This film shows events in the life of St Joseph’s Church and St Joseph’s Roman Catholic Primary School in Brighouse, West Yorkshire the year the school opened in 1961.  It includes a Corpus Christi procession, and possibly film of the fire at Mirfield Grammar School in that year.  There is also mention in a note that came with the film of “Troutbeck.” The film begins with a young choir leading a Corpus Christi procession through the streets of Brighouse.  They are followed by school boys...

This film shows events in the life of St Joseph’s Church and St Joseph’s Roman Catholic Primary School in Brighouse, West Yorkshire the year the school opened in 1961.  It includes a Corpus Christi procession, and possibly film of the fire at Mirfield Grammar School in that year.  There is also mention in a note that came with the film of “Troutbeck.” The film begins with a young choir leading a Corpus Christi procession through the streets of Brighouse.  They are followed by school boys carrying a statue of the Virgin Mary. These are followed by school girls dressed in all white, and more school girls wearing their best dresses.  These are followed on the procession by adult men, some carrying a banner with a picture of the Virgin Mary, and with “Brighouse” inscribed on it and another for “St Joseph Our Patron.” Other adults hold the hands of smaller children.  Next is the priest, carrying the monstrance, and his retinue.  These are followed by contingents of nuns and of women members of the congregation.  They pass several shops, including the shoe shops of Taylor and of Maude’s.  They go up a side street (Martin Street?) to an outside shrine of the Virgin Mary lit by candles, where the priest performs a service, with those on the procession now kneeling in the road. The procession then moves on, and the four boys holding the statue of the Virgin Mary pose for the camera.  The choir goes inside the church where another service is performed including administering Holy Communion.  (There is a short break in the film and it goes red for a short period).  They leave the church and enter another building. The film switches briefly to show above the rooftops a large fire in the distance– this may be the fire at Mirfield Grammar School on 17th March 1961.  Then, a man and a woman are on a street.  They have left a house and head to what looks like the rear of a pub a few doors down.  Cars arrive in the car park at the back of the church, where two priests are waiting, before some drive off again.  There is a short break before we see another procession, possibly a May procession, with those on the procession singing from hymn books. The film then switches again to show a women and child entering St Joseph’s Roman Catholic Primary School in Brighouse.  (A note that came with the film mentions a first day in school.)  They are followed by other children and two priests, one smoking a pipe.  The priests are greeted by teachers, while the school children mill around.  Food is being prepared in the school kitchen, and we see a cloakroom.  Children are shown in a classroom and in the playground, where they line up in single file before marching into the school.  Hands go up in a classroom where the teacher has written several words beginning with “th” on the blackboard.  The children sit around a table where the teacher is demonstrating something before returning to their desks, and then have their work looked at by the teacher.  The children then sit at round tables to have their school dinner. Back at the church car park there are views of a greenhouse and overlooking hills.  Several priests arrive, followed by a party of children posing for the camera and standing next to a coach.  On the side of a wall of a modern church is a mural of St George and the Dragon.  Inside the priests inspect the altar.  A party of adults are looking around the grounds of St Joseph’s Primary School, where it looks as if building work is being carried out, possibly just prior to its opening on 4th September 1961.  The film finishes with a children’s choir and congregation at a church.