1974

The popular Geordie author Scott Dobson and Newcastle United footballer “Jinky” Jimmy Smith are celebrity guests at an annual North Tyneside children’s gala. Juvenile jazz bands lead a march to the “Treat field”, full of attractions such as Murphy’s Funfair, where a traditional box of buns is gifted to the kids. Known locally as the “Children’s Treat”, this annual event dates back to 1907 for mining communities around Shiremoor, home of the real Billy Elliot.

Along with the tradition of the Miners’ Picnic, an important celebration in mining communities, a Children’s Day was introduced in the 1880s throughout Northumberland, following the passage of the Mundella Bill in 1880 that (theoretically) made school education compulsory. Mining villages raised their own funds to provide a special day for their children, despite poverty, the first organised in 1885 at Holywell. Over two thousand local children took part in the first Shiremoor and District Treat held in July 1907. The annual event was captured on Super 8 Kodachrome film by amateur filmmaker Harry Leighton from 1973 - 1981. The tradition continues even though the pits have gone.